Etymology is a science that studies the origin of words, reconstructing their primary form and meaning. What is etymology? Detailed analysis

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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, famous word, invented 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 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 (from the Greek etymon - “true (meaning of a word)” + logos - “teaching, science”) is the science of the origin of words. The successes of etymology are closely related to the development of the comparative-historical method in linguistics (see Comparative-historical method).

IN Ancient Greece and Rome, in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, predominantly naive explanations of the origin of words dominated, prevailing until the 18th century. inclusive. Words from different languages came together and were interpreted according to various kinds of random signs - on the basis of their external consonance.

The phonetic, word-formation and semantic aspects of the study are of utmost importance in etymology.

One of the most significant achievements of the comparative-historical method in linguistics was the establishment of clear phonetic correspondences between individual sounds in related languages. Moreover, the determining factor here is precisely the presence of correspondence, and not external consonance. For example, the Russian angle and the Latin angulus - “corner” are not very similar in sound. Nevertheless, we have before us a complete phonetic correspondence. But in order to be sure of this, you need to restore the oldest form words angle. In Old Russian we find ugъl, and in Old Slavonic we find ѪГЛЪ. This word began with a letter called "yus big", which reflects the nasal vowel, going back to the combination an. Considering that in Slavic languages was the result of the transformation of u, we can restore the Proto-Slavic form of the word: *angŭlŭ. Latin us and Proto-Slavic - ŭ represent “traces” of the Indo-European endings of nouns masculine- *os. Thus, both the Russian angle and the Latin angulus are traced back to the Indo-European *angulos.

The above example shows that the phonetic aspect of etymological analysis presupposes knowledge of the laws of phonetic change and knowledge of phonetic correspondences between the sounds of related languages.

No less important has a word-formation aspect of etymological analysis. Words in a language are usually formed according to one or another word-formation model. Analysis of individual patterns allows etymologists to reconstruct series of words formed according to the same pattern. The inclusion of an etymologically unclear word in such a series helps to determine its generating basis, that is, the word from which it was formed.

For example, the word cuttlefish in Russian is etymologically unclear. This word, as evidenced by the Bulgarian equivalent krakatitsa, was transformed (under the influence of akanya) from * korokatitsa, compare: loaf from korovai (the latter form is the norm in the dictionary of D. N. Ushakov). Word formation maiden ← maiden, chicken ← chicken, etc. allows the word *korokatica to be traced back to *korokata. This reconstructed form, in turn, has the suffix -at-, and this allows it to be attributed to a new word-formation series: strip → striped ( short form adjective striped) - “having many stripes”, hair → volosata - “having a lot of hair”, *korok(b) → korokata - “having a lot. .?” There is no word *korok(ъ) in the Russian language, so we are forced to turn to the related Bulgarian language for help. But this time we need to correlate the word we reconstructed not with the word formation, but with the phonetic series (i.e., with a series of Russian-Bulgarian phonetic correspondences): rus. city - Bulgarian grad, rus. roads - Bulgarian drag, russian *korok - Bulgarian krak - "leg" Therefore, cuttlefish etymologically means "centipede"

Very great value It also has a semantic aspect to etymological analysis (see Semantics). Frequent changes in the meaning of a word complicate the work of an etymologist. For example, the word flock in Russian means “a group of animals of the same species sticking together”, and in Bulgarian flock means “room”. How to connect such different meanings and which of these meanings can be used as the basis for the etymology of these words? A simpler case with the word stoylo, which is clearly derived from the verb to stand, helps to find the semantic model on which the word flock is constructed: Old Russian staty → flock - “stall” (the word has the same meaning in Old Church Slavonic, or Old Bulgarian, language). Further semantic changes went in two directions: 1) “stall”, i.e. “a place where livestock stands” → “shed, shed” → “premises” “room” (Bulgarian); 2) “stall”, i.e. “a place where livestock stands” → “ barnyard» → “corral” → “herd” (domestic animals) → “flock” (Russian language). Thus, the semantic aspect of etymological research is also associated with the identification of certain general patterns.

Along with the three main aspects of etymological research considered, an important place in the process of etymologization has always been occupied by issues related to chronology. As is known, the oldest layers of vocabulary of modern Indo-European languages go back to the era when their base language had not yet broken up into separate languages. It is impossible to etymologize the vocabulary of ancient Indo-European origin based on much later facts. For example, the name otter in modern Russian is involuntarily associated with the verb to tear out. Meanwhile, the words otter and tear out etymologically have nothing in common. The Old Russian d'rati and the Latvian dirât indicate that the root of the verb had the vowel i. Lithuanian ūdra - “otter” and other Indo-European correspondences, firstly, indicate the absence of the vowel i between d and r; secondly, the name otter existed back in the Indo-European era - long before prefixed verbs like tear out became widespread; finally, such correspondences as the ancient Greek hýdra - “ water snake" and hýdor - "water", suggest that otter meant "water animal".

Dialect vocabulary plays a primary role in etymological research. When, on the basis of word-formation analysis and comparison with related Indo-European forms, the Russian word ramen - “dense forest” was compared with the verb yell - “to plow”, the expected semantic change: ramen “arable land” → “arable land overgrown with forest” → “forest on abandoned arable land” » → “forest” → “dense forest” - was reconstructed only purely theoretically. But when Soviet linguists N.I. Tolstoy and Yu.I. Chaikina discovered the word ramen with all the reconstructed transitional meanings in the dialects of the Russian language, the new etymology of the word ramen received semantically reliable confirmation.

Since etymological reconstructions often refer to to the most ancient eras, from which no written monuments have reached us, it is natural that these reconstructions do not always have a sufficient degree of reliability. This partly explains the fact that in etymology plurality is often allowed possible solutions. Thus, some scholars etymologize the word bride as “unknown, stranger” (not even to know), others - as “newlywed” (nev-nov - “new” and lead to the Lithuanian vesti - “to marry”). The word copper is explained either as “dark (metal)” or as “(metal) from Media.”

Etymological data cannot be used to prove the correctness or incorrectness of linguistic expressions (for example, the opinion was expressed that one cannot say: open the door, but only open). In the process of their development, words lose their etymological connections and acquire new meanings.

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 and different languages are also different (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 is of great importance 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), appeal to historical changes experienced by the primary form and meaning of the word, i.e. to the history of the word (etymology as a 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. Vs. 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 of Slavic languages, focused on the reconstruction and etymologization of the Proto-Slavic lexical fund (Slavsky, Trubachev) and which 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:

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

Etymology is characterized by the complex nature of research methods. 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 other structural elements of the word 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 comparative-historical method of studying various units of language, which is based on the laws of phonetic changes, morphonological patterns, patterns of morphological changes, 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 borrowed from Polish. When etymologizing the Russian word “lono” to prove its derivative from the verb “‑lay”, the most significant possibility is to isolate the root “log‑” and the suffix “‑sno” in the word, as evidenced by the structure of the word “lozhesna”, which is similar in meaning, “womb” with root “log‑” and 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 literary “ditch” and dialect 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 the principles of nomination. 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, peel” are regular), one can indicate the close development of the meaning “to tear” → “to gawk” in German reißen (cf. die Augen reißen 'to stare'). Semantic changes and combinations of meanings are only partly explained by the general patterns of human thinking (these are the changes ‘abyss’ → ‘a large amount of something’, ‘close’ → ‘soon’, ‘strong’ → ‘fast’ → ‘impudent’). Most of the semantic transitions and combinations of meanings are determined by the relationship of realities, the natural and social environment, the 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.

Etymology is closely related to dialectology: dialect data is important for resolving the question of the origin of many words in a 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 lost in the literary language (cf. Russian dialect “bagno” ‘mud, swamp’, “nav” ‘dead man’, “vir” ‘whirlpool’, which have correspondences in other Slavic languages and in Indo-European languages, but not preserved in literary Russian).

Etymology is of great importance for the development of historical lexicology 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 etymology has access to chronological levels unattainable by 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”). This is where the term itself, attributed to the Stoics, appeared. 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 comparative historical linguistics. The establishment of sound correspondences of Indo-European languages and the corresponding phonetic laws underlying 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 importance of dialects and mastery of the methods of linguistic geography (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 direction “Words and Things”, which put forward principles of studying vocabulary in connection with the culture and history of the people; R. Mehringer, W. Meyer-Lübke, G. Schuchardt, W. von Wartburg), appeal to historical changes experienced by the primary form and meaning of the word, i.e. to the history of the word (etymology as a biography of a word as opposed to the understanding of etymology as the origin of a 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 remained in etymology subordinate to the concept of the determining role of phonetic laws - O. Semerenyi, J. Malkiel, O. N. Trubachev), 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 the origin of vocabulary with the history of society, its spiritual and material culture (Benveniste, Trubachev, V.N. Toporov, Vyach. Vs. Ivanov, V.I. Abaev).

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, .

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» - true meaning words 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 occurs 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. The “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. Preobrazhensky, published in 1910-1914, is widely known. 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.