The article describes what etymology is, what this science does and what methods it uses in its work.
Language
Any living language that people actively speak is gradually changing. The extent of this depends on many different factors. For example, the amount of time that has passed since its inception, the level of political or cultural self-isolation of the country, and the official position regarding borrowed words. In the same France, for all foreign words, a domestic analogue is selected or created. And some languages of the Scandinavian group have hardly changed for a millennium.
But not all languages can boast of this, and besides, it is not always an indicator of quality or uniqueness. The Russian language is one of the most diverse, and over the centuries it has changed a lot. And from the colloquial speech of our ancestor, say, from the 15th century, we would understand only a few words.
It was precisely in order to determine the origin of words or morphemes that such a section of linguistics as etymology was created. So what is etymology and what methods does it use in its activities? We'll figure it out.
Definition
Etymology is a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words. It is also a research technique used to reveal the history of the appearance of a word in a language and the very result of such a study. This term originated in the days of Ancient Greece, and until the 19th century it could be used as the meaning of the word "grammar".
Answering the question of what the etymology of a word is, it is worth mentioning that this concept very often means the very origin of the morpheme. For example: "In this case, you need to find a more convincing etymology," or: "The word notebook has a Greek etymology."
Now let's briefly consider the formation of this science and what methods it uses for research.
History
Even in ancient Greece, before the advent of etymology as such, many scientists were interested in the origin of various words. If we consider later ancient times, then etymology was considered one of the parts of grammar, respectively, it was de alt with exclusively by grammarians. So now we know what etymology is.
In the Middle Ages, no significant changes were made to the methods of studying etymology. And before the advent of such a method as comparative-historical, most etymologies were of a very dubious nature. Moreover, this was observed both in European and Slavic languages. For example, the philologist Trediakovsky believed that the etymology of the word "Italy" comes from the word "remote" because this country is very far fromRussia. Naturally, because of such methods of determining the origin, many considered etymology to be an absolutely frivolous science.
Comparative historical method
Thanks to this method, etymology and was able to very accurately explain the origin of many words. It is also used today. Its essence lies in a set of techniques that prove the relationship of some languages, the origin of words and reveal various facts from their history. It is also based on a comparison of phonetics and grammar.
Etymology of the Russian language
If we talk about the origin and history of the Russian language, then there are three main periods: Old Russian, Old Russian and the period of the Russian national language, which began in the 17th century. And from its Old Russian form, by the way, almost all the languages \u200b\u200bof the East Slavic group originated.
As in any other language, there are words in Russian that have roots both in its ancient forms and borrowed ones.
For example, the word "nonsense" came from the name of the French doctor Gali Mathieu, who did not differ in doctoral skills and "treated" his patients with jokes. True, he soon gained popularity, and even he althy people began to invite him to enjoy his humor.
And the well-known word "swindler" comes from the word "money" - the name of the wallet in which money was previously carried. And the thieves who coveted him were called swindlers.
Now we know what etymology is. As you can see, this is a rather interesting discipline that shedslight on the origin of many words.
