Why etymology
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The document discusses the role of etymology in dictionaries, asserting that while it can offer insights into word origins, it is not essential for understanding contemporary usage and meaning. It highlights the historical context of etymological inclusion in general-purpose dictionaries and suggests its presence results from tradition rather than necessity. The diversity of the English vocabulary provides justification for some etymological information to celebrate linguistic variety.
Why etymology
- 2. • We need to study etymology to determine the true meaning of words and their functions in a sentence. • etymology has no place in a general-purpose dictionary, and it should be left to historical or specialist dictionaries. Learners' dictionaries do not contain etymological information, though its exclusion from these dictionaries has been challenged (Ellegård 1978; Ilson 1983). Of the three Collins dictionaries.
- 3. • the smallest, the Pocket, does not contain etymologies, but the two larger ones do. It was only half a century or so after the first monolingual English dictionary that etymologies began to be included in dictionaries so they have a long pedigree. • Hudson ( 1988 ) - includes etymology among the ' lexical facts about words that dictionaries should pay attention to But there is little evidence that users routinely resort to a dictionary for this information.
- 4. • The dictionaries have a double function as a record of the vocabulary of the language, i.c. a lexical description, and as a reference work to meet the needs of users for information about words and their usage. • On neither count is the inclusion of etymology uncontroversially obvious a record, a dictionary describes the contemporary vocabulary it omits obsolete words and meanings and marks as ' archaic ' those whose currency is beginning to wane
- 5. • As a reference work, a dictionary does not have the space to give a full account of the etymology of words, such as might be found in a historical dictionary, • • Moreover, the etymological information is probably the hardest of all the parts of a dictionary entry to decode, needing as it does some background knowledge in history, and specifically in the history of languages.
- 6. • • Sidney Landau expresses the opinion that of all the elements included in modern dictionaries, etymology has the least to do with the essential purpose of a synchronic dictionary' (2001: 127) Etymology does not make a contribution to the description of the contemporary meaning and usage of words : it may help to illuminate how things have got to where they are now , but it is as likely to be
- 7. • Etymology offers no advice to one who consults a dictionary on the appropriate use of a word in the context of a written text or spoken discourse • It merely provides some insight for the interested dictionary browser with the requisite background knowledge and interpretative skills. • On this perspective, Landau is right: etymology does not have the same status as other elements of lexical description in a dictionary
- 8. • • Etymology could be Siad to be part of dictionary information by historical accident. • The "hard words' tradition, which started monolingual dictionaries in English, included only words that had been borrowed, mostly from the classical languages. It was only a short step to included systematically their language of origin, as indeed dictionaries had done to an extent from the beginning
- 9. • • Combined with the increasing interest in cultural and linguistic history that flourished during the eighteenth century, etymology became firmly established in the tradition of monolingual dictionaries. Dictionary making does have its own tradition, its own set of principles and conventions, which are to a large extent independent of those associated with other branches of linguistic scholarship. • • It is only recently , in the last quarter of the twentieth century, that the discipline of linguistics has exercised any major influence on the processes of dictionary making , on this perspective , it is not surprising that etymology continues to be an element of the information given for words , at least in the larger general - purpose dictionaries
- 10. • • Radical departures from the expected content and format of dictionaries are undertaken reluctantly by publishers purchaser expectations have to be met • There is perhaps, one further and sounder reason for the inclusion of etymological information in monolingual dictionaries of English at least. It arises from the nature of the English vocabulary, • The sources of English words are so diverse, with such a small proportion being ‘ongnal’ Anglo -Saxon, and so many being borrowed from a range of other languages, that there would seem to be some justification for providing information at least about the immediate origin of a word. • In this way, the users of the language can see how their vocabulary has been constituted. • • It is a means of celebrating the diversity of the English lexicon, and it should guard against any temptation to linguistic xerophobia or notions of linguistic purity
- 11. • Presented By : Amenadaaboul , SajidaMansour , Shifraadnan jbrel • Supervisedby : Dr. Khaleel B. Al-Bataineh • Department of Englishlanguage & Transaltion