Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2015 October 12

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October 12

Word for personification of abstract concept?

Is there a more specific term than 'personification' when referring to individuals that are symbols of abstract concepts? I thought that word was psychopomp, but that only refers to characters that serve as bridges from life to death, such as the grim reaper (obviously one of the more famous examples of what I'm talking about). It's a common enough occurrence in myths and comics, so I'm assuming there's a name for the concept. 99.235.223.170 (talk) 13:19, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Just to be clear, the abstract concepts I'm talking about are things like love, death, time, etc. They all have those personifications (Cupid, The Grim Reaper, and Father Time, respectively); I'm wondering that those personifications are collectively called. 99.235.223.170 (talk) 13:23, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

For the particular examples you cite, the slightly elaborated term Anthropomorphic personification is widely used, but this would obviously exclude non-anthropomorphic cases. (The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195) 185.74.232.130 (talk) 13:33, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Allegory may also fit your description. — Kpalion^(talk) 13:45, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

The Grim Reaper could be called an avatar of death. Maybe also a manifestation or instantiation SemanticMantis (talk) 14:56, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Cupid, The Grim Reaper, Father Time and suchlike personifications could be referred to as figures of speech, perhaps more specifically as metaphors. Akld guy (talk) 19:22, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions/thoughts. "Avatar" is an interesting one; on the face of it, it's a pretty unrelated concept, but the word has had its meaning expanded a lot. 99.235.223.170 (talk) 14:09, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

I was looking at the article Poster child. In it I find terms like "embodiment" and Archetype, which has its own good "See also" section. Bus stop (talk) 14:32, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

Pre-Latin Basque writing

What writing system or alphabet did Basque language use before the arrival and spread of Latin alphabet and when approximately this language adopted the Latin script? Thanks.--93.174.25.12 (talk) 19:42, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

You'll find some information at Aquitanian language (that's the ancient language that's commonly assumed to represent the ancestor of modern Basque or a close relative to it), and at Vascones#Language and writing. Apparently the oldest written evidence of it is in fact via Latin, so it appears they didn't have any writing before that. Some other peoples in the Hispanic peninsula did have early writing though, see Paleohispanic scripts. Fut.Perf. ☼ 19:55, 12 October 2015 (UTC)