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graph

ɡræf

A photo and a sales curve are both a scratched mark

The picture Something sharp drags across a surface and leaves a mark that stays. Only the tool and the surface change. graph is a mark scratched in; phon is sound travelling through air.

Word roots

Where the picture shows up in graph

  1. Writing in one block

    Read the second paragraph before you sign.

    riːd ðə ˈsekənd ˈpærəɡræf bɪˈfɔːr juː saɪn

    Read the second paragraph before you sign.

    Several lines scratched onto blank paper, sitting together as one block.

    para(beside) + graph(written) = writing bundled into a block that stands beside the rest.

  2. A mark left by light

    Bring a photograph for the ID card.

    brɪŋ ə ˈfoʊtəɡræf fɔːr ðə ˌaɪˈdiː kɑːrd

    Bring a photograph for the ID card.

    Light coming through the lens scratching the shape of a face onto film.

    photo means light — a mark drawn by light.

  3. A line left by numbers

    The graph shows sales going up.

    ðə ɡræf ʃoʊz seɪlz ˈɡoʊɪŋ ʌp

    The graph shows sales going up.

    Each month's number set down as a dot, then one line dragged through the dots and climbing up the page.

  4. Working with marks

    She works as a graphic designer.

    ʃiː wɜːrks æz ə ˈɡræfɪk dɪˈzaɪnər

    She works as a graphic designer.

    A hand moving lines and letterforms around on a screen until they sit right.

  5. A mark made with care

    The shop does calligraphy on the cards.

    ðə ʃɑːp dʌz kəˈlɪɡrəfi ɑːn ðə kɑːrdz

    The shop does calligraphy on the cards.

    A brush tip moving slowly, leaving a stroke that swells thick and thins out.

    calli means beautiful — a beautifully scratched mark.

All of it in one picture

graph is one hand leaving a mark on a surface. Scratch lines of letters into a block and you get a paragraph; let light scratch a film and you get a photograph. Numbers dragging a line across paper make a graph, working with those marks themselves is graphic design, and a brush taking its time over the stroke is calligraphy. So when a graph word appears, ask what scratched what.

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