Not what I was expecting, given one prominent poster...


-----Original Message-----
From: Wordsmith [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 12:03 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--alexia


alexia (uh-LEK-see-uh) noun

  A neurological disorder marked by the loss of ability to read words.
  Also called word blindness.

[From Latin a- (not) + Greek lexis (speech), from legein (to speak), confused with Latin legere (to read) + Latin -ia (disease). Ultimately from Indo-European root leg- (to collect) that resulted in other derivatives such as lexicon, legal, dialogue, lecture, logic, legend, logarithm, intelligent, diligent, sacrilege, elect, and loyal.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=alexia

 "Unlike Bill, who has pure alexia, people with partial alexias recognize    letters but can read only certain types of words. They may read concrete   nouns such as 'inn,' but cannot decipher more abstract words such as the   preposition 'in.'"
  Lauran Neergaard; Stroke Victims Relearn to Read; Seattle Times;   Jul 6, 2004.

 "Experiments like those in St. Louis show for the first time that alexia   is the result of damage to the part of the brain that recognizes words   by determining whether they conform to the rules of spelling."
  Jerry E. Bishop; Mapping the Mind; The Wall Street Journal (New York);   Oct 12, 1993.