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Glossary entry

Italian term or phrase:

ferinomorfe

English translation:

representing wild animals

Added to glossary by Nona Stanciu Dell'Acqua
Feb 11, 2012 12:14
12 yrs ago
Italian term

ferinomorfe

Italian to English Art/Literary Architecture
L’impianto scenografico del complesso inizia già dal viale "dei leoni”, così denominato per le sculture ferinomorfe poste a guardia del viale di accesso.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 representing wild animals
4 +2 theriomorphic
4 beast-shaped
Change log

Feb 16, 2012 08:20: Nona Stanciu Dell'Acqua changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/437">Nona Stanciu Dell'Acqua's</a> old entry - "ferinomorfe"" to ""representing wild animals""

Discussion

Ellen Kraus Feb 12, 2012:
With this in mind, I would be expected to agree to theriomorphic, but considering the overwhelming majority of non graecists, I plead for the more understandable expression.
Concluding, I must apologize for having omitted the all-deciding "r" in the word carnivorans.
Ellen Kraus Feb 12, 2012:
sorrys, the space proved insufficient for completing my comments. Wanted to say are a delight for graecists, myself included.
Ellen Kraus Feb 12, 2012:
incidentally, and to those who deny the existence of the term canivorans: in addition to animals like the mongoose any member of a family of 33 species of small carnivorans or theriomorphic(shapeshifting)also big ones are calles canivorans: bears e.g. are classified as caniforms, or doglike canivorans. (the latin verb vorare means verschlingen). 99.9000 hits on google for theriomorphic are for
Shera Lyn Parpia Feb 12, 2012:
the word "theriomorphic" gives me 99,900 hits on google. It is not a rare word! See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theriomorphic
Ellen Kraus Feb 11, 2012:
to my thinking the most important element here is the word "wild" : iF it were about animal-shaped sculptures, the author could have used "zoomorphic" but he chose the Latin-derived version which denotes something brutal. The Greek term "θηρίο" means wild animal, but I suppose that the term theriomorphic, however correct it may be, will be understood by experts only. Whether it may be used here, or not, thus depends on the target readership.
Shera Lyn Parpia Feb 11, 2012:
My feeling is that the author, like many Italians with a classical education, simply substituted the latin term for the greek one. The concept is the same and so is the meaning - see http://dizionari.corriere.it/dizionario_italiano/F/ferino.sh... and http://it.wiktionary.org/wiki/ferino. Most italian speakers are familiar with "ferino" as a term of use, so it was probably a simple step to coin the term, knowing italian speakers would understand it, probably more easily than the greek derived term. It's certainly a new way of stating it, but it's also quite understandable.
fionn Feb 11, 2012:
@ Shera I would like to give an agree for 'theriomorphic' (I wasn't kidding about saying it is a great word!), and perhaps it is effectively the same, by analogy as you say of the Greek and Latin origins. Certainly using this term would match the level of 'obscurity' of the original text.
My only doubt is whether there is an intentional difference in the author not using 'teriomorfe', which already exists in Italian, i.e. a difference between 'animal-shaped' and 'wild/feral animal-shaped'. As I suggest below, it may also be a mistake on the part of the author who was perhaps thinking of 'teriomorfe'.
fionn Feb 11, 2012:
@ Nona I don't mean that YOU invented it! That would just be silly! Or what do you mean when you say it is NOT an invention - do you have further info about the text or the author?
What I am suggesting - speculating - is that the author of the text made up this word for want of a better one. Or perhaps s/he was thinking of 'teriomorfe' and got mixed up with 'ferino' - perfectly possible. Of course, usage on Google is by no means definitive of anything, least of all in languages other than English, but it does seem odd that there is not a single other instance...
All things considered, it sounds to me like the author was looking for a term to describe 'taking the form of a wild animal' and put ferino- and -morfe together.
fionn Feb 11, 2012:
does this word exist? I was going to agree with Shera but found a counterfactual - theriomorphic has its own equivalent in Italian: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teriomorfo
Meanwhile, ALL the references on Google to this word appear to be to this very text you are translating, so I would suggest this is something of a neologism... As such the emphasis seems to be on the fact they are wild animals, so neither zoomorphic nor theriomorphic (which are basically identical) would be precise. Thus I have to agree with Ellen.
Nona Stanciu Dell'Acqua (asker) Feb 11, 2012:
zoomorphic = use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation
Nona Stanciu Dell'Acqua (asker) Feb 11, 2012:
What do you think about 'zoomorphic' ?

Proposed translations

+4
6 mins
Selected

representing wild animals

i´d say

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Note added at 9 Min. (2012-02-11 12:23:37 GMT)
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but if you prefer using the zoological term, you may just as well say: carnivoran animals, carnivores or predators.

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Note added at 10 Min. (2012-02-11 12:25:00 GMT)
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but if you prefer using the zoological term, you might just as well say: carnivoran animals, carnivores or predators.

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Note added at 10 Stunden (2012-02-11 22:36:04 GMT)
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in reply to asker´s question: as to the plastic and pictorial representation of animals, the only specific term I know of is that used for the frightening creatures projecting from roof gutters (mostly from churches), i.e. the gargoyles. Much to my regret I couldnt open the link "animal_symbolism_in_ecclesiastical_architecture.pdf
_architecture. Perhaps you are more successful. I´ll continue searching for some respective literature.
Note from asker:
Tks Ellen, your answer is of help. I must tell you I've tried to find more about 'ferniomorfe' figures/sculptures but no way! I wonder if there is an architectural term for this specific renaissance art... or if there is any glossary where to verify this ?! tks
Peer comment(s):
agree P.L.F. Persio
2 mins
thank you, missdutch
agree fionn : This will certainly be the most help to the reader of the text (I'm agreeing with 'representing wild animals' or 'in the form of wild animals' - not carnivores or predators which is too zoological, and definitely not 'carnivoran', not a word I'm afraid!)
5 hrs
thank you, fionn !
agree philgoddard : The plain English solution.
9 hrs
thank you, philgoddard !
agree K Donnelly
2 days 29 mins
thank you, K Donnelly !
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Tks Ellen, still the best solution :)"
+2
4 hrs

theriomorphic

see
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theriomorphic
http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2010/05/13/thursdays-term-...

also
Defining ancient Arkadia: symposium, April, 1-4 1998 ... - Google Books Result
books.google.com/books?isbn=8778761603...Thomas Heine Nielsen, James Roy - 1999 - Arcadia (Greece) - 491 pages
were placed the altar and a portico, some of whose architectural fragments are ... of course, is a divinity with theriomorphic characteristics, and this observation ...

Innovative imagery: an analysis of the theriomorphic sculpture of ...
books.google.com/books/about/Innovative_imagery.html?id=N...
Title, Innovative imagery: an analysis of the theriomorphic sculpture of Varāha at Erān. Author, Catherine Marie Becker. Publisher, University of California, ...

Bull (mythology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_(mythology)
2nd Century A.D sculpture of Nandi bull. .... The concept of the theriomorphic god and especially of the bull god, however, may all too easily efface the very ...


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Note added at 4 hrs (2012-02-11 16:40:49 GMT)
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Animals as disguised symbols in Renaissance art - Google Books Result
books.google.com/books?isbn=9004171010...Simona Cohen - 2008 - Art - 316 pages
creature in the late middle Ages and the Renaissance, transformed it into the three-headed serpent/dragon of Apollo, which, like Titian's theriomorphic triad, ...

Hybrid Creatures
www.scribd.com/doc/76932194/47/Hybrid-Creatures
2 Jan 2012 – The theme of ambiguous creatures in Renaissance art, and the ... depicted as a sphinx, with a girl's face and torso, bird's feathers and lion's claws. See ... Gustav Jung regarded the sphinx as 'a theriomorphic representation ...

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Note added at 5 hrs (2012-02-11 17:44:07 GMT)
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Did you check my first two refs?
I think you are referring to a composite moinster or a therioanthropic form . See here for the differences in meaning of the various terms: http://www.superglossary.com/Definition/Literature/Theriomor...

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Note added at 5 hrs (2012-02-11 17:45:53 GMT)
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also see here for the variations:
http://wordquests.info/cgi/ice2-for.cgi?file=/hsphere/local/...

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Note added at 5 hrs (2012-02-11 17:47:03 GMT)
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the last one gives: theriomorph, theriomorphism, theriomorphous, theriomorphic:
1. A representation of an animal form in art.

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Note added at 21 hrs (2012-02-12 09:38:00 GMT)
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Nona - most hybrid forms are the man-animal form, known as the therioanthropomorph see http://www.therianthropes.com/therianthropy.htm
Note from asker:
Thks Lyn for your help, but as far as I could see during my search, 'theriomorphic' refers to 'hybrid creatures' rather than 'shape (morfo/e) http://www.wordreference.com/definizione/-morfo of wild animal (ferino)' http://dizionari.corriere.it/dizionario_italiano/F/ferino.shtml e http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/ferino.aspx?idD=1&Query=ferino&lettera=F So, I'm not sure 'teriomorphic' is the correct term to use.
Hi Fionn thks for your comment but, just for your information, the asked term is NOT an invention.
Peer comment(s):
agree fionn : OK you've persuaded me - perhaps I am splitting hairs with the 'wild' question. This would be accurate in English anyway, regardless of the provenance of the Italian term, if we want to use an equally obscure term for the translation. (See discussion!)
1 hr
This is an accepted archaeological term in English! Therio comes from Greek and Ferino comes from Latin. They mean the same thing// thanks! It was my understanding that the asker wanted a "technical" term, not a translation into layman's language.
agree P.L.F. Persio : you never fail to amaze me!
16 hrs
Thank you kindly!
Something went wrong...
2 days 4 hrs

beast-shaped

It looks like the author simply needed a second way of saying "lion sculpture" without being repetitive and came up with something that is certainly not a widely used term. In art history, the term for animal shapes or motifs that are incorporated into a design is "zoomorphic" but doesn't sound right for lions at the end of a driveway that are simply figurative, representational lion sculptures. I think the sentence works well if you leave out the problematic term but if you want to have fun with it, you could call them "feline guardians" or alternatively, "beast-shaped sculptures" to be closer to the Italian.
Something went wrong...
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