The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European RootsJohns Hopkins University Press, 1984 M03 1 - 672 pages There are no direct records of the original Indo-European speech. By comparing the vocabularies of its various descendants, however, it is possible to reconstruct the basic Indo-European roots with considerable confidence. In The Origins of English Words, Shipley catalogues these proposed roots and follows the often devious, always fascinating, process by which some of their offshoots have grown. Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science. |
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Page xxvi
... Folk Etymology Another activity that has helped shape language is what is called folk etymology , the turning of an unfamiliar word toward one that is more common . Thus , crevisse became crayfish . Pentis , a lean - to , was ...
... Folk Etymology Another activity that has helped shape language is what is called folk etymology , the turning of an unfamiliar word toward one that is more common . Thus , crevisse became crayfish . Pentis , a lean - to , was ...
Page 217
... folkchanged into humble - pie , the innards being usually left for the dogs ; see ghdhem . Also numbles . Gc , loin . The idea that sirloin was knighted by a king enchanted by the food is folk etymology ; the form was sur : on , the ...
... folkchanged into humble - pie , the innards being usually left for the dogs ; see ghdhem . Also numbles . Gc , loin . The idea that sirloin was knighted by a king enchanted by the food is folk etymology ; the form was sur : on , the ...
Page 324
... folk etymology , but it passed into falconry ; a poltroon is a trained bird of prey with the talons of its hind toes clipped , so that it will bring its catch back to the hunter untorn . OED suggests that poltroon : coward , is from It ...
... folk etymology , but it passed into falconry ; a poltroon is a trained bird of prey with the talons of its hind toes clipped , so that it will bring its catch back to the hunter untorn . OED suggests that poltroon : coward , is from It ...
Other editions - View all
The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots Joseph Twadell Shipley No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
ambhi bhag bhel bher bhes bheu bhili bhreg called caput coined columns deik dekm dheigh N dheigh N 13 dhel dheu eghs ending English folk etymology folkchanged French genus gerbh ghdhem gher goddess Greek guei guel hence ieug imitative jing kapr kel VIII King kleu ksei ksun kuei kuetuer labh Latin leguh leuk literally Love's Labor's Lost meaning medhi morui nebh nekut neuos oino onomen pilo plek pleu prefix relevant words beginning Roman root sek II seku Shakespeare skeu slang smeit smer sner song sound spek sphei ster steu suer suffix tag II tereq teue tragh uegh ueid ueik ueks uelu uer II uerg uiro W. S. Gilbert whence
References to this book
Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing Michael Winkelman No preview available - 2000 |
The Mystery to a Solution: Poe, Borges, and the Analytic Detective Story John T. Irwin Limited preview - 1994 |