UNDERSTANDING ETYMOLOGY
Linguistics deals with the in-depth study of language how it is subjected to changes and how it systematically functions as a whole, the role of etymology in this field is very much valuable. Etymology was first recorded around 1350-1400 and derived from the Greek word etymologia, a counterpart to etymologos. Etymo which means ‘true’ and logos or a ‘study of’. It is true in the sense that it outlines the roots of a word rather than being simply confined to a singular definition. To simplify, etymology is a branch of linguistics that examines the origin of words.
It is primarily concerned with the historical development of a certain word. It pursues the birth of a word with that in mind. We can also witness the chronological catalog of the transitions it had gone through the years. When distinguishing a word, it is very much important to note where it is rooted to discern how it is transmitted from one language to another. Since language can evolve over time, it is important to point out how did it evolve and what effect those changes in this way, etymology provides a significant structure of a word. So, what makes etymology different from a definition is that while definition may vary from its original meaning to the modern time, etymology stays establishes the base of a word.
However, this doesn’t make etymology look less than the definition of the word. It is important to bear in mind that the origin of the word may be distinct from one language to another. Albeit that etymology is contained in the sense that it deals with the origin of a word, etymology like any branch of study provides a significant contribution to the field of linguistics that language is capable of transforming from one particular means to another. Without origin, any word would simply not exist at all.
