The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera
The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera
Lisa Lim
Opinion

Opinion

Language Matters by Lisa Lim

The earthly, Persian origins of the word ‘paradise’, and where to find it in isolation

  • Its genesis – pairaida za, meaning enclosure – referred to the gardens, arbours and orchards of the Zoroastrian religion
  • Over time, the word has evolved and expanded in meaning, but it continues to conjure images of peace and tranquillity

Lisa Lim
Lisa Lim

Updated: 5:33am, 25 May, 2020

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The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera
The desire for isolation desired during the COVIDovid-19 crisis is a pertinent reminder that paradise might reside be found as much in the walls that surround it as in the garden within. Illustration: Mario Riviera
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Lisa Lim

Lisa Lim

Lisa Lim has worked in Singapore, Britain, Amsterdam and Sri Lanka, and until June 2018 was Associate Professor and Head of the School of English at the University of Hong Kong, where she still holds an Honorary position. She now is Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. She is co-editor of the journal Language Ecology, founder of the website linguisticminorities.hk, and co-author of Languages in Contact (Cambridge University Press, 2016).