# SEVEN CANONS of ETYMOLOGY



## Ben Jamin

SEVEN CANONS of ETYMOLOGY modified and abbreviated from W.W. Skeat, 1879 (Source: etymonline):

1. Before attempting an etymology, ascertain the earliest form and use of the word; and observe chronology.

2. Observe history and geography; borrowings are due to actual contact.

3. Observe phonetic laws, especially those which regulate the mutual relation of consonants in the various Indo-European languages, at the same time comparing the vowel-sounds.

4. The whole of a word, and not a portion only, ought to be reasonably accounted for; and, in tracing changes of form, any infringement of phonetic laws is to be regarded with suspicion.

5. Mere resemblances of form and apparent connection in sense between languages which have different phonetic laws or no necessary connection are commonly a delusion, and are not to be regarded.

6. When words in two different languages are more nearly alike than the ordinary phonetic laws would allow, there is a strong probability that one language has borrowed the word from the other. Truly cognate words ought not to be too much alike.

7. It is useless to offer an explanation of a word which will not also explain all the cognate forms


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## Awwal12

Fabulous.  Probably I should translate it for our forum too. Although we have quick punishments for any pseudo-science there, such a reminder might also prove useful.


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## Hulalessar

Can we have no. 5 written at the top of this forum?


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## berndf

Hulalessar said:


> Can we have no. 5 written at the top of this forum?


I made the thread "sticky".


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## elroy

Awwal12 said:


> Probably I should translate it for our forum too.


 Do you mean the Russian forum?


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## Kevin Beach

I remember reading many decades ago that the first rule of Etymology was that "Every word has its own etymology", i.e. that the cause of one word's development isn't necessarily the cause of a similar word's development.


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## Ben Jamin

Kevin Beach said:


> I remember reading many decades ago that the first rule of Etymology was that "Every word has its own etymology", i.e. that the cause of one word's development isn't necessarily the cause of a similar word's development.


It may be true, but not necessarily so. The study of etymology routinely involves studying of the whole family of words and usually in many related languages.


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## Keith Bradford

Perhaps an addition:  *Any etymology that is based on an acronym before 1940 is almost certainly wrong.*  (This is true of English anyway.)


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## AndrasBP

Keith Bradford said:


> *Any etymology that is based on an acronym before 1940 is almost certainly wrong.*


Do you mean words like "wharf" that some people believe stands for "warehouse at river front"?


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## Keith Bradford

Yes indeed (_wharf _is from late Old English _hwearf_).

Other examples I've encountered on TV and in published articles are:

_*gnome *_from "gardening naturally on mother earth" (Latin: _gnomus_, a dwarf)
_*drag *_from "dressed as a girl" (the verb _to drag_ on the floor)
and of course the perennial _*posh *_from "port outward, starboard home" (Romany: _posh_, halfpenny, money)
...all wrong, totally wrong.  There's an excellent book on the subject: _Port out, starboard home and other language myths_, Michael Quinion, Penguin Books, London 2004.


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## fdb

Keith Bradford said:


> and of course the perennial _*posh *_from "port outward, starboard home" (Romany: _posh_, halfpenny, money)



The OED has, more cautiously, "origin unknown".


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## Keith Bradford

Quinion says "most probable ... but unprovable".


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## john welch

A posh Romany Gypsy would go outward on the starboard side.


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