再论英语的俗词源

On folk etymology in the English language

再论英语的俗词源庄和诚［Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ］Ｆｏｌｋｅｔｙｍｏｌｏｇｙｉｓ，ｓｏｔｏｓｐｅａｋ，ａｐｒｏｃｅｓｉｎｗｈｉｃｈｔｗｏｓｉｍｉｌａｒｗｏｒｄｓａｒｅｌｉｎｋｅｄｂｙａｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ，ａｍｅａｎｉｎｇｌｅｓｗｏｒｄｉｓｔｕｒｎｅｄｉｎｔｏ...

Folk etymology is, so to speak, a process in which two similar words are linked by association, a meaningless word is turned into a meaningful one, and a non motivated word into a motivated one. In this sense folk etymology may be referred to as associative etymology. It is on the basis of some associative motivation that a word is remodelled, often both in form and in meaning. This paper explores how folk etymology is related to borrowing, in what categories folk etymology often occurs and on what types of associative motivations folk etymology is usually based.