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Etymology – etymon

Etymology – etymon. Etymology? (1) ‘Origin and history of a vocable (= grouping of lexical units [= lexemes or idioms ] )’. (2) ‘Branch of linguistics that studies the origin and the history of vocables’. Historical or diachronic lexicology. Etymon?

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Etymology – etymon

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  1. Etymology – etymon • Etymology? • (1) ‘Origin and history of a vocable • (= grouping of lexical units • [= lexemes or idioms])’ (2) ‘Branch of linguistics that studies the origin and the history of vocables’ Historical or diachronic lexicology • Etymon? • ‘Linguistic sign (lexeme or affix) • from which descended a given linguistic sign’

  2. Etymological classes • (1) Inherited lexicon = normally transmitted lexical units (from the common ancestor of the language family) • (2) Borrowings (= loan words) = lexicals units which were taken from another language • (3) Internal creations = new lexical units constructed from existing materials in the same language

  3. Etymon: inherited lexicon = Common ancestor of a cognate set Etymon Proto-Germanic *fader Germ. Vater Dutch vader a. s. o. Engl. father

  4. Etymon: borrowings = Borrowed lexical unit (of the donour langage) Etymon Engl. dessert < French dessert

  5. Etymon: internal creations It depends... Etyma • (1) Derivation: • type of word-formation in which new lexemes are created by adding affixes to existing lexemes • Example: (TO) WASH + -ABLE > WASHABLE • (2) Compounding: • type of word-formation in which new lexemes are created by joining two or more lexemes • Example: (TO) SCARE + CROW > SCARECROW

  6. Idioms and collocations? • Idioms: • Should their etyma be phrases? • Clearly, this is a blind spot of etymological theory and practice! • Collocations: • As collocations are not linguistic signs, they do not have etymologies (nor etyma) • However, we should try to identify their source

  7. Example: Fr. poser un lapin • poser un lapin [à qqn] • lit. « to plant a rabbit [on somebody] » • ‘to stand [somebody] up’ • Idiom or collocation? • TLF: idiom (« Expr. ») • poser des lapins ‘to be in the habit of standing [somebody] up’ Collocation! • ne me pose pas de lapin! ‘do not stand me up !’

  8. Diachronic perspective? • lapin1 ‘rabbit’ (since ca 1450) • monter en lapin ‘to ride a coach sitting next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit), so as to travel as a passenger in overload’ (1809–1897)

  9. More of the same • voyager en lapin ‘to travel [riding a coach] sitting next to the coachman as a passenger in overload’ (1828–1858) • en lapin ‘sitting next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit), so as to travel as a passenger in overload’ (1897) • lapin2 ‘passenger in overload in a coach, who sits next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit)’ (1873–1922)

  10. Towards ‘illicite behaviour’ • faire cadeau d’un lapin[à qqn] ‘to omit to pay [a prostitute]’ (1878) • poser un lapin[à qqn] ‘to omit to pay [a prostitute]’ (1881) • lapin3 ‘fact of not fulfilling a duty [toward somebody]’ (postulated) poser un de ces lapins ‘to fail clearly to meet somebody’s duties’ (1888) • poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to fail to meet somebody’s duties’ (1896) • poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to leave without paying somebody’s due’ (1896)

  11. Other ‘illicite behaviour’ • poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to stand [somebody] up’ (since 1896) • lapin4 ‘appointment at which one does not show up’ (since 2003)

  12. French borrowing in Occitan Castres Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik (LRL) 5/1

  13. Idiom • Occitan (Castres) fa de lapins ‘to cover a part of a wineyard which one has left uncultivated by turned over soil in order to give the impression that it has been cultivated’

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