False etymology
There is debate among linguists about whether there is a difference between false and folk etymology. Is it worth distinguishing between them at all, and if so, then the question arises of what this difference consists of. Some scientists highlight false etymology as a separate phenomenon, others insist that this is only the second name for folk etymology.
In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, false etymology is called “an explanation of the origin of words that does not correspond to their actual history.” Great Soviet Encyclopedia: in 30 volumes [Electronic resource] / Ed. A. M. Prokhorova. - Electron. Art. - [Russia], 2010-2011. - URL: http://bse.slovaronline.com. - (04/22/2016).. This is one of the few sources where false etymology is highlighted as a separate phenomenon.
Vvedenskaya Lyudmila Alekseevna in her textbook on etymology writes that “folk etymology should hardly be called false, if only because some of the folk etymological words entered the vocabulary of the language as equal verbal units, displacing their legitimate counterpart.” Vvedenskaya, L. A. Etymology: Textbook. allowance / L. A. Vvedenskaya, N. P. Kolesnikov. - Moscow: St. Petersburg, 2004. - 224 P. - P. 38 As an example, the author cites the well-known word “ant”, which was formed according to the phonetic principle from the noun “ant”.
Many sources, including the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary, claim that false etymology is “the same as folk etymology.” Yartsev V.N. Big Encyclopedic Dictionary: in 14 volumes / Ed. V.N. Yartseva. - Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia - 1990. - p. 268 That is, there is no difference between them and these are just two different names for one phenomenon. I am inclined to agree with this opinion, since folk etymology really does not set itself the tasks that are primary for scientific etymology. It is built only on the principle of consonance and has no other basis.
Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary defines the word “false” as “containing a lie, erroneous, incorrect” Ozhegov, S. I. Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary [Electronic resource] / S. I. Ozhegov, N. Yu. Shvedova. - Electron. Art. - [Russia], 2011. - URL: http://ozhegov.textologia.ru. - (04/25/2016).. This, in my opinion, perfectly reflects the essence of folk etymology, since it does not carry a correct interpretation of the meaning of words, so it can safely be called false.
Pseudo-folk etymology
With folk etymology, a change in a word occurs without much effort from the native speaker, during its incorrect reproduction.
In “pseudo-folk” etymology, the change of word occurs deliberately, in order to give speech a special style and expressiveness.
The difference between folk and pseudo-folk etymology also lies in the fact that the latter phenomenon is humorous, ironic or sharply satirical in nature. It is used by authors in order to evoke a certain reaction in the reader, to add expressiveness and imagery to the work.
Nikolai Leskov is known throughout the world thanks to his etymologies. It was this writer who perfectly mastered the ability to create word forms in order to demonstrate the image of a simple Russian person. The author skillfully combines well-known words in various variations and obtains new, until then unknown, forms. The writer skillfully puts both irony and simplicity into them.
A striking example of such etymology is the word "melkoscope" which combines two terms "microscope" And "small". That is, it is a device for studying small objects that a person cannot see with his own eye.
This etymology does not occur in everyday life, however, understanding it does not cause difficulties for the reader.
The difference between folk and pseudo-etymology is difficult to discern, but nevertheless it exists. Vvedenskaya, L. A. Etymology: Textbook. allowance / L. A. Vvedenskaya, N. P. Kolesnikov. - Moscow: St. Petersburg, 2004. - pp. 44-48
TSB makes an attempt to distinguish between folk and false etymology, but does so inconsistently. Thus, in the second edition of the TSB, to illustrate the first type in the dictionary entry Folk Etymology, as well as to illustrate the second type in the dictionary entry False Etymology, the same example is given: the word clinic. In the third edition of the TSB, in the dictionary entry False etymology, it is noted that “collective false etymology” is a folk etymology.
But the dictionary entry Folk Etymology does not say anything about the fact that it arises on the basis of a false one. An appeal to the dictionary entry Etymology in the third edition of the TSB convinces that folk etymology and false etymology are doublet terms: “Folk (or false) Etymology is called Cases of secondary etymological understanding, the attraction of words that originally had a different origin.”
Folk etymology should hardly be called false, if only because some of the folk etymological words entered the vocabulary of the language as equal verbal units, displacing their legitimate counterpart.
This, for example, happened with the Old Russian word Morovia, which was supplanted by the word ant, formed according to the principle of folk etymology from the noun murava. The word humble did not exist in the Old Russian language. It contained the word smeren, from smeriti - “to moderate, soften, suppress” (from measure). Subsequently, according to folk etymology, it was transformed into the more understandable humble (from the world).
In the Old Russian language there was a word krilo. In this form it has been preserved in the Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, and Slovenian languages. However, in the Russian language, having fallen into the sphere of influence of the understandable word kryt, it began to be perceived as derived from this word: wing - what one covers. In this vowel, it entered the vocabulary of the Russian language.
Similar to these words, such words as myopic (from myopic), close to close and hand, also entered the Russian language; workbench (from German Werkstatt), similar to typesetting; flaw (from Turkic ziyan), similar to take away.
Along with the terms folk etymology, false etymology, N.V. Krushevsky, A.I. Thomson, I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay used the term folk word production, which, however, was not widespread, although it correctly reflects the essence of folk etymology. The term semasiological assimilation is also found in the works of Baudouin de Courtenay.
D. S. Lotte, in a note to the term comprehension he uses, states: “The phenomenon of “comprehension” in linguistic literature is often called “folk etymology.” J. Maruso in the “Dictionary of Linguistic Terms” (1960) reports that “French grammarians sometimes call paronymic attraction a process better known as folk etymology,” and O. S. Akhmanova in a dictionary article (“Dictionary of Linguistic Terms”, 1966) , dedicated to paronymic attraction, states unconditionally: “Paronymic attraction is the same as folk etymology (see etymology).”
Vvedenskaya L. A., Kolesnikov N. P. - Etymology - St. Petersburg, 2004.
False etymology
Understanding the family connections of a word, its root, motivation, which does not correspond to its real origin, is one of the types folk etymology. Does not change the structure of the word and is revealed by changing the meaning of the word or directly interpreting its origin by the speaker: sweatshirt"men's shirt made of thick fabric" (historically - the cut of the blouse that the writer L.N. Tolstoy loved), juice"pies fried in oil - "juice", soaked in "juice"" (genetically - a derivative of roll"to roll out (dough)")
False etymology is especially characteristic for the understanding and interpretation of toponyms: Great Bows interpreted as related to the name of the weapon, with real motivation for bending (Luke) rivers.
Adj. false etymological.
A brief conceptual and terminological reference book on etymology and historical lexicology. - Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Russian Language named after. V. V. Vinogradov RAS, Etymology and history of words in the Russian language. J. J. Varbot, A. F. Zhuravlev. 1998 .
See what “False etymology” is in other dictionaries:
FALSE ETYMOLOGY. See folk etymology. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary of literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin Vetrinsky. M.; L.: Publishing house in L... Literary encyclopedia
Same as folk etymology... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
False etymology- FALSE ETYMOLOGY. See Folk etymology... Dictionary of literary terms
Same as folk etymology. * * * FALSE ETYMOLOGY FALSE ETYMOLOGY, the same as folk etymology (see FOLK ETYMOLOGY) ... encyclopedic Dictionary
An explanation of the origin of words that does not correspond to their actual history. Unlike scientific etymology (See Etymology), L. e. is based not on the laws of language development, but on the random similarity of words (for example, “village”, “tree”, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
False etymology- (folk etymology) – incorrect understanding of a borrowed word, its internal form in connection with the influence of a similar-sounding word in the native language. Wed. patient's reasoning: The doctor says that I have stenosis. This means that there, in my stomach,... ... Language contacts: a short dictionary
false etymology- See folk etymology... Grammar Dictionary: Grammar and linguistic terms
false etymology, folk Terms and concepts of linguistics: Vocabulary. Lexicology. Phraseology. Lexicography
false etymology, folk- The convergence of words according to external, random characteristics. For example, the word solyanka is derived from salt, salty, although in fact it appeared as a result of modifications of the word selyanka, i.e. rural, country food... Dictionary of linguistic terms T.V. Foal
Etymology(from ancient Greek ὁ ἔτυμος - “the real meaning of a word” and ancient Greek -λογια - “science”) - a branch of linguistics (more specifically comparative historical linguistics) that studies the origin of words. Initially, among the ancients - the doctrine of the “true” (“original”) meaning of the word.
False etymology, an explanation of the origin of words that does not correspond to their actual history. Unlike scientific etymology, L. e. is based not on the laws of language development, but on the accidental similarity of words (for example, “village” - “tree,” although “village” originally meant “a place cleared of forest for a cornfield”). Collective L. e. (folk etymology) reflects the desire of speakers for maximum semantic motivation of linguistic signs. It can lead to a change in the meaning or sound of words, more often in foreign languages: “workbench” (from the German Werkstatt) is close to “make up”; The Latin vagabundus ("wanderer") became the Spanish vagamundo, being interpreted (under the influence of mundo - "world") as "one who circles the world."
Etymological dictionaries.
The first Russian etymological dictionary was “The Root Dictionary of the Russian Language, Compared with All the Major Slavic Adverbs and Twenty-Four Foreign Languages” by F.S. Shimkevich (1842). It explains 1378 everyday words. The dictionary contains many erroneous and arbitrary interpretations. But there are also convincing ones who are quite motivated. In 1896, the “Comparative Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” was published by N.V. Goryaeva. The scientific level of this dictionary (from the point of view of the current state of development of etymology) is low.
In 1910-1916 A.G. Preobrazhensky published the first 14 issues (two volumes) of the Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language.
In 1953-1958, M. Vasmer’s “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” was published in German in Heidelberg. In 1964-1973 O.N. Trubachev translates this dictionary into Russian.
In 1970, the “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by G.P. was published in Kyiv. Tsyganenko. The basis is based on original root words. Some linguistic terms are explained in the notes at the end of the dictionary.
Synonymy. Synonymous series. Types of synonyms and their functions. Doublets. Options. Reasons for the emergence of synonyms. Taboo. Euphemisms. Dysphemisms. Paraphrases. Dictionaries of synonyms.
Synonymy- this is a systematic relationship in the vocabulary of the Russian language, in contrast to antonyms, which form paradigms and syntagms.
Synonyms- these are words that sound different with different spellings, but are close or identical in meaning. Synonymy permeates the morphological system of the Russian language.
Types of synonyms:
1. Ideographic (differ only in the shade of meaning): red, purple, bloody, scarlet.
2. Stylistic (varies in different styles of speech): head - head, turnip, tambourine, pumpkin.
3. Doublets (absolute synonyms): linguistics – linguistics.
Word variations- these are fixed in the language during the formation of the same word, preserving its identity, but differing orthographically, phonetically, morphologically, stylistically.
Euphemism(Greek ευφήμη - “prudence”) - a word or descriptive expression that is neutral in meaning and emotional “load”, usually used in texts and public statements to replace other words and expressions considered indecent or inappropriate (“in an interesting position” instead of “ pregnant", "closet" or "bathroom" instead of "toilet", etc.).
Dysphemism(Greek δυσφήμη - “ignorance”) - a rude or obscene designation of an initially neutral concept in order to give it a negative semantic load or simply to enhance the expressiveness of speech, for example: die instead of die, woman instead of woman, muzzle instead of face.
Taboo vocabulary- layers of vocabulary in a language that are taboo for religious, mystical, moral, political reasons, maintaining good taste in society or in some of its layers, or on occasion.
Periphrase (paraphrase; from ancient Greek περίφρασις - “descriptive expression”, “allegory”: περί - “around”, “about” and φράσις - “statement”) - in the stylistics and poetics of tropes, descriptively expressing one concept with the help of several.
Synonym functions:
· Semantic (ideographic), or shade-semantic and clarifying function. Words scream, roar have an intensifying connotation of meaning compared to a synonymous word scream.
· Style-distinguishing function, which consists in the fact that synonyms indicate a style, area of use. For example, an interstyle word candid synonymous and interstyle objective and the word used primarily in book styles impartial.
· The actual stylistic function, characterized by the fact that emotional-expressive (connotative) meaning is added to the denotative meaning. For example, a stylistically neutral word cure synonymous with solemnly elevated heal.
Reasons for the emergence of synonyms:
Synonyms appear in the language all the time. This is due to a number of reasons. One of the main ones is the desire of a person to find some new features and shades in already known objects, phenomena of the surrounding world, i.e. deepen and expand existing concepts of the surrounding reality.
Often the emergence of synonyms is due to the penetration and development of borrowed words that are close or identical in meaning to Russian, for example airplane - airplane.
Synonyms arise when an object or phenomenon of reality, compared to the generally known one, is given a different emotional connotation: medicine - drug.
Synonyms arise in the Russian language as a result of the fact that the well-developed morphological structure of the language allows the use of different word-forming morphemes for words with similar meanings: innocent - innocent.
The polysemy of words, with which the phenomenon of synonymy is closely related, has great resources for replenishing synonyms in the Russian language. The appearance of figurative meanings in a word often leads to the fact that it enters into new synonymous relationships.
Dictionaries of synonyms.
A special dictionary of lexical synonyms appeared in 1968. Before that, we used the educational “Brief Dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian Language” by V.N. Klyueva, Perov, the publication of which was carried out in 1956 (1500 words are explained in it), the second in 1961 (3000 words). The dictionary contains well-chosen illustrative material, provides methodological recommendations for using the dictionary, and includes an alphabetical index (index) of all words and an index of synonymous nests.
"Anarchy": an archy: a folksy architect?
No, "anarchy": an (without) + archy (the arched thing): someone who will not patronize MacDonalds.
"Anarchy" is an archy- as a popular name for an architect (“architect”)
No, Anarchy is an (without) and archy (something resembling an arch) - a person who does not visit McDonald's (the McDonald's symbol is two yellow arches forming the letter M).
From a conversation between two Americans
The etymology of words often fascinates people who have a vague understanding of linguistics. The most linguistically unprepared people express the most categorical judgments regarding the most complex etymological problems. Imagine a person who cannot distinguish the smell of an orange tree from the aroma of patchouli leaves - this will be our linguist, but a person absolutely far from the art of creating perfumes. Surely he will be sure that orange tree extract smells exactly like its fruit, patchouli ether is just an oil with a tropical smell, and he will not have a clear idea of what this “something tropical” smells like. Now let a person far from linguistics try to determine the etymology of a word, for example, “beluga” and “squirrel”. Based on the consonance, we can assume that both of these words have something in common with the word “white,” but this person will no longer be able to back it up with facts. The linguist will answer that our layman was partly right, the beluga was indeed called “beluga” because of the white color of the lower part of the body, but with the “squirrel” there will be difficulties. The word appeared in the 14th century, and before that there was “belaverevitsa” - a rare breed of white squirrels that existed in Ancient Rus'. But the word “ravine” has nothing to do with “enemies”, “envious people”, or anything “unfriendly”. “Ravine” is also an old Russian word meaning “spring, seething stream.” Here we see what was discussed in the previous chapter - this is a case when a word loses all sorts of “indicators” of its origin, when we simply cannot do without a particularly thorough analysis with the restoration of all semantic reconstructions.
We are talking about separating the non-scientific approach to etymology from the actual linguistic analysis of the word. Such arbitrary analysis, not supported by anything other than philistine intuition and superficial outlook, is usually called popular etymology. The ancient Romans called such etymological comparisons “bull” or “cow” etymology. Since “etymologies” of this kind often arose among the people, these false interpretations were later called “folk etymology” (as opposed to scientific etymology).
We have come closer to what we mentioned at the very beginning, talking about ancient etymology, about the arbitrariness of interpretation that existed at that time until the end of the Middle Ages. Folk etymology is the transformation of words towards their convergence with other words that seem (due to similar meanings, or forms, or various associations) related. For example, among the Stoics the convergence of the Latin crux - “cross” with crus, which means “leg”.
The concept of folk etymology, and its relationship to etymological science
The term “folk etymology” itself was introduced by the German linguist Ernst Förstemann in 1852 to designate a specific linguistic phenomenon - a complete or partial rethinking of a word as a result of its arbitrary convergence with other similar-sounding words, which originates from the German - "volksetymologie" and the French - " étymologie populaire." But this phenomenon appeared long before it was comprehended by scientific minds. As mentioned above, the first etymological guesses appeared with the advent of even the most primitive language. But only over time did scientists learn to separate false etymology from truly scientific etymology, with the help of a large store of accumulated knowledge and methods.
The Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius gives the following definition: “Folk etymology is the understanding of the morphological composition of a word and the motivation of its meaning based on convergence with consonant words that are different from it in origin.” The Oxford Dictionary gives a similar definition: "...the adaptation of the form of an unfamiliar or foreign word during use so that the word can be related to a word or phrase already known to the speaker." Examples are also given there: in the word "crayfish " (crawfish, back away, retreat, back down), coming from the Middle English "crevice" (crack, crevice, crevice; cleft; break; gap), the last syllable being understood to mean "fish", and not as part of a compound word. "Brideguma", which came from Old English, meant "bridegroom", but over time the second part of the compound word became "groom", and nowadays the groom or newlywed in English is denoted by the word "bridegroom".
Scientists etymologists distinguish several types of word changes, and in connection with this they distinguish several types of etymologies. But the problem is the blurred boundaries between the proposed terms. Folk etymology is usually called popular and false, but most researchers still prefer the latter option, for example, R.R. Gelgardt believes that the term “false etymology” is more successful, although it may contain some internal contradictions [Gelgardt R.R. "On lexical assimilation in connection with false (folk) etymology", 1956].
There are no difficulties in determining children's etymology, since this is still the same process of “word creation”, closest to folk etymology, but produced by children, children's associations about unfamiliar things. It’s strange, isn’t it, that a child considers himself a “truant” if he goes for a walk with his parents.
But modern linguists use two more interesting terms - “pseudo-etymology” and “pseudo-folk etymology”. For clarification, let us give an example from the work of A.P. Chekhov, when his character interpreted “carnal love” as “love on a raft”, and for him a “bachelor” is “a hunter shooting with blank cartridges.” Thus, these two types of etymology are most often found in works of art, when the author wants to show the hero’s lack of education, or the color of, for example, a village, rural area, where illiteracy can give rise to comedy. They have an occasional coloring, that is, this etymology is fictitious. Here is V.V.’s entry. Mayakovsky, a record of a real event, about the phenomenon of false etymology: when he asked the peasants if they knew what a pavilion was, one said: “I understand. This is the main one who commands everyone.” If this case had been invented by him, we could call it pseudo-folk occasional etymology, but since it is real, it is a case of folk etymology, born of an attempt to understand an unfamiliar word.
As can be seen from the above methodology of folk etymologization, by “pseudo-etymology” the authors understand the same “folk etymology”, that is, “folk interpretation”, but in that part of it that gives occasional meaning. The term “pseudo-etymology” does not convey anything fundamentally new. Likewise, pseudo-folk etymology is the deliberate creation of a “new” word.
Sometimes the incorrect etymology of such words is disseminated through completely authoritative sources, such as special literature on etymology, because it was taken seriously by mistake. Thus, linguists do not exclude the possibility that the lexical composition of a particular language can be replenished not only by its established methods, but also with the help of words that came “from the people.” A false etymology may well be perceived as scientific, and a “freshly invented” word may enter the dictionary and become commonly used. This happened with many abusive, vulgar words in the English language, for example, most of which came into use at the end of the 20th century.
Folk etymology in English
Folk or false etymology in English is called folk (fake) etymology, popular etymology. But I would like to note that not all English linguists consider the terms “folk” and “fake” to be identical, unlike Russian linguists.
Richard Leddener, an English linguist, for example, believes that false etymology is “an invented explanation for the origin of a word.” It can be spread through jokes or made-up puns that are circulated and treated as real stories and facts.
According to Leddener, false etymology (manufactured words or phrases) should be distinguished from folk etymology, a linguistic process in which words or a phrase are transformed as a result of a misunderstanding of the origin of that word. In defense of his opinion, he provided examples:
The word "golf" is popularly associated with the acronym "Gentlemen Only; Ladies Forbidden" (for gentlemen only, ladies not allowed). But we know from history that the word “golf” is more than 500 years old. It was first mentioned in 1457 by King James II, in a document officially banning the game of golf in order to restore the popularity of shooting and archery. In the ancient Scottish manuscripts the spelling is, of course, different - gouff, goffe, goff, gowff, and golph, since before the advent of dictionaries people wrote by ear, as it turned out. An acronym cannot be formed from any of these words, and acronyms only came into use at the end of the 20th century. The word "pommy" originated in Australia and is slang for a person of British origin, an emigrant from Great Britain. The true etymology of the word is unknown, the most common incorrect version again referring to the acronym "P.O.M.E" - Prisoner of Mother England (prisoner of Mother England), this abbreviation, according to one version, was used in the personal documentation of criminals transported from England to Australia.
An acronym was also invented for the word “news” with a decoding that includes all cardinal directions - North, East, West, South (north, east, west, south). However, the old spelling of this word varies greatly: newesse, newis, nevis, neus, newys, niewes, newis, nues, and so on.
A large place in false etymology is occupied by the so-called “Urban Legends” - “facts” obtained from anecdotes and rumors, but taken quite seriously. So, for example, the idiom “rule of thumb” (rule or law of the thumb) in translation sounds like “a practical method” (as opposed to a scientific one), “approximate calculation”. Urban legends give this idiom its original origin - the phrase spread from a list of laws in Old England, according to which a husband was allowed to beat his wife with a stick that was no thicker in diameter than his thumb.
The history of the emergence of such a concept as “caesarean section” is interesting. This concept is identical in translation into many languages. But the ancient folk etymology of this concept is most clearly manifested in the English language: there is a fictional story that Julius Caesar was born thanks to such an operation and in his honor it was named Caesarean Section, that is, “caesarean section”. It is interesting to note that this legend has taken hold in the German language under the name "Kaiserschnitt", which literally means "imperial section".
How would you explain the origin of the name "Jerusalem artichoke" if you were told that it is a type of sunflower in the USA and Canada? Folk etymology intervened in the history of this name, and from the Italian “girasole” (sunflower), according to consonance, “Jerusalem” was formed. “Artichoke” appeared due to the fact that the tubers of this plant resemble artichokes in taste and shape.
The word "cutlet", which came into English from French (côtelette), was mistakenly associated with the verb "cut" (to cut), a hint of this remained in the spelling of the word.
Another branch in folk etymology are false eponyms (names, often surnames of people that have become names or symbols). This direction was developed precisely in English linguistics. Here are some examples of false eponyms: Leopold von Asphalt (“asphalt”), Sir George Curry (“curry”), Joao Marmalado (“marmalade”), Gottfried Lager (“lager beer”), Antoine de Cabaret (“cabaret”), Pierre-Alphonse Buffet ("buffet"), Etienne Corset ("corset"), Jorge-Luis Avocado ("avocado"). All these words resemble the names of real or fictitious people who are “credited” with the invention of this or that device, dish, clothing... In fact, these words have a very definite scientific etymology. For example, “asphalt” comes from the Greek “asphaltos”; who Leopold Von Asphalt really was and whether he existed at all, history is silent.
Thus, from the last two chapters we can conclude that the phenomenon of folk etymology or “popular etymology” is inherent in all languages without exception, somewhere to a greater extent, and somewhere to a lesser extent. But to identify it and to clarify all the details of the transformations, a fairly deep knowledge of the language, the history of the people speaking it, and the cultural realities of a particular country is required.
Among other things, the fact remains unchanged that some words (perhaps even those included in special etymological dictionaries), which have a completely worthy scientific explanation of their origin, were actually once changed by the people, on purpose or out of ignorance, and the real etymology has been lost to centuries. Thus, linguists do not exclude the possibility that the etymology found in the most reputable etymological dictionary is incorrect, and that it may be popular, incorrect, false. This was discussed in the work just above, when scientists recognized the fact that it was impossible to identify the exact origin of the word due to insufficient knowledge and written sources.
Sociolinguistics and its connection with folk etymology
Language is a phenomenon of the spiritual culture of humanity, one of the forms of social consciousness. The uniqueness of language as a form of social consciousness lies in the fact that language not only reflects the world and is a prerequisite for social consciousness, but is a semantic foundation and a universal shell of various forms of social consciousness. Through language, a form of transmission of social experience (cultural norms and traditions, natural science and technological knowledge) inherent only to humans is carried out. We talk about such concepts in the context of sociological linguistics.
Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics that studies the connection between language and the social conditions of its existence, developed at the intersection of linguistics, sociology, social psychology and ethnography. The science is relatively young, it began to take shape at the beginning of the 20th century (20-30s), when linguists paid attention to language as a social phenomenon. In the context of this science, many opinions have been put forward regarding the fact that language can influence human thinking, as well as theories about the nature of the relationships between linguistic and social structures. The typology of linguistic situations characterized by the distribution of social functions between different languages and dialects used by a given group has become widespread. In addition, social linguistics has established patterns of interaction between languages in various social conditions and the mutual influence of culture and language.
The importance of sociocultural relations in the study of the history of words should be emphasized. They constitute a fundamental aspect of etymological research, and the history of words is inseparable from the history of culture and civilization. Semantic universals are based primarily on cultural universals that reflect collective human experience. The connection between extra-linguistic reality and the concept, its verbal expression is not the same among different peoples, which is due to the cultural and historical differences of these peoples, the specifics of the development of their social consciousness. From here the conclusion is drawn about the differences in linguistic pictures of the world among different peoples.
One of the main problems studied by sociolinguistics is the problem of social differentiation of language at all levels of its structure, and in particular the nature of the relationships between linguistic and social structures, which are indirect. The structure of social differentiation of language is multidimensional and includes both class differentiation due to the heterogeneity of the social structure and situational differentiation due to the diversity of social situations. Thus, considering the issue of folk etymology, it would be interesting to note that this phenomenon is characterized by certain patterns associated with the social stratification of language, which is studied by sociolinguistics.
The phenomenon of folk etymology has been studied until now almost exclusively from the point of view of subjective psychological linguistics. Meanwhile, in the phenomena of folk etymology, in its direction, class ideology finds a very clear expression.
The phenomenon of folk etymology is a striking sign of vernacular speech, therefore, when we hear an interesting word or phrase, we can easily guess from what environment it came to us, or who and why would use the word in this meaning. For example, if a person far from geography suggests that there is such a country called “Oystria,” we probably will not immediately guess that he meant Austria.
Another area where the use of folk etymologization is very popular is fiction. In fact, this point is very close to the first, because here we are also talking about poorly educated people.
Such words, reinterpreted by chance consonance and semantic similarity, convey the mood of the environment where the author’s hero is placed. For example, N.S. Leskova: the character uses speeches that are understandable to any reader, but something in them is deliberately changed: “governess” (“governess” and “nanny”), “gulvar” (“boulevard” and “walk”), “beliefs” ( “variations” and “probability”), “melkoskop” (“microscope” and “small”), “prelamut” - (the result of combining two similar-sounding words “mother of pearl” and “refract light”), “bustra” (combining similar by the sound of the words “busts” and “chandeliers”, both of these words denote objects that decorate the hall, and therefore are semantically similar).
Sometimes such folk etymologies acquire greater satirical expressiveness, for example: "tugament" ("document" and "tuga" from "to grieve"), "slander" ("feuilleton" and "slander"), "Abolon Polvedersky" (an allusion to the famous statue Apollo Belvedere, the author used rearrangement of the letters in these words to add a casual, folksy note to the name (half a bucket), "mimonoska", "multiplication dolce" and so on.
Of course, such occasional formations of the authors are unlikely to be included in the dictionaries of the Russian language, but they are capable of enriching colloquial speech with novelty and humorous notes.
Difficulty reading N.S. Some critics view Leskov from the perspective of the difficulty of translating his texts and the need to read in the original, therefore a number of researchers from Great Britain believe that Leskov cannot be considered a classic due to the specifics of his difficult-to-translate style.
Examples of your own translations:
- -2) Multiplication table - No translation (Hollow - hollow out, Multiplication table - multiplication table)
- -3) Pubel - Pooble(Poodle - poodle)
- -4) Dance - Dance(Dance - dance)
- -5) Abolon Polvedersky - No translation
- -6) Nymphosoria - Nymphusorian(Nymph - nymph, infusorian - ciliate)
- -7) Busters - No translation (Chandelier - chandelier, bust - bust)
- -8) Small scope - Smallcroscope(Small - small, microscope - microscope)
Thus, folk etymologization as a phenomenon is most often observed among poorly educated people, be it unconscious transformations from ignorance and illiteracy, or consciously selected versions of words by the author (occasional coloring of pseudo-folk etymologization).
But there is another area that is most interesting from the point of view of sociolinguistics - children's speech. The most interesting because no science about language pays such close attention to a child’s speech as social linguistics combined with folk etymology. Here, at the junction, the so-called children's etymology arises.
Children's etymology
Mom, let's come to an agreement. You will say "skids" in your own way, and I will say it in my own way." carts"After all, they don’t “climb”, but carry.
Why do you say “chopping wood”? After all, they don’t chop wood, but axing.
And why gloves? Necessary fingers.
Why do you call them bagels? They are not made from sheep, but from bread.
The cow doesn't butt, but horns.
No one, perhaps, is more keenly interested in questions related to the origin of words than small children. You can hear dozens of questions from a child in a few hours, and sometimes they will make even an educated person think about the correct answer. Some of these “whys” relate to the native language, to the origin of words that the child is just beginning to use in his speech.
Small children need to understand everything, but if a word is not clear, the child will change it, perhaps completely unconsciously. But no matter how many examples of such “freshly invented” words the world knows, they are all formed according to the same model - semantic.
Children's etymology differs from folk etymology in that its authors are children of preschool and primary school age. Children's etymology is close to pseudo-folk, but differs from it. This difference lies in the fact that writers engage in pseudo-folk etymology for a specific purpose determined by their writing craft, while children, by changing words, strive to bring them into line with their existing ideas about the world of things and phenomena surrounding them. For some children, a hammer is not a “hammer” (because it is not used for hammering), but a “mallet” (because it is used for hammering).
If with folk etymology the alteration of an unfamiliar word or expression occurs spontaneously, then with children's etymology a commonly used word that is understandable to all adults is “corrected,” and children motivate their “correction” and treat it consciously, relying on their little life experience. The child reasons something like this: “What is placed on a sore spot should be called a “plaster” and not a “plaster”, as adults say.” Or: “Is it possible to chop with a plane? No, they plan with it, so it should be called? “Planer.”
Here are several children's etymologies that we heard and recorded at different times: “bariness” (“baroness”, for some reason derived from “master”), “short” (instead of “short” due to “height”), crowd (instead of "crush" because of "crowd"), "herbivores" (instead of "herbivores" formed from "food").
Such changes are always comical, sometimes even reaching the point of absurdity, but no matter what you hear, pay attention, the phrase will never be devoid of meaning.
Children's etymology is also united with folk etymology by the fact that the same word is etymologized in the same way by several children, as evidenced by K.I. Chukovsky in his book "From Three to Five". Here is one example: “write is a scribe”, “play - player", "read - reader", "lie - liar ", " sleep - special.” Chukovsky calls such word creation “unconscious mastery,” and explains many examples using the same method of comprehending heard words by unintentionally substituting a minimum number of sounds. If a child is unfamiliar with the word “vermouth,” he can turn it into “wormwood.” without even thinking, this will be that very “unconscious mastery.” The example of rethinking the word “Austria” in English in consonance with “oyster” (oyster) has already been heard above, but this idea belongs precisely to a child’s imagination.
The children's humor magazine "Funny Pictures" contains on its pages the following words: "varyulya" (instead of "pan"), "prick" (instead of "needle"), related to children's etymology. As for such words as “toothgrab” (instead of “crocodile”), “dilibomchik” (instead of “bell”), cited in the same place, they cannot be attributed to words of children’s etymology, since they are not altered, but created anew. These are occasional neoplasms.
In one of the films, a little boy, in a conversation with his father, said that he would like pancakes with “chocolate shavers” (chocolate electric razors), to which the father good-naturedly replied - not “shavers”, but “shavings” - which in translation sounded like: “Not cheesecakes, but shavings, stupid." This is the kind of play on words that can happen when translating such “word creations”.
Children's etymology? This is such an alteration of commonly used words, which, in the opinion of children, brings clarity to the content of the corrected word, correlating the latter with another word that is well known to them.
Thus, if a child does not notice a direct correspondence between the function of an object and its name, he corrects the name, emphasizing in this word the only function of the object that he was able to discern. Thus, we are convinced again and again that the development of a child’s speech is a unity of imitation and creativity. The child unconsciously demands that the sound has meaning, that the word has a living, tangible image; and if this is not the case, the child himself will give the unknown word the desired image and meaning. But again, it cannot be said that the vocabulary of the official written Russian or English language will be replenished as a result of children's word creation, but oral speech will again surprise the listener with its liveliness and truly endless possibilities for linguistic experimentation.