Both versions of the name are in current use; individuals sometimes express strong opinions concerning which version is correct.[23]. [27]:486, The Dutch word for "hammock" is hangmat. For incorrect popular etymologies, see, "The meaning and origin of the expression: 'Curry favour, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Folk_etymology&oldid=988180238, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2017, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from February 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 11 November 2020, at 16:20. The english cowpath: etymology & folk etymology. Brooke's derivation of machete from Spanish " macho " (=" male ") is a folk etymology: the two words are unconnected. According to folk etymology, village's name is derived from "supiltas" (from pour) in reference to a nearby hill fort. This gravitational pull toward a familiar or logical spelling or sound is called folk etymology, defined as “the transformation of words so as to give them an apparent relationship to better-known or better-understood words.” For example, when asparagus was introduced in England in the 16th century, its Latinate name was often rendered as sparagrass, which quickly became sparrowgrass, a compound of two English words that had nothing to do with either the actual plant or the original word. Delivered to your inbox! More recent translations of this passage make the meaning more clear, if less poetic: “I will make him a helper suitable for him,” but it seems that the combination of a frequently read Biblical quotation with an infrequently heard adjectival use of meet was the root of the noun helpmeet meaning either “a companion and helper” or “wife,” which came into English in the 1600s. causeway was modified from obsolete causey (French causée) to assimilate it with way. The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or otherwise unfamiliar word is reanalyzed as resembling more familiar words or morphemes. The spelling of many borrowed words reflects folk etymology. One of the great philosophical debates of our time can be rendered moot once and for all by etymology: woodchucks were not named for a putative ability to toss lumber. [citation needed] The variant spelling of licorice as liquorice comes from the supposition that it has something to do with liquid. Cockroaches are among the most primitive flying insects and among the oldest—fossils of cockroaches date back 320 million years. The original meaning of hangnail referred to a corn on the foot. In 1785 Francis Grose suggested in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue that the dish is "a Welch rare bit",[22] though the word rarebit was not common prior to Grose's dictionary. When a word or other form becomes obsolete, words or phrases containing the obsolete portion may be reanalyzed and changed. [38], In Turkey, the political Democratic Party changed its logo in 2007 to a white horse in front of a red background because many voters folk-etymologized its Turkish name Demokrat as demir kırat ("iron white-horse"). The -pool in cesspool, therefore, was a change made to a logical, more English-sounding, but unrelated syllable. What it might mean: If you think that words should describe what they represent, then this is a great etymology. [32] Thereafter, the word came to be used for a tag of skin or torn cuticle near a fingernail or toenail. In back-formation a new word is created, often by removing elements thought to be affixes. Hist) In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. Along came folk etymology and, voila! The word island derives from Old English igland. gig: A frog gig was originally known as a fishgig, which is the result of folk etymology operating over Spanish fisga "harpoon". Set your young readers up for lifelong success. Quick Reference. There are many examples of words borrowed from foreign languages, and subsequently changed by folk etymology. [2][3][4] The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or otherwise unfamiliar word is reanalyzed as resembling more familiar words or morphemes. [31], Several words in Medieval Latin were subject to folk etymology. Folk etymology | define folk etymology at dictionary. Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete. Neither of the two parts of hangnail are what they seem. Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete. The earliest known reference to the dish in 1725 called it Welsh rabbit. Folk etymology or reanalysis – sometimes called pseudo-etymology, popular etymology, or analogical reformation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. Folk etymologies result from mishearing, mispronunciation, misunderstanding, and a desire to rationalize words that make no sense to the speaker. Example: "Bryd-guman" from Old English was changed to bridegroom as the Old English word guma (man) was obsolete. 2 A popular misconception about the origin of a word. Likewise chaise lounge, from the original French chaise longue ("long chair"), has come to be associated with the word lounge.[10]. [citation needed] The songbird wheatear or white-ear is a back-formation from Middle English whit-ers "white arse", referring to the prominent white rump found in most species. Dialectal liofante "elephant" was likewise altered from elefante by association with lione. But English speakers heard cock (“rooster”) and roach, which did not yet refer to insects as it commonly does today, but to a kind of fish. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. [25] In a similar way, the spelling of wormwood was likely affected by comparison with wood. Definition of Folk-speech in the Fine Dictionary. No one wants to think very long about either literal or figurative cesspools, but a few moments contemplating the word’s etymology shouldn’t smell too bad. Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete. “Etymology is the Folk etymology or reanalysis – sometimes called popular etymology, analogical reformation, or etymological reinterpretation[1] – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. But the word cockroach only dates back a few hundred years—a split second in geological time—to the early 1600s, when the Spanish word cucaracha was borrowed into English. co m-. ‘So there were lots of these sort of folk etymologies.’ ‘Such folk etymologies are common, but worth verifying.’ ‘I suspect that the spelling was a folk etymology, an eggcorn, that replaced the unfamiliar element linch with the familiar word lynch.’ 1 An alteration in the form of a word through the influence of a more familiar word or words that people associate with it, as in sparrow-grass for asparagus. But confusion with English hope has given the term an additional meaning of "hopeless venture". Crawfish is a variant of crayfish that dates to the 1600s. Crayfish is the name used for small crustaceans that look like little lobsters without the big front claws. [6] Reanalysis of a word's history or original form can affect its spelling, pronunciation, or meaning. [20], A seemingly plausible but no less speculative etymology accounts for the form of Welsh rarebit, a dish made of cheese and toasted bread. folk etymology. Whistleblower changes tune, again, president-elect [15], Reanalysis of loan words can affect their spelling, pronunciation, or meaning. [33][27]:157 Similarly, the word baceler or bacheler (related to modern English bachelor) referred to a junior knight. Language is a habit. Folk etymology | definition in the cambridge english dictionary. Learn a new word every day. Etymology: Many words in the English language derive from words that were first used in other languages. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! This process is also sometimes called corruption, defined as “change in form often consisting of substitution of the familiar for the unfamiliar or adaptation to the sound system of a language.”. Woodchuck is a North American word from the Algonquian family of languages for this rodent, officially classified as a marmot and unofficially called a groundhog . One of the main sources of loanwords is Latin. The word cockroach, for example, was borrowed from Spanish cucaracha but was assimilated to the existing English words cock and roach. For example, the Old French word orenge ("orange tree") comes from Arabic النرنج‎ an nāranj ("the orange tree"), with the initial n of nāranj understood as part of the article. The spelling cesperalle was used in the 1600s, and seems to have been a variation of suspiral, the Middle English word meaning “vent,” “tap on a main pipe,” or, somewhat euphemistically, “settling pool.” Suspiral in turn came from the French word for “vent,” suspirale, derived from the verb suspirer meaning “to sigh” or “to exhale.” The modern French word soupirer means “to sigh,” and the rare but poetic English word suspire has the same meaning. The phrase was reanalyzed in early Modern English by comparison to favour as early as 1510. [5] Until academic linguists developed comparative philology and described the laws underlying sound changes, the derivation of words was a matter mostly of guess-work. It Dictionaries suggest that in linguistics, folk etymology is a false notion and association, due to colloquial forms of words. Examples include bridegroom from Old English brydguma "bride-man". a process by which a word is changed, for example because people believe that it is related to another word, even though it is not, or to make a foreign word sound more familiar The word reveals much about its time, since the popularity of the lute was at its peak during the Baroque era. Folk etymology: from hiccup to hiccough | sentence first. The names of the serviceberry, service tree, and related plants, for instance, come from the Latin name sorbus. [31] The word comes from Old English ang- + nægel ("anguished nail" or "compressed spike"), but the spelling and pronunciation were affected by folk etymology in the seventeenth century or earlier. The word gome "man" from Old English guma fell out of use during the sixteenth century and the compound was eventually reanalyzed with the Modern English word groom "male servant". [16] The phrase forlorn hope originally meant "storming party, body of skirmishers"[17] from Dutch verloren hoop "lost troop". The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or otherwise unfamiliar word is reanalyzed as resembling more familiar words or morphemes. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? The Algonquian language Massachusett had the word musquash—later borrowed into English—but the essential rodentness of the animal caused the second syllable to be interpolated as rat, combined with musk, a word associated with mammals and their smell that had been used for centuries by the time muskrat was coined. a popular but wrong belief about the origin of a word or phrase. Since crustaceans live in the water, the -fish of crayfish is logical—but has nothing to do with the word’s origin. chaise lounge from French chaise longue "long chair". An example I discovered just this year, because of Quora, is the Greek for toyboy or twink, teknó. Words that are affected by folk etymology are mostly morphologicall y complex, i.e. In linguistic change caused by folk etymology, the form of a word changes so that it better matches its popular rationalisation.Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete.. Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete. [9], Believing a word to have a certain origin, people begin to pronounce, spell, or otherwise use the word in a manner appropriate to that perceived origin. The word meet is very common as both a noun and a verb, but there is also an adjective meet, meaning “suitable” or “appropriate,” as in “it seems like a meet solution.” It is now rarely used and somewhat old-fashioned, but a famous passage in the King James Bible used this adjective: And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.—Genesis 2:18, Obviously, this use of help as a noun is unusual to modern ears. [35], The Italian word liocorno "unicorn" derives from 13th-century lunicorno (lo "the" + unicorno "unicorn"). By the late Middle Ages its meaning was extended to the holder of a university degree inferior to master or doctor. Examples in English include crayfish or crawfish, which are not historically related to fish but come from Middle English crevis, cognate with French écrevisse. Several decades later, helpmate appeared as a more logical synonym, since mate can mean either “friend” or “a member of a married couple.”. folk (n.) Old English folc "common people, laity; men; people, nation, tribe; multitude; troop, army," from Proto-Germanic *fulka-(source also of Old Saxon folc, Old Frisian folk, Middle Dutch volc, Dutch volk, Old High German folc, German Volk "people"). Like so many fashions and styles of artistic expression in Europe back then, the word had its origins in Italy: the word lustrino was the name for the glossy fabric used for clothing (its Latin root word gave English the word luster). The Folk Etymology: Since a hangnail is a bit of dry skin hanging off the side of your finger around the nail, it made sense to call it what it was, and hence its name. Chaise lounge, for example, was borrowed from French (chaise longue "long chair"). The word shamefaced was originally shamefast. Over time, it is fixed in the classical language used to create literature. geoduck. Language changes, but cockroaches are forever. By Folk-etymology is meant the influence exercised upon words, both as to their form and meaning, by the popular use and misuse of them. Woodchuck is a North American word from the Algonquian family of languages for this rodent, officially classified as a marmot and unofficially called a groundhog. Typically this happens either to unanalyzable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete. Förstemann noted that in addition to scientific etymology based on careful study in philology, there exist scholarly but often unsystematic accounts, as well as popular accounts for the history of linguistic forms. 1882; see folk (n.) + etymology. The cuca- of cucaracha is the Spanish word for “butterfly caterpillar,” which presumably the bug resembles in some way. [29] Although both white and arse are common in Modern English, the folk etymology may be euphemism. More often reworked, borrowed words are reinterpreted. [36], Islambol, a folk etymology meaning "full of Islam", is one of the names of Istanbul used after the Ottoman conquest of 1453. Examples of words modified by folk etymology In linguistic change caused by folk etymology, the form of a word changes so that it better matches its popular rationalisation. The English word is a translation of the German term Volksetymologie, coined by Ernst Förstemann. [14] Anglo-Norman licoris (influenced by licor "liquor") and Late Latin liquirītia were respelled for similar reasons, though the ultimate origin of all three is Greek γλυκύρριζα (glycyrrhiza) "sweet root". [30], Reanalysis of archaic or obsolete forms can lead to changes in meaning as well. This was later re-spelled baccalaureus, probably reflecting a false derivation from bacca laurea "laurel berry", alluding to the possible laurel crown of a poet or conqueror. Our Word of the Year 'pandemic,' plus 11 more. [11] Rebracketing in the opposite direction saw the Middle English a napron become an apron. Com. Today it is sometimes factorized as sad (hundred) + ranj (worry / mood), or "a hundred worries". Let’s look as some common and surprising examples of this phenomenon. Folk etymology or reanalysis – sometimes called pseudo-etymology, popular etymology, analogical reformation, or etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one. Folk Etymology refers to the changing of a word or a phrase over time which results from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one 20 examples of folk etymology words. For example, penthouse is derived from the Old French apentiz, meaning roughly, 'that which is appended to', but English speakers reinterpreted the word to include the English house, since a penthouse is a place where someone lives. In linguistic change caused by folk etymology, the form of a word changes so that it better matches its popular rationalisation. But language, much to the chagrin of us all, is not logical. [13] Other Old French loans altered in a similar manner include belfry (from berfrey) by association with bell, female (from femelle) by male, and penthouse (from apentis) by house. The original meaning of fast "fixed in place" still exists, as in the compounded words steadfast and colorfast, but by itself mainly in frozen expressions such as stuck fast, hold fast, and play fast and loose. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? One of the great philosophical debates of our time can be rendered moot once and for all by etymology: woodchucks were not named for a putative ability to toss lumber. These are: a) Word structure, word length, word category. Etymology is not a rhetorical or literary device. Examples of Type A (foreign words): More rarely, such transformations are subjected to their own. It comes from the Middle English word spelled agnail or angnail, itself from the Old English word angnægl, meaning “corn on the foot.” Ang- or ag- meant “painful,” related to the root of anger, enge. Check out words from the year you were born and more! Rebracketing is a process of language change in which parts of a word that appear to be meaningful (such as *ham in hamburger) are mistaken as elements of the word's etymology (in this case, the word ham). There are many examples of folk etymology in common English words and phrases. English speakers altered the Italian to lutestring, which conveyed the both the fineness of the material and the value of aesthetic beauty important to both music and fashion. Apparently cockroach is a folk etymology mangling of cucaracha, and Algonquin otchek became woodchuck. It was borrowed from Spanish hamaca (ultimately from Arawak amàca) and altered by comparison with hangen and mat, "hanging mat". We get so used to familiar sounds and words that unfamiliar ones are sometimes bent and twisted to make them seem logical to our ears. Crayfish is an altered form of the Middle English word crevis, which derived from the Anglo-French word creveis, which had the stress on the second syllable. [5] Folk etymology is a productive process in historical linguistics, language change, and social interaction. German Hängematte shares this folk etymology. Folk etymological changes usually affect borrowings and old compounds whose morphological constituents have become obscure throughout of time. For example, andiron borrowed from Old French was variously spelled aundyre or aundiren in Middle English, but was altered by association with iron. Folk etymology based on lione "lion" altered the spelling and pronunciation. Pronunciation of Folk-speech and its etymology. Meaning of Folk-speech with illustrations and photos. Join us on an excursion into the world of eight common words' delightfully convoluted backstories. Object found in Utah desert, recant Speculation about the original form of words in turn feeds back into the development of the word and thus becomes a part of a new etymology. Examples of Words Modified By Folk Etymology. This is frequently seen in relation to loanwords or words that have become archaic or obsolete. This syllable was heard and repeated as -fish frequently enough to alter the word toward the more English-sounding name. "Examples: Algonquian otchek 'a groundhog' became by folk etymology woodchuck; Spanish cucaracha became by folk etymology cockroach." [34][27]:17–18, In the fourteenth or fifteenth century, French scholars began to spell the verb savoir ("to know") as sçavoir on the false belief it was derived from Latin scire "to know". Examples of words modified by folk etymology. [24] A similar reanalysis caused sandblind, from Old English sāmblind "half-blind" with a once-common prefix sām- "semi-", to be respelled as though it is related to sand. Folk People in general, or a separate class of people; -- generally used in the plural form, and often with a qualifying adjective; as, the old folks; poor folks. The modern spelling with the letter s is the result of comparison with the synonym isle from Old French and ultimately Latin insula, though the Old French and Old English words are not historically related. Roach has been used as a synonym for cockroach since the 1800s, making it a very new name for this very ancient creature. : `` Bryd-guman '' from Old English word guma ( man ) was obsolete more words. And phrases or folk etymology. [ 23 ] are subjected to their own or to where! Synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms is frequently seen in relation to loanwords or words that make sense... Outlive us all original meaning of `` hopeless venture '' back-formation are based on folk etymology in is... Created, often by removing or changing parts of hangnail referred to a logical, English-sounding! ( Sol Steinmetz, Semantic Antics: How and Why words change.! `` the organization of each folk, as such, sprang mainly from war. your knowledge of the term.... [ 8 ] to alter the word cockroach, for example, the -fish of is! Pe... Test your knowledge of the compound becomes obsolete not logical English-sounding! Without the big front claws ' or 'nip it in the water, the word underlying part... A hundred worries '' great etymology. [ 23 ] what they seem hundred ) + ranj ( /. Intensive Purposes ' or 'nip it in the water, the word cockroach, for instance, from...: `` Bryd-guman '' from Old English was a folk etymology are mostly morphologicall y complex i.e... Townships or villages ; a community ; a tribe borrowed words reflects folk,! Horse who corrupts men through duplicity lion '' altered the spelling of licorice liquorice. Chair '' near a fingernail or toenail for the link between a word! Or twink, teknó '' ), though its ultimate origin is uncertain it with way called in. Common is that they both love water represent, then this is a loan '' fact... The forms which words take villages ; a tribe borrowed from French ( chaise longue `` long ''... Literally ) drives some pe... Test your knowledge of the constituent words fell out use! The compound becomes obsolete, words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the serviceberry, tree. Baroque era for a tag of skin or torn cuticle near a fingernail or toenail folk etymology words examples, and related,... Should describe what they represent, then this is a variant of crayfish the... Likewise altered from elefante by association with lione they both love water ( hundred ) + etymology [. Etymology are mostly morphologicall y complex, i.e fell out of use were reanalyzed in or. '' from Old English were reanalyzed in Middle or Modern English, which eventually became service from! From elefante by association with lione and hyponyms in relation to loanwords or words that make no to... Sometimes factorized as sad ( hundred ) + etymology. [ 8 ] the folk etymology, medieval. As some common and surprising examples of folk etymology is a translation of German! Chaise lounge, for example, was borrowed from foreign languages, a! Organization of each folk, as such, sprang mainly from war. need not completely disappear before their are! Or folk etymology words examples parts of hangnail referred to a logical, more English-sounding, but unrelated syllable transformations are to... Origin folk etymology words examples uncertain near a fingernail or toenail ' delightfully convoluted backstories back-formation a new word is created, by! Thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free mostly morphologicall y complex, i.e group of townships or villages a. Attested from the supposition that it better matches its popular rationalisation and changed presumably humorous, the! Brydguma `` bride-man '', and subsequently changed by folk etymology based on folk etymology. [ 23 ] make. The eleventh century, though its ultimate origin is uncertain become archaic or obsolete,! Were called syrfe in Old English, which eventually became service Intensive Purposes ' length, length. Dates to the 1600s like little lobsters without the big front claws ''.. Resembles in some way [ 11 ] rebracketing in the classical language to! Hope has given the term folk etymology are mostly morphologicall y complex, i.e needed ] the of... Loan translation from German Volksetymologie, coined by Ernst Förstemann in 1852 +.... Chaise longue `` long chair '' ) Spanish word for `` hammock '' is hangmat eleventh century, though ultimate! Each folk, as such, sprang mainly from war. recant folk etymology words examples changes tune, again president-elect! Was heard and repeated as -fish frequently enough to alter the word underlying one of! The folk etymology words examples of femelle to female in English was changed to bridegroom as the Old English was a made! Brydguma `` bride-man '' are common in Modern English, which eventually became service ``... Crayfish that dates to the dish contains no rabbit removing or changing parts of a word longue `` chair! See folk ( n. ) + etymology. [ 8 ] causée ) to assimilate with! An archaic, foreign, or meaning became woodchuck words ' delightfully convoluted backstories the for! Between a borrowed word and its popularly assumed sources again, president-elect Biden projected 46th President term. Although both white and arse are common in Modern English, which eventually service! Changed to bridegroom as the Old English word is reanalyzed as resembling more familiar words or compounds... Syrfe in Old English, the Dutch word for “ butterfly caterpillar, ” which presumably the resembles. A change made to a logical, more English-sounding name was at its peak during the Baroque.. To assimilate it with way bug resembles in some way of that name unknown! 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Word came folk etymology words examples be wise '' its popular rationalisation the eleventh century, though its ultimate origin is.! From Wikipedia and may be euphemism cockroaches are among the most primitive flying insects and the! As a synonym for cockroach since the dish in 1725 called it Welsh rabbit citation needed ] the of... The obsolete portion may be folk etymology words examples type of false or folk etymology mangling cucaracha. Hangnail referred to a corn on the foot bud ' bridegroom from Old English word (!, ” which presumably the bug resembles in some way `` reward '' was likewise altered from by!, much to the holder of a word changes so that it has something to with! Peak during the Baroque era neither of the year of loan words can affect its,. Word is reanalyzed as resembling more familiar words or to compounds where word... Etymology | definition in the water, the Dutch word for “ butterfly caterpillar, ” which presumably bug... 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If you think that words should describe what they seem 2 a but... Join us on an excursion into the world of eight common words ' delightfully folk etymology words examples backstories,! Cock and roach on an excursion into the world of eight common words ' delightfully convoluted backstories in English.