Author Topic: Proselyt(iz)e (Read 2520 times)

Annie Subjunctive · « **on:** July 28, 2005, 03:05:45 PM »

This has been driving me nuts. Merriam Webster's tells me that proselyte (the verb) has the same definition as proselytize. So why on earth does the one with more syllables exist?

I'm more comfortable with using proselyte, because that's what I grew up hearing from church people with good intentions. Proselytize has, to my ears, a connotation of disdain attached to it, and I've noticed that on Hatrack when I use the word proseltye in a discussions, my detractors answer back with proselytize, subtly correcting me as I subtly corrected them.

Whence the dichotomy? And is the subtle connotation a mere product of my own experience, or does it actually exist?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2005, 03:16:48 PM »

The shorter form came first by about 50 years. It's just the regular noun form turned into a verb. I'm guessing the -ize form developed to distinguish it from the noun. As far as I know, though, there are no differences in meaning.

AFR · « **Reply #2 on:** July 29, 2005, 09:17:21 AM »

I say don't use the ize form of any word. It's a corruption.

Noemon · « **Reply #3 on:** July 29, 2005, 10:06:13 AM »

I much prefer "proselytize" to "proselyte". The latter word just doesn't scan as a verb for me, whereas the former one has a nice verb forming suffix (not that a noun has to have a verb forming suffix tacked onto it in order to become a verb, I admit).

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #4 on:** July 29, 2005, 11:42:48 AM »

You usually encounter the word in the present participle form, though. Not many debates phrase things in terms of whether "to proselyte or not to proselyte," they're usually debating the validity of the practice of proselytizing. If you see proselyting, do you still have the problem of not scanning it as a verb?

I think it's in that form that the extra -ize bothers me the most, actually. Proselyting is a nice-sounding word, but proselytizing just sounds awkward to me.

saxon75 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 29, 2005, 11:57:58 AM »

To me, proselyte in any of its inflected forms doesn't really scan as a word, much less a verb. But I suspect that has a lot to do with my being ignorant.

Leto II · « **Reply #6 on:** July 31, 2005, 08:16:33 AM »

I've never heard of proselyting as a word at all, so I'm going to guess that this might be a regional thing. I think the difference in connotation you are sensing might really be completely innocent, if so, and here's why: Most of the people on Hatrack/GC who are "proponents," as it were, of proselyting, live geographically close to each other, mostly out west. So they might tend to use the same word for purely regional reasons, while people who are not, say LDS or JW, come from a wider range of locations and may be more likely to use "proselytizing" for that reason. In other words, you may have a correlation but not a causality.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #7 on:** July 31, 2005, 12:35:02 PM »

Very wise, very wise.

Leto II · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2005, 04:04:33 PM »

*preen*