Folk etymology – also known as(generative) popular etymology,[1]analogical reformation,(morphological)reanalysis andetymological reinterpretation[2] – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one through popular usage.[3][4][5] The form or the meaning of an archaic, foreign, or otherwise unfamiliar word is reinterpreted as resembling more familiar words ormorphemes.
The termfolk etymology is aloan translation fromGermanVolksetymologie, coined byErnst Förstemann in 1852.[6] Folk etymology is aproductive process inhistorical linguistics,language change, andsocial interaction.[7] Reanalysis of a word's history or original form can affect its spelling, pronunciation, or meaning. This is frequently seen in relation toloanwords or words that have become archaic or obsolete.
Folk/popular etymology may also refer to a popular false belief about the etymology of a word or phrase that does not lead to a change in the form or meaning. To disambiguate the usage of the term "folk/popular etymology",Ghil'ad Zuckermann proposes a clear-cut distinction between thederivational-only popular etymology (DOPE) and the generative popular etymology (GPE): the DOPE refers to a popular false etymology involving noneologization, and the GPE refers to neologization generated by a popular false etymology.[1]
Examples of words created or changed through folk etymology include the English dialectal formsparrowgrass, originally from Greekἀσπάραγος ("asparagus") remade by analogy to the more familiar wordssparrow andgrass.[8] When the alteration of an unfamiliar word is limited to a single person, it is known as aneggcorn.
The technical term "folk etymology" refers to a change in the form of a word caused by erroneous popular suppositions about itsetymology. Until the academic development ofcomparative linguistics and description of laws underlyingsound changes, the derivation of a word was mostly guess-work. 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.[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. This popular etymologizing has had a powerful influence on the forms which words take. Examples in English includecrayfish orcrawfish, which are not historically related tofish but come fromMiddle Englishcrevis,cognate with Frenchécrevisse. Likewisechaise lounge, from the original Frenchchaise longue ("long chair"), has come to be associated with the wordlounge.[10]
Other types of language change caused by reanalysis of the structure of a word includerebracketing andback-formation.
In rebracketing, users of the language change, misinterpret, or reinterpret the location of a boundary between words ormorphemes. For example, theOld French wordorenge'orange tree' comes fromArabicالنَّرَنْجan-naranj'the orange tree', with the initial⟨n⟩ ofnaranj understood as part of thearticle.[11] Rebracketing in the opposite direction saw the Middle Englisha napron anda nadder becomean apron andan adder.[12]
In back-formation, a new word is created by removing elements from an existing word that are interpreted asaffixes. For example,Italianpronuncia'pronunciation, accent' is derived from the verbpronunciare'to pronounce, to utter' and Englishedit derives fromeditor.[13] Some cases of back-formation are based on folk etymology.
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 unanalysable foreign words or to compounds where the word underlying one part of the compound becomes obsolete.
There are many examples of words borrowed from foreign languages, and subsequently changed by folk etymology.
The spelling of many borrowed words reflects folk etymology. For example,andiron borrowed from Old French was variously spelledaundyre oraundiren in Middle English, but was altered by association withiron.[14] Other Old French loans altered in a similar manner includebelfry (fromberfrey) by association withbell,female (fromfemelle) bymale, andpenthouse (fromapentis) byhouse.[15] The variant spelling oflicorice asliquorice comes from the supposition that it has something to do with liquid.[16] Anglo-Normanlicoris (influenced bylicor'liquor') andLate Latinliquirītia were respelled for similar reasons, though the ultimate origin of all three is Ancient Greekγλυκύρριζαglucúrrhiza'sweet root'.[17]
Reanalysis of loan words can affect their spelling, pronunciation, or meaning. The wordcockroach, for example, was borrowed from Spanishcucaracha but was assimilated to the existing English wordscock androach.[18] The phraseforlorn hope originally meant "storming party, body of skirmishers"[19] from Dutchverloren hoop "lost troop". But confusion with Englishhope has given the term an additional meaning of "hopeless venture".[20]
Sometimes imaginative stories are created to account for the link between a borrowed word and its popularly assumed sources. The names of theserviceberry,service tree, and related plants, for instance, come from the Latin namesorbus. The plants were calledsyrfe in Old English, which eventually becameservice.[21] Fanciful stories suggest that the name comes from the fact that the trees bloom in spring, a time when circuit-riding preachers resume church services or when funeral services are carried out for people who died during the winter.[22]
A seemingly plausible but no less speculative etymology accounts for the form ofWelsh rarebit, a dish made of cheese and toasted bread. The earliest known reference to the dish in 1725 called itWelsh rabbit.[23] The origin of that name is unknown, but presumably humorous, since the dish contains no rabbit. In 1785Francis Grose suggested inA Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue that the dish is "a Welch rare bit",[24] though the wordrarebit was not common prior to Grose's dictionary. Both versions of the name are in current use; individuals sometimes express strong opinions concerning which version is correct.[25]
When a word or other form becomes obsolete, words or phrases containing the obsolete portion may be reanalyzed and changed.
Somecompound words fromOld English were reanalyzed in Middle or Modern English when one of the constituent words fell out of use. Examples includebridegroom from Old Englishbrydguma'bride-man'. The wordgome'man' from Old Englishguma fell out of use during the sixteenth century and the compound was eventually reanalyzed with the Modern English wordgroom'male servant'.[26] A similar reanalysis causedsandblind, from Old Englishsāmblind'half-blind' with a once-common prefixsām-'semi-', to be respelled as though it is related tosand. The wordisland derives from Old Englishigland. The modern spelling with the letters is the result of comparison with the synonymisle from Old French and ultimately as aLatinist borrowing ofinsula, though the Old French and Old English words are not historically related.[27] In a similar way, the spelling ofwormwood was likely affected by comparison withwood.[28][29]: 449
The phrasecurry favour, meaning to flatter, comes from Middle Englishcurry favel'groom achestnut horse'. This was anallusion to a fourteenth-century French morality poem,Roman de Fauvel, about a chestnut-coloured horse who corrupts men through duplicity. The phrase was reanalyzed in early Modern English by comparison tofavour as early as 1510.[30]
Words need not completely disappear before their compounds are reanalyzed. The wordshamefaced was originallyshamefast. The original meaning offast 'fixed in place' still exists, as in the compounded wordssteadfast andcolorfast, but by itself mainly in frozen expressions such asstuck fast,hold fast, andplay fast and loose.[citation needed] The songbirdwheatear orwhite-ear is a back-formation from Middle Englishwhit-ers'white arse', referring to the prominent white rump found in most species.[31] Although bothwhite andarse are common in Modern English, the folk etymology may beeuphemism.[32]
Reanalysis of archaic or obsolete forms can lead to changes in meaning as well. The original meaning ofhangnail referred to acorn on the foot.[33] The word comes from Old Englishang- +nægel'anguished nail, compressed spike', but the spelling and pronunciation were affected by folk etymology in the seventeenth century or earlier.[34] Thereafter, the word came to be used for a tag of skin or torncuticle near afingernail or toenail.[33]
Several words inMedieval Latin were subject to folk etymology. For example, the wordwiderdonum meaning 'reward' was borrowed fromOld High Germanwidarlōn'repayment of a loan'. Thel → d alteration is due to confusion with Latindonum'gift'.[35][29]: 157 Similarly, the wordbaceler orbacheler (related to modern Englishbachelor) referred to a junior knight. It is attested from the eleventh century, though its ultimate origin is uncertain. By the late Middle Ages its meaning was extended to the holder of a university degree inferior to master or doctor. This was later re-spelledbaccalaureus, probably reflecting a false derivation frombacca laurea'laurel berry', alluding to the possible laurel crown of a poet or conqueror.[36][29]: 17–18
Likewise in Greek myth, many religious terms are folk-etymologised to suit common vocabulary. InPlato’s dialogueCratylus, the name ofZeus is folk-etymologised to connect it toZoe (the word for "life" as a phenomenon; compare the doubletbios referring to a qualified life or lifespan, both of which are cognate to English "quick"), giving it the meaning "cause of life always to all things", because of puns between alternate titles of Zeus (Zen andDia) with the Greek words for life and "because of"; in reality, his name is a reflex of*Dyēus, anPIE root meaning "bright/shining one".[37]
Diodorus Siculus wrote that Zeus was also called Zen, because the humans believed that he was the cause of life.[38] Meanwhile,Lactantius wrote that he was called Zeus and Zen not because he is thegiver of life, but because he was the first who lived of the children ofCronus, therefore making the meaning of his name "the one who lived".[39] The name ofOrion, likewise, is folk-etymologised as a polite alteration of "Urion", referring to his conception through the gods urinating on his mother's ashes; his name is speculated today to have been borrowed fromAkkadianUru-annak, meaning "Heaven's light".
In the fourteenth or fifteenth century, French scholars began to spell the verbsavoir'to know' assçavoir on the false belief it was derived from Latinscire'to know'. In fact it comes fromsapere'to be wise'.[40]
The Italian wordliocorno, meaning 'unicorn' derives from 13th-centurylunicorno (lo 'the' +unicorno 'unicorn'). Folk etymology based onlione 'lion' altered the spelling and pronunciation. Dialectalliofante 'elephant' was likewise altered fromelefante by association withlione.[29]: 486
TheDutch word for 'hammock' ishangmat. It was borrowed from Spanishhamaca (ultimately fromArawakamàca) and altered by comparison withhangen andmat'hanging mat'. GermanHängematte shares this folk etymology.[41]
Islambol, a folk etymology meaning 'Islam abounding', is one of the names ofIstanbul used after theOttoman conquest of 1453.[42]
An example fromPersian is the wordشطرنجshatranj 'chess', which is derived from theSanskritचतुरङ्गchatur-anga ("four-army [game]"; 2nd century BCE), and after losing theu tosyncope, becameچترنگchatrang inMiddle Persian (6th century CE). Today it is sometimes factorized assad'hundred' +ranj'worry, mood', or'a hundred worries'.[43]
Some Indonesianfeminists discourage usage of the termwanita ('woman') and replacing it withperempuan, sincewanita itself hasmisogynistic roots. First, inJavanese,wanita is a portmanteau ofwani ditata (dare to be controlled), also,wanita is taken fromSanskritवनिताvanitā (someone desired by men).[44][45][46]
In Turkey, the politicalDemocrat Party changed its logo in 2007 to a white horse in front of a red background because many voters folk-etymologized its Turkish nameDemokrat asdemir kırat'iron white-horse'.[47]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Etymology".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 864–865.The development of Late Latinliquiritia was in part influenced by Latinliquēre'to flow', in reference to the process of treating the root to obtain its extract.
