Difference between revisions of "Cleft - cloven"
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*As [[participial adjective]]s, | *As [[participial adjective]]s, | ||
| − | *’’’cleft’’’ is used with such physical processes as cleft lips and cleft palates ('orofacial clefts'); the use 'cloven palate' is extremely rare ('cloven lip' is slightly more common, because of its use in the names of various plants): in current academic English these would be judged errors. A '''cleft stick''' was [[literal]]ly a stick | + | *’’’cleft’’’ is used with such physical processes as cleft lips and cleft palates ('orofacial clefts'); the use 'cloven palate' is extremely rare ('cloven lip' is slightly more common, because of its use in the names of various plants): in current academic English these would be judged errors. A '''cleft stick''' was [[literal]]ly a stick split at one end used to carry paper messages ('letters') by 'native runners' between colonizing officials in British imperial Africa in the nineteenth century; it is currently more often used [[figurative]]ly to mean 'a situation neither of whose outcomes will be beneficial' (cf. [[horns of a dilemma]]). |
| − | * | + | *’’’’Cloven’’’ is used with animal feet, normally “the divided hoof of ruminant quadrupeds” (‘’[[OED]]’’). This came to be associated above all with [[Satan]] and the other devils. The link appears to be because Satan was identified with the [[Greek]] god Pan, portrayed with the feet and legs of a goat. |
{{Pwip}} | {{Pwip}} | ||
Revision as of 12:19, 9 January 2021
’’’Cleft’’’ and ’’’cloven’’’ are the two accepted variant forms of the -ed participle of the verb ‘to cleave’ meaning ‘to split’. Either may be used with the auxiliary verbs ‘to have’ and ‘to be’; but there are conventional differences in their uses as participial adjectives. (There is only a very rare, negligible, use of ’’’cloven’’’ as a noun, although ‘a cleft' is fairly common to label any gap as the result of splitting, or figurative equivalents. It is a way of naming the vulva, or pudendal cleft.)
- As participial adjectives,
- ’’’cleft’’’ is used with such physical processes as cleft lips and cleft palates ('orofacial clefts'); the use 'cloven palate' is extremely rare ('cloven lip' is slightly more common, because of its use in the names of various plants): in current academic English these would be judged errors. A cleft stick was literally a stick split at one end used to carry paper messages ('letters') by 'native runners' between colonizing officials in British imperial Africa in the nineteenth century; it is currently more often used figuratively to mean 'a situation neither of whose outcomes will be beneficial' (cf. horns of a dilemma).
- ’’’’Cloven’’’ is used with animal feet, normally “the divided hoof of ruminant quadrupeds” (‘’OED’’). This came to be associated above all with Satan and the other devils. The link appears to be because Satan was identified with the Greek god Pan, portrayed with the feet and legs of a goat.
