Folk Etymology

Folk etymology is particularly important because it can result in the modification of a word or phrase by Analogy with the erroneous Etymology which is popularly believed to be true. In this case, 'folk etymology' is the trigger which causes the process of linguistic Analogy by which a word or phrase changes because of a popularly-held etymology, or misunderstanding of the history of a word or phrase. Here the term 'folk etymology' is also used (originally as a shorthand) to refer to the change itself.

The question of whether the resulting usage is "correct" or "incorrect" depends on one's notion of correctness and is in any case distinct from the question of whether a given etymology is correct.

INSTANCES OF WORD CHANGE BY FOLK ETYMOLOGY

In linguistic change caused by folk etymology, the form of a word changes so that it better matches its popular rationalisation. For example, the '' ("four") had become obsolete.

Other changes due to folk etymology include:

When a Back-formation rests on a misunderstanding of the morphology of the original word, it may be regarded as a kind of folk etymology.
In heraldry, a Rebus coat-of-arms may reinforce a folk etymology for a placename.

For further examples, see the following articles that discuss folk etymologies for their subjects:

Belfry (architecture)

Blunderbuss

Brass Monkey

Brent Goose

Caesarean Section

Ducking Stool

Gringo

Jerusalem Artichoke

Poll Tax

Rake-hell

Serviceberry

Sincere

Welsh Rarebit

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Folk Etymology

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