ANALYSIS OF MISCELLANEOUS PHILOLOGICAL TERMS

Philology, the study of language in written historical sources, involves the investigation of linguistic change over time and across cultures. It is closely tied to etymology, semantics, and syntax, examining how languages develop, evolve, and influence one another. This analysis focuses on various philological terms that play a crucial role in understanding the richness of the English language. By exploring terms like loanwords, cognates, back-formation, and malapropism, we gain insight into the processes that shape linguistic evolution. Such terms highlight how languages borrow, adapt, and transform vocabulary, syntax, and meaning, reflecting cultural exchanges and the dynamic nature of communication. This study not only illuminates the history of English but also demonstrates the broader impact of linguistic diversity.

1.Affixation- The three basic category terms in a word are affixes (divided into prefixes and suffixes steams and roots. Affixes are of two sorts in English; elements that are attached in front of the base are called prefixes, while elements that are attached to the end of the base are called suffixes. Thus, im- and de- are prefixes while –able and –fy are suffixes:

Im + penetr + able – impenetrable

De + class + fy – declassify

2.Archaism- There is many irregular devices employed by the writer and speaker in expressing their language. It is such a device. The ‘archaism’ means the use of obsolete words. These words were once current, but they have now been ousted.

For example, such obsolete words are – whilom, trow, albeit, yelept, natheless etc.

3.Author’s Contribution- Certain individuals, in their own right, have immensely contributed to the growth of the English word stock. The etymological meaning of poet is ‘maker’, and in a very literal sense, some of the great English poets may be said to be the makers of the English language.

4.Anthroponomy- It is a linguistic process by which a word has been derived from the name of a person.

For example, ‘Boycott’. Boycott was an estate agent in Ireland who was infamous and notorious for his extortions. In protest, the tenants organized a strike against him, which included in the form of non-cooperation and social segregation. Thus, ‘boycott’ gets the present meaning of no cooperative strike.

5.Acronyms- It refers to the abbreviations formed from the first letters of a series of words.

Example- AIR (All India Radio)

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

6.Back Formation- It is a word making process through which a word is formed by cutting short a portain of word on the mistaken assumption that it is not the root but an ending affixed to the root.

Exp. ‘beg’ from ‘begger’ (‘er’ is cut off because it is mistaken as an agent noun-forming suffix). ‘Darkle’ from ‘darkling’ (‘ing’ is cut off because it is mistaken as a present participle suffix).

Examples – ‘grovel’ from ‘groveling’, ‘sidle’ from ‘sideling’, ‘greed’ from ‘greedy’, ‘gloom’ from ‘gloomy’, burgle’ from ‘burglar’, ‘edit’ form ‘editor’, ‘hawk’ from ‘hawker’ etc.

7.Borrowings-

Chinese- tea, rickshaw (jinrikisha)

Malay- Sago, bamboo, teak, raffia

Indian- bungalow, cashmere, pajamas, khaki, gymkhanas, polo, swastika, loot.

Spanish- Mosquito, Sherry, canon, comrade matador, siesta

Mexico- Cacao, tomato

Brazil- cayenne, tapioca

Arabia- orange, lemon, algebra, assassin harem, Moslem, Islam

Russian- steppe

Persian- Caravan, Dervish

Australian- Boomerang, Wombat

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8.Christianization of England-

The whole of England was christianized in the 7th century though the process of Christianization started with the arrival of St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury in England in 597 A.D.

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9.Compounding- This process involves combining two or more existing words in order to form a new word. This process has flourished at every period of the English language. Almost any combination of the parts of speech may be employed in this process of compounding though some combinations are common, some are unusual. Compounding, even today, is the most potent means of adding to the vocabulary.

10.Conversion- It is the process by which the vocabulary is increased by conversion of one part of speech into another – also known as functional shift. Here, the form of the word remains unchanged but it is used in different grammartical functions, which, in effect, makes it a new word. This process, though it existed at all stages of the language, has flourished most in Modern English.

Example- The most common conversion is that of a noun into a verb. ‘Bell’, ‘bridge’, ‘color’, ‘ditch’, ‘ink’, ‘paper’ and ‘stone’ are a few random examples of the numerous nouns that may be used as verbs.

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11. Closed syllable: Open syllable- By the term ‘open syllable’ is meant one in which the vowel is not followed by a consonant, as in the words ‘so’, ‘we’, ‘she’ etc or in ‘broken’ (bro-ken) ‘taken’ (ta-ken). A ‘close syllable’, on the other hand, is so called because it is closed, or stopped, by a consonant after the vowel, as in ‘man’, ‘bolster’, ‘grammar’ etc.

12.Clipping- It is a process involving the shortening of a long word by dropping some part of it. Clipping does not seem to follow any definite rules. However, we can note three type of clipping –

Fore clipping- (clipping of the initial part): examples- (aero) plane, (cara) van, (tele) phone, (uni) varsity, (earth) quake.

Back clipping-(end elements are dropped) bike - bicycle, hippo (potamus), lab (oratory), exam (ination), Pram - perambulator.

Fore and aft clipping- (the middle part of the word is retained)

Liz - Elizabeth, (in) flu (enza), (re)fridge (rator).

13.Degeneration of meaning-

When a word ships from a semantically dignified into a pejorative state the deterioration is known as Degeneration of meaning.

Example- ‘Villain’ present meaning – knave or schemer original meaning – a villa attendant.

‘Garble’ present meaning – to mutilate with a view to misrepresent.

Original meaning – To purify

‘Ghost’ present meaning – the spectra of a dead person appearing to the living

Original meaning – spirit.

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14.Double plurals- It is a mistaken notion of adding plural ending to a word, which is already a plural.

In fact, there were few words whose plural forms were is use and the singular form had none. In that case, generally the plural forms were excepted as singular forms.

Example- ‘breeches’ (‘breech’ is plural and again added ‘es’ as plural ending).

Bodices (‘bodice’ is plural as ‘ce’ is added as plural ending, yet the another ‘s’ is added to)

Such exp: Children, brethren etc.

15.Derivation- In this process, a new entity is derived not from independent words but from a single full word plus a prefix or suffix. Suffix and prefix, known collectively as affixes may not stand alone as words; they occur only in combination with a word.

Example: Prefixes like ‘sub’-, ‘for’-, ‘fore’-, ‘mis’ ‘under’-, ‘to’-, ‘un’- etc; suffixes like –‘sum’, -‘dom’, -‘full’, -‘some’, etc are used to form variety of words.

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16.Doublets- Doublets are those pair of words in which the two words, though from the same root word, have taken on two different meaning because of having been borrowed from either two different language or from the same language in a different period.

For example- skirt, shirt; catch, cattle; Denison, benediction; dainty, dignity.

17.Dane law- To make a settlement with the Danes or Norse invaders a treaty of Wetmore in 878 was passed. By this agreement, the Danes were permitted to settle in that part of England on the north of a line drawn from London to Chester, following roughly the Old Roman road of Watting Street. It is an area, which becomes known as the Dane law. The influence of these events upon the language of the Anglo-Saxon manifests itself in new place names, introduction of new words, and modification of grammar or syntax.

18.EUPHEMISM- It is a matter of rhetoric in which a harsh or disagreeable statement is softened down and expressed in a pleasing way.

Exp. ‘death’ is often said in a round about manner as expire, breath one’s last, go to a better world etc. though the meaning of the word does not change, it is softly expressed.

Similarly, ‘The bank has slopped payment’ is said to mean it is bankrupt, ‘the knave came somewhat saucily into the world’ is said to mean the knave’s illegitimate birth softly.

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19.Manufacture- ‘Manufacture’ is such word, which is given a new significance by the passage of time. The verb to ‘manufacture’ meant literally ‘to make by hand’. However, modern usage nearly always employs it with the opposite meaning: a manufactured article and a hand made article are entirely different things.

20.Fixed compounds & free compounds-

Fixed compounds are those whose component parts cannot be separated from each other.

Examples are:

Daisy= day’s + eye

Hizzif= house + wife

Christmas= Christ + mass

Window= wind + eaga (eyo)

Nostril= nosu + thyrel (hole) etc.

Free compounds are those whose component parts can be separated from each other. Examples-

Table cloth= table + cloth

Head clerk= head + clerk

Handbook= hand + book etc.

21.French Loans-

Related to Government: crown, state, sovereign, government, chancellor, minister, power, and reign.

Pleasure & enjoyment joy, pleasure, delight, ease, comfort,

Fashion and relationship: costume, fashion, luxury, apparel, garment, blouse, dress, sir, madam, servant, rich, poor, master, mistress.

Feudalism: prince, noble

Military :war, battle

Law :judge, justice, bail, lease, perjury.

Ecclesiastical :alter, clergy

Moral: ideas pity, chaste

Food: coffee, menu, mutton, bacon, pork, beef.

Vehicles: cabriolet, char-a-banc.

Social life :chauffer, macaroni.

Architecture :aisle, arch, chancel, column, pillar, porch.

Occupation: barber, butcher, carpenter, mason, painter, tailor.

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22.What do you mean by ‘folk etymology’?

Falk etymology refers to the popular misconception of some meanings of the words owing to some similarities of other sort.

For example, we find ‘asparagus’ falsely referred to as ‘sparrow-grass’.

23.Greek Borrowings-

Points to be remembered-

Direct borrowing from Greek into Old and Middle English are more or less none. Only few were borrowed from Greek through Latin or French.

Later influence during renaissance, modern scientific term.

Old Loans (through Latin) church, devil, angel.

Old Loans (through French) diet, geography, logic, physic, rhetoric, surgeon, theology.

From poetics- comedy, tragedy, catastrophe, dialog, episode, peripety, prolog, scene etc.

Natural science- bacteriology, botany, history, physics, zoology etc.

Medicine- adenoids, osteopathy, pediatrics, psychiatry etc.

Electronics- dynatron, kenatron, phanotron etc.

Physics- atomic, cyclofron, meson, proton, isotope etc.

24.Contribution of great writers:

Spenser- elfin, blatant

Milton- darkness visible, pandemonium, gloom

Sir Thomas Moore- utopian

Coleridge- intensify, pessimism

Carlyle- Swan song, gigmanity

Shakespeare- multitudinous, incarnadine

Scott- henchman, to beard the lion in his den.

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25.Generalization- Generalization is the name given to the process in which a word that stands for one specific object or idea is broadened or widened to embrace an entire class of such objects or ideas.

Example: The word ‘journey’ originally meant ‘a days’ walk or ride but due to generalization the meaning has expanded to any sort of trip.

26.Generification- Generification is one kind of generalization. This happens when a proper name usually the name of a person or the brand name of a product, is generalized to represent a genre of products or activity.

Example-

Origin change/generified meaning

1. Hoover a. (n) a vacuum cleaner

(The name of a person who b. (vb) to clear with a vacuum cleaner

Invented the vacuum cleaner)

2. Xerox (Xerox) any photocopier

(The Xerox corporation first ( Xeroxing) the process of photocopying.

Marketed a photopopier)

3. Malapropism the generic description of a misused word.

(Mrs Malaprop, a character of little

learning and great pretensions in

Sheridan’s play The Rivals. Who

Never got a word right).

4. Spoonerisms the act of doing so ……………………..

[Rev Spooner, a warden of New college,

Oxford, who has left us spoonerisms-

Switching around the initial sounds of two

More words, as in sheats and Kelly for ‘keats And shelly’]

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27.Hybridism- It is a philogical process of forming a composite word with elements taken from different sources.

Exp: hinderance- hinder(Teutomic) + ance (Romanic)

Kingdom- king(eng) + dom (Fren)

Uglification- ugly (Eng) + fication (French)

28.Haplology- The very word comes from Greek which means ‘of one fold’ or ‘a combining form’. It is philologically a process of shortening of a word by omitting one or more syllables due to rapid speech.

Examples can be multiplied from the literary texts.

29.Indo European family of language-

The main branches of Indo European language are – (i) Celtic (ii) Greek (iii) Latin

(iv) Teutonic (v) Armenian (vi) Albanian (vii) Aryan (viii) Balto-Slavonic.

 30.Inflexions/ Inflectional:

Inflections refer to the changes made in the sentence and only perform grammatical function. The examples of inflectional affixes in English are the suffix –s/-es on plural nouns, the suffix –s/-es on third person, singular number verbs, the suffix’s on possessive nouns, the suffix –d/-ed on past participle forms of verbs, and so on.

31.Johnsonese- Dr Johnson has a great importance in English language. His style is popularly known as Johnsonese, an affected style of using learned and bombastic words in common literary expressions.

32.Journalese- It is very literary vice, which consists in the use of stilted language of journalism. In this much-characterized feature of newspaper writing, we often find clichés, hackneyed phrases, circumlocution and other clumsiness. Such cumbrous, boring and pedantic words are used to attract readers for their topic of saying. Thus, it is an affected style of writing.

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33.When did Jacob Grimm formulate his theory?

Jacob Grimm carefully formulated the line of first consonant shift in Germanic described by Rasmus Rask in 1818 into laws in 1822.

34.Loan Words – milestones of philology-

The process of language formation is a continued program of incessant assimilation and changes. Loan words or words borrowed from the language are important clues to philologists in fixing the dates of linguistic changes or changes affecting the phonology, morphology, and the grammar of a language. Thus, it is truly said that loan words are the milestones of philology.

35.Latin loans-

Relating to Church:

Minster O.E mynter Lat moasterium (monastery)

Disciple O.E disciple lat. Discipulus (Learner)

Priest O.E preost Lat. Presbyter (elder of Church)

Apostle, anthem, pope, psalm etc.

Crops: plants pea, plum etc.

Animals: camel, tiger, scorpion etc.

Law: legible, bankrupt, homicide etc. conspiracy, prosecute, custody.

Trade & commerce: calicem, sester

War: camp, segn,

Domestic life: kettle, kitchen, disk,

Fruits: pea, peper,

Food: cheese, butter, wine

Education & learning: school, grammatical, history.

Theology: script, incarnate

Literature: allegory, index,

Science :Mechanical, solar, spectrum, radium, neutron, coaxial, cancer.

36.Morphological shortening-

‘Bus’ is an example of morphological shortening. In this case the head of French ‘Omnibus’ whose Latin ‘Omnis’ meaning ‘for all’, has been clipped off to form the word ‘bus’.

37.Monosyllabic- It is one of the masculine traits of the English language. It adds taste in the language. In the English monosyllabism is found in different ways. Firstly, an expression compquising two or more syllables is often turned into a monosyllabic word, e.g. ‘thank you’ to ‘thanks’. Secondly, monosyllabic word is attained by means of abbreviation, such as ‘phone’ for ‘telephone’, ‘caps’ for ‘capital letters’, ‘pub’ for ‘public house’ etc.

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38.Malapropism- There are man words in English which are direct coin from the literary phrases, words by expressions. Such variety of literary words are restricted in use. Sometimes the authors have used them for the purpose of irony, laughter, comicality or other rhetorical purposes.

‘Malapropism’ means mispronunciation of English words. There is a character, Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan’s play The Rivals who is humourous for her abnormal tendency of shorting or mispronunciating big words. Such a tendency of pronunciation is called Malapropism.

39.Metathesis- It is the phonological phenomenon in which a speaker transposes two succeeding sounds by mistake. It is, sometimes, done consciously or unconsciously to facilitate pronunciation.

For example, the original word ‘wattle has undergone a change and today it has become ‘wallet’.

40.Metanalysis- In slovenly pronunciation, the consonant at the end of one word has become attached to the vowel at the beginning of the next and so by ‘reanalysis’ a new combination is formed.

Original by metanalysis

An ickname a nickname

((ich-also) In the course of the years the final ‘n’ of ‘an’ became attached to the beginning of the next word, and so was evolved the modern terms)

* when the process goes the other way-

a nadder - an adder

a napron -an apron

a norange - an orange

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40.monosyllabism- It is one of the masculine fraits of English language. It is the general tendency of English language that monosyllabic words generally get popularity. There is defferent process of monosyllabism-

abridged words – Thank you – Thanks

abbriviation – Telephone – Phone etc.

41.What is mutation plurals? Give an example.

Mutated plurals are those which are formed by changing back vowel sounds into a front vowel sound. This has been typically the old English feature. However, in modern English we have ‘feet’ from ‘foot’, ‘teeth’ from ‘tooth’ etc.

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42.The Norman Conquest-

In 1066, the Norman conquest took place when the Duke of Normandy, William defeated the Anglo Saxon king Harold in the decisive Battle of Hastings. After this conquest the Norman French became the official language of England and this gradually led to the death of old English and the emergence of Middle English and Norman French.

43.Portmanteau word / blendings-

(Blends are words coined by combining elements from two other words).

The word smog (smoke + fog) is an example of portmanteau word. Portmanteau word is a word formed by fusing elements of two words. Leuis Caroll first coined this term as they are like two equal part of portmanteau bag.

More examples – motel (motor + hotel)

Electrocute (electron + execute)

Oxbridge (oxford + Cambridge)

Edutainment (education + entertainment)

Tragicomedy (tragedy + comedy), melodrama (melody + drama), lunch (lump + hunch), navicert(navigation + certificate), comintern (communist + ternational), Dictaphone(gramaphone + dictate), mimsy (flimsy + miserable).

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44.Quasi-classical words –

There are many English words which are formed on incorrect classical basis. These are half classical and hardly they are in use of ordinary language.

Exp. Vocular (uttered by the voice), Andrometer (higherlove) etc.

These uses hint at the love of Greek or Latin words by the English writers.

45.The Roman conquest-

According to historical records, the Roman invasion of Britain started with Julius Coesar’s expenditions in the 1st century B.C strictly & perking 55 and 54 B.C. However, the whole country was occupied by the Romans under emperor Claudius in 47 A.D.

46.Register- A speech variety used by a particular group of people, usually sharing the same occupation (eg. Doctor, law years, artists) or the same interests (stam collectors, cricket fans), is called register.

It means the variety of language defined according to its use in situations i.e. according to the relationship between the participants, the topic discussed and mode of communication (speech or writing).

47.Reduplication- It means repetition of part or whole of a root to indicate some meaning like plurality, distribution, repetition, customary activity, increase of size, added intensity, continuance etc.

Examples- puff-puff, tick-tick, quack-quack, pooh-pooh, hanky-panky, nitty-gritty, walkie-talkie etc.

48.What is known as ‘Radiation’?

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It is a semantic development of a word in which the word keeping the central idea in tact expands to the use of different meaning.

Example- Such a word is ‘head’ whose central meaning is – ‘the key part of the body’ – has been expanded, to the new senses of ‘head office’, ‘head master’, ‘head of the college’, ‘to lose one’s head’ etc.

49.Give an example where the Scandinavian loan word had replaced the native equivalent word?

Scandinavian word ‘egg’ ousts the old English counterparts. The OE word it replaced was ‘ey’.

In the same manner Scandinavian word ‘sister’ ‘kettle’ ‘they’ etc replaced O.E ‘sweeter’, ‘chetel’ ‘tho’ respectively.

Scandinavian origin relating to place – names and proper names-

Scandinavian suffix such as ‘by’ meaning farm or town, ‘thwaite’ meaning a piece of Land, ‘toft’ meaning a piece of Land etc are added to form various names of places or so.

Example- Darby (Dar + by), Braithwaite (Brai + thwaite), Nortoft (Nor + toft) similarly Linthrop (Lin + throp) etc.

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50.Slang- It is a kind of popular language but inelegant and unconventional. Vulgarism or slang refers to the use of the extremely colloquial words or expressions, which are never accepted in good composition. The vulgarism consists in the employment of those words, which are tabooed in good marmerable language. But one should remember that slang to vary from time to time and uttonately become the part of formal speech.

- It is the use of inelegant language which is popular owing to its charm and colour.

Examples – ‘tekram’ for ‘market’, ‘elrig’ for ‘girl’, ‘oolfoo’ for ‘fool’, ‘trouble and slrife’ for ‘wife’ etc.

Ardhendu De

NOW check short answers of the following questions:

a. Examples of the Celtic Branch and Teutonic Branch of the Indo-European Family of Languages:

• Celtic Branch: Irish, Welsh
• Teutonic Branch: German, English

b. Two Examples of Grimm’s Law:

• P → F: Latin pater becomes English father.
• T → TH: Latin tres becomes English three.

c. Two Words of Celtic Origin Used in English:

• Bard (poet)
• Cran (in crane, the bird)

d. Two Examples of French Loans Relating to Religion:

• Clergy
• Abbey

e. Short Note on the Origin of the Word 'Debt':

• The word debt comes from the Latin word debitum (meaning something owed), through Old French dette. It entered English after the Norman Conquest.

f. Two Examples of Native English Nouns Having Latin Adjectives:

• Man (adjective: human)
• Sun (adjective: solar)

g. Two Italian Loans Relating to Music:

• Opera
• Piano

h. What is a Fixed Compound? Give an Example:

• A fixed compound is a compound word that has become established as a single lexical item. Example: blackboard.

i. What is Back-formation? Give an Example:

• Back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual or supposed affixes from an existing word. Example: editor → edit.

j. Short Note on ‘Boycott’:

• The word boycott comes from Captain Charles Boycott, an English land agent in Ireland who was socially ostracized by Irish tenants in 1880 as part of a campaign of non-cooperation. It now means to refuse to engage or deal with someone or something.

k. What is Malapropism? Give an Example:

• Malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect. Example: "He is the pineapple of politeness" (instead of pinnacle).

l. Short Note on ‘Admiral’:

• The word admiral comes from the Arabic amir al-bahr, meaning "commander of the sea." It entered English via Old French during the Crusades.

m. Short Note on ‘Beg’:

• Beg originates from Middle English beggen, possibly borrowed from Old French begart (a lay member of a mendicant order). It refers to asking for something, typically food or money.

n. Short Note on ‘Camouflage’:

• Camouflage comes from the French word camoufler (to disguise). It entered English during World War I and refers to the practice of disguising military equipment or personnel.

o. Short Note on ‘Grovel’:

• Grovel comes from Middle English grovelen (to lie face down) and is used to describe acting in an excessively humble or submissive manner.

p. Short Note on ‘Nickname’:

• Nickname originates from a misdivision of an eke-name (meaning additional name) in Middle English, which became a nekename.

q. How Have the Scandinavians Enriched the English Language in Terms of Vocabulary? Pronouns Borrowed:

• The Scandinavians, particularly the Vikings, contributed many everyday words such as sky, egg, window, and knife. English borrowed several pronouns like they, them, and their from Old Norse.

r. What is Slang? Discuss the Use of Slang Terms in English:

• Slang is informal language, often used by specific groups, that is typically playful, creative, and constantly evolving. In English, slang words like cool, groovy, or lit convey a sense of belonging and identity. Slang often reflects cultural trends and can add expressiveness to speech.

s. Processes Through Which Meanings of Words Have Changed; What is ‘Radiation’?

• Word meanings change through processes like narrowing (where a word's meaning becomes more specific), broadening (where it becomes more general), and semantic shift (where the meaning changes entirely). Radiation refers to a word taking on several new meanings while retaining a core original sense.

t. Shakespeare’s Contribution to the Growth of English; Shylock’s Mark on the Language:

• Shakespeare enriched the English language by introducing new vocabulary and expressions. He coined many words and phrases still used today, such as bedazzled, break the ice, and full circle. The character Shylock from The Merchant of Venice has left a mark with terms like "Shylock," which can refer to a ruthless creditor.

u. How Has Standard English Evolved? Is There a Standard English Today?

• Standard English evolved over time through the influence of various dialects, the establishment of the printing press, and later the spread of education and media. Today, Standard English generally refers to the form of the language used in formal writing and speech, but it is not a fixed entity. There are multiple "standard" varieties depending on region (e.g., British English, American English), and the concept of one uniform standard is increasingly questioned due to the global nature of the language.