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Aries 19: The magic carpetThe word magic is a derivative of the

Indo-European (IE) root magh-1 which

m eans t o b e ab l e t o , t o h av e po w er . 1

Paronyms include dismay, machine ,

magic , may, main , magus , mechanic ,

mechanism , and might .

The word carpet is a derivative of

the IE root kerp- which means to gather , pluck, harvest . 2 I ts paronyms

include the suff ix c a rp (fruit , part of a fruit , fruit- l ike structure) ,

excerpt , an d scarce .

THEMES: O ne t h e m e h e r e c o nc e r ns t h e r e l a t i o n be t w e e n p a r t s a ndw h o l e s , a nd be t w e e n bi g g e r p a r t s a nd s m a l l e r p a r t s . S p e c i f i c a l l y , r e c a l l

that the one of the paronyms of carpet i s excerpt which means a p a s s a g eo r s e g m e nt t a ke n f r o m a l o ng e r w o r k , s u c h a s a l i t e r a r y o r m u s i c a l

composit ion, a document , or a f i lm and to select or use a passage or

segment from a longer work. 3 O ne o f t h e p a r o ny m s o f magic i s maina ndamong i ts def ini t ions are most important; pr incipal and t h e c h i e f o rl ar g es t par t . 4 W h i l e l ar g e and l o ng ar e s y no ny m s , w h at s m o r e

i m p o r t a nt t o r e c o g ni ze i s t h a t a n e x c e r p t r e p r e s e nt s a s m a l l e r p a r t a nd

the main body, the larger and more important part .

A s e c o nd t h e m e c o nc e r ns ADEQUACY . Recal l that two of the paronymso f carpet a re scarce (Insuff ic ient to meet a demand or requirement;s h o r t i n s u p p l y ) a nd scarcity ( insuff ic iency of amount or supply;

s h o r t a g e ) . Th e p a r o ny m s o f magic include might (strength or abi l i ty tod o s o m e t h i ng ) a nd mighty (Having or showing great power , ski l l ,

s t r e ng t h , o r f o r c e ) . O ne o f t h e s y no ny m s o f scarci ty i s i na d e qu a c y a nd

1W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 5 0 2W a t k i n s , C . ( 2 0 0 0 ) , T h e A m e r i c a n H e r i t a g e D i c t i o n a r y o f I n d o E u r o p e a n R o o t s , p . 4 1 3 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / e x c e r p t

4 h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . y a h o o . c o m / r e f e r e n c e / d i c t i o n a r y / e n t r y / m a i n

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one of the synonyms of might i s a d e qu a c y ( t h e qu a l i t y o f be i ng s u f f i c i e nt

f o r t h e e nd i n v i e w ) . Final ly , several phrases can be constructed from the keywords and

their paronyms. These include:

machines or mechanisms used in harvest ing of fruit dismay over a scarce harvest t h e m i suse of power or might to pluck ( i .e . to obtain by

underhanded activi ty) the fruits of another s labor

a gathering of mighty magic ians machine -made carpets a scarcity of mechanics