Where words begin
Knowing how to use words. To define the world we live in and the emotions we feel, to understand the values we believe in, and to give shape to the ideas that change the world. This sums up the opening pages of Andrea Marcolongo’s latest book, Alla fonte delle parole, or “99 etymologies that tell us of ourselves”, published by Mondadori. A Greek scholar of international renown, and the author of hugely successful essays (The Ingenious Language and The Hero’s Part), Marcolongo draws up “a contemporary, rebellious lexicon”, a story of words “to give you the etymologies that have gradually become my own and that, after you read this, will forever be ours.” She starts out from krâsis – from confusion – to talk about “labyrinth”, “fire”, “migrant” and more, all the way to indikón for “liberty”, “silk”, “Montgolfier balloon”, “adventure” and, of course, “language”. 99 words “to rebel against the confusion and darkness that overwhelm us when we are left without words when faced with the present world”. But also to find our value as people in difficult times, with the degradation of our language and thus of our personal and social relationships. Alla fonte delle parole Andrea Marcolongo Mondadori, 2020