Wednesday Jan 23rd, 2013
Wrenching an etymology out of a monkey
By Anatoly Liberman
Primates have given Germanic language historians great trouble. In the most recent dictionary of German etymology (Kluge-Seebold), the entry Affe “ape” is one of the most detailed. In the revised version of the OED, monkey is also discussed at a length, otherwise rare in this online edition. Despite the multitude of hypotheses, the sought-for solution is not in view. read more »
Wednesday Jun 12th, 2013
Multifarious devils, part 3. “Pumpernickel,” “Nickel,” and “Old Nick”
Anatoly Liberman’s etymological investigation
Wednesday Jun 5th, 2013
Multifarious Devils, part 2. Old Nick and the Crocodile
The origin of the word “Old Nick”
Wednesday May 29th, 2013
Monthly etymological gleanings for May 2013
Anatoly Liberman reflects on language academies, small languages, the letter y, and more
