'''Etymology''' is the study of the origin of words. Some words have been derived from other [[language|languages]], possibly in a changed form. Through old texts and comparisons with other languages, [[etymologist|etymologists]] try to reconstruct the history of words - when they entered a language, from what source, and how their form and meaning changed.
Etymologists also try to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information (such as written texts) to be known. By comparing words in related languages, one can learn about their shared parent language. This way, [[word root|word roots]] have been found which can be traced all the way back to the origin of the [[Indo-European]] language family.
The word "etymology" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] "étymos" (true meaning of a word) and "lògos" (sience).
<B>Etymology of English Vocabulary</B>
English itself derives from [[Anglo-Saxon]], a dialect of Old [[Low German]]. This can be seen when one compares numbers, particularly ''six~sechs, seven~sieben, eight~acht,'' and ''ten~zehn.'' Pronouns are also cognate: ''I~ich; thou~Du; we~wir; she~sie''. However, [[historical linguistics|language change]] has eroded many grammatical elements, such as the [[noun case]] system, which is greatly simplified in Modern English; and certain elements of vocabulary, much of which is borrowed from French. In fact, more than half of the words in English either come from the [[French language]], or have a French [[cognate]]. However, [[German language|German]] is English's closest relative, and the most common root words are still of [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] origin.
French was introduced into England when the Normans conquered England in 1066 (see Norman invasion). During the French reign on the British isles, the ruling class spoke French while the peasants spoke the English of the time. This led to many duplicated words. Clear examples are the names for meats, which come from French and the farm animals they come from which are old style English words. "Beef" is from the French "Boeuf", meaning "Steer". "Veal" from "Veau", meaning "calf". "Pork" from "Porc", meaning "pig". "Poultry" from "Poulet", meaning "chicken". The ruling class named the meat on the table, and the peasants named the animal in the field.
English words of more than 2 syllables are likely to come from French, often with modified terminations. For example, the French words for "syllable","modified","terminations" and "example" are "syllabe","modifié","terminaisons" and "exemple".
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See also: [[Proto-language]], [[Folk etymology]], [[cognate]], [[false cognate]]
External Links:
http://www.wordorigins.org/thelist.htm
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