Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, Jainism, Sikhism⦠the names of major world religions.
Let me correct myself here. Not really names, but above is how these religions are referred to in the English literature. Did you notice that it is only Christianity, which receives a suffix of â-ityâ, while all others are named with a suffix of â-ismâ?
I was wandering why! So I started looking at the literary difference between â-ityâ and â-ismâ. I have looked at many sources and here is how I can summarize the concise definition of usage of these suffixes:
â-ismâ - Suffixed to an original noun âXâ, deriving another noun meaning âdoctrine of or about Xâ. Like Marxism, racism, or heroism.
â-ityâ - Suffixed to an adjective âXâ, deriving a noun meaning the âstate or quality of being Xâ. Like ability, similarity, responsibility, or curiosity.
Assuming that the above describes both the disciplined and common usage of these two suffixes in English language, let us try to analyze our original question.
Are these root words - âChristianâ, âHinduâ, âSikhâ, âJainâ or âJudaâ nouns or adjectives? Grammatically, all of these are actually both. Depends upon from which standpoint are you going to use those words. But then here is where the finer distinction comes into the play! It is only âChristianâ which has been given the status of an adjective through word âChristianityâ whereas all others remain only nouns. But what would that imply?
Like almost all the isms, those religions remain implicitly defined as âan act or practice by some, or the doctrine or philosophy behind that act or practiceâ and remain in the category of all other isms which are founded, invented or propagated - activism, altruism, despotism, elitism, optimism, sexism, cubism, Marxism, pluralism and yes terrorism. On the other hand Christianity gets unconsciously classified in the most natural and neutral phenomenon of âity-iesâ like âhumanityâ, âabilityâ, âsimilarityâ, âresponsibilityâ, or âcuriosityâ.
Let us take another viewpoint here. Let us find some root word which gets derived popularly into both its derived avatars âity as well as âism. I could think of ânudeâ, which can have ânudityâ and ânudismâ. âNudityâ would mean the state or quality of being without clothes, whereas ânudismâ would mean the philosophy or practice of living without clothes â just a concept, which is formulated or made.
See what I mean? Obviousely the proper word representing that natural religion of the followers of Christ has got to be âChrist-ian-ityâ and not Christ-ian-ism, right? In fact as I am typing this, MS Word says âchristianismâ is not a valid word!
But as a matter of fact, Christianism is how that religion was referred to, until late. In Latin and Greek, even today, that is the name of that religion. Here is what Wikipedia used to say before they replaced it with something else. Fortunately I was able found it at answers.com:
http://www.answers.com/topic/christianism-1
Etymology of Christianism
Christianism, ending in the suffix "ism" [1], forms the name of a system of theory and practice, in this case religious, ecclesiastical, and philosophical, predicated on the name of its purported founder, Jesus Christ. Christianism is generally used in place of, or in counter-distinction to, Christianity, which, by virtue of its suffix, "ity", denotes a quality, state, or degree.
The word "Christianity" (Christianism in Greek and Latin) is not used in the New Testament (written in Greek). It appears, formally, much later in a seventeenth century English dictionary.[2]
The earliest usage of the term Christianism appears in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35 - c. 107 A.D.), who says (in Greek) that the glory of the Christian is "to live according to Christianism".[3]
Writing in Latin, c. 198 - c. 208 A.D., Tertullian used the term "Christianismus" (see: Christianismus.it) in his text entitled Adversus Marcionem. [4]
1. The Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, Vol. VIII, 113.
2. Thomas Blount, Glossographia, 1656.
3. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Eerdmans, 1979 (1915), Vol. 1, 658.
4. A Latin Dictionary, Freund's Latin Dictionary, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, Oxford, 1962 (1879), 328.
Let me admit, I have not been able to present my thoughts very properly. I would like to invite thoughts from enlightened fellow members to help me here with this. Another thing which I would like to think about, some other day, is: Difference between Hinduism Vs Hindu-ity or Hindu-tva and which one is more appropriate.
Let me correct myself here. Not really names, but above is how these religions are referred to in the English literature. Did you notice that it is only Christianity, which receives a suffix of â-ityâ, while all others are named with a suffix of â-ismâ?
I was wandering why! So I started looking at the literary difference between â-ityâ and â-ismâ. I have looked at many sources and here is how I can summarize the concise definition of usage of these suffixes:
â-ismâ - Suffixed to an original noun âXâ, deriving another noun meaning âdoctrine of or about Xâ. Like Marxism, racism, or heroism.
â-ityâ - Suffixed to an adjective âXâ, deriving a noun meaning the âstate or quality of being Xâ. Like ability, similarity, responsibility, or curiosity.
Assuming that the above describes both the disciplined and common usage of these two suffixes in English language, let us try to analyze our original question.
Are these root words - âChristianâ, âHinduâ, âSikhâ, âJainâ or âJudaâ nouns or adjectives? Grammatically, all of these are actually both. Depends upon from which standpoint are you going to use those words. But then here is where the finer distinction comes into the play! It is only âChristianâ which has been given the status of an adjective through word âChristianityâ whereas all others remain only nouns. But what would that imply?
Like almost all the isms, those religions remain implicitly defined as âan act or practice by some, or the doctrine or philosophy behind that act or practiceâ and remain in the category of all other isms which are founded, invented or propagated - activism, altruism, despotism, elitism, optimism, sexism, cubism, Marxism, pluralism and yes terrorism. On the other hand Christianity gets unconsciously classified in the most natural and neutral phenomenon of âity-iesâ like âhumanityâ, âabilityâ, âsimilarityâ, âresponsibilityâ, or âcuriosityâ.
Let us take another viewpoint here. Let us find some root word which gets derived popularly into both its derived avatars âity as well as âism. I could think of ânudeâ, which can have ânudityâ and ânudismâ. âNudityâ would mean the state or quality of being without clothes, whereas ânudismâ would mean the philosophy or practice of living without clothes â just a concept, which is formulated or made.
See what I mean? Obviousely the proper word representing that natural religion of the followers of Christ has got to be âChrist-ian-ityâ and not Christ-ian-ism, right? In fact as I am typing this, MS Word says âchristianismâ is not a valid word!
But as a matter of fact, Christianism is how that religion was referred to, until late. In Latin and Greek, even today, that is the name of that religion. Here is what Wikipedia used to say before they replaced it with something else. Fortunately I was able found it at answers.com:
http://www.answers.com/topic/christianism-1
Etymology of Christianism
Christianism, ending in the suffix "ism" [1], forms the name of a system of theory and practice, in this case religious, ecclesiastical, and philosophical, predicated on the name of its purported founder, Jesus Christ. Christianism is generally used in place of, or in counter-distinction to, Christianity, which, by virtue of its suffix, "ity", denotes a quality, state, or degree.
The word "Christianity" (Christianism in Greek and Latin) is not used in the New Testament (written in Greek). It appears, formally, much later in a seventeenth century English dictionary.[2]
The earliest usage of the term Christianism appears in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35 - c. 107 A.D.), who says (in Greek) that the glory of the Christian is "to live according to Christianism".[3]
Writing in Latin, c. 198 - c. 208 A.D., Tertullian used the term "Christianismus" (see: Christianismus.it) in his text entitled Adversus Marcionem. [4]
1. The Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, Vol. VIII, 113.
2. Thomas Blount, Glossographia, 1656.
3. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Eerdmans, 1979 (1915), Vol. 1, 658.
4. A Latin Dictionary, Freund's Latin Dictionary, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, Oxford, 1962 (1879), 328.
Let me admit, I have not been able to present my thoughts very properly. I would like to invite thoughts from enlightened fellow members to help me here with this. Another thing which I would like to think about, some other day, is: Difference between Hinduism Vs Hindu-ity or Hindu-tva and which one is more appropriate.