What word origin is and how are words originated. I'll appreciate it if you answer. :)
203449
This is one of the 'biggest' questions to answer I've seen here! \n\nSimply word origin is about where words originally came from and there are so many sources it's impossible to list them all here but, for English, you'll often find the sources are Latin, Greek, Old English, Middle English, German, French etc.\n\nHow they originated is much more difficult, for example we know the word 'sandwich' originated because is was the Earl of Sandwich who first thought of putting meat between two slices of bread but it is very rarely that we can pinpoint the first use of a word and thus its individual point of origin so accurately.\n\nHowever it is often possible to trace how the meanings of words have developed over time.\n\nIf you want to look further into the subject you might try the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (probably available in libraries), which gives the first known use for thousands of words and often traces their development in meaning over the years. Other dictionaries may have a similar approach and you will often find (L), (Gr) etc. in small italics after the word in most dictionaries, indicating the language they come from (Latin and Greek in those two examples) - check the list of abbreviations (usually at the beginning of the dictionary).\n\nHope this helps...
524519
There are two theories:\n#1 "m" is one of the first sounds babies make and mothers the world over like to think the babies are talking to them.\n\n#2 All languages have a common ancestor and the word for mother was already in place when that language was being spoken.\nIt is possible that languages had already started to diverge before the concept of fatherhood was developed.
195059
oy oy oy ...\n\nAt one time we actually pronounced all of those letters..knight was k nicht..  \n\nnow, when the french attacked the Anglos in 1088 at the Battle of Hastings...French was introduced.  It was the high language for the people...yet, documents were still being written in Latin---a phonetic language.  All of this mixing and borrowing brought about such oddities...  You can consult the Oxford English Dictionary or a Book of Cognates to further explore how words evolved and changed.  Cognates basically mean cousins....such a book will show you the relationship between such words that may have the same or similar meanings.\n\nby the way, Knife was originally knive [ka nee va]...then, as language evolved, we started merging sounds...and it became [ka nif] and todays [nif].\n\nGo check out Labov.  He currently teaches at Penn.  He is the founding father of socio-linguistics.  He recently put out some of his latest research on a website that can be linked via npr.org.  It examines the Great Northern Vowel Shift and how the New England area of the US is sounding different every day.\n\nOh, and a key point to your answer is the PRINTING PRESS.  The printing press basically ended up preserving language from the mid 1500's.  So, even though we sounded differently...spelling had become regulated, grammaticians more strict, and language more preserved.  Therefore, spelling rules of the 1500's are still in place today.\n\nIf you need anything else, just let me know.  :-)
355525
ok so your teaching english to kids that don't speak the language? Don't worry about freely speaking because they don't know the difference anyway.\n\nps. what is the original language of the kids?
313593
http://www.edhelper.com/Word_Roots.htm
390729
It's so funny to me that in your first question people said there were no contradictions and asked you to name some.  When you DID name some they say it screwed up translation.  Good job.
66272
If you changed the spelling, you would lose the etymology of the word. It derives from the word Wodnesdæg (the day of the germanic god Woden, also known by the name Odin)
32448
A word is a describer of mean. A word is a label for intention. Words make up a language societies use to communicate with one another.
323407
It's bull. It comes from English's proto-Germanic root language, and many Northern European languages have similar words.
1823
I think the word spiritual comes from spirit. It's originally from the Latin "Espiritu."
8521
Language is an interesting thing.\n\nIt is quite possible to have two very, very similar sounding words with very different meanings.  Consider "heaven"  - would you get especially positive connotations from someone named "Evan" just because they sound the same?\n\nNo, we are not taught that the WORD "Hell" has negative connotations.  It is the CONCEPT, not the sounds.  Sounds are not magic, and where words do have magic it is from the meaning behind them, not the sounds.\n\nAnd if you are going to get hung up on sounds, hello comes not from "hell" but from "hallo", which sounds like Halo, which is a good thing, right?\n\nOf course from where I come from "hell" sounds more like "halo" than "hello"! But then, we're more likely to say "Howdy!" anyway.\n\nBTW, your URL looks like "heave no" to me.  I'd be inclined to think it was a natural anti-emetic, not a religious site.
128557
There are many words that appear in dictionaries that originated in other languages.  The etymology of a word does not determine whether it will be placed in use within a specific demographic.  Therefore, words commonly used in the English language like Aardvark, armadillo, rodeo, etc are in the dictionary.  \n\nYou will notice that foreign words also appear in the dictionaries of foreign languages as well.  I don't know what the rooineks use for Aardvark, but the rest of the English speaking world uses that word commonly.
388883
I don't believe mive is a word. At least I never came upon it before and dictionary.com doesn't have it listed so I'm guessing it's not. But hey there's nothing wrong with making up words as long as you don't use them in a formal setting.
183
Language predates the alphabet. The origins of Language are lost to the mists of time. The alphabet as we know it was developed by the Phonecians about 3000 years ago, and modified first by the Greeks, and then the Romans for their own languages before we adopted it from the Romans.\n\nThe origins of the English language specifically date to sometime after 1066 when Willam the Conqueror became King of England. The commoners spoke something related to the ancestor language of Dutch while the nobility spoke French. We kept the grammar of the native Anglo-Saxon tongue while adding huge amounts of French vocabulary.\nThe result is recognizably English, while still sounding very different from what we speak today. It's not until Shakespear's time that Modern English emerged.
288085
Since the earliest moments of modern human language 100,000 years ago, there were things which people feared--death and the spirit world.  Linked to this were processes which were not completely understood--conception (including the procreative act) and the inner workings of the human body.  As a response to that fear or ignorance certain groups of words became taboo, which means that you don't talk about them.  Why not talk about them?  Because by naming death, you summoned it to you; by talking about reproduction, you risked the life of the unborn; by naming a deceased relative, you summoned their ghost; by talking about a body part used in reproduction, you risked its malfunction; by naming a deity, you called it to you and that was never a good idea.\n\nDeath is a common one.  No one says, "My father died".  People say, "He passed away", "He went to meet his Maker", "He went to the great golf course in the sky".  In fact, we know that there was an Old English word that meant "to die", because the Middle English word is clearly derived from an Old English word, but it was never, ever written down anywhere in all the Old English texts that exist.  In some cultures, you never again mention the name of a dead person.\n\nAnother common place for taboo words is in human reproduction.  We don't say, "I f**ked her and she got pregnant" in polite company.  You say, "We fell in love and she is now eating for two."  The same goes for waste elimination processes.\n\nWhen someone says a taboo word, the common reaction is to cringe or shy away from that person.  You don't want to bring the wrath of deity down on your head, you don't want death to come, you don't want a woman to miscarry.  All these things are common responses to the use of taboo words.\n\n"Cursing" is just an extension of the use of taboo words.  In Modern English, there is a certain set of words referring to body waste elimination, the reproductive act, and the body parts used in that act, that are considered wrong to use in polite company.  This is just a modern version of the taboo words that have always been with us.\n\nEDIT:  And BTW, there is not a single solitary curse word in English that is derived from an acronym.  They are all ancient words in English and date back to Proto-Germanic.  In fact, 2500 years ago, "f**k" was the POLITE way to talk about intercourse.  Then it was the POLITE way to talk about breeding animals.  It is only in the last few centuries that it became taboo and not a respectable word to use in formal settings.
585070
The english language changes over time. Words that once ment one thing can mean a totally different thing a few years later. We don't hi-jack words. Society as a hole changes them and accepts them. I could give you countless exsamples of how words and thier means have changed. If you don't believe me, go ask a High School engilsh teacher some of the most recent changes that they hear every day.
539270
language has evolved over a long period of time. nouns were probably the first words to be used. as tribes mingled and formed races they took/developed their words and passed them on to their children.\n \nor, if you're asking in a biblical context {sigh} then it was supposed to be adam