Etymology. What is etymology? Detailed analysis

The article talks about what etymology is, what it does this science and what methods he uses in his work.

Language

Any living language that is actively spoken by people gradually changes. The extent of this depends on many different factors. For example, the amount of time that has passed since its inception, the level of political or cultural self-isolation of the country and the official position that concerns In the same France for everyone foreign words a domestic analogue is selected or created. And some languages of the Scandinavian group have remained virtually unchanged for a millennium.

But not all languages can boast of this, and it is not always an indicator of quality or uniqueness. Russian is one of the most diverse languages, and over the centuries it has changed a lot. And from colloquial speech of our ancestor, say, from the 15th century, we would understand only individual words.

It is precisely in order to determine morphemes that such a branch of linguistics as etymology was created. So what is etymology and what methods does it use in its activities? We'll figure this out.

Definition

Etymology is a branch of linguistics that deals with the study of the origin of words. It is also a research technique used to identify the history of the appearance of a word in a language and the very result of such study. This term originated back in the days Ancient Greece, and until the 19th century it could be used as the meaning of the word “grammar”.

Answering the question of what is the etymology of a word, it is worth mentioning that this concept very often means the very origin of the morpheme. For example: “In this case, you need to find a more convincing etymology,” or: “The word notebook has a Greek etymology."

Now let us briefly consider the formation of this science and what research methods it uses.

Story

Even in Ancient Greece, before the advent of etymology as such, many scientists were interested in the origin of various words. If we consider later ancient times, then etymology was considered one of the parts of grammar, and accordingly, it was dealt with exclusively by grammarians. So now we have etymology.

During the Middle Ages, no significant changes were made to the methods of studying etymology. And before the advent of such a method as comparative historical, most etymologies were of a very dubious nature. Moreover, this was observed both in European and For example, philologist Trediakovsky believed that the etymology of the word “Italy” comes from the word “prowess” because this country is very remote from Russia. Naturally, because of such methods of determining origin, many considered etymology to be an absolutely frivolous science.

Comparative historical method

Thanks to this method, etymology was able to very accurately explain the origin of many words. It is still used today. Its essence lies in a set of techniques that prove the relationship of certain languages, the origin of words and reveal various facts from their history. It is also based on a comparison of phonetics and grammar.

Etymology of the Russian language

If we talk about the origin and history of the Russian language, then there are three main periods: Old Russian, Old Russian and the period of Russian national language which began in the 17th century. And from its Old Russian form, by the way, almost all the languages of the East Slavic group originated.

Like any other language, Russian contains words that have roots both in its ancient forms and those that are borrowed.

For example, the word “nonsense” comes from the name of the French doctor Gali Mathieu, who was not distinguished by his doctoral skills and “treated” his patients with jokes. True, he soon gained popularity, and they even began to invite him healthy people to enjoy his humor.

And everyone famous word“swindler” comes from the word “moshna” - the name of the wallet in which money was previously carried. And the thieves who set their sights on him were called swindlers.

Now we know what etymology is. As you can see, this is a rather interesting discipline that sheds light on the origins of many words.

Ushakov's Dictionary

Etymology

etymology, etymology, wives(from Greek etymos - true and logos - teaching) ( ling.).

1. only units A department of linguistics that studies the origins of words. Sketches on Russian etymology.

2. The very origin of this or that word. This word has an unclear etymology. Determine the etymology of a word. The etymology of the word "telephone" is Greek.

3. only units Grammar without syntax ( those. the study of sounds, parts of speech and forms of words), preim. as a subject of school teaching ( outdated).

Folk etymology ( ling.) - alteration, incomprehensible ( eg borrowed) word, explained by the need to bring it closer in sound similarity to some of the familiar words and thus comprehend it, eg"bucker" instead of "speculator" under the influence of "buy up"; the word itself is a modified word.

Etymology

(Greek etymologia from etymon - truth, the main meaning of the word + logos - concept, teaching). 1) A branch of linguistics that studies the origin and history of individual words and morphemes. 2 Origin and history of words and morphemes. Etymology of the word grammar

The beginnings of modern natural science. Thesaurus

Etymology

(from Greek etymologia - truth + logic)

1) origin of the word (applies to concepts that have arisen in scientific language);

Culturology. Dictionary-reference book

Etymology

(Greek etymon true meaning words)

1) origin of a word or morpheme;

2) a branch of linguistics that studies the original word-formation structure of a word and identifies elements of its ancient meaning.

Rhetoric: Dictionary-reference book

Etymology

in rhetoric

Dictionary of linguistic terms

Etymology

(Old Greekέτυμος true, truthful)

1) Origin of a word or morpheme;

2) a branch of linguistics that studies the original structure and meaning of words and morphemes.

II.

(gr. έτυμολογια

1. Determining the origin of the word and its family relations to other words of the same or other languages.

2. Est. A section of school grammar that includes the study of sounds (phonetics), parts of speech and the structure of words (morphology).

III. in rhetoric:

a figure of emphasis based on revealing the meanings of a word through origin or composition; Ethics in rhetoric does not coincide with etymology in linguistics.

Terms and concepts of linguistics: Vocabulary. Lexicology. Phraseology

Etymology

(Old Greek ετυμος)

A branch of linguistics that studies the origins of a word, as well as historical changes in the structure of a word and its meanings. E. is based on patterns of sound changes and morphological changes in words. It takes into account the regular transitions of certain types of lexical meanings into other types: metaphorization, metonymy, narrowing and expanding the meaning of a word.

Terms of Film Semiotics

ETYMOLOGY

the science of the origin of words

Grammar Dictionary: Grammar and linguistic terms

Etymology

1. School name of the grammar department, which includes phonetics and morphology Ph.D. language; in this meaning, E. is opposed to syntax; in science, the word E. is not used in this meaning.

2. In the science of E. this or that word (plural: E-and these or other words) is the origin and history of the morphological composition of this or that individual word, with the clarification of those morphological elements from which the given word was once formed.

Rhetoric: Dictionary-reference book

Etymology

in rhetoric: a figure of emphasis based on revealing the meanings of a word through origin or composition; E. in rhetoric does not coincide with etymology in linguistics

Encyclopedic Dictionary

Etymology

(from the Greek etymon - truth, the true meaning of the word and...logy),..

origin of a word or morpheme...
A branch of linguistics that studies the original word-formation structure of a word and identifies elements of its ancient meaning.

Ozhegov's Dictionary

ETHYMOL ABOUT GIA, And, and.

2. The origin of a particular word or expression. Determine the etymology of the word.

Folk etymology(special) alteration of a borrowed word according to the model of a word of the native language that is similar in sound based on the association of meanings (for example, in Leskov: microscope instead of microscope).

| adj. etymological, oh, oh. E. dictionary.

Efremova's Dictionary

Etymology

and.
1. A branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words.
2. The origin of a word or expression in terms of its connections with other words or expressions of this and other languages.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Etymology

A grammatical term (from the Greek έτυμος - true, true and λογία - teaching, science), which has two meanings. In the terminology of school grammar, E. is the department of grammar that contains the main phonetic rules and the doctrine of word formation (mainly about inflection: declension and conjugation). In this sense, E. is opposed to the doctrine of the sentence (simple and complex) and its members, usually called syntax. In scientific linguistics, the name E. refers to the correct determination, in accordance with the requirements of science, of the origin of a word and its related relationships to other words of the same or other languages. For brevity, E. often refers directly to the origin of a word, indicating, for example, that its E. is obscure or, on the contrary, quite clear, etc. This latter E. acquired a scientific character only recently, with the successes of comparative linguistics and mainly phonetics, which made it possible bringing together forms that apparently have nothing in common with each other. Thus, only after comparative phonetics developed the doctrine of the so-called nasal sonants, did it become possible to construct negative prefixes in Greek. ά- and germ. un- to one common source u, or n to the syllabic. Pott (see), author of the famous work “Etymologische Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Indogermanischen Sprachen mit besonderem Bezug auf die Lautumwandlung im Sanskrit, Griechischen, Lateinischen, Litauischen und Gotischen” (Lemgo, 1833- 36; the second edition, completely revised and greatly expanded, was published in Detmold, in 1859-76). In this work, etymologization, previously based on a striking external resemblance(sometimes only accidental), was for the first time placed on the solid ground of phonetic laws and acquired the desired accuracy, alien to arbitrariness. Another remarkable scientist who did a lot for Indo-European etymology was A. Fick (see), the author of a comparative etymological dictionary of Indo-European languages: "Vergleichendes W örterbuch der Indogerm. Sprachen" (1874-76), which has already gone through 4 editions, and many separate etymological articles in various linguistic journals.

Each word has its own origin. Science studies the origin of words etymology, founded in XVII century. Originally it was “a section of grammar dealing with word formation and inflection.” modern meaning used from the second half XIX century.

Etymology(from Greek " etymon" - the true meaning of the word and " logos" - doctrine) is a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of a word, as well as historical changes in the structure of the word and its meanings.

Etymology is based on the natural sound and morphological changes of words in the process of language evolution, and takes into account regular transitions of certain types lexical meaning words into others. When figuring out the origin of words, their history in a particular language, etymology also takes into account data from other sciences - history, archeology, ethnography. The complex of actual linguistic information about the word, historical and cultural information about the thing it calls allows us to build more or less plausible hypotheses about the origin of the word. At the same time, etymological scientists strive to exclude random connections and associations of a given word with others. For example, it turns out that the similarity of words otter And tear out is only external - in fact, the origin and history of these words have nothing in common: the verb comes from the Old Russian kick (with the same meaning), and otter cognate with Lithuanian udra in the same meaning, Greek xydra – water snake(literally otter means aquatic animal).

There is such a concept in etymology as “false” or « folk etymology. It arises mainly in oral speech, when the speaker, getting acquainted with a new word, voluntarily or involuntarily compares it with the vocabulary known to him. In such cases, the sound exchange of the word changes.
Folk etymology arises on the basis of “remaking” a native or borrowed word according to the model of a word of the native language that is similar in sound, establishing semantic connections between them on the basis of a random sound, external coincidence, without taking into account real facts their origin. For example, French “sale” – dirty – served as a source for the formation of the adjective sebaceous (reinterpretation occurred through consonance with the word salo ).

More often false etymology arises in cases when a person wants to check the spelling of a difficult word whose origin is unknown to him. Students match words, for example: “ fan" - from the word screw ; « until demand» - up to your requirement ; « tremble" - from the word shiver ; « underlining" - from the word emphasize ; « illuminated" - from the word light ; « spotakiad" - from the word sport ; « violet" - from the word violet etc.
The etymological analysis of the word is directed to the past of the language. With the help of such an analysis, the origin of the word, its structure, meaning, previous word-formation connections are established, and phonetic changes are established.

Etymological analysis establishes the analysis of the word, its original structure, meaning, previous word-formation connections. For example, verb loom now no longer associated with a noun lighthouse, from which it is etymologically derived, and the noun itself lighthouse , historically formed from the Old Russian verb “mayat”, with the meaning “to wave”, using the suffix -To-(cf.: scoop - scoop ), in modern Russian is non-derivative.You can find out about the origin of words in etymological dictionaries. Widely known " Etymological dictionary Russian language" by A. Preobrazhensky, published in 1910-1914. More fundamental is the four-volume “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by M. Vasmer (M., 1964-1973; re-edition 1986-1987).

There are dictionaries for teachers and students. For example, “A Brief Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language,” compiled by N.M. Shansky, V.V. Ivanov et al., ed. S.G. Barkhudarov (M., 1961; 3rd ed. - M., 1975); “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” N.M. Shansky and T.A. Bobrova (M., 1994); “Etymological dictionary of the Russian language for schoolchildren”, compiled by S.I. Karantirov (M, 1998). The peculiarity of these dictionaries is that they show the historical sequence of word formation.

The dictionary entry is being built as follows: after the headword there are words related to it, then correspondences to it in other Slavic languages; then its ancient basis and versions of the semantic and structural connections of its learned etymologists are indicated. For example: Soup. Time: start 18th century Origin: French soup< лат. suppa – похлёбка.

Details Category: “The great, powerful and truthful Russian language” Published 03/29/2016 14:53 Views: 3719

Etymology is a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words or parts of words (affixes).

Etymology is also any hypothesis about the origin of a particular word (less often, another linguistic unit, for example, a prefix).
The subject of etymology is the study of the sources and process of formation of the vocabulary of a language. The words of a language change over time according to certain historical patterns, which obscures the original form of the word. The etymologist, relying on material from related languages, must establish this form and explain how the word took on its modern form.

What methods are used to determine the origin of a word?

Etymology uses complex research methods. The word (or root) whose etymology is to be established is related to related words(or roots), a common producing root is revealed, and as a result of removing the layers of later historical changes, the original form and its meaning are established.
The term “etymology” comes from the ancient Greek ἔτυμον “truth, the basic meaning of a word” and the ancient Greek λόγος “word, doctrine, judgment.”
Etymology is a very fascinating science, because... allows you to dive into the depths of the history of a language in order to “pull out” from these depths the history of the origin of a particular word. This is a real journey into the history of words. After all, words, like people, have their own history and their own destiny. They may have relatives and a rich pedigree. Or they may be complete orphans. A word can tell a lot about itself: about its nationality, about its parents, about its origin. This is what the science of etymology does.
Words in any language can be original, borrowed, formed naturally or artificially, etc. But now we are talking specifically about the Russian language, so we will limit ourselves to talking about the etymology of the Russian language.
So, the words of the Russian language, according to their origin, are divided into the following groups:
1) original Russian words (inherited from the ancestor language);
2) words formed using word-formation means of the Russian language;
3) words borrowed from other languages;
4) words that arose as a result of various “language errors”.
Words that are given language are primordial, in the ancestor language they could belong to any of the above groups. For any word that is derived in a given language, it is possible to indicate from which word and with the help of what word-formation means it was formed.
For example, the word “tomorrow”. This is a common Slavic word. Fusion in the morning with a change in the unstressed “u” to “v” (cf. dialect hit <ударить>). Literally means "the time following the next morning."
Of course, any assumption about the origin of the word must be substantiated. For example, if it is assumed that a word is produced with the help of some affix, it is necessary to confirm with examples that such an affix exists (or existed) in a given language and can (or could) form words with such a meaning. That is, during etymological analysis you cannot go into speculation or fantasy and build your logical chains of reasoning only on the basis of personal beliefs.

How to prove the borrowed origin of a word?

To prove this, a number of conditions must be met.
First, we need to find evidence that the language from which this word came was in contact (or could be in contact) with the Russian language.
Secondly, the words under consideration must have semantic similarity: at least in some uses, the word of the source language must have the meaning in which it was borrowed into the language under study.
Thirdly, the words in question must contain constant phonetic correspondences, because the sounds of a “foreign” language are regularly reflected in the borrowing language.
Fourthly, the supposedly borrowed word should not violate the rules of grammatical adaptation of borrowings accepted in the language.
But this, of course, general rules. And, as you know, there are exceptions to every rule.

Complexities of etymology

It is difficult to determine borrowings from an extinct unwritten language, because in this case, the borrowing source is not available.
Borrowings can penetrate from language to language not only through oral speech, but also from books. Book borrowings in general are characterized by greater closeness to the original than oral ones, but they can also contain errors, including very serious ones: for example, the French word zénith “zenith” (which also found its way into the Russian language) is borrowed from the Arabic zemth: m in the manuscript it was taken to be ni.
It is very difficult for etymologists to understand the author's neologisms - words created artificially. For example, the famous word coined by F. Dostoevsky is to fade away. If there is no accurate information about who and when a certain word was invented, then it is impossible to prove its origin.
Difficulties arise with tracing paper (from the French calque “copy”) - borrowing foreign words, expressions, phrases literal translation. For example, Russian word“insect” is a translation from the Latin insectum (in - “on” + sectum - “insect”).
But so far we have talked about the science of etymology itself. But we are probably more interested in etymological results, i.e. histories of individual words or morphemes. How can you find out the origin of a word?

To do this we must open an etymological dictionary.

Etymological dictionaries

An etymological dictionary contains information about the history of individual words (sometimes morphemes) and all the changes they have undergone. Some large explanatory dictionaries may also contain information about the etymology of words.

But we already know that the origin of many words cannot be interpreted unambiguously, so etymological dictionaries give different points of view and contain links to relevant literature.
In Russia, the first attempts to create an etymological dictionary date back to the 19th century. Their authors were researchers of the history of words K. F. Reiff, F. S. Shimkevich, M. M. Izyumov, N. V. Goryaev and A. N. Chudinov.
Well-known modern etymological dictionaries of the Russian language:

Vasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. In 4 vols. / Per. with him. O. N. Trubacheva. - M.: Progress, 1964-1973.
Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language / Ed. N. M. Shansky (1963-1999), A. F. Zhuravleva (since 1999), Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University. – M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1963-2007.
Chernykh P. Ya. Historical and etymological dictionary of the modern Russian language. In 2 volumes - M.: Russian language, 1993.

But there is also folk etymology. Let's talk about her.

Folk etymology

This, of course, is a false etymology, unscientific. It is associated with lexical association and arises under the influence of vernacular.
This etymology cannot be used in scientific purposes, but in itself it is very interesting, because allows you to follow the progress of people’s associations, see their ability to analyze and ironize.
Several trends can be seen in folk etymology.
1) A borrowed or native word is distorted and reinterpreted according to the model of a well-known and similar-sounding word: semi-clinic (instead of clinic), gulvar (instead of boulevard), etc. Here N. Leskov immediately comes to mind with his story “Lefty”: “melkoskop” (instead of “microscope”), “studing” (instead of “pudding”), “slander” (instead of “feuilleton”), etc.
2) Sometimes the origin of a word is explained on the basis of only external consonance, but this does not correspond to the actual etymology. For example, the word “pillow” is explained by the fact that it is placed under the ear, but the scientific etymology is completely different: with the root “spirit” (i.e. something “inflated”).
The beautiful phrase “raspberry ringing” is known. This is what they say about the pleasant ringing of bells. But the meaning of this phrase is not at all connected with the word “raspberry” or “raspberry color”. Scientific etymology gives us the opportunity to find out that this phrase comes from the name of the Belgian city of Malin (now the city of Mechelen), where there is an ancient cathedral, at which there is special school bell ringers, i.e. The expression “raspberry ringing” means the playing of “Malinovsky” musicians on bells.
This type of folk etymology is especially widespread in explaining the origin of place names. “The people always have the feeling that the name cannot be given just like that, that it was given in connection with some unusual, important event“,” says G. P. Smolitskaya, a Russian linguist and toponymist. For example, folk etymology explains the name Ryazan with the word “to cut”, because There was a brutal massacre here during the raids of nomads.

Some interesting etymology

Scammer. This is not what they called deceivers or thieves in Rus'. This is the name given to the craftsmen who made the purse, i.e. wallets.
Slates. In the USSR, the most famous manufacturer of these shoes (rubber slippers) was the Polymer plant in the city of Slantsy. The word "Flip Flops" was embossed on the soles of these slippers. Many people mistook this word for the name of a shoe. The word became active vocabulary and has become synonymous with the word “slippers.”

Toponymic legends

Toponymic legends are spread throughout the world and relate to those geographical objects exact time, the founding date and toponym of which are either not fully clarified, or were explained already in the era of the development of toponymic and historical science. Toponymic legends cannot be considered as reliable information about the origin of a particular name.
The most common character in the creation of toponymic legends is Peter I. Here are two of them.

Folk etymology attributes to Peter I the appearance of the name of the village of Divnogorye in Voronezh region. Driving through this area, he exclaimed: “What wonderful mountains!”
The city of Boguchar in the Voronezh region is also named in connection with the stay of Peter I there. The Tsar sailed on his ships along the Don River and stopped at some settlement to replenish food supplies. Here he and his entourage arranged a small feast. During this feast they wanted to poison Peter and served a glass of wine with poison. But Peter, knowing this, raised the glass with the words: “And I give this glass to God!” and threw it into the river. Therefore, people called the tributary of the Don, on the banks of which this was located populated area, Bogucharka, and this village itself is Boguchar.

Etymology Etymology

Etymology is characterized by the complex nature of the study. The essence of the procedure of etymology, analysis: genetic identification of the word in question or its basis with another word or its basis as the original, producing one, as well as the identification of others structural elements words with historically known structural elements and reconstruction of the primary form and meaning of the word with primary motivation; An indispensable stage of etymological analysis is the removal of later historical changes. The basis of the etymological methodology is the study of various, which is based on the laws of change, patterns, patterns of change, etc., which are the subject of the study of comparative grammar. Depending on the nature of the historical changes experienced by the word and its relationship with potential related lexemes, in individual cases of etymological analysis, the analysis of various structural elements or the meaning of the word takes on dominant importance. Thus, the Russian “to bother”, the Ukrainian “thermocity” and the Polish tarmosić, termosić can be interpreted as formations derived from the verbal stem ter- ‘to rub, tear’ (Russian “to rub”), but the analysis of the phonetic differences of these verbs (especially the Russian “sh” "with Ukrainian "с" and Polish s') convinces that the direct continuation of the ancient derivative verb can only be Polish tarmosić, while Russian and Ukrainian verbs are from Polish. When etymologizing the Russian word “lono” to prove its derivative from the verb “‑lay”, the most significant possibility is to isolate in the word “log‑” and the suffix “‑sno”, as evidenced by the structure of the word “lozhesna”, which is similar in meaning, “womb” with the root “log‑” and the suffix “‑sno”.

Particular difficulties in etymological analysis are the explanation of the connection of meanings, the development of meanings and the reconstruction of the primary semantics of a word. This is due to the diversity and significance of semantic changes (cf. Russian “ditch” and Novosibirsk “ditch” ‘fence made of dung’, literary “ardent” and dialect Vologda “ardently cold” “very cold”, Russian “transparent” and Czech prozračno 'cloudy'), their connection with extra-linguistic realities and insufficient knowledge of the types of semantic changes and principles. The basis for semantic analysis in etymological research is the method of semantic parallels: cases of similar development (or combination) of meanings are cited as evidence of the expected development of meanings (or the possibility of combining meanings). Thus, in confirmation of the belonging of the verb “to gawk” (in combination “to gawk”) to the nest “to rub” (where meanings like “tear, tear, rip off” are regular), one can indicate the close development of the meaning “to tear” → “to gawk” in reißen ( cf. die Augen reißen 'to stare'). Semantic changes and combinations of meanings are only partially explained general patterns human thinking (these are the changes ‘abyss’ → ‘ large number something’, ‘close’ → ‘soon’, ‘strong’ → ‘fast’ → ‘sassy’). Most of the semantic transitions and combinations of meanings are determined by the relationship between realities, natural and social environment, material and spiritual culture of native speakers, since the meanings of words reflect the world of realities. The interpretation of semantic changes and the application of the method of semantic parallels must be based on the entire body of knowledge about the world around man, about man and human society in their historical development, accumulated by various branches of science, taking into account the historical development of this knowledge. For example, the establishment of the relationship of the Russian “move” with the German Zweig “branch” and its derivative from “two” was carried out thanks to the reconstruction of the primary meaning of “to lift” for the verb “move” and the use of information from the history of technology about the use of a stick as a lever for lifting weights , branches with a forked end (which could be designated as a derivative of “two” - as 'double'). An explanation of the relationship between the Latin rex ‘king’, regere ‘to rule’ and the Slavic rězati turned out to be possible thanks to the understanding of the priestly functions of the king in ancient society and their connection with sacred, cosmological dimensions, which were carried out, in particular, by features and cuts.

A necessary working technique in etymology is the reconstruction of the form and/or meaning that historically preceded the attested ones, that is, the restoration, on the basis of attested lexemes, of their original, primary forms and meanings. The time interval between the recorded word and the reconstruction may vary; the chronological characteristics of reconstructions for different lexemes are also different, different languages(many words are the result of word formation in the 20th century). The presence of this interval makes the results of etymological analysis hypothetical even with the strictest adherence to all the requirements of the methodology, but the hypothetical nature that brings etymology closer to many historical disciplines does not reduce the cognitive significance of its achievements.

Etymology is closely related to: dialect data is important for resolving the question of the origin of many words in the literary language. Thus, the formation of the word “joint” from the verb “to put” is argued by the dialectal usage “to put out (an arm, leg or finger)” ‘to dislocate’. Dialectal vocabulary preserves many ancient lexemes that have been lost literary language(cf. Russian dialect “bagno” ‘mud, swamp’, “nav” ‘dead man’, “vir” ‘whirlpool’, which have correspondences in other Slavic languages and Indo-European languages, but are not preserved in literary Russian).

Etymology has great value for the development of historical grammar in general and for comparative historical grammar, for which etymology plays the role of the basis and source of new materials that confirm already established patterns and reveal unstudied phenomena in the history of language. Since etymologies are available at chronological levels unattainable for written history, it serves, along with archeology, as an important tool for studying the history of human society.

Etymology originated in ancient Greece (Plato, dialogue “Cratylus”). Here the term itself appeared, attributed to. But the scientific idea of the patterns of changes in language and the sign nature of language was alien to ancient etymology. Antihistoricity and arbitrariness of interpretations bring this stage in the history of etymology closer to the so-called folk etymology - the transformation of words towards their convergence with other words that seem (due to the similarity of meanings, or forms, or various associations) related (for example, “myopic” arose from “myopic-sighted”, cf. among the Stoics the convergence of the Latin crux ' cross' with crus 'leg'). The principles of ancient etymology were preserved in the Middle Ages. Scientific etymology arose simultaneously with. The establishment of sound correspondences of Indo-European languages and the corresponding ones, which form the basis of comparative historical linguistics, was a consequence of comparing the lexemes of these languages and developing a hypothesis about their relationship, i.e., a consequence of etymological operations. In turn, phonetic and other laws and patterns became the methodological foundation for etymology. The first theoretical presentation of etymology as a science belongs to A.F. Pott (“Etymological Studies in the Field of Indo-Germanic Languages,” vol. 1-2, 1833-36). Important stages in the history of etymology are the recognition of the significance of dialects and the mastery of methods (J. Gillieron), the study of the specifics of changes in meanings and the analysis of vocabulary according to semantic fields (J. Trier), attention to the connection between semantics and realities (the “Words and Things” direction, which put forward the principles of studying vocabulary in connection with the culture and history of the people; R. Mehringer, W. Meyer-Lübke, G. Schuchardt, W. von Wartburg), addressing the historical changes experienced primary form and the meaning of the word, i.e. to the history of the word (etymology as the biography of the word as opposed to the understanding of etymology as the origin of the word; Schuchardt, Gillieron). Development of etymology in the 20th century. marked by the use of structural principles in etymological studies (analysis of vocabulary by groups - semantic, root, affixal, lexico-grammatical, taking into account various principles of organizing systems - opposition, association, etc.; E. Benveniste, G. Jacobsson, V.V. Martynov, A. S. Melnichuk), the desire to reconstruct the original words (and not just the roots), attention to irregular language changes, especially relevant for etymology due to the individual history of each word (V. Mahek, S. Ondrush and other representatives of the Czechoslovak etymological school ; however, the recognition of irregular changes in etymology remained subordinate to the concept of the determining role of phonetic laws - O. Semerenyi, J. Malkiel, O. N. Trubachev), the development of problems of the relationship between etymology and other areas of linguistics, especially comparative grammar, as well as the orientation of etymological research on grammatical problems (Malkiel, F. Slavsky), deepening the sociological aspect of etymological research, i.e. the connection between the study of the origin of vocabulary and the history of society, its spiritual and material culture (Benveniste, Trubachev, V.N. Toporov, Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, V.I. Abaev).

Second half of the 20th century. characterized by the expansion of etymological research, the development of new methodological principles and new lexical materials, which resulted in the creation of numerous etymological dictionaries. An important stage in the development of etymology as a science is the creation of etymological dictionaries Slavic languages, focused on the reconstruction and etymologization of the Proto-Slavic lexical fund (Slavsky, Trubachev) and served as the basis for the emergence of lexicology and the Proto-Slavic language.

The most important etymological dictionaries:

Abaev V.I., Historical and Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language, vol. 1-3, M.-L., 1958-79;
Bulgarian etymological riverman, vol. 1-3, Sofia, 1962-86(ed. in progress);
Klimov G. A., Etymological Dictionary of Kartvelian Languages, M., 1964;
Lytkin V.I., Gulyaev E. S., Brief etymological dictionary of the Komi language, M., 1970;
Acharyan R., Etymological Root Dictionary of the Armenian Language, vol. 1-4, Yerevan, 1971-79 (in Armenian);
Illich-Svitych V. M., Experience of comparison of Nostratic languages, [vol. 1-3], M., 1971-1984;
Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages, ed. O. N. Trubacheva, t. 1-15, M., 1974-88;
Sevortyan E.V., Etymological Dictionary of Turkic Languages, vol. 1-3, M., 1974-80 (ed. ongoing);
Comparative dictionary of Tungus-Manchu languages (materials for the etymological dictionary), rep. ed. V. I. Tsintsius, vol. 1-2, L., 1975-77;
Toporov V.N., Prussian language. Dictionary, [vol. 1-4]. M., 1975-84 (edition in progress);
Shagirov A.K., Etymological dictionary of Adyghe (Circassian) languages, vol. 1-2, M., 1977;
These are the elephants of the Belarusian language, ed. V. Ў. Martynau, vol. 1-4. Minsk, 1978-88(ed. in progress);
Etymological dictionary of Ukrainian language, ch. ed. O. S. Melnichuk, t. 1-2, Kiev, 1982-85(ed. in progress);
Vasmer M., Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language, trans. with him. and additions by O. N. Trubachev, 2nd ed., vol. 1-4. M., 1986-1987;
Miklosich F., Etymologisches Wörterbuch der slavischen Sprachen, W., 1886(reprinted, Amst., 1970);
Meyer G., Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache, Straßburg, 1891;
Stokes W., Bezzenberger A., Wortschatz der keltischen Spracheinheit, 4 Aufl., Gött., 1894;
Falk H., Torp A., Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit, Gött., 1909;
their own, Norwegisch-Dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, v. 1-2, Hdlb., 1910-11;
Meyer-Lübke W., Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 Aufl., Hdlb., 1935;
Hellquist E., Svensk etymologisk ordbok, v. 1-2, Lund, 1948;
Bloch O., Wartburg W., Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 2 ed., P., 1950;
Sławski F., Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, t. 1-5, Krakow, 1952-77(ed. in progress);
Skeat W. W., An etymological dictionary of the English language, Oxf., 1953;
Mayrhofer M., Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen, Bd 1-4, Hdlb., 1956-80;
Pokorny J., Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd 1-2, Bern - Münch., 1959-65;
Frisk H., Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd 1-3, Hdlb., 1954-72;
Fraenkel E., Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd 1-2, Hdlb. - Gött., 1955-1965;
Kluge F., Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 19 Aufl., B., 1963;
Walde A., Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bd 1-3, 4 Aufl., Hdlb., 1965;
Machek V., Etymologický slovník jazyka českého, 2 vyd., Praha, 1968;
Räsänen M., Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen, Hels., 1969;
Skok P., Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, t. 1-4. Zagreb, 1971-74;
Etymologický slovník slovanských jazyků. Slova grammatická a zájmena, Sest. F. Kopečný, V. Šaur, V. Polák, t. 1-2, Praha, 1973-80;
Słownik prasłowiański, pod red. F. Sławskiego, t. 1-5, Wrocław-, 1974-84;
Windekens A.J. van, Le tokharien confronté avec les autres langues indo-européennes, v. 1, Louvain, 1976;
Bezlaj F., Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika, t. 1-2, Ljubljana, 1976-82(ed. in progress);
Tischler J., Hethitisches etymologisches Glossar, Bd 1-2, Innsbruck, 1977-79(ed. ongoing).

Pisani V., Etymology, trans. from Italian, M., 1956;
Etymological studies in the Russian language, V. 1-9, M., 1960-81 (edition in progress);
Etymology (yearbook), M., 1963-;
Malkiel Y., Etymological dictionaries. A tentative typology, Chi., 1976;
Etymologie, hrsg. von R. Schmitt, Darmstadt, 1977;
Pfister M., Einführung in die romanische Etymologie, Darmstadt, 1980;
Erhart A., Večerka R., Úvod do etymologie, Praha, .

J. J. Warbot.

Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ch. ed. V. N. Yartseva. 1990 .

Synonyms:

See what “Etymology” is in other dictionaries:

ETYMOLOGY- (Greek etymos correct, logos speech). The part of grammar that deals with word production. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. ETYMOLOGY [gr. etymologia Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language