The Joy of Noun-Verbs
by Patricia Wellingham-Jones
Published in Writers Forum, July 2005
Warning: If you are the slightest bit obsessive-compulsive, be wary—noun-verbs will hook you fast!
What is a noun-verb? Noun-verbs are words that show the action, and label it too. They are usually one syllable (although that’s not a rule, many have multiple syllables), and contain great power. They are active, great to use in your writing to give it “oomph.” These words can always be used in two ways, often more.
For example, look at the word “spring.” This noun-verb shows you the act of sudden leaping forward and is the name of a device that does just that, absorbs shock and pushes an object up or ahead. However, “spring” as a verb is also a line of descent or birth, release from prison, the warping of wood, paying for lunch. As a noun, it includes the ability to recoil or retain shape, a season of the year, water emerging from underground, the name of an ocean tide, partial name of an herb or animal (spring beauty, spring-bok), not to mention being an adjective as well as noun and verb.
How to test for whether a word is a noun-verb or not: Apply “to” and “the” in front of it. If both uses make sense, you’ve got a noun-verb.
To illustrate and give a partial list, I include two poems written right after getting hooked myself (thanks to Susan Wooldridge who wrote poemcrazy: freeing your life with words and gave the workshop that started my new addiction).
Spring Hail*
Out of the ice storm
a hummingbird plummets
Lights on my upraised finger
that pillar of heat
I feel the thump of its heart
My arm grows weary
under the fragile weight
of its wings
Noun-verbs in the above poem:
arm
feel
finger
hail
heat
ice
light
spring
storm
thump
wing
Susan and the Noun-Verb
for Susan Wooldridge
Doggone it
You showed me
at this late date
in my life
that I’ve missed something
in my word-play
Now I’ll never be free
(as you aren’t free) of that
obsessive
compulsive
fascinating
collecting
of noun-verbs
Those lovely words
that show action
and label that action
at the same time
As we head into eternity
we’ll both be singing our lists
of delicious
words
Now you go out and start collecting your own lists of these wonderful words. Stud your writing with them. You’ll be surprised and delighted at how much stronger it becomes.
*First published in Brevities, July 2005
END
Former psychology researcher, writer, editor, lecturer Patricia Wellingham-Jones has most recently been published in Tiger’s Eye, Möbius, Liberty Hill Poetry Review, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly and Niederngasse. She won the Reuben Rose International Poetry Prize (Israel) in 2003.
