Syllabus
* Selected references:
Amsler, M. (1989): Etymology and Grammatical Discourse in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. (Amsterdam: John Benjamins)
Baratin et al. (eds.) (1999): Conceptions latines du sens et de la signification, pp. 65-80
Barwick, K. (1957): Probleme der stoischen Sprachlehre und Rhetorik (Abhandlungen der sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Phil.-Hist. Klasse 49.3), pp. 70-79
Codoñer, C. (1994): „Origines“ o „Etymologiae“. In: Helmantica 45, pp. 511-527
Durkin, Philip (2009): The Oxford Guide to Etymology (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Erhart, Adolf - Večerka, Radoslav (1981): Úvod do etymologie (Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství)
Lepschy, Giulio C., ed. History of linguistics. Vol. 1, The eastern traditions of linguistics. [Repr.]. London: Longman, [2001]. Longman linguistics library.
Lepschy, Giulio C., ed. History of linguistics. Vol. 2, classical and medieval linguistics. [Repr.]. London: Longman, [2001]. Longman linguistics library
Lepschy, Giulio C., ed. History of linguistics. Vol. 3, Renaissance and early modern linguistics. [Repr.]. London: Longman, [2002]. Longman linguistics library
Liberman, Anatoly (2005): Word Origins... and how we know them. Etymology for Everyone. (Oxford - New York: Oxford University Press)
Lokotch, K. (1927): Etymologisches Wörterbuch der europäischen Wörter orientalischen Ursprungs. Heidelberg
Malkiel, Yakov (1993): Etymology (Cambridge - New York - Melbourne: Cambridge University Press)
Maltby, Robert (1991): A Lexicon of Ancient Latin Etymologies. ARCA, Classical and Medieval Texts, Papers and Monographs 25. Leeds: Cairns
Pfaffel, W. (1981) Quartus gradus etymologiae. Untersuchungen zur Etymologie Varros in „De lingua Latina“. Königstein
Pokorny, Julius (1959-1969): Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (Bern - München: Francke)
Rejzek, Jiří (2009): Lidová etymologie v češtině. Praha: Karolinum
Risch E., Namendeutungen und Worterklärungen bei den ältesten griechischen Dichtern.
Roesch S. (1960): Le rapport de res et verbum dans le De Lingua Latina de Varron. In: M. Schröter R., Studien zur varronischen Etymologie. 1. Teil (AAWM 12, 1959)
Schmitt, Rüdiger (1977): Etymologie. (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft)
Večerka, Radoslav et al. (2006): K pramenům slov. Uvedení do etymologie. (Praha: Lidové noviny)
Wölfflin, Eduard (1893): Die Etymologien der lateinischen Grammatiker. In: Archiv für lateinische Lexikographie und Grammatik 8, pp. 430ff.
Annotation
This course will focus on a subfield of linguistics which is often neglected, standing at the edge of mainstream research. Despite this tendency, etymology (Gk. ἐτυμολογία, Lat. etymologia) is an essential key for understanding the true meaning of words, as is obvious from the name itself: the first part of the composite is ἔτυμον “true/original meaning” and the second is -logia “science, research” (from the Greek λόγος „word, argument, idea, concept). The course will be divided into thematic sections elucidating various, mainly Indo-European, attitudes to etymology and the etymologizing of words. From the earliest attested traditions (Vedic/Old-Indic), we will move through the classical periods (Greek and Latin) to the present state of this crucial subfield of linguistics. This overview will provide course participants with a broader and deeper insight into how the evolution of words has been perceived in different places, cultures, and ages. Participants will become acquainted with relevant primary sources and will learn to work with different types of secondary literature, including etymological dictionaries and handbooks of historical and comparative grammar, and how to make use of various databases. During the course, students will also acquire knowledge of the functioning of processes and linguistic phenomena which play a substantial role in the field of etymology like onomatopoeia, compounding, derivation, semantic shift, and many others. This course is primarily intended for students of linguistics and individual philologies, but is suitable for anybody interested in the history and evolution of this scientific field. Plan of the course:
1. Introduction: Introduction to the subject and to the available literature (handbooks, dictionaries, grammars), online databases and other sources and resources.
2. Vedic etymological tradition (Nirukta, Vedangas, Yaska, Pāṇini, Patañjali)
3. Ancient etymological tradition
4. Etymology in ancient Greece (Platos’ Cratylos)
5. Latin etymological tradition (Paulus ex Festo, Marcus Terentius Varro, et al.)
6. Medieval etymological tradition (Isidore of Seville)
7. Modern etymology and its methods (Neogrammarians, Ausnahmslosigkeit der Lautgesätze, historical and comparative method, reconstruction)
8. Misleading attitudes to etymology: Folk etymology (lucus a non lucendo, faux amis, Bongo-Bongo effect)
9. Onomastics (Hydronyms, toponyms, anthroponyms, theonyms)
10. Contact linguistics and etymology (e. g. loanwords, Wanderwörter)
11. “Fantaetymologia” (fantastic and unscientific theories about genealogy, evolution of words, languages and language families) Requirements Attendance at classes (2-3 absences allowed) and preparation are of course required. In addition, the participants should select a topic and make a short presentation (10-15 min.) during the course of the semester. There will be an oral examination at the end of the course.