etimologija

Etimologija is the study of the history of words, including their origins, forms, and meanings. It seeks to uncover where a word comes from, how its form has developed, and how its sense has shifted over time.

As a branch of historical linguistics and philology, etimologija aims to trace the life of a word from its earliest known forms to its present usage. Researchers use multiple sources and methods to reconstruct how words entered a language, diversified, and interacted with other tongues. This includes examining written records, comparing related languages to identify cognates, and analyzing regular sound changes, borrowings, and internal derivation. Because evidence can be uneven and meanings can shift, etymologies are often tentative.

Key concepts in etimologija include the etymon, the original form or source of a word, and the processes that shape words over time, such as regular phonological changes, semantic broadening or narrowing, metaphorical extension, and pejoration or amelioration. Ephemeral or folk etymologies and false cognates are also considered, with careful scholarship distinguishing genuine historical connections from popular but unsupported explanations.

The etymology of the word itself is informative: it derives from Greek etumología, via Latin etymologia, from etymon meaning “true sense” and the suffix -logia meaning “study of.” In several languages of the region, including Croatian, Serbian, and Slovenian, the field is named Etimologija.

Etymology informs lexicography, language history, and linguistic anthropology. It interacts with broader disciplines by shedding light on cultural contact, migration, and the evolution of vocabulary across time.