2020-11-09 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด M - motive & motif & incentive

Revision M-Q

2020-11-09

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด M - motive & motif & incentive

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Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง motive = ‘MOH-tiv’

ออกเสียง motif = ‘moh-TEEF’

ออกเสียง incentive = ‘in-SEN-tiv’

Dictionary.com

SYNONYM STUDY FOR MOTIVE

Motive, incentive, inducement apply towhatever moves one to action.

Motive is, literally, something that movesa person; an inducement, something that leads a person on;

an incentive, something that inspiresa person.

Motive is applied mainly to an inner urge that moves or prompts a person to action,

though it may also apply to a contemplated result,

the desire for which moves the person:

His motive was a wish to be helpful.

Inducement is never applied to an inner urge, and seldom to a goal:

The pleasure of wielding authority may be an inducement to get ahead.

It is used mainly of opportunities offered by the acceptance of certain conditions,

whether these are offered by a second person or by the factors of the situation:

The salary offered me was a great inducement.

Incentive was once used of anything inspiring or stimulating the emotions or imagination: incentives to piety;

it has retained of this its emotional connotations,

but (rather like inducement) is todayapplied only to

something offered as a reward, and offered particularly to stimulate competitive activity: to create incentives for higher achievement.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Choose the Right Synonym for motive

Noun

MOTIVE, IMPULSE, INCENTIVE, INDUCEMENT, SPUR, GOAD

mean a stimulus to action.

MOTIVE implies an emotion or desire operating on the will and causing it to act. a motive for the crime

IMPULSE suggests a driving power arising from personal temperament or constitution. buying on impulse

INCENTIVE applies to an external influence (such as an expected reward) inciting to action. a bonus was offered as an incentive

INDUCEMENT suggests a motive prompted by the deliberate enticements or allurements of another. offered a watch as an inducement to subscribe

SPUR applies to a motive that stimulates the faculties or increases energy or ardor. fear was a spur to action

GOAD suggests a motive that keeps one going against one's will or desire. thought insecurity a goad to worker efficiency

Choose the Right Synonym for incentive

MOTIVE, IMPULSE, INCENTIVE, INDUCEMENT, SPUR, GOAD

mean a stimulus to action.

MOTIVE implies an emotion or desire operating on the will and causing it to act. a motive for the crime

IMPULSE suggests a driving power arising from personal temperament or constitution. buying on impulse

INCENTIVE applies to an external influence (such as an expected reward) inciting to action. a bonus was offered as an incentive

INDUCEMENT suggests a motive prompted by the deliberate enticements or allurements of another. offered a watch as an inducement to subscribe

SPUR applies to a motive that stimulates the faculties or increases energy or ardor. fear was a spur to action

GOAD suggests a motive that keeps one going against one's will or desire. thought insecurity a goad to worker efficiency

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

What exactly is a motif?

And how is it different from a leitmotif?

In works of art, a motif is an important and noticeable element

or feature that typically appears throughout the work.

It can relate to the theme, or it can be the dominant or central idea itself.

Concepts like betrayal and forgiveness can be motifs,

for example, but so can particular images and sounds,

such as trees or bells.

Motif is also commonly applied in design,

where it typically refers to a single or repeated pattern or color.

A piece of fabric might have a floral motif;

a room may have a black and white motif.

Motif can also appear in scientific contexts,

especially in biochemistry, where it refers to a distinctive molecular sequence or structural element that is usually recurrent.

Leitmotif (also and formerly more commonly spelled leitmotiv)

has its origins in opera, and is especially associated with Wagnerian opera. The word is from the German words leit and Motif, which translate respectively as "leading" and "motive." In opera, a leitmotif is a recurring melody that accompanies the reappearance of an idea, person, or situation. The term is now applied in other kinds of music, sometimes with a meaning very close to the original: "The Imperial March" that is heard in the Star Wars film franchise whenever Darth Vader appears on screen, for example, is a modern example of leitmotif.

Leitmotif also has extended usethat treads the same territory as motif.

It's not a common word,

but when it is applied it often refers to a dominant recurring theme,

as when an image consistently used in an artist's works is described as a leitmotif.

Note that some people object when leitmotif is modified by a word like main or dominant, on the grounds that since German leit means "leading" the phrase is redundant.

English speakers using leitmotif in English, however, may choose to ignore the objection since leit does not mean "leading" in English.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Words at Play

'Motif' vs 'Leitmotif'

Don't repeat the same usage mistakes.

In the arts, the noun motif refers to a recurring thematic element.

It can be a recurring pattern, such as part of a fabric design:

The zombie is draped in a thin white cotton sheet printed with a pink rose motif.

He sits in a crudely constructed wooden chair.

Hamilton Morris, Harper's, November 2011

It also occurs in architecture:

Siegel used Japanese grillage, with its orderly timber latticework as a unifying motif throughout the apartment. Not merely decorative, the crisscrossing slats and fins variously filter light and provide privacy.
Rob Haskell, Architectural Digest, August 2013

Motif can also appear in scientificcontexts,

to refer to patterns in gene sequencing, among other things:

These studies measured the average binding affinity of every possible eight-letter DNA motif for a sample of regulatory proteins from five organisms—human, mouse, fruit fly, worm, and yeast.
Mark Buchanan, Physics.com, 14 Oct. 2016

In broader use, motif can mean simply "theme":

In retrospect, it is now clear that the alien invasion motif in 1950s science fiction movies reflected the Cold War atmosphere of the period.
Paul A. Cantor, Gilligan Unbound, 2001

Apart from giving us a great deal of new information on the Holloways, Ricketts argues very convincingly for a motif of abandonment in much of Kipling's writing, including the Jungle Books, Kim and Captains Courageous.
Elizabeth Lowry, The Times Literary Supplement, 19 Feb 1999

Leitmotif is a term originating fromopera, where it referred to a recurring melody that played along with a character or allusion to a theme whenever one or the other appeared on stage.

Once more commonly spelled leitmotiv, it derives from the German words for "leading" (leit) and "motive" (Motif).

One of the earliest and most renowned composers to utilize the concept of leitmotif was the German Richard Wagner (1813-1883), known for his Ring Cycle of operas, though the concept was more of a subject for his critics than Wagner himself. (Wagner tended to prefer the German noun Hauptmotiv, or "principal motif," to Leitmotiv).

A modern example of leitmotif occurs in the Star Wars film franchise, such as when "The Imperial March" plays whenever Darth Vader appears on screen.

Like motif, leitmotif sees its own expanded use to mean "a recurring theme":

Conspiracies are a leitmotif of talk radio, even its organizing principle--the bond that unites millions of voters, each in a separate car, driving and listening and, from time to time, pounding the steering wheel in frustration.
James Ridgeway, The Village Voice, 14 June 1994

Ms. Silverthorne suggests in "Sojourner at Cross Creek" that a leitmotif of Rawlings's life was betrayal or the fear of it, an anxiety that developed following the end of her first marriage, in 1933, and lasting the rest of her life.
Jerome Griswold, The New York Times Book Review, 20 Nov. 1988

This use eliminates the distinction between motif and leitmotif, rendering them practically synonymous. Going further, there are even examples of critics prefacing leitmotif with a modifier that functions essentially as the Leit half of the word functioned in the German:

She winds up waiting tables, and that, along with the dishwashing, establishes the book's main leitmotif: time and again she is drawn-pulled, really-back to the world of food and hospitality.
Frank Bruni, The New York Times Book Review, 23 Mar. 2011

So if you want to describe the never-ending parade of parrots on your new apartment's wallpaper, go with motif. And, aesthetics aside, be grateful that you've left the leitmotifs of your old neighbor's blaring Star Wars soundtrack behind.

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression

motive & motif & incentive

A motive is a desire, need, or emotion

that prompts or causes a person to act in a certain way;

it is an inner urge that produces an act,

but it also applied to the result of action:

“Jeb’s motive was to get even with those who had not helped him.”

“Fear was his motive in trying to escape.”

An incentive is something offered as a reward or prize,

especially one proffered to spur competition:

“Profit sharing is an incentive for every employee in this company.”

Motif comes from the same French word as motive,

but it mean

(1) “a dominant idea or feature,

(2) “a recurring subject or theme in an artistic work.” And

(3) “a distinctive form or shape in a design”:

“Isn’t the profit motif the principal guide in every business?”

“The motif of Verdi’s Rigoletto differs from that of his “Il trovatore.”

“I like the motif of this wallpaper.”

Words allied in meaning to motive andincentive

are stimulus, spur, inducement, incitement, impulse, goad, prod, and encouragement.