Detailed analysis. What is etymology

Etymology is closely connected with many branches of linguistics. So, in lexicology, the semantics of the word is studied, it is established how and in what sequence the meanings of the word develop, which of them should be considered primary. Without etymological data, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to understand the complex semantic shifts that occur in words in their historical development. Many questions of word formation are solved based on etymological data. Researchers of morphology also turn to etymology, especially when it comes to the paradigmatics of parts of speech, the morphemic structure of a word.

Defining one of the meanings of the word etymology, O. N. Trubachev points out that etymology (Greek etymologia, from etymon - the true meaning of the word, etymon and logos - word, doctrine), firstly, is a section of historical linguistics, which is dedicated to the study of the "initial word-formation structure of the word and the identification of its elements ancient meaning". Secondly, this word denotes "a research procedure aimed at revealing the origin of the word, as well as the very result of this procedure."

The existing definitions of etymology as a science that establishes the origin of a word and its genetic links with the corresponding words of the same language or other related ones are quite correct. They're in different options established themselves in linguistics and do not raise objections. However, one should still pay attention to the historical ambiguity of the term etymology.

In Meletiy Smotrytsky's textbook "Grammar of the Slavic correct syntagma ...", published in 1619, the word etymology is used to refer to one of the four parts of grammar (spelling, etymology, syntax, prosodia). The etymology is further reported: "Etymology is the second part of the Grammar, the sayings are divided and each part of the word is related by co-reasoning."

Later, the word etymology is included in Fyodor Polikarpov's Slavic-Greek-Latin dictionary "Trilingual Lexicon" (1704), where it is not interpreted, but translated: "etymology is art."

One hundred years later, in 1806, "A New Word Interpreter Arranged Alphabetically..." was published. Its compiler, N. Yanovsky, explains the word etymology in this way.

Etymology. Gr. Word origin, word production; a true product of the beginning of words or an explanation of their exact meaning; part of the Grammar, showing the direct origin, addition, ending of words and various changes that are made either when they are declined according to known cases in the singular and plural, or when they are conjugated according to known moods, tenses and persons.

The ambiguity of the term etymology (word origin and inflection) is fixed in the Encyclopedic Dictionary (1890-1907) by F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, where etymology is defined as “a grammatical term that has two meanings. In the terminology of school grammar, E. is called the department of grammar, which contains the main phonetic rules and the doctrine of word formation (mainly inflection: declension and conjugation). In this sense, E. is opposed to the doctrine of the sentence (simple and complex) and its members, usually called syntax.

In scientific linguistics, the name E. means the correct, in accordance with the requirements of science, definition of the origin of a word and its relationship to other words of the same or other languages.

As for the textbooks of the 19th century, A. Kh. Vostokov used the term etymology in the first meaning in the book “Russian Grammar of Alexander Vostokov, which, according to the outline of his abbreviated grammar, is more fully stated. Eleventh edition" (1867), who wrote: "Grammar is divided into four parts, which are: I. Word production (Etymology). II. Phrase (Syntax). III. Spelling (Spelling). IV. Syllabic stress (prosody).

If in A. Kh. Vostokov the word etymology is used only within the text and, moreover, is enclosed (as a foreign word) in brackets, then in F. I. Buslaev it is placed on title page: "F. Buslaev. Historical grammar of the Russian language. Etymology. Third edition” (1868), which indicates the strengthening of the position of this term, which was used in the 19th century. in the sense of "morphology". In the "Russian Grammar" (1755) by M. Lomonosov, the word in question is missing.

At present, the word etymology in the meaning of "morphology as a subject of school teaching" is not used in the scientific and educational literature.

Encyclopedic dictionaries (in particular, the 1st-3rd editions of the TSB) do not differ in the definition of the term etymology, pointing to two of its meanings: “1. A branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words, their initial structure and semantic connections. 2. The result of disclosing the origin of the word.

Vvedenskaya L. A., Kolesnikov N. P. - Etymology - St. Petersburg, 2004

Every word has its own origin. Science deals with the study of the origin of words etymology founded in XVII century. Initially, it was "a section of grammar that considers word formation and inflection." In the modern sense, it is used from the second half XIX century.

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

Etymology is based on the regular sound and morphological changes of words in the process of language evolution, takes into account the regular transitions of one type of lexical word meaning to another. Finding out the origin of words, their history in a particular language, etymology takes into account the data of other sciences - history, archeology, ethnography. The complex of linguistic information about the word itself, 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, etymologists seek 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 Old Russian shit (with the same meaning) and otter related to Lithuanian udra in the same sense as Greek xydra - water snake (literally otter means water animal).

There is such a thing 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 the “reworking” of a native or borrowed word according to the model of a similar-sounding word mother tongue, establishing semantic links between them on the basis of random sound, external coincidence, without taking into account the real facts of their origin. For example, French "sale" - dirty - served as a source for the formation of an adjective sebaceous (rethinking happened through consonance with the word salo ).

Often false etymology arises in cases when a person wants to check the spelling of a difficult word, the origin of which is unknown to him. Students match words, for example: ventilator"- from the word screw ; « before you demand» - up to your requirement ; « imitate"- from the word shiver ; « underline"- from the word emphasize ; « enlightened"- from the word light ; « spotakiad"- from the word sport ; « purple"- from the word violet etc.
The etymological analysis of the word is turned to the past of the language. With the help of such an analysis, the origin of the word, its structure, meaning, former word-formation connections are established, phonetic changes are established.

Etymological analysis establishes the analysis of the word, its original structure, meaning, former word-formation connections. For example, the verb loom no longer associated with a noun lighthouse, from which it is etymologically derived, and the noun itself lighthouse , historically derived from the Old Russian verb "mayat", with the meaning "waving", using the suffix -to-(cf.: scoop - scoop ), in modern Russian is non-derivative.The origin of words can be found 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. Fasmer (Moscow, 1964-1973; reprinted 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 and others, 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); "The 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 built as follows: after the headword, words related to it follow, then its correspondences in other Slavic languages; then its ancient basis and versions about the semantic and structural connections of its learned etymologists are indicated. for example: Soup. Time: early. 18th century Origin: French soupe< лат. suppa – похлёбка.

MBOU Kochunovskaya school

Project

Etymology is the science of the origin of words.

Connection of etymology and toponymy»

I've done the work:

5th grade student

MBOU Kochunovskaya school

Barakhov Maxim.

Supervisor:

teacher of Russian language and literature

Nikishina Elena Petrovna

Kochunovo, 2014.

Content.

1. Introduction.

1) What is etymology.

2) Tasks of etymology.

3) The word is a monument of history.

7) Relationship between etymology and toponymy. Toponyms of the village of Kenshevo.

3. Conclusion. Findings.

4. Resources.

1. Introduction.

The theme of my work: “Etymology is the science of the origin of words. Relationship between etymology and toponymy.

I chose the topic of work on my own, as it seems to me very interesting. In addition, it is little studied in the classroom, and I decided to study it more deeply. Goals of my project:

– Show the significance and relevance of etymology.

Consider the relationship of etymology with other sciences: with vocabulary, word formation, spelling, grammar and toponymy.

Knowledge of etymology helps to develop spelling literacy, expands the vocabulary, and contributes to the development of the skills of correct, competent oral and written speech.

I also traced the connection between etymology and toponymy on the examples of toponyms in the village of Kenshevo. This work is very exciting and relevant, has a patriotic character. It was interesting for me to observe how different sciences are interconnected.

2. The science of etymology and its connection with toponymy.

What etymology.

Etymology is a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words. Sometimes the very origin of the word is also called: for example, “the word notebook has Greek etymology”, “propose a new etymology”, that is, a version of the origin.

2) Tasks of etymology.

Usually a word etymologyused in two meanings that should not be confused.

When we say, for example, that the etymology of a wordharedoes not cause any particular difficulties, then we mean etymology as establishing the origin of a word. In addition to this, the termetymologyis also used in the sense of "a department of the science of language that studies the origin of words." In practice, this double word usage usually does not cause much difficulty.

ancient greek wordetymologia[etyumology:] is first found in the writings of the ancient Stoic philosophers. The origin of this word, its etymology can be established without any difficulty: Greeketymos[etyumos] means "true, true", andlogos[logos] - "meaning, meaning". Thus, etymology seeks to find the "true meaning" of the word - why we call something this way and not otherwise. The famous Italian linguist V. Pisani in his book "Etymology" wrote that the main task of the etymologist is "to find the meaning of the word at the time of its initial creation." Sometimes in works on etymology this "true meaning" of the word is called the "original" or "original" meaning.

Has every person ever thought about why everything around is called that way and not otherwise? How are words born, when and by whom are they created? Where did fixed expressions come to us in the language, in which you can no longer rearrange and replace a word with another. Etymology is engaged in the search for answers to these questions (translated from Greek, the science of the meaning and origin of words). If you do not know the names, the knowledge of things also disappears. This wisdom has survived the ages. Having become acquainted with the word closer, recognizing it, according to K. Paustovsky “to the touch, taste and smell”, a person will never use it inopportunely. How pleasant it is to talk with a person whose speech is rich, figurative, each word is used both in place and in time. “A lame word is a lame speech,” says a Russian proverb. In order to understand well what is read or seen, so that the speech is not “lame”, but beautiful and expressive, you need to know a lot of words and expressions, constantly expand your vocabulary.

3) The word is a monument of history.

Where does the Motherland begin? .. From the study native land, history, native language. How would we know about the past, if the names of what has long sunk into oblivion, the river of oblivion, had not been preserved?

But that which is forever enshrined in the word, the most powerful monument of history, never dies. Is it enough for a person to know the meaning of a word, or is it still useful to look into its history? These are the questions I want to answer. And also consider the history of the emergence of some words of our rich Russian language. And also to show the connection between etymology and toponymy on the example of the toponyms of the native land.

4) The process of changing the meaning of words. Relationship with vocabulary.

Over time, not only the sound appearance often changes, but also its meaning, its meaning. Thus, the words "shame" and "disgrace" in Old Russian had the meaning of “spectacle”, that is, literally: “what is presented to the eye.” We also find the same ancient meaning in such ancient Russian words as “shameful” - “witness, eyewitness”, etc. The meaning of the word “obsolete in our time” shame”, that is, “spectacle”, are also found among poets of the 19th century:

Majestic and sad was a disgrace

Desert waters, forests, valleys and mountains.

The key to understanding how the ancient meaning of "spectacle" in the word "shame" develops its contemporary meaning, may serve as an ancient custom to expose the criminal at the pillory, that is, for all to see.

There were also cave etymologies. One must think that even in that remote era that dates back to the childhood of mankind, in the era when our ancestors still lived in caves and hunted mammoths, in the mind primitive people the first glimpses of interest in etymology were already appearing. After all, already at the very dawn of the history of human society, people used language. No matter how primitive the language was at the first stages of its development, it was still a language in which there were certain connections between words. And this language had to gradually develop, and it was constantly replenished with new words. And in the process of word creation, a person involuntarily relied on those patterns that were characteristic of the language. In other words, ancient man he was practically forced to resort to some kind of methods of etymological analysis, to establish etymological connections between words on the basis of available samples.

Probably, already in ancient times, people thought about the origin of individual words, as they thought about the origin of the Sun and Moon, the Earth and man. We do not have direct evidence of this, since in that distant era people did not write etymological dictionaries, and indeed did not write anything at all. But we have indirect evidence that people from ancient times tried to etymologize words they did not understand. These proofs have been preserved for us by mythology.

Etymology is closely related to vocabulary.The object of study of vocabulary is the word. It is also studied in and . However, if in them words turn out to be a means for studying the grammatical structure and word-formation models and rules of the language, then in lexicology words are studied for the knowledge of the words themselves, as well as the vocabulary of the language (lexicon). As is not just a sum of words, but a certain system of mutually relative and interconnected facts, then lexicology appears as a science not about individual words, but about the lexical system of the language as a whole.

The vocabulary of the language is the most open and mobile area of ​​the language. New words constantly enter it and old ones gradually leave. The growing sphere of human knowledge is primarily fixed in words and their meanings, due to which there are more and more lexical acquisitions in the language. Education, science, Newest technologies, information from other cultures - all this forms new type modern society(informational), in which a new language style is formed - the style of the era of information development.

The science of etymology tells us about how these lexical acquisitions occur, from where and in what way new words appear. Thanks to this science, we can trace how one word was obtained from several words by merging and in this form it came to us in the Russian language.

For example, in the 19th century, the phrase "NATURA MORTE" was taken from the French language, which meant "Nature is dead." It came into the Russian language as the familiar word "Still Life".

And from Italian came the expression "POMI DORO" - which means "Golden Apple". Us this word is known as "Tomato". It appeared by merging two roots.

5) Etymological dictionaries. Max Vasmer.

There are special dictionaries. They are called etymological dictionaries.Etymological dictionaryis a dictionary containing information about the history of individual words, and sometimes morphemes, that is, information about the phonetic and semantic changes that they have undergone. The most famous etymological dictionary is M. Vasmer's dictionary.Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (1886-1962) - scientist - linguist, lexicographer, Slavicist Russian origin. Better known as the compiler of the "Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language"

6) The origin of some words.

Consider the origin of some words.

The word "stomach"

For example, the word "stomach". This word has two origin stories. The first story tells that the stomach is like ae lunatic in shape. And the second story is that the word stomach came from OEge lim"swallow".

Horizon.

The word "Horizon"borrowed from Greek.ho rizon- "limit".Horizonliterally - "limited" (space).

Dog.

It is an ancient word, borrowed from Turkic. lang. -kö bak.( dog)

ATa rut

Borrowed from German. from the wordWa gene(wagon, trolley)

Road

To pave the road, you need to clear a strip of land from trees, shrubs, turf. Apparently therefore the wordd about horns formed fromd about rg , which meant "cleared place".

Ma lina

There are several explanations for the origin of the wordraspberry . According to one version, the name was based on the sign of a berry fruit, consisting of small parts. Yes, the wordraspberry derived from the wordm a ly - "little".

Pe cash

In the old days, they wrote with goose quills, later with metal ones. To store pens and pencils, people came up with a special box. The name was given to him from the wordfeather . In Latin, the pen is calledP e nna . Therefore, the box was calledpencil case.

To a reta

This word came to us from the Polish language in the middle of the 17th century. In Polish, this word has a Tatin root.CA RRUS(meaning "cart on four wheels")

Nightingale.

The bird is named for the color of its plumage. It came from the common Slavic word "solv" - "gray, yellowish." Then they called it "nightingale".

Conversation.

The word "conversation" in the old meaning "outside, outside" and "seda" - "sitting". That is, its original meaning is "sitting outside in front of the house." It is formed by merging words.

Sofa

The word "sofa" came first in French from Iran. In Persian, "divan" is "an elevated floor covered with a carpet."

A week

The word "week", it turns out, is formed on the basis of the phrase "do not do", and originally "week" meant "a day of rest."

Maybe.

The word "maybe" has been found since the 16th century. in the form of "avose". It arose, most likely, from the indicative particle ose, which meant "here."

String bag.

The word "string bag" appeared in the Russian literary language in the 30s of the XX century. Literally, “string bag” is “a shopping bag that is taken with you in the calculation “maybe you can buy something”. But in some Russian dialects, "string bag" still means "happiness and good luck."

Teacher.

The word "teacher" comes from Ancient Greece and means literally "leading the child." But it was not called the teacher, but the slave who took the child to school and brought him back. Usually, slaves were chosen as teachers, unsuitable for any other work, but distinguished by their loyalty to the house.

Conciseness.

The term "conciseness" was formed from the name of the ancient Greek region of Laconia, whose inhabitants were distinguished by laconicism and brevity. The city of Sparta was also located in Laconia.

Leggings.

Leggings used to be worn exclusively by men, it was part of the formal wear. They were originally made from elk skin, hence the name.

Turnip.

Turnip is the most ancient vegetable in Russia. Our ancestors loved both raw, and boiled, and steamed turnips. The turnip dish was quick and very easy to prepare. Since then, the expression "Easier than a steamed turnip" has gone. So they say that it is easy to do.

Mitten.

The word "mitten" is made up of 2 roots: the first root is easy to determine - this is a hand, the second one is known to us in the verb to twist. It turns out that a mitten means "wrapping a hand". Interestingly, in many Slavic languages ​​there is the word "nogavitsa" - the name for special clothes on the leg, that is, "wrap around the leg." And in the monuments of ancient Russian writing, both words are often found - leggings and mittens.

Marry.

Everyone understands the expression "get married." It means "behind the husband's back." But with the bride a little more difficult. This word has such linguistic relatives as "ignoramus". This speaks of an ancient custom: the bride was brought to the matchmaker's house, the groom's relatives did not know anything about her before, they did not know. Often, the groom himself has never seen the chosen one before the matchmaking. The bride is a stranger, unknown. "Bride" - who knows who and who knows where... Such an echo in the language was left by ancient traditions, forgotten almost everywhere today. But the word remains.

School.

The word "school" originally originated in ancient Greece, but its meaning was completely different - "leisure, recreation." However, this leisure was not idle - it meant philosophical conversations in his spare time.
time.

7) Relationship between etymology and toponymy. Toponymy of the village of Kenshevo.

The science of etymology is very closely related to another science - toponymy. Toponymy studies the names of settlements, streets, mountains, forests, etc.

I collected a small amount of material on the toponymy of the village of Kenshevo, and on this material I traced the connection between two sciences: etymology and toponymy. So, let's start with the origin of the streets of the village of Kenshevo.

Streets of the village of Kenshevo.

Nagornaya - located on a mountain. It's always been called that.

Podgornaya - located under the mountain. It's always been called that.

Dam - located behind the pond. It used to be called that.

Green glade - there is a glade near each house. It used to be called that.

Karabakh - probably from the name " Nagorno-Karabakh"(village in the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands, in Transcaucasia). Previously, the street was called Youth. And now Molodezhnaya is written in passports, and the villagers call it Karabakh. Probably due to the fact that this street is located at the top, as if on a highland.

The arrow is at the crossroads. It's always been called that.

Novaya Sloboda - this street appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, which is why it was called Novaya Sloboda. AT " explanatory dictionary» Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl, the word "sloboda" means "village of free people"

The next object of my research is forests.

Forests.

Straight forest - the forest is located on a straight terrain, without meanders and turns.
Maidan - this forest is located towards Inkin, on a hill. In the dictionary of Vladimir Ivanovich Dal, the words “maidan” means “a square, a place where swindlers gather to play dice, grain, toss, cards.
Goose - this forest includes several forests located one after another. If you look at the forest from afar, then a picture is created that looks like a flock of geese following each other, that is, “in single file”.

I will say a few words about the ponds, wells and springs of our village.

Ponds.

"Under the store" - the name itself speaks for itself. This pond is located under the store, but not literally, but figuratively - not far from the store, just below it. There are expressions in Russian: “near Moscow”, “near Nizhny Novgorod”. They mean "to be near something".

"New ravine" - this pond was created artificially and relatively recently, in the 20th century. That is why it is called New ravine. And the word "ravine" means "depression dug in the ground"

Wells.

Novikov well - the well was located next to the Novikovs' house.

3 more wells are named after the names of the families: Bezzubov Well, Ponin's Well, Pyshkin's Well. They operate even now.

Springs .

"Under the red clay" - the name speaks for itself.

"Barsky meadow" - the spring is located on a green meadow. The word "Barsky" comes from the word "master". This gentleman lived above the spring, on a hill. As the elderly residents of the village say, “this place was especially revered by the people. People came here to pray, to thank God for the pure wonderful water. Also, mass festivities were held here, where people had fun, played, danced, arranged fisticuffs.

Thus, I tried to conduct a small study to study the connection between the two sciences: etymology and toponymy. Worked with local history and linguistic material. Learned a lot of new and interesting things.

3. Conclusion. Findings.

Etymology is a very interesting and important science. It helps to better understand lexical meaning words, its structure, and most importantly - teaches the correct spelling of the word. After allwriting words with unchecked vowels and consonants is difficult for many, since they need to be mostly memorized. But you can find interesting way checking these words. It turns out that not all unverifiable unstressed vowels are unverifiable. Can't learn spelling dictionary words, but use the method of selecting test words by looking into the etymological dictionary. It's much more interesting.

In addition, etymology is closely related to another very fascinating science - toponymy. In my work, I tried to trace this connection using the toponyms of my native village of Kenshevo as an example.

The work done on the project gave me a lot. I learned to use various dictionaries, books more correctly and efficiently scientific style, learned new terms and concepts, new local history material. The work on collecting and designing the toponymy of the village of Kenshevo gave me the opportunity to learn more about the history of my native land, taught me to compare sciences, and conduct a research analysis of linguistic phenomena.

I chose the theme of my project myself, as it is very interesting to me.

4. Resources.

1. Vasmer Max. Etymological dictionary of the Russian languagehttp

5th grade student project review

MBOU Kochunovskaya secondary school Barakhov Maxim.

The theme of Maxim Barakhov's project is: “Etymology is the science of the origin of words. Relationship between etymology and toponymy. This topic is fully disclosed by the author on a rich illustrative linguistic and local history material.

Maxim gave an explanation of the concept of "etymology", which she studies, how it is connected with other sciences: vocabulary, spelling, grammar, word formation and toponymy. The author of the project gave many examples demonstrating the process of the origin of words. Showed how given material can be applied in the classroom when performing tasks in the Russian language.

In addition, Maxim expanded the scope of the topic being studied. He drew a parallel between etymology and toponymy. To do this, he collected local history material and skillfully examined it in his work.

In the work done, he showed independence and great personal interest. The topic is close and understandable to the author, he independently made observations on linguistic and local history material, proved the connection of several sciences. This is especially commendable in this project.

The work is written correctly literary language. Logically completed and thought out. The project reflects all the themes and micro-themes stated in the content of the project.

The composition of the work is logically built correctly, one problem follows from another. All topics are related to each other.

This is the relevance and significance of the work done by the author for himself, as well as for the audience.

I think that the work of the 5th grade student Maksim Barakhov deserves praise and can be rated as "excellent".

Details Category: "The great, mighty and truthful Russian language" Posted on 03/29/2016 14:53 Views: 3719

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

Etymology is also any hypothesis about the origin of a particular word (less often, another language unit, for example, a prefix).
The subject of etymology is the study of sources and the process of forming the vocabulary of a language. The words of the language change over time according to certain historical patterns, which obscures the original form of the word. The etymologist, relying on the material of related languages, must establish this form and explain how the word took on a 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 corresponds to related words(or roots), a common producing root is revealed, as a result of the removal of 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 the 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 the 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. And they can be orphans. A word can tell a lot about yourself: about your nationality, about your parents, about your origin. This is the science of etymology.
Words in any language can be native, 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, in accordance with their origin, are divided into the following groups:
1) native Russian words (inherited from the ancestor language);
2) words formed with the help of word-building means of the Russian language;
3) words borrowed from other languages;
4) words resulting from various "linguistic errors".
Words that are native in a given language could belong to any of the above groups in the ancestor language. For any word that is a derivative in a given language, one can indicate from which word and with the help of what word-building means it is formed.
For example, the word "tomorrow". This is a common Slavic word. Union for the morning with a change in unstressed "y" to "in" (cf. dialect hit <ударить>). Literally means "time following next morning".
Of course, any assumption about the origin of the word must be justified. 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, one cannot go into conjectures or fantasies and build one's own 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, it is necessary to find evidence that the language from which the given word came into contact (or could contact) with the Russian language.
Secondly, the words under consideration must have a semantic similarity: at least in some usages, the word of the source language must have the meaning in which it was borrowed into the language under study.
Thirdly, the words under consideration must have constant phonetic correspondences, because the sounds of the "foreign" language are regularly reflected in the borrowing language.
Fourthly, the presumably 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.

Difficulties in etymology

It is difficult to determine borrowings from an extinct non-written 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. For book borrowings, in general, they are closer to the original than for oral ones, but they can also contain errors, including very serious ones: for example, the French word zénith "zenith" (which also got into Russian) is borrowed from Arabic zemth: m in the manuscript was taken as ni.
It is very difficult for etymologists to deal with the author's neologisms - words created artificially. For example, a well-known word coined by F. Dostoevsky is to fade away. If there is no exact data about who and when a certain word was coined, then it is impossible to prove its origin.
Difficulties arise with tracing papers (from French calque "copy") - borrowing foreign words, expressions, phrases literal translation. For example, Russian word"insect" is a tracing-paper from the Latin insectum (in - "on" + sectum - "insect").
But we have so far talked about the very science of etymology. And we are probably more interested in etymological results, i.e. the history of individual words or morphemes. How to find out about the origin of a word?

To do this, we must open the etymological dictionary.

Etymological dictionaries

The etymological dictionary contains information about the history of individual words (sometimes morphemes), about all the changes that they have undergone. Information about the etymology of words may also be contained in some large explanatory dictionaries.

But we already know that the origin of many words cannot be unambiguously interpreted, therefore etymological dictionaries give different points of view and contain references to the 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.
Famous modern etymological dictionaries of the Russian language:

Fasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. In 4 vols. / Per. with him. O. N. Trubacheva. - M.: Progress, 1964-1973.
Etymological dictionary of the Russian language / Ed. N. M. Shansky (1963-1999), A. F. Zhuravlev (since 1999), Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University. - M .: Publishing house of Moscow State University, 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 a 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 for scientific purposes, but in itself it is very interesting, because. allows you to follow the course of people's associations, to see their ability to analyze and ironize.
There are several directions in folk etymology.
1) A borrowed or native word is distorted and rethought according to the model of a well-known and close-sounding word: semi-clinic (instead of polyclinic), 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 "crimson ringing" is known. So they say about the pleasant ringing of bells. But the meaning of this phrase is not at all connected with the word "raspberry" or "crimson color". Scientific etymology gives us the opportunity to find out that this phrase comes from the name of the Belgian city of Malin (now it is the city of Mechelen), where the ancient cathedral is located, which has a special school of ringers, i.e. the expression "raspberry ringing" means the play of "raspberry" musicians on the bells.
This type of folk etymology is especially widespread in explaining the origin of toponyms. “People always have a feeling that the name cannot be given just like that, that it is given in connection with some unusual, important event”, - says G.P. Smolitskaya, Russian linguist and toponymist. For example, folk etymology explains the name Ryazan with the word "cut", because. there was a brutal massacre during the raids of nomads.

Some interesting etymology

Scammer. So in Russia they were not called deceivers or thieves. This was the name of the craftsmen who made the moshna, 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 "Slates" was embossed on the soles of these slippers. Many took this word for the name of the shoe. The word entered the active vocabulary and became synonymous with the word "flip-flops".

Toponymic legends

Toponymic legends are spread all over the world and concern those geographical objects, exact time, the date of foundation and the toponym of which are either not fully clarified, or 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 frequent character in the creation of toponymic legends is Peter I. Here are two of them.

Folk etymology ascribes to Peter I the appearance of the name of the village of Divnogorye in the Voronezh region. Driving through this area, he exclaimed: “What marvelous 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, 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 cup with the words: “And I give this cup to God!” and threw it into the river. Therefore, people called the tributary of the Don, on the banks of which this settlement was located, Bogucharka, and this village itself Boguchar.

Etymology Etymology

Etymology is characterized by the complex nature of the study. The essence of the procedure of etymology, analysis: the genetic identification of the word in question or its stem with another word or its stem as the original, producing, as well as the identification of others structural elements words with historically known structural elements and reconstruction of the primary form and meaning of a word with primary motivation; an indispensable stage of etymological analysis is the removal of later historical changes. The basis of the etymological technique is the study of various, which is based on the laws of change, patterns, patterns of change, etc., which are the subject of study of comparative grammar. Depending on the nature of the historical changes experienced by the word and its relationship with potential related lexemes, in some cases of etymological analysis, the analysis of various structural elements or the meaning of the word becomes dominant. So, the Russian “tormoshit”, the Ukrainian “thermocity” and the Polish tarmosić, termosić can be interpreted as formations derived from the verb stem ter- “rub, tear” (Russian “rub”), but the analysis of the phonetic differences of these verbs (especially the Russian “sh ” with Ukrainian “s” and Polish s') convinces that only Polish tarmosić can be a direct continuation of the ancient derivative verb, while Russian and Ukrainian verbs are from Polish. When etymologizing the Russian word “bosom”, in order to prove its derivation from the verb “lay down”, the most significant is the possibility of highlighting in the word “log-” and the suffix “-sno”, as evidenced by the structure of the word “lozhesna” '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 the 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 dialectal Vologda "ardently cold" 'very cold', Russian "transparent" and Czech prozračno 'cloudy'), their connection with extralinguistic realities and insufficient knowledge of the types of semantic changes and principles. The basis for semantic analysis in etymological studies is the method of semantic parallels: as evidence of the alleged development of meanings (or the possibility of combining meanings), cases of a similar development (or combination) of meanings are given. So, in confirmation of the belonging of the verb "goggle" (in the combination 'goggle') to the nest "rub" (where meanings like 'tear, tear, peel' are regular), one can indicate the close development of the meaning 'tear' → 'goggle' in reißen ( cf. die Augen reißen 'to goggle'). Semantic changes and combinations of meanings are only partly explained by the general patterns of human thinking (such are the changes ‘abyss’ → ‘ a large number of something', 'close' → 'soon', 'strong' → 'quick' → 'impudent'). Most of the semantic transitions and combinations of meanings are due to the correlation 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 should be based on the totality of knowledge about the world around man, about man and human society in their historical development, accumulated various industries 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 verb “move” of the primary meaning of “lift” and the involvement 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'). The explanation of the relationship of the Latin rex ‘king’, regere ‘to rule’ with the Slavic rězati was 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, incisions.

A necessary working technique in etymology is the reconstruction of the form and / or meaning that historically preceded the attested ones, i.e., the restoration on the basis of the attested lexemes of their original, primary forms and meanings. The time interval between the fixed word and the reconstruction can be different; 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 the etymological analysis hypothetical even at the very strict observance all the requirements of the methodology, but the hypothetical nature, which brings etymology closer to many historical disciplines, does not diminish the cognitive significance of its achievements.

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

The etymology has great importance for the development of historical 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 unexplored phenomena in the history of the language. Since etymology is available at chronological levels unattainable for written history, it serves, along with archeology, as an important tool for studying the history of human society.

The etymology originated in ancient Greece(Plato, dialogue "Cratylus"). Here the term itself appeared, attributed to. But ancient etymology was alien to the scientific understanding of the patterns of changes in the language and the symbolic nature of the language. The anti-historicity and arbitrariness of interpretations bring this stage in the history of etymology closer to the so-called folk etymology - the transformation of words in the direction of their convergence with other words that seem (due to the similarity of meanings, or form, or various associations) related (for example, "myopic" arose from "near-sighted", cf. among the Stoics, the convergence of the Latin crux ' cross' with crus 'foot'). The principles of ancient etymology were preserved in the Middle Ages. Scientific etymology arose simultaneously with. The establishment of sound correspondences between the Indo-European languages ​​and the corresponding ones that underlie comparative historical linguistics was the result of a comparison of the lexemes of these languages ​​and the development of a hypothesis about their relationship, i.e., a consequence of etymological operations. In turn, phonetic and other laws and regularities 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”, vols. 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 by semantic fields (J. Trier), attention to the connection of semantics with realities (the direction “Words and things”, which put forward the principles of studying vocabulary in connection with the culture and history of the people; R. Mehringer, W. Meyer-Lubke, G. Schuchardt, W. von Wartburg), an appeal to the historical changes experienced primary form and the meaning of the word, i.e., to the history of the word (etymology as a biography of the word, as opposed to understanding etymology as the origin of the word; Schuhardt, Gilleron). The 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 - oppositions, associations, 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. Semerenya, J. Malkiel, O. N. Trubachev), the development of problems of the relationship of etymology and other areas of linguistics, especially comparative grammar, as well as the orientation of etymological studies to grammatical problems (Malkiel, F. Slavsky), deepening the sociological aspect of this logical research, i.e., the connection between the study of the origin of vocabulary and the history of society, its spiritual and material culture (Benveniste, Trubachev, V.N. Toporov, Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, V. I. Abaev).

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

The most important etymological dictionaries:

• Abaev V. I., Historical and etymological dictionary of the Ossetian language, vol. 1-3, M.-L., 1958-79;
• Bulgarian etymological riverman, vol. 1-3, Sofia, 1962-86(ed. ongoing);
• Klimov G. A., Etymological dictionary of Kartvelian languages, M., 1964;
• Lytkin IN AND., Gulyaev E. S., Brief etymological dictionary of the Komi language, M., 1970;
• Acharyan R., Etymological Root Dictionary of the Armenian Language, vols. 1-4, Er., 1971-79 (in Armenian);
• Illich-Svitych V. M., Experience in comparing Nostratic languages, [vol. 1-3], M., 1971-1984;
• Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages, ed. O. N. Trubacheva, vol. 1-15, M., 1974-88;
• Sevortyan E. V., Etymological dictionary of Turkic languages, vols. 1-3, M., 1974-80 (ed. continues);
• Comparative dictionary of the Tungus-Manchu languages ​​(materials for the etymological dictionary), otv. ed. V. I. Tsintsius, vol. 1-2, L., 1975-77;
• Axes V.N., Prussian language. Dictionary, [i.e. 1-4]. M., 1975-84 (ed. continues);
• Shagirov A. K., Etymological dictionary of the Adyghe (Circassian) languages, vol. 1-2, M., 1977;
• Etymalagіchny sloўnik of the Belarusian language, ed. V. Ў. Martynaў, vol. 1-4. Minsk, 1978-88(ed. ongoing);
• Etymological Dictionary of Ukrainian Language, ch. ed. O. S. Melnichuk, vol. 1-2, Kiev, 1982-85(ed. ongoing);
• Vasmer M., Etymological dictionary of the Russian language, trans. with him. and additions by O. N. Trubachev, 2nd ed., vols. 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, Gott., 1909;
• their own, Norwegisch-Dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, v. 1-2, Hdlb., 1910-11;
• Meyer-Lubke W., Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 Aufl., Hdlb., 1935;
• hellquist E., Svensk etymologisk ordbok, v. 1-2, Lund, 1948;
• Bloch Oh, Wartburg W., Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue française, 2 ed., P., 1950;
• Slawski F., Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, t. 1-5, Krakow, 1952-77(ed. ongoing);
• 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. - Gott., 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;
• Rasanen M., Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen, Hels., 1969;
• Skok P., Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga or srpskoga jezika, t. 1-4. Zagreb, 1971-74;
• Etymologický slovník slovanských jazyků. Slova grammarka a zajmena, Sest. F. Kopečny, V. Šaur, V. Polák, t. 1-2, Prague, 1973-80;
• Słownik prasłowianski, 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. ongoing);
• Tischler J., Hethitisches etymologisches Glossar, Bd 1-2, Innsbruck, 1977-79(ed. continues).

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

J. J. Warbot.

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

Synonyms:

See what "Etymology" is in other dictionaries:

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