Folk and false etymology. Folk etymology

29. DIACHRONIC WORD FORMATION. SCIENTIFIC AND FALSE ETYMOLOGY. DEETYMOLOGIZATION

Diachronic word formation (or etymology) is the science of restoring word-formation connections lost in the history of a language. Let's take, for example, the word " witch" From the standpoint of the modern Russian language, this word is perceived as non-derivative, but from a historical point of view, it is derived from the word “ know." The task of diachronic word formation includes the restoration of similar connections that were recognized by speakers in the past, but over time became de-etymologized, that is, they ceased to be recognized by speakers of a given language as living. Have such words as de-etymologized in our language? scientist, writer, student and many others like them? No. Therefore, they are not included in subject area etymological science. It’s a different matter if we take words whose origin we can only find out with the help of an etymological dictionary: wolf - drag, grief - burn, square - flat, winch - swan. But before they could get into the dictionary, etymologists had to process “thousands of tons of verbal ore” (V. Mayakovsky) “for the sake of a single word.”

The term “etymology” is used not only as a synonym for the science in question, but also in relation to the restored derivational meaning of the etymologized word. So, the etymology of the word “ bride"goes back to the word " know» ( know): bride - a girl about whom they do not yet know what can be expected from her in the future.

It is necessary to distinguish between two types of etymology - scientific and false (folk). The first establishes the true derivational meaning of the word (etymon), as it was at the time of its creation, and the other establishes a contrived etymology - one that did not exist in the actual history of the language, but which was artificially introduced by people.

Scientific etymology. The search for ways to scientific etymology has been carried out since ancient times. Even M.T Varro (116-27 BC) tried to create a theory of scientific etymological analysis. He, in particular, warned that scientific etymology is hampered by such facts as the complete disappearance of words from the language to which the word being etymologized should be traced; change in the sound or semantic side of the desired generating word; the presence of borrowed vocabulary, etc. But, despite in theory true warnings to the etymologist, he himself established mostly false etymologies. Yes, word aqua« water"he brought out A« from" And qua« which" It turned out like this: water – it's a liquid from which(aqua) life is maintained. But in some cases he gave half-false, half-scientific etymologies. Yes, word luna « moon"He built, on the one hand, to lucere « shine", and on the other hand, to nox « night" In the first case he was right, and in the second he was wrong.

It took many centuries for etymological science to stand on solid scientific ground. This happened only in the 19th–20th centuries. The result of hard work in the field of historical word formation is etymological dictionaries. Thus, it is widely known " Etymological dictionary Russian language" by M. Vasmer (4 vols. M., 1964–1973). No less famous is the “Concise Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by N.M. Shansky, V.V. Ivanova and T.V. Shanskoy (M., 1971). These dictionaries reek of the word-forming wisdom of our ancestors! We learn with their help, for example, that the word “ rich" was derived from the word " God" But that doesn't mean that God was then on the side rich. The thing is that the religious meaning of the word “ God" V Slavic languages is secondary, and the primary was the meaning “ property, part, share" It turns out rich - one who has his own property (share).

I will give other etymologies without comment: lively - fight, gift - give, rooster - sing, marriage - take, beauty - red(Beautiful), revenge - to change, bag - fur, piston - to flutter, happiness - part, coward - to shake, whore - to wander, bastard - to fornicate, people - clan, virgin land - whole, porch - wing.

When working to restore lost word-formation connections in the target language, researchers often encounter borrowed words. In every language there are such words great amount, although many of them may no longer be perceived as borrowings by speakers over time. Who, for example, of the Russians will guess that the names of vegetables, except garlic(from " scratch"), came to the Russian language mainly from Germanic languages? From these same languages ​​the words “ bread», « prince», « anchor», « sneak», « hook"and many more. etc. From Greek: “ angel», « daemon», « icon», « metropolitan», « monk», « monastery», « patriarch», « pop», « philosophy», « philology», « grammar", etc. And who will guess that the word " Koschey"is not at all derived from the word " bone", and borrowed from Turkic languages, where it was used in the meaning “ slave"? From the Turkic words the words “ boyar», « yar», « hood», « cripple», « kaftan», « pouch" and so on.

False etymology. On the one hand, it creeps into science, and on the other, it is the fruit of independent etymologization by people who have no idea about scientific etymological analysis. So, M. Varro was a grammarian, but, due to the underdevelopment of etymological analysis in his time, he derived false etymologies. For example, words vinum« wine» , vita« life» , video« I see"he deduced from the word vis« force" Another example: German scientist XVIII V. Bayer raised the word " Moscow" by the way " man", for which he was ridiculed VC. Trediakovsky such false etymologies: Norway – Navergia, Italy – Udalia, Spain – Vyspania. Another German scientist A. Schlozer, who worked at the Russian Academy of Sciences together with M.V. Lomonosov, erected the word “ prince» to German Knecht(slave), word " Virgo- to him. Lieb(thief).

IN Everyday life We often encounter false etymologies created by unlearned people. Hence its other name - folk. So, you can often hear such folk etymologies as: family - seven I, truth - from the mud, May - toil(from here: " Getting married in May means toiling all your life») , grief - bitter, privatization - privatization and so on.

Poet S.S. Narovchatov once deduced “ spring" from " clear", A " daughter" - from " milking».

A special type of folk etymology is children's etymology. An example from the book by K.I. Chukovsky “From two to five”: the word “ petrolatum"children can deduce the word "ointment" and turn it into " mazelin" In a similar way drill turns into big car, policeman - V street man, gimlet - V hole maker, excavator - V descavator, compress – V wetter etc. But children are also capable of independent word creation, which is not always successful. So, they can call the fireman's wife stoker, and the defendant - zander

De-etymologization. De-etymologization is nothing more than the loss of certain word-formation connections in the minds of the speakers of a particular language. De-etymologization, therefore, is the process that provides the etymologist with his subject of research. The reasons for de-etymologization are in the very general view may be related to disabilities human memory. The stimulating factors here are the changes occurring in the language from the external and internal sides words that were once related to each other. I will give new examples of de-etymologization: window - eye(eye), fraudster - money(wallet), blue - dove, brown - cinnamon, crimson - raspberry, bitter - burn, dexterous - catch, doubt - opinion, protect - shield.

Proper names are also de-etymologized. On the one hand, we know why the city on the Neva was called “ Saint Petersburg",« Petrograd" And " Leningrad", but why Moscow called Moscow? It is easier for us to cope with de-etymologization when it comes to native Russian names - Vladimir(own the world), Svetozar(illuminate with light), Svyatopolk(saint + regiment), Svyatoslav(holy + glory) etc. But the situation is more difficult with clarifying the primary meanings of borrowed proper names. Onomastics experts will tell us that Peter - borrowing from Hebrew, where the word meant “ stone" The names came to us from the same language Ivan(John), dating back to Hebrew Yohanan« God has mercy» , Matvey - from Mattityahu« gift of god Yahweh» , Mikhail -« mi ka el» ( who is like god), Semyon(Simeon) – from “ shim - he» ( god who hears), Marya - from " Miriam» ( beloved, desired), Eva – from " hawwa» ( life) etc. (Superanskaya A.B. Name through centuries and countries. M., 1990).

Why do some word-formation connections get lost over time? What are the reasons for de-etymologization?

1. Loss of the productive word. So, the word " architect"(architect) goes back to the Old Russian verb " zdati» ( create, build). But this verb disappeared from the Russian language over time. That's why the word " architect"over time became de-etymologized. Only with the help of an etymological dictionary can we find out that architect - This builder. By the way, the verb " zdati" is included in the missing word " zd» ( clay), which indicates that our ancestors used clay in construction.

2. Loss of the original meaning of the word that produces it. For example, the verb " lie" had the meaning in the past " speak" This meaning has been lost. That's why the word " doctor" has been de-etymologized, and yet it is derived from " lie» ( speak). This etymology, as in the case of the word “architect,” is also instructive: it indicates that the first doctors treated people with the help of incantations.

3. Loss of the primary derivational meaning of a derived word. So, the verb " fire" comes from the noun " arrow", since it was created when only arrows were used to shoot. Over time, they also began to shoot with cannonballs, bullets, and rockets. This led to the loss of word-formation connections between the words “ fire" And " arrow", resulting in the verb " fire» de-etymologized. Similar story happened with the words “ ink"(since they ceased to be only black) And " bag"(since it began to be made not only from fur).

4. Loss of sound similarity between derivative and generating words. For this reason, the derivative word " otter"lost word-formation connection with the producer" water». Similar examples: « a shame" from " mature» ( see), coffin And snowdrift from row tomorrow from in the morning.

Etymology is a cognitive science. This was perfectly demonstrated by Yu.V. Taxpayers in his book “To the Origins of the Word” (Moscow, 1973). Through the etymology of the word "space", for example, which came into our language from Greek, we learn that space is order, since it goes back to the word kosmeo – putting things in order. Thomas More named the country where, from his point of view, social justice was established, Utopia. Meanwhile in Greek Utopia – This " a place that doesn't exist».

Thanks to etymology, we understand that justice no where there is no truth. Thanks to etymology, we also understand that happiness where there is a worthy Part earthly blessings. And take the etymology of words like diesel, morse, ampere, watt, volt, hertz, pascal. X-ray, revolver, Mauser, riding breeches, raglan, macintosh etc. Through family etymology, we learn about the people thanks to whom the realities associated with such words appeared. And to the name of which Roman emperor does it go back? Russian word « tsar"? Caesar.

False etymology

Comprehension family ties words, its root, motivation, not corresponding to its real origin - one of the types folk etymology. Does not change the structure of the word and is revealed by changing the meaning of the word or directly interpreting its origin by the speaker: sweatshirt"men's shirt made of thick fabric" (historically - the cut of the blouse that the writer L.N. Tolstoy loved), juice"pies fried in oil - "juice", soaked in "juice"" (genetically - a derivative of roll"to roll out (dough)")

False etymology is especially characteristic for the understanding and interpretation of toponyms: Great Bows interpreted as related to the name of the weapon, with real motivation for bending (Luke) rivers.

Adj. false etymological.

A brief conceptual and terminological reference book on etymology and historical lexicology. - Russian Academy Sciences, Institute of Russian Language named after. V. V. Vinogradov RAS, Etymology and history of words in the Russian language. J. J. Varbot, A. F. Zhuravlev. 1998 .

See what “False etymology” is in other dictionaries:

FALSE ETYMOLOGY. See folk etymology. Literary Encyclopedia: Dictionary literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin Vetrinsky. M.; L.: Publishing house in L... Literary encyclopedia

Same as folk etymology... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

False etymology- FALSE ETYMOLOGY. See Folk etymology... Dictionary of literary terms

Same as folk etymology. * * * FALSE ETYMOLOGY FALSE ETYMOLOGY, the same as folk etymology (see FOLK ETYMOLOGY) ... encyclopedic Dictionary

An explanation of the origin of words that does not correspond to their actual history. Unlike scientific etymology (See Etymology), L. e. is based not on the laws of language development, but on the random similarity of words (for example, “village”, “tree”, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

False etymology- (folk etymology) – incorrect understanding of a borrowed word, its internal form in connection with the influence of a similar-sounding word native language. Wed. patient's reasoning: The doctor says that I have stenosis. This means that there, in my stomach,... ... Language contacts: short dictionary

false etymology- See folk etymology... Grammar dictionary: Grammar and linguistic terms

false etymology, folk Terms and concepts of linguistics: Vocabulary. Lexicology. Phraseology. Lexicography

false etymology, folk- The convergence of words according to external, random characteristics. For example, the word solyanka is derived from salt, salty, although in fact it appeared as a result of modifications of the word selyanka, i.e. rural, country food... Dictionary linguistic terms T.V. Foal

The reasons for the loss of motives by the word are correlated with the reasons why the word acquires its internal shape.

The pattern of development of the English sound structure. language can lead to the loss of motivation for a word phonetic reasons. Phonological processes can affect the morphological structure of a word, i.e., lead to the fact that an initially complex word is subject to simplification.

In some cases, a more conservative graphic form allows you to restore the motivation lost by the sound appearance (cupboard, forehead), but more often the changes also affect the graphics. Thus, the internal form of the words lord, window, daisy, originally motivated morphologically (hlaf + weard, wind + eaze and dæges+eage, respectively), is lost.

The reason for the loss of motivation may be the loss of any morpheme from the language (morphological reason). Thus, in the process of development of the morphological structure of the English language, the morphemes tyrel and mere were lost, which led to the loss of the internal form of the words nostril (nase + Þyrel) and mermaid (mere + mægden). A special type of morphological reason for de-etymologization is “misrecognition” by speakers of the morpheme or morphemes included in the word. From the examples of alphabet and parachute given above, it is clear that loss of motivation foreign word may occur when borrowing it English language

due to the fact that it loses connection with other words related to it (alpha, beta - letters of the Greek alphabet and parer - French “prevent” + chute - French “fall”). Semantic the reason for the loss of motivation can be considered semantic changes word components

, also occurring during its development.

An example of such a loss is the word sweetmeats, in which the second component before the Middle English period meant any food, dish, and only later began to be used in the meaning of “meat”, narrowing the scope of its use. The lost motivation of the word spoon can be restored only by turning to the history of this word, which goes back to the common German spon - “stick, sliver”. In a number of cases, de-etymologization and, as a result, the “incomprehensibility” of a word to an ordinary native speaker lead to the appearance in the language of a semantic pair with a clear motivation - telegram/wire (motivation is a way of transmitting a message “over a wire”); pseudonym/pen name (motivated by components - tracings of a foreign word); radio/wireless (the internal form describes the feature, the method of signal transmission), etc. 41. False etymologization

As English researchers J. Greenough and G. Kitteredge write, “words live in groups.” False etymology combines words that are only somewhat similar in sound and are related or appear to be related in meaning. Thus, the name reindeer is explained as a combination of the words rein and deer, i.e. “deer for a team,” while the true origin of the word is a combination of the Scandinavian hrenn (deer) and the Old English deer (animal); Modern English shamefaced is mistakenly associated with the state of shame, in fact being a combination of Old English scam (modern modesty) and faest (modern confirmed to). Often, having become entrenched in the linguistic tradition, the result of false etymologization is reflected in the orthographic appearance of the word. In literature there is often a legend, or rather, historical anecdote

about a king who once allegedly elevated to knighthood the saddle of a lamb (sirloin), which he liked so much during one of his hunting feasts. As you know, the accepted address to a knight is sir; the true origin of the word is an orthographically distorted French surloin (“above the thigh”). The difficulties in the formation of English spelling sometimes led to the false assimilation of native words to borrowed words of the same thematic series. Thus, the spelling of the Old English word rime turned out to be complicated (rhyme) by analogy with the Greek rhythm, and the spelling of the Old French borrowing cisoires changed under the influence of the Latin scissor.

False etymology, an explanation of the origin of words that does not correspond to their actual history. Unlike scientific etymology, L. e. is based not on the laws of language development, but on the accidental similarity of words (for example, “village” - “tree,” although “village” originally meant “a place cleared of forest for a cornfield”). Collective L. e. (folk etymology) reflects the desire of speakers for maximum semantic motivation linguistic signs. It can lead to a change in the meaning or sound of words, more often in foreign languages: “workbench” (from the German Werkstatt) is close to “make up”; The Latin vagabundus ("wanderer") became the Spanish vagamundo, being interpreted (under the influence of mundo - "world") as "one who circles the world."

Etymological dictionaries.

The first Russian etymological dictionary was “The Root Dictionary of the Russian Language, Compared with All the Major Slavic Adverbs and with Twenty-Four foreign languages» F.S. Shimkevich (1842). It explains 1378 everyday words. The dictionary contains many erroneous and arbitrary interpretations. But there are also convincing ones who are quite motivated. In 1896, the “Comparative Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” was published by N.V. Goryaeva. The scientific level of this dictionary (from the point of view current state development of etymology) low.

In 1910-1916 A.G. Preobrazhensky published the first 14 issues (two volumes) of the Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language.

In 1953-1958 in Heidelberg it was published on German“Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by M. Vasmer. In 1964-1973 O.N. Trubachev translates this dictionary into Russian.

In 1970, the “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by G.P. was published in Kyiv. Tsyganenko. The basis is based on original root words. Some linguistic terms are explained in the notes at the end of the dictionary.

Synonymy. Synonymous series. Types of synonyms and their functions. Doublets. Options. Reasons for the emergence of synonyms. Taboo. Euphemisms. Dysphemisms. Paraphrases. Dictionaries of synonyms.

Synonymy- this is a systematic relationship in the vocabulary of the Russian language, in contrast to antonyms, which form paradigms and syntagms.

Synonyms- these are words that sound different with different spellings, but are close or identical in meaning. Synonymy permeates morphological system Russian language.

Types of synonyms:

1. Ideographic (differ only in the shade of meaning): red, purple, bloody, scarlet.

2. Stylistic (varies in different styles speech): head - head, turnip, tambourine, pumpkin.

3. Doublets ( absolute synonyms): linguistics – linguistics.

Word variations- these are fixed in the language during the formation of the same word, preserving its identity, but differing orthographically, phonetically, morphologically, stylistically.

Euphemism(Greek ευφήμη - “prudence”) - a word or descriptive expression that is neutral in meaning and emotional “load”, usually used in texts and public statements to replace other words and expressions considered indecent or inappropriate (“in interesting position" instead of "pregnant", "closet" or "bathroom" instead of "toilet", etc.).

Dysphemism(Greek δυσφήμη - “ignorance”) - a rude or obscene designation of an initially neutral concept in order to give it a negative semantic load or simply to enhance the expressiveness of speech, for example: die instead of die, woman instead of woman, muzzle instead of face.

Taboo vocabulary- layers of vocabulary in a language that are taboo for religious, mystical, moral, political reasons, maintaining good taste in society or in some of its layers, or on occasion.

Periphrase (paraphrase; from ancient Greek περίφρασις - “descriptive expression”, “allegory”: περί - “around”, “about” and φράσις - “statement”) - in the stylistics and poetics of tropes, descriptively expressing one concept with the help of several.

Synonym functions:

· Semantic (ideographic), or shade-semantic and clarifying function. Words scream, roar have an intensifying connotation of meaning compared to a synonymous word scream.

· Style-distinguishing function, which consists in the fact that synonyms indicate a style, area of ​​use. For example, an interstyle word candid synonymous and interstyle objective and is used mainly in book styles word impartial.

· Actually stylistic function, characterized by the fact that an emotional-expressive (connotative) meaning is added to the denotative meaning. For example, neutral in stylistically word cure synonymous with solemnly elevated heal.

Reasons for the emergence of synonyms:

Synonyms appear in the language all the time. This is due to a number of reasons. One of the main ones is the desire of a person to find some new features and shades in already known objects, phenomena of the surrounding world, i.e. deepen and expand existing concepts surrounding reality.

Often the emergence of synonyms is due to the penetration and development of borrowed words that are close or identical in meaning to Russian, for example airplane - airplane.

Synonyms arise when an object or phenomenon of reality is given a different meaning compared to the generally known one. emotional coloring: medicine - drug.

Synonyms arise in the Russian language as a result of the fact that the well-developed morphological structure of the language allows the use of different word-forming morphemes for words with similar meanings: innocent - innocent.

The polysemy of words, with which the phenomenon of synonymy is closely related, has great resources for replenishing synonyms in the Russian language. Appearance figurative meanings a word often leads to it entering into new synonymous relationships.

Dictionaries of synonyms.

Special dictionary lexical synonyms appeared in 1968. Before that, we used the educational “ A short dictionary synonyms of the Russian language" V.N. Klyueva, Perov, the publication of which was carried out in 1956 (1500 words are explained in it), the second in 1961 (3000 words). The dictionary contains well-chosen illustrative material, guidelines on the use of the dictionary, an alphabetical index (index) of all words and an index of synonymous nests are attached.