The first c in arctic

[Peter McGraw]

If said lexicographer's language was English, then he must somehow have
influenced a German colleague with similar powers of persuasion (or
vice-versa).  The German words are Arktis (n.) and arktisch (adj.), and
both Dudens I checked cite a Latin (one of them specifies late Latin)
arkticus < Greek arktikos. It's downright terrifying to think of a
lexicographer having that much influence. :)

On Wed, 6 Oct 1999 04:01:52 -0500 Mike Salovesh
<t20mxs1 at CORN.CSO.NIU.EDU> wrote:


> Our teacher attributed the first "c" in "arctic" to an overeager
> lexicographer, probably in the 17th century, who took a stab at
> inventing an etymology with no evidence behind it. The lexicographer
> (could it have been Johnson himself?) guessed that the word was a
> reference to the North Star in Ursa Major, and he mistakenly went back
> to the Greek word for bear for his etymon, bringing it through an
> alleged Latin *arcticus, meaning bear.  He fit his spelling to his
> etymology.  The pronounced first "c", our teacher alleged, is simply a
> back-formation that started as a spelling pronunciation.  (Cf. the note
> in OED that obsolete "artic" was refashioned to "arctic" after 1700;
> they cite a 1706 "arctik" and the modern spelling ca. 1774, in Cook's
> Voyages.)
>


----------------------
Peter A. McGraw
Linfield College
McMinnville, Oregon
pmcgraw at linfield.edu