Folk etymology is when phrases are reinterpreted based on similar-sounding words in a language. It only applies if the word changes from its original form. Examples include penthouse and primrose. Even non-borrowed words may be subject to folk etymology if the original derivation becomes obsolete.
Folk etymology is a linguistic phenomenon whereby borrowed or archaic phrases are reinterpreted according to analogy with other common words or phrases in the language. The etymology refers to the origin of the words. For example, the etymology of etymology can be traced back through Old English and Latin to the Greek roots etymo, meaning “true”, and logos, meaning “word”. In folk etymology, speakers of a language assume the etymology of a word or phrase by comparing it to similar-sounding words or phrases that already exist in the language.
A word or phrase is typically considered folk etymology only if it has changed from its original borrowed form as a result of the reinterpreted etymology. If speakers assume an “incorrect” origin of a word or phrase, but its pronunciation and/or spelling are unchanged, then the term is not referred to as a folk etymology. For example, some people assume that the English word history is a combination of the words his and story, but the word can actually be traced back through Old French and Latin to the Greek root historia, which means “knowledge through investigation, recording or narrative”. . While the interpretation “his story” is a folk etymology, the word story is not properly referred to as such, since the reinterpretation does not affect its form.
There are many examples of folk etymology in common English words and phrases. For example, penthouse comes from the Old French apentiz, which roughly means “that to which it is added,” but English speakers have reinterpreted the word to include the English house, since an attic is a place where someone lives. Similarly, primrose, a type of flower, has been reinterpreted through folk etymology to include the English name of another flower, rose, although the word was originally borrowed from Old French primeole.
Even non-borrowed words may be subject to folk etymology if the original derivation becomes obsolete. The Modern English hangnail is said to derive from the Old English agnail, unrelated to hanging or fingernails, but rather referring to a painful callus on the foot and derived from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “tight” or “painful”. . Groom comes from the Old English bryd, meaning “bride,” and guma, meaning “man.” However, when guma disappeared from the language, the term was reinterpreted to include the more modern word groom.
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