Brill’s New Pauly

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Popular etymology
(357 words)

[German version]

(also called 'folk etymology'), from the German 'Volksetymologie', a term coined in the mid-19th cent. (probably first in [1]) to refer to the conscious or unconscious interpretation of words and their subsequent modification by native speakers as a result of that interpretation (making them more similar to words presumed to be related). Many examples of words modified through PE are found in the vocabulary of the classical languages. It is generally believed that the vowels contained in the Greek κλόνις/klónis ('tailbone'), which deviate from the Old Indo-…

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Gippert, Jost (Frankfurt/Main), “Popular etymology”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e12206890>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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