By Julia Alvarez. 309 pp. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. $18.95. he had four girls. Enough said.'' Those are the words that the mother of the Garcia sisters, introduced in Julia Alvarez's acclaimed novel ''How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,'' wants inscribed on her tombstone.y Julia Alvarez. 309 pp. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. $18.95. he had four girls. Enough said.'' Those are the words that the mother of the Garcia sisters, introduced in Julia Alvarez's acclaimed novel ''How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,'' wants inscribed on her tombstone.
The Lxx translates it with the Greek verb sozo, which means to rescue one from peril, danger or suffering, to protect from loss or destruction, to heal, to make whole, to keep alive, to preserve life (physical but especially spiritual - compare Ps 6:4, Ps 86:2).
Somatic is a fancy word that just means dealing with the body. You may be tired of hearing your great-grandfather's somatic complaints, but give him a break - his body has been working for 80 years! Soma means body in Latin, so somatic means of the body and is most often used in connection with one's health. You may be more familiar with the related word, psychosomatic, which describes a physical condition or illness caused by the mind rather than a virus or a sprain.