Libra 25: Information in the symbol of an autumn leaf

T h e w o r d i n f orma t i on d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I n d o - E u r o p e a n ( I E ) r o ot [ me rph which means f o r m. 1 P a r o n y m s i n c l u d e t h e s u f f i x m o rp h , t h e p r e f i x m o rp h o - , t he s u f f i x f o rm , a n d t h e w o r d s m o rp h e m e, f o rm a ti o n,

f o rm a n t , f o rm a t, fo rm u l a , c o n f o rm , in f o rm , p l a t f o rm, re f o rm , t ra n s f o rm ,
a n d u n i f o rm . F i n a l l y , t h e w o r d s y mbol d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t g we le - w h i c h m e a n s t o t h r o w , re a c h w i t h f u r t h e r m e a n i n g t o p i e r c e . 2 I t s d e r i v a t i v e s i n c l u d e b a l l ( g a la ) , b a l l a d, b a l le t, b o ul e , de vi l , e mb o l i s m, h yp e rb o le , ki l l,

p a l a ve r, pa ra b le , p a ra bo l a, p a rle y, p a rl i a me n t, p a rl o r, p a ro le , p ro b le m ,
a n d q u e l l. T h e w o r d a u t umn a p p e a r s t o d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e O l d F re n c h a u t u m p n e a n d t he L a t i n a u t um n u s o r a u c t u m n us , t h e la t t e r b e i n g a n i n f le c t i on of

a u c t u s w h i c h me a n s i n c r e a se . 3
T h e w o r d l e a f d e s ce n d s f r o m t h e I E r o o t l e up - t o p e e l o f f , b r e a k o f f . 4 P a r o n y m s i n c l u d e le a ve s, l o dge , l o ge , l o f t , a lo f t , a n d l i ft . TH EMES : T h e w o rd a ut u mn r e f e r s t o t h e se a s on o f t h e y e a r b e t w e e n s u m m e r a n d w i n t e r , l a st i n g f r o m t h e a u t u m n a l e q ui n o x t o t h e w i n t e r s o l s t i ce a n d f r o m S e p t e mb e r t o D e ce m b e r i n t he N o r t he r n H e m i sp h e r e ; f a l l . T h e w o r d f a l l a l s o m e a n s t o d r o p w o u n d e d o r d e a d , e sp e c i a l l y i n b a t t le . 5 T h e c a p t i o n a s s o ci a t e d w i t h t h e a b o v e p h o t o g r a p h i s gi v e n below. "Fallen" is a mixed media art installation of contemporary artist, Jane Hammond, most recently acquired by The Whitney Museum of American Art. "Soldiers Fallen in
1 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 55 2 http://web.archive.org/web/20080211183126/www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE181.html 3 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=autumn 4 Watkins, C. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo European Roots, p. 49 5 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/fall Starling Hunter 2011 1

Iraq. Each leaf was digitally handcrafted, and then inscribed with the name of each U.S. soldier killed in Iraq."6 W o r d s a p p e a r i n g i n i t a l i c s a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e k e y wo r d s , r o o t s, a n d d e r i v a t i v e s a b o v e n a m e l y aut umn , l e a f , a n d ki l l e d . T h e i nfor mat i on i s , o f c o u r s e , t h e n a m e o f e a c h s o l d i e r w h o w a s ki l l e d o r w h o f e l l i n b a t t le . S u r e l y w i t ho u t c o n s ci o u s l y i n t e n d i n g t o d o s o , t he a r t i s t c a p t u r e d t h e e ss e n ce o f t hi s s y m b o l . T he t h e me i s FA LL .

6 http://nsimplexity.com/Project06_2.html Starling Hunter 2011 2