The History Of Writing: Etymology
Etymology: The Grand Finale
After that very brief and abridged voyage through the history of writing (there is a lot more to it, I assure you) you may be thinking that a rather important part of writing was overlooked in those articles: words themselves. Of course, writing is impossible without them, and with so many thousands of words introduced into our language over the centuries, it begs the question how do the words even come about?
History has given us a few phrases, with to “spill the beans” coming from the Greeks, and “turn a blind eye” traced back to Nelson. But words themselves don’t just pop out of nowhere. There’s always a logic to them, whether borrowed, stolen or the product of invention.
So let’s take a look at how these new words can enter our language.
The Origins Of Words
Etymology is the study of the origins of words and how their meanings evolve over time. Every word has its own history. Understanding that can shed light on its meaning and the context in which it came about. As it turns out, there’s a fair few ways they can spring up.
New words often enter English through borrowing from other languages (really it’s more like plagiarism). English has absorbed countless words from various cultures due to its history of trade, conquest, and immigration. For instance, ‘piano’ we pinched from Italian. Without going into too much detail, the piano was an Italian invention and when they began to be imported into the country, we simply accepted them. Or, perhaps we simply couldn’t think up a better word of our own? These borrowed words often keep some of their original meaning but adapt to English usage. Compounding is another way new words form, by taking two words and just sticking them together. This common method has given us words like footprint or toothbrush.
Sometimes entirely new words pop up to describe innovations or concepts. These are known as coinages. These have been more frequent than ever in the past century, as technology has constantly improved and evolved, throwing out these new terms on the regular. Most of the materials or items we use today will be coinages, from laptops to smartphones, plastic, and social media.
Eponyms
Eponyms are a great ingredient in etymology. They are words which come from people’s names—of those who either created or had a hand in their making. For example, ‘sandwich’ is named after the Earl of Sandwich, as supposedly during long sessions of cribbage and card games, he was quite partial to a slice of salt beef between slices of bread. Of course, it’s only fair to point out that there is some discrepancy to this, as some claim that the Earl was such a dedicated gambler he didn’t have time to eat! ‘Boycott’ is another great example and comes from Charles Boycott, a land agent whose tenants refused to cooperate with him. Over time, these names became generalised terms, but just how do words become embedded into the general vocabulary?
How Words Become Embedded In A Language
Dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) formalise a word’s place in the language. Words like selfie, which became ubiquitous through social media, were included after widespread usage was demonstrated. The OED often requires evidence that a word has been used consistently over time in various contexts.
One of the better known aspects of etymology is that the adoption of new words into a language often hinges on the cultural influences of the time. Literary figures like Shakespeare introduced many now-common words, including eyeball, bedroom, and gossip. His works reached broad audiences, ensuring the spread of his coined or popularised terms.
A more recent example is ‘muggle’, a term from the Harry Potter series. For the three people still unaware of this cultural phenomenon, muggles are non-magical people. Over time, it gained a broader meaning, referring to anyone not skilled in a particular area, illustrating how fiction can shape real-world language. If you ever get called a muggle, you’re not very good at whatever it is you’re doing.
Modern Words And Phrases (The Digital Age)
As time and technology advance, so too does etymology. The digital age has accelerated the creation and spread of new words, largely due to the rapid pace of technological development and the internet’s influence on communication. Digital communication has introduced a slew of new terms and abbreviations that have quickly become part of everyday language.
One of the most well-known examples is ‘LOL’, an acronym for “Laugh Out Loud.” Initially used in online chats and text messages to indicate amusement and as cringe-worthy as it is, LOL has since become so ingrained in our language that it’s often used in spoken conversations. Similarly, ‘blog’—a truncation of ‘weblog’, which is what you’re reading now—emerged as a term for online journals or informational websites and quickly became mainstream as everyone and their dog took to blogging.
Etymology Goes Viral
Then there’s the social media effect. The word ‘hashtag’, a keyword or phrase preceded by the pound sign (#) to categorise content, has now slipped into casual conversations both online and in public.
The viral nature of internet culture means that new words and phrases can emerge, spread, and become embedded in the language at a rate never seen before. Terms like ‘Karen’ (we all know what a Karen is) or ‘yeet’ (a wonderfully versatile word to express excitement or to throw something) have gained widespread recognition in a short amount of time.
We’re approaching a point where language seems to be almost in a state of flux. You have to wonder where it could go from here.
The Future Of Language
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop and continues to be a consistent talking point. Not only for language but for the way the world operates. As almost every industry pushes towards adopting it in some way, new jargon will likely emerge to describe aspects of this technology. Terms like ‘machine learning’ and ‘neural networks’ are already becoming more common, and we can expect more specialised language to develop as AI becomes more integrated into our lives. That’s assuming AI doesn’t take over the world, of course.
Looking even further ahead, the continued blending of traditional and digital communication might lead to the creation of new abbreviations, acronyms, and possibly even symbols or emoji-like shorthand that become part of our regular vocabulary. As we adapt to new ways of interacting, our language will inevitably reflect those changes.
While we can’t predict exactly what words are going to come next, it’s a surefire certainty that language will grow and change to adapt to whatever the future throws at us. The question is, is our language changing for the better and becoming more efficient or is it becoming a simpler devolved form of itself? It’s no LOL-ing matter, that’s for sure.
In addition to this article on etymology, links to the previous parts of the mini-series are highlighted below.
A Short History Of Writing: Part 1
A Short History Of Writing: Part 2
If you are interested in studying English or English Literature, Oxford Open Learning offer the chance to do so at several levels, listed below us. You can also Contact Us.
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Dan Grabowski is an Amazon best-selling author and has taught in the classroom at primary level previously.