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The use of names is coterminous with man - as a part of words it may be seen to be the greatest single achievement of the human mind. It is at once a gateway to the soul, a voice reverberating down the ages, a bond uniting us in one continuous humanity, and the one specific process in the action which we call History. Its principles, indicating identity for everything, and the infinite capacity of thought, come from the best of all sources: "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." --Genesis 2:19. With the establishment of the generic types and the extension of the process to cover the individual within the species, the spatial designation of a creature or an activity,is a necessary but obvious sequel. Milton was right to stress the significance of the initial feat: "I named them as they passed, and understood Their nature; with such knowledge God endued My sudden apprehension..." --Paradise Lost, Book VIII, 11. 352-354. This awesome concern for the significance of names, so often encountered in 'primitive' societies; where the name of the deceased may not again be uttered, is not shared by most men today. We tend to regard a name as an arbitrary designation, simply a meaningless mark which enables it to be made the subject of discourse, but in no way indicating any attributes belonging to the bearer, or his stock. Scientifically speaking it is a sequence of sounds, devoid of considerations of associated meaning. |
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