Popular etymology

One speaks about popular etymology to indicate the pseudo-scientists explanations concerning the etymology and the etymological direction of a mot.

Reasons of the popular etymology

The popular etymology is based above all on fortuitous formal resemblances between the Meaning of word and those of other radical words or already known; it can leave its prints in the Lexique of a language by modifying the orthography and the pronunciation of a word old analyzed evil. From a normative point of view, the popular etymology is an error, but many “errors” - of this type or of another - were lexiconized so that certain words resulting from a popular etymology have the statute of “normal” lexemes now. From a linguistic point of view, the popular etymology is a will like another to rationalize the language: by adapting meaning it of term become inanalysable, it allows remotiver a word, even if meant reinterpreted is incorrect étymologiquement, which gives him more weight in the memory. It is indeed easier to memorize justified terms (than one can analyze in morphemes, like maisonnette , in whom a speaker lambda is able to recognize house and - ette , a diminutive). It is an analogical form of levelling: the word obtained by popular etymology must be recreated by imitation of others meaning better known. Generally, the modified word is:

a loan with a foreign language;
a become old word, through phonetic wear, inanalysable.

In French

One can take a simple case: the word French wind vane is explained, by popular etymology, like a Mot-valise composed of girer and (pi) rouette . It of it is however nothing: the word goes back to veðrviti , term Anglo-Norman entered at the 12th century the lexicon in the form wirewite . The Anglo-Norman held it itself of the norrois where the term is indicating compound meaning an “( viti ) of the wind ( veðr ; cf English weather “time that it makes” and weathervane “wind vane”). This compound could, in the poetic texts, to indicate by Métaphore a ship (taken in the storm). However, with the XVI {{E}} the C-W communication becomes gyrouete ( there being an alternative of I ). The word was réanalysé indeed meanwhile: since wirewite does not return to any known morpheme, it is modified unconsciously because it seems fortuitously made up of gire and rouette (“small wheel”) what, for the direction, functions, a wind vane tracing many circles ( rouette ) while turning ( gire ).

In the same way, sauerkraut seems to come from cabbage and crust , whereas it goes back to surkrut , word of the Alsatian dialect corresponding to German Sauerkraut, literally “bitter grass”. It returned in the lexicon in the form surcrute (1699, to French-speaking Switzerland) then sorcrotes (1739), then evolved to its current form because of the influence of cabbage and crust , by the same process as for wind vane .

In the same way, it is sometimes alleged that “old wives' remedy” would come from “remedy of good famed ”, where famed , “famous” (Latin fama ) would have been réanalysé in woman because its meaning, Homophone famed , is more current. This assertion was however still attested by no old document comprising the expression remedy of good famed . The famed radical of however finds in words like (badly/well) famed , famous . One can note with the passage that famed , present in Former French, directly gave famed , “re-elected”, in English.

Lastly, the popular etymology also makes it possible to explain certain lexiconized errors not , like the modification of remuneration in *ré numér ation by certain speakers. The radical Latin muner- (in Re-muner-atio ), meaning “gift”, not being very productive in French, the word is reinterpreted like a derivative of numeration , the radical numér- being, by far, more frequent. One finds that with the word infarction , often transformed into in' fract' custom ( - farct- forming a French syllable not very common and fractus returning to the word running fracture ) or *re' bourratif in the place of fortifying (by influence of bourratif ). Thus, the word being then bound by the memory to a known radical, it becomes easier to retain and use. However, *renumeration , *infractus and *rebourratif - still - is regarded as errors.

The difference between erroneous form and correct form is however sometimes difficult to establish: thus, caparaçon is often transformed into *carapaçon , by contamination with carapace . However, the etymology of the word is not clear: borrowed from the Spanish medieval caparaçón (currently caparazón ), the word could go back to a Latin radical wrapped , “wraps”, making carapaçon an entirely false term, étymologiquement speaking, or with a radical *karapp- (which gives carapace ), in which case the form considered to be correct caparaçon would be, as for it, the result of a Métathèse of the /k/ consonants and /r/. Thus, the influence of carapace on *carapaçon would be a return to the etymological sources justifiable.

One can also announce the extremely known case of to time for me . For some, of which the French Academy, it acts initially of a military formula, which would have been transformed into as much for me. For others the Orthographe étymologiquement justified is well " as much for moi" , elliptic form of " it is as much for moi" , the supposed military origin of " At time for moi" being a popular good example of etymology, whereas this last C-W communication was recognized by the French Academy.

In English

The English has also striking examples: the word nickname “nickname” is a Métanalyse by popular etymology of ekename which, into Vieil English, results in “name ( name ) into more (eke) ”. The métanalyse is at the level of the connection with the article: year + ekename “a nickname” is reinterpreted has + nekename , which grammatically remains possible, the English article being written has in front of consonant, year in front of vowel. This métanalyse is facilitated by the fact that eke is not, in Middle English, more used in addition: he thus does not return any more to one precise direction, no other word evokes it and makes it possible to prevent that its form deteriorates too much. It is confused with a first name since nakename becomes then nickname , as if the word were composed of Nick , the first name, and of name , “name”. The semantic bond between this first name and the general direction of “a nickname” are not explicit ( Nick belongs to the whole of the first names, the first names belong to the whole of the appellatives, among which one counts also nicknames). It is however reinforced by the fact that Nick is itself the nickname (created by Apocope) of Nicholas .

Of another notable examples in English:

sand-blind . Literal direction by popular etymology: “plugged ( blind ) by sand ( sand )”, real direction: “with blind half”, real etymology: old English Sam (“with half”) + blind (“blind man”);
sparrow-fat. literal Direction by popular etymology: “grass ( fatty ) with sparrows ( sparrow )”, real direction: unmotivated term in English since it is about a loan with the Latin asparagus .

Linguistics

Métanalyse ;
Standard of phonetic modifications.

Another popular approximation

popular biological Classification;

External bonds

At time for me or as much for me?

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