A Little Latin, Less Greek

[Bonnie Surfus (ENG)]

I think that Pynchon mentions his dalliance with "polyglottality" in his 
intro to _Slow Learner_--by way of a warning to young writers.  Or he 
could just be referring to the use of "big" words.  

As for his German, I think it's more a matter of knowing a few key 
phrases, as well as some larger complex nouns familiar to academics--then 
and now (then being wartime, following a period of reverence for the 
German models of education.)

Bonnie

On Sat, 22 Jul 1995, Circ Staff wrote:

> 			
> 	A question about polyglottality --	
> 	Which languages does Pynchon know, and how well does he know them? 
> Perhaps Andrew Dinn, with his impressive Wagnerian signature, could
> comment on the German in GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, and perhaps another
> Rugglophile could analyze the Spanish in V. and VINELAND.
> 	Mulling over FENSTER, FENETRE, and TRANSFENESTRATION led me to
> this question. 
> 
> 
> 			Andrew Walser
> 			University of Illinois-Chicago
> 
> 
> 
>