Centinas und Pentinas

Flash-Fiction-Autoren - lassen Sie uns einige neue Begriffe für unsere Micro-Fiction übernehmen

Lieferanten und Liebhaber von Kurzspielfilmen, Mikrofiktionen und Nanofiktionen, es ist Zeit, dem Ruf zu folgen! Hin und wieder muss man sich für das einsetzen, was richtig ist.

Ich habe eine unsterbliche Liebe für Kurzgeschichten, aber es gibt ein paar Begriffe, die weggehen müssen. Falls Sie es nicht wussten, gibt es eine allgemeine Klassifizierung für Kurzgeschichten basierend auf der Wortzahl. Es geht ungefähr so:

Die Sechs- Wörter -Geschichte = 6 Wörter
Twitterature = 280 Zeichen
Dribble (schrecklicher Name) = genau 50 Wörter
Drabble (auch ein schrecklicher Name) = genau 100 Wörter
Postcard Fiction = bis zu 250 Wörter
Sudden Fiction ~ 750 Wörter
Flash Fiction = bis zu 1.000 Wörter
Kurzgeschichte = bis zu 7.500 Wörter
Novelette = 7.500 bis 20.000 Wörter
Novelle = 20.000 bis 50.000 Wörter

I’m good with all of these terms except two: Dribble and Drabble. Those terms are just awful, conjuring images along the spectrum of drivel, boring literature, or drops of urine. “Twitterature” is pretty terrible too, but heck, it’s the internet and we gotta pick and choose our battles. And here’s mine: We need to kick “Dribble” and “Drabble” to the curb, where the other unwanted debris belongs.

The new terms I’m proposing are a little more elegant and classy. Okay — maybe classical is a better description, but I think an enormous improvement. I say we use Pentina for 50-word stories, and Centina for 100-word stories.

The Origins of “Centina” and “Pentina”

Take your brain back to classical literature (Latin and Greek). If you’re naturally good with stems, you’ll recognize the roots of these terms.

The Latin root word “cent” means “one hundred.” Penta is a Greek word, carrying the meaning “five.” We are going to fudge a little bit on the Greek and stretch its meaning to fifty. Before you get all fussy about that, just know the Bible does it. Remember “Pentacost?” That was fifty days after Passover.

What about the -ina part, you may ask? This is where Wiktionary helps us out. It’s a rather interesting suffix, and there’s at least three meanings that line up with our use of the term:

1. Alterative suffix used to form diminutives of feminine nouns.‎ Example: Mano (“hand”) + ‎-ina → ‎manina (“small hand”)‎.
2. Used to form collective numerals.‎ Example: Cinquanta (“fifty”) + ‎-ina → ‎cinquantina (“a total of about fifty”).
3. Used to derive adjectives denoting composition, color or other qualities.‎ Example: Smeraldo (“emerald”) + ‎-ina → ‎smeraldina (“emerald attributive”).

A New Publication

With the loss of several unique Medium publications, many 50 and 100-word stories are sitting stagnant, like sheep without a shepherd. We know there’s also a lot of amazing microfiction authors on this platform that are looking for a place to publish these tiny pieces. So, Bill Adler and I decided to create Centina Pentina in order to give your 50 and 100-word stories a home!

Don’t know what to write about? Have some weekly prompts as part of your complete breakfast. Also, we have featured columns where we pick our favorite prompted stories of the week. So go ahead and submit that Centina or Pentina that’s been burning the edges of your fingertips. We can’t wait to read your stories!