Studying the origin of words is always fascinating; etymology tells us part of the history of a word. Behind the books that we can hold in our hands today, there is hard work, not only that which has to do with the invention of the book itself, but also in relation to its translation into other languages.
Carrying out this task can take a long time, even years, depending on the length of the book, the complexity of its original language, the format it is in, how specialized the text is, and the availability of the translator.
And it is not simply a question of translating word for word, it is necessary to give meaning to the new text and try to transmit, as faithfully as possible, the message that the author tried to convey.
Something that can be very helpful, for this particular, is to know the origin of the words. That is, to know its etymology. Have you ever heard this word? Probably yes, and more if you are related to the world of letters. However, it must be clear that having heard it is not the same as being familiar with it and its meaning.
When we do not know the meaning of a word, we cannot use it correctly. We may even offend someone or convey the wrong idea. Therefore, the best thing we can do is resort to a dictionary.
However, in order to make your work easier, today we will be sharing with you the meaning of the word etymology, you will be able to know what it is about just by reading this short article.
In this way, you will be aware not only of the contexts in which you can use it, but also what is its importance and the contribution it makes to the work of translating different types of texts, such as informational, educational, recreational, instructional, etc. among others that may interest you.
Instructions
It is a specialty of linguistics, which is responsible for studying the origin of words, taking into account their existence, meaning and form. So we can say that it is a very interesting and detailed study.
It analyzes the way in which a word is incorporated into a language, from which source it comes, and how it changes over time. He has the difficult task of finding its meaning, but also his reason for being, the way of expressing himself and how he adapts to different cultures.
In some cases, a word can have different meanings depending on the culture. A clear example is the word “Floor”. In Venezuela it refers to the soil covered by a layer of cement. While, in countries like Argentina, it refers to a room or studio apartment, located in the center of the city. In other words, it varies according to the social context.
Before a new word is introduced to the Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, it first goes through an etymological journey where the origin of the word, the combination of its letters and the impact of the relationship of the word are studied in depth word with its sociocultural environment.
It also has the function of controlling idioms, that is, deformations of understandable language in order to make them more comfortable for people. However, this has been taken to the extreme, since there are countries where the language has been so damaged that it is cumbersome to translate a sentence, given the idiom used in it.
Since it is associated with philosophy and historical linguistics, its objective is to investigate, analyze and determine the origin of a word and the evolution of its meaning, if any.
In order to do this, etymology breaks down and analyzes the root of the word and its constituent elements, such as the ending, the stem, and the word ending.
An element that allows us to reconstruct the oldest languages, which are without written records, is comparative linguistics. Etymology, in turn, is based on the knowledge provided by it to infer issues related to vocabulary.
As we have seen, this is a major task. But what is its importance? Is it worth knowing the origin of a word? Of course yes. Let’s see why.
Etymology is very important in the educational field, since it plays a fundamental role in learning. Through it, it is possible to know not only the origin, but also the function offered by a word, but also a situation.
But etymology is not only used in the literary field, as we have already pointed out, it is also used to refer to the beginning of a situation. For this reason, from his description the real, the true, the deep study of something specific.
As it is a study related to linguistics, it provides us with knowledge that helps us expand our vocabulary, use different synonyms correctly, and improve our spelling.
It is important to take into account that languages are constantly evolving, which results in words being modified and adaptable to each historical moment.
On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that these changes are not always positive or constructive, since the meaning that a word has today can be very different from the one it had a century ago.
Of course, this does not leave out the future. Nothing guarantees us that, in a few years, some of the words we know today will not mean the same thing. In fact, the change will happen when a term is no longer considered valid or necessary for the community that uses it.
Ignorance of the grammatical roots of a word can cause information to be issued in a confusing way. For example, journalists use etymology on a daily basis to better understand the meaning of words that they do not know or do not commonly use due to their culture.
Tips
Despite the fact that this language evolved from Latin, with the passage of time new words have been added to it that come from other languages. This has been the case for different reasons, be they political, historical, cultural or economic.
For example, from Arabic we have obtained words such as pillow, carpet, hopefully, and cotton. From French, some words such as pants or committee. From the Greek come many words that are related to the field of medicine, for example, ophthalmologist and dentist.
These are words that have been adapted to the Castilian language until making them the community’s own.
Etymology usually hides details that help to strengthen the ties that exist between people and the language. By studying the language on an intimate and personal level, you are likely to find eye-opening surprises.
For example, did you know that many terms in English come from Latin? This is very curious and more so when taking into account the phonetic, spelling and intonation differences that it has with Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian.
Such is the case of the English word Accurate. This means precise or worked with great care. At first glance it seems that it had no relationship with our language. However, when studying its etymology, we come across the Latin term Accuratus, which has a very similar meaning to the first.
Once we have come to know the history, the past, the origin of a word, we can no longer treat language as a mere random combination of letters and sounds. Now it must be respected as a legacy, as a valuable work of art that humanity, as a whole, has sculpted for incalculable times.
It is really fascinating to know the background of the words, their past and the reason why they have a certain morphology or phonetics, so we realize how much they have changed until today and how it is used now.
Etymology may be a study that is undervalued by some people, especially by those who are unaware of the importance of language in general. However, the reality is that, thanks to it, we can have a much clearer knowledge of each of the words we use frequently.