Etymology etymon n Historical or diachronic lexicology Etymology

Etymology – etymon n Historical or diachronic lexicology Etymology? (1) ‘Origin and history of a vocable (= grouping of lexical units [= lexemes or idioms])’ (2) ‘Branch of linguistics that studies the origin and the history of vocables’ n Etymon? ‘Linguistic sign (lexeme or affix) from which descended a given linguistic sign’

Etymological classes n (1) Inherited lexicon = normally transmitted lexical units (from the common ancestor of the language family) n (2) Borrowings (= loan words) = lexicals units which were taken from another language n (3) Internal creations = new lexical units constructed from existing materials in the same language

Etymon: inherited lexicon = Common ancestor of a cognate set Etymon Proto-Germanic *fader Engl. father Germ. Vater Dutch vader a. s. o.

Etymon: borrowings = Borrowed lexical unit (of the donour langage) Etymon Engl. dessert < French dessert

Etymon: internal creations It depends. . . n Etyma (1) Derivation: type of word-formation in which new lexemes are created by adding affixes to existing lexemes Example: (TO) WASH + -ABLE > WASHABLE n (2) Compounding: type of word-formation in which new lexemes are created by joining two or more lexemes Example: (TO) SCARE + CROW > SCARECROW

Idioms and collocations? n Idioms: Should their etyma be phrases? Clearly, this is a blind spot of etymological theory and practice! n Collocations: As collocations are not linguistic signs, they do not have etymologies (nor etyma) However, we should try to identify their source

Example: Fr. poser un lapin n poser un lapin [à qqn] lit. « to plant a rabbit [on somebody] » ‘to stand [somebody] up’ n Idiom or collocation? n TLF: idiom ( « Expr. » ) poser des lapins ‘to be in the habit of standing [somebody] up’ n Collocation! n ne me pose pas de lapin! ‘do not stand me up !’

Diachronic perspective? n LAPIN 1 ‘rabbit’ (since ca 1450) n monter en lapin ‘to ride a coach sitting next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit), so as to travel as a passenger in overload’ (1809 – 1897)

More of the same n voyager en lapin ‘to travel [riding a coach] sitting next to the coachman as a passenger in overload’ (1828– 1858) n EN LAPIN ‘sitting next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit), so as to travel as a passenger in overload’ (1897) n LAPIN 2 ‘passenger in overload in a coach, who sits next to the coachman (where no passengers are supposed to sit)’ (1873– 1922)

Towards ‘illicite behaviour’ n FAIRE CADEAU D’UN LAPIN [à qqn] ‘to omit to pay [a prostitute]’ (1878) n POSER UN LAPIN [à qqn] ‘to omit to pay [a prostitute]’ (1881) LAPIN 3 ‘fact of not fulfilling a duty [toward somebody]’ (postulated) n poser un de ces lapins ‘to fail clearly to meet somebody’s duties’ (1888) n n poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to fail to meet somebody’s duties’ (1896) poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to leave without paying somebody’s due’ (1896)

Other ‘illicite behaviour’ n poser un lapin [à qqn] ‘to stand [somebody] up’ (since 1896) n LAPIN 4 ‘appointment at which one does not show up’ (since 2003)

French borrowing in Occitan Castres Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik (LRL) 5/1

Idiom n Occitan (Castres) FA DE LAPINS ‘to cover a part of a wineyard which one has left uncultivated by turned over soil in order to give the impression that it has been cultivated’