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People are decapitated, because they're the direct object of "decapitation" – the verb describing the removal of the head from the body. I disagree that "we mo
by GavinMcG 9y ago
People are decapitated, because they're the direct object of "decapitation" – the verb describing the removal of the head from the body.
I disagree that "we mostly consider the head when talking about people". We might mostly consider the face when talking about identity, but what specifically we consider in a person is context-dependent.
Also, "decorporation" would indeed suggest the removal of the body – but from what? "Decapitation" makes sense because the head is a part of the body. "Decorporation" would require the body to be removed from a larger whole, if it's to follow the same latinate prefix pattern.
- gumby 9y agoIndeed, to remove the body from the important part — the head. Likewise a “head transplant” always seems like a weird thing to discuss. It’s really (from my PoV) a “body transplant.” Unless you’d be happy receiving a head transplant from me :-)
- hateduser2 9y agoThe head is the larger whole just not physically. Conceptually.
- falsprofet 9y agoHistorically the soul was seen sitting in the heart or the diaphragm, the chest basically, as far as I know. Because the torso exhibits features looking like a face (nipples as eyes and so on) which works to scare animals, at least. Therefore, as far as there is a concept, its should be stronly tied to the torso, from a developmental perspective. Decapitation is a rather archaic practice, anyway.
- gumby 9y agoOK, I reconsidered slightly my response to you (but can’t edit any more). The construct “a decapitated body” doesn’t sound odd to me, but “He was decapitated” does sound odd.