Folk etymology definition

[Dennis Preston]

You mean the people who folk-etymologized "bridegumer" knew what they
were doing? Unless you are distinguishing between process and result,
I till don't get it.

dInIs


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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>Subject:      Re: Folk etymology definition
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>The first sense is a specific category of lexical transformation: taking an
>unfamiliar word and modifying it to a form that is familiar, e.g.,
>"brideguma" to "bridegroom," "catercorner" to "kittycorner."
>
>The second sense includes any popularly held belief about a word or phrase
>origin, e.g., "news" is an acronym for north-east-west-south, "dead ringer"
>comes from bells attached to coffins in case the deceased wasn't really dead
>and needed to summon help. Typically, however, it does not include folk
>etymologies in the first sense as this is usually not recognized as a
>potential method of transformation by those who have not studied the field.
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
>Dennis Preston
>Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 9:48 AM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Folk etymology definition
>
>What's the difference between the two (except time depth)?
>
>dInIs
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>>Subject:      Re: Folk etymology definition
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----
>>
>>"Folk etymology" can be a confusing term because there are two distinct
>>senses of the term.
>>
>>The sense that M-W defines is the more technical one. It's the sense you'll
>>find more often in the work produced by linguists and lexicographers. The
>>word need not be borrowed from another language to be subject to folk
>>etymology, only unfamiliar to a particular group of speakers. "Bridegroom"
>>is a good example of a folk etymology that is not borrowed. As the Old
>>English "gome" or "guma" (man) fell out of use, it was transformed into
>>"groom" in the specific sense of a man to be married.
>>
>>The other sense is that of a popular etymology, a commonly held belief,
>>often but not necessarily untrue, about the origin of a word or phrase.
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>Scot LaFaive
>>Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 6:55 AM
>>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>Subject: Folk etymology definition
>>
>>Reading through the "Did you know?" section of the MW word of the day
>email,
>>I came across this:
>>
>>"...a process called folk etymology, in which a word of another language is
>>transformed to a more familiar-sounding term..."
>>
>>I've never heard folk etymology defined as such and it seems completely
>>wrong from what I've always been taught and read. Is there some hidden
>>definition that I've never heard of before or is Merriam Webster shoveling
>>shit?
>>
>>Scot
>>
>>BTW, here's the full section:
>>
>>"The Chinook of the Pacific Northwest were avid traders, and in the course
>>of their history a trade language developed that came to be known as
>Chinook
>>jargon, based on a combination of Chinook and other American Indian
>>languages with English and French. The Chinook jargon term "hayo makamak"
>>meant "plenty to eat." By a process called folk etymology, in which a word
>>of another language is transformed to a more familiar-sounding term, "hayo"
>>was identified with "high" and the spelling and meaning of the entire
>phrase
>>was transformed. Beginning in the 19th century, the term "high-muck-a-muck"
>>referred to a self-important person. Since then, the expression has taken
>on
>>several variations, including "high mucky-muck" and "high-muckety-muck,"
>and
>>nowadays the "high" is often dispensed with entirely."
>>
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>
>--
>Dennis R. Preston
>University Distinguished Professor
>Department of English
>Morrill Hall 15-C
>Michigan State University
>East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org