Etymologie

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their forms and meanings have changed over time. It encompasses the examination of roots, affixes, and the pathways by which words move between languages through borrowing, semantic shift, and folk usage.

Etymologists use a range of methods, including the analysis of historical texts, the comparison of related languages, and the reconstruction of proto-forms. They seek true origins (etymons) rather than appearance-based explanations, and they distinguish rigorous etymology from folk etymology or modern misunderstandings.

Sources include inscriptions, manuscripts, early dictionaries and grammars, and lexical corpora. The study relies on identifying cognates, regular sound correspondences, and semantic fields. Limitations include gaps in documentation, irregular sound changes, and multiple potential origins; often, the exact history of a word remains uncertain.

Examples illustrate the field. The word etymology itself derives from Greek etymon "true sense" and -logia "study of." English words frequently enter from Latin or Greek via other languages; for instance "academy" from Greek akademia via Latin, and "salary" from Latin salarium.

Relation to broader disciplines and uses: in lexicography, linguistics, and philology, etymology helps explain language change, cultural contact, and the formation of technical vocabularies.