WORD FOR THE DAY

Your word for today is: orature, n.

orature, n.

[‘A body of poetry, tales, etc., preserved through oral transmission as part of a particular culture, esp. a preliterate one.’]

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈɒrətʃə/, /ˈɔːrətʃə/,  U.S. /ˈɔrətʃər/, /ˈɔrəˌtʃʊ(ə)r/, /ˈɔrəˌt(j)ʊ(ə)r/
 
Etymology:Blend of oral adj. and literature n.
 
  A body of poetry, tales, etc., preserved through oral transmission as part of a particular culture, esp. a preliterate one.
 
1976  J W. Ward in Jrnl. Black Stud. 7 201 Societies where ‘orature’ not ‘literature’, where speech not writing is the primary medium of communication.
 
1983  T. McArthur Found. Course Lang. Teachers 41 Like the ancient Hindus, the Greeks had vast and complex oral heritages that might more accurately be called their ‘orature’, since the other term [sc. literature] implies letters and literacy.
 
1990 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Sept. 981/2 Almost no attention is paid to the mass of black writing and orature which is burgeoning in Britain at the moment.
 
2001 Res. Afr. Lit. (Nexis) 32 167 The volume essentially examines the potential of an African children's literature and orature to reflect and question the realities that the child is confronted with.

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