Wake Vocabulary
Finnegans Wake is written in a unique language—English infused with 60+ other languages, portmanteau words, puns, and neologisms. Understanding Joyce's vocabulary is key to reading the Wake.
The Language of the Wake
Joyce didn't write in English. He wrote in Wakese:
"a language so to speak of sheds and stones" (p. 73)
This language is:
- Multilingual: 60–80 languages woven together
- Punning: Every word carries multiple meanings
- Musical: Sound often matters more than sense
- Dreamlike: Words merge and shift like dream images
Why This Language?
Joyce explained his method to his patron Harriet Shaw Weaver:
"One great part of every human existence is passed in a state which cannot be rendered sensible by the use of wideawake language, cutanddry grammar and goahead plot."
The Wake represents dream consciousness—where:
- Meanings overlap
- Words fuse
- Logic dissolves
- Everything connects to everything else
Vocabulary Sections
Portmanteau Words
Words that combine two or more words into one:
- Chaosmos = Chaos + Cosmos
- Funferall = Fun + Funeral
- Fadograph = Faded + Photograph
Key Neologisms
Joyce's invented terms and their meanings:
- Quark (later adopted by physics)
- Monomyth (used by Joseph Campbell)
- Riverrun (the famous opening)
Common Wake Words
Frequently appearing words decoded:
- Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner... (thunder)
- Earwicker (HCE's name)
- Plurabelle (ALP's name)
Language Techniques
1. Portmanteau
Combining words (Lewis Carroll's term from Through the Looking-Glass):
| Portmanteau | Components | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiquetical | Ethical + Etiquette | Morally proper |
| Sinse | Sin + Since + Sense | Guilty knowledge |
| Collideorscape | Collide + Kaleidoscope | Crashing colors |
2. Multilingual Puns
One word sounds like words in multiple languages:
| Word | English | Other Language |
|---|---|---|
| Mishe mishe | "Me, me" | Irish mise (I am) |
| Tauf tauf | Tough | German Taufe (baptism) |
| Annos | Years (Latin annos) | Irish anois (now) |
3. Sound Symbolism
Words that sound like their meaning:
- bababadalgharaghtakammina... — the crash of thunder/fall
- Liffey — the flowing river
- Sniffer — nasal, curious
4. Letter Play
Manipulating letters and spellings:
- HCE hidden in words: "Howth Castle and Environs"
- ALP hidden: "Anna Livia Plurabelle"
- Reversed spellings, anagrams, acrostics
The Multilingual Texture
Joyce embedded dozens of languages:
Primary Languages
| Language | Frequency | Example |
|---|---|---|
| English | Base | Most words |
| Irish/Gaelic | Very high | Mise, Éire, Fianna |
| Latin | High | Religious, legal terms |
| French | High | Belle, rivière, noir |
| German | Medium | Nacht, Vater, Wasser |
| Italian | Medium | Musical terms, Dante |
Other Languages
Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Japanese, Chinese, Swahili, and many more.
River Names (I.8)
The Anna Livia Plurabelle chapter contains 500+ river names from around the world, woven into the prose.
Decoding Strategies
1. Read Aloud
Many puns only work when spoken:
- "Bygmester Finnegan" sounds like "Big Master Finnegan"
- "The fall" sounds like "default"
2. Look for Familiar Roots
Beneath the distortion, English words hide:
- "Hesitency" = Hesitancy (HCE stammers)
- "Collideorscape" = Collide + Kaleidoscope
3. Check Multiple Languages
Use resources like:
- FWEET — Multilingual annotations
- McHugh's Annotations — Page-by-page translations
4. Accept Multiplicity
Words mean many things at once. Don't choose one meaning—hold them all.
Famous Wake Words
Quark
"Three quarks for Muster Mark!" (p. 383)
Murray Gell-Mann named the subatomic particle after this word. In Joyce:
- Quark = German Quark (curd cheese, nonsense)
- Quark = Cry of a gull
- Three quarks = The three children? Three colors?
Monomyth
"the monomyth" (p. 581)
Joseph Campbell borrowed this term for The Hero with a Thousand Faces—the single story underlying all myths.
Chaosmos
"chaosmos" (p. 118)
Umberto Eco wrote a book using this term. Chaos + Cosmos = the ordered disorder of reality.
The Numbers in Words
Joyce embeds numbers in vocabulary:
| Number | Appearance | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "one," "won," "wan" | Unity, HCE |
| 2 | "too," "two," "tu" | Duality, twins |
| 3 | "tree," "trois," "drei" | Trinity, soldiers |
| 4 | "four," "for," "fore" | Evangelists, masters |
| 7 | "seven," "sept" | Rainbow, days |
| 11 | "eleventh" | Renewal |
| 28 | "twentyate" | Issy's girls |
| 100 | In thunderwords | Century |
| 1132 | "Thousandfirst" | Fall number |
Word Families
HCE Words
Words containing or suggesting H-C-E:
- Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
- Here Comes Everybody
- Haveth Childers Everywhere
- Howth Castle and Environs
- Hesitancy, Hiccup, Hence
ALP Words
Words containing or suggesting A-L-P:
- Anna Livia Plurabelle
- A Lovely Person
- Annah the Allmaziful
- Alps (mountains containing rivers)
- Alp (nightmare—German)
Twin Words
Paired or doubled words:
- "Shem and Shaun"
- "Mutt and Jute"
- "Mookse and Gripes"
- "Ondt and Gracehoper"
Resources
Essential References
- Roland McHugh, Annotations to Finnegans Wake (4th ed.) — Page-by-page glosses
- Adaline Glasheen, Third Census of Finnegans Wake — Character/word index
- FWEET — Searchable database
Online Tools
- Finnegansweb — Word searches
- The Encyclopaedia of Encyclopedias — Academic resources
See Also
- Portmanteau Words — Combined words
- Key Neologisms — Invented terms
- Common Wake Words — Frequent vocabulary
- The Language Guide — Reading the Wake's prose