Chapter sixteen. Folk etymology and etymological errors. Etymological Dictionary of Herbs Sentences with the word "spider"

(Job 8:14) is a well-known insect from the class of invertebrates, distinguished from all other insects by the special structure of its body. with remarkable art he spreads his cobweb network, the subtlety and fragility of which, according to the word of St. Scripture serves as a clear expression of the vain hope and enterprises of wicked people (Isa. 59:5). The remarkable structure of their legs, acting in some way like the human arm, has often been described by naturalists. Expression in the book. Proverbs (Prov. 30:28) “a spider clings with its legs, but is in the royal palace,” according to some, means some other, large animal of the lizard breed, but there is an amazing correspondence between the structure of the spider’s legs and the terms used to express its method weave a web, they don’t speak enough in favor of the above...

m. pavuk, pavok, pavko, pavel, mizgir, fly-whisk, netnik, purse, tenetnik, a well-known insect everywhere. Spider, spider eggs. Spider, arachnid and arachnid insect. Catch the spider's flies - your legs won't be plucked! Cobweb, cobweb heaviness, cobweb fibers, threads of a spider web or fabric. Arachnoid, arachnid, related to the web. Sweep the cobwebs. Here is a little spider, little spider, little spider; what a spider! Spider Wed. spider nest. Plant spider. Anthericum.

In mythopoetic traditions, the image of P. is associated with creative activity, professional and craft skills, hard work, favorable omens (cf. in this regard, the prohibition to kill P.), wisdom, as well as cold cruelty (cf. sucking blood, devilish personality as the realization symbolic meanings of P. in Christianity), greed, malice, witchcraft abilities. It is known to use P. in magical medicine both to protect a person from diseases and to send them to him (in black magic). For magical purposes, P. is depicted on talismans (the North American Chip Pew Indians hung a cobweb over the baby’s cradle to protect him from any harm). There are stories about how P. saved the infant Christ from the cruelty of Herod (cf. similar motives about salvation from the enemies of David and Muhammad with the help of P. and the web they wove). A mythological character of human nature turned into a P. for some offense (cf. the Greek myth about Arachne)

Spider

pa\"uk, -\"a

Russian spelling dictionary. / Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Russian language them. V. V. Vinogradova. - M.: "Azbukovnik". V. V. Lopatin (executive editor), B. Z. Bukchina, N. A. Eskova and others.. 1999 .

spider

SPIDER-A; m.

1. An arthropod with poisonous glands that weaves a web to catch insects and kill them. P. caught a fly. P. weaves a web. Morskoy p. Cross spider.

2. Razg. About someone who cruelly exploits someone. You are a real p., sucking all the strength out of me.

◁ Spider, -chka; m. Decrease(1 digit). Water strider spiders. Spider (see).

Large explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. - 1st edition: St. Petersburg: Norint S. A. Kuzn...

mentioned in Prov. 30:28 among the small, but wise on earth, who “clings with his paws, but is in kings’ palaces.” The Hebrew word at this point is "shmamiq", which is interpreted by some to mean lizard. Job's web. 8-14; Isaiah 59:5 is a symbol of the vain hope and malice of the wicked.

Spider

river in the Tuapse district of the Krasnodar Territory; originates on the southern slopes of the Kohotkh ridge, flows into the Black Sea on the eastern outskirts of the city of Tuapse. The Adyghe name of the river is Ptseshish (Ptseshysh), which translated means “river teeming with fish,” where ptse means “fish”; shyysh – “many”, “a huge number of objects” (Adyghe).

a river flowing through Tuapse to the Black Sea. Previously it was called Ptseshish, which translated from Adyghe means “river teeming with fish” (Meretukov K. X.).

Toponymic Dictionary of the Caucasus. A.V. Solid . 2011.

Spider

spiders,

(Source: “Complete accentuated paradigm according to A. A. Zaliznyak”)

1. Card solitaire.
2. Uncle Shnyuk from the cartoon about Luntik.
3. As a result of a genetically modified bite, his student Peter Parker acquired superhuman abilities.
4. Pseudonym of the leader of the group “Corrosion of Metal” Sergei Troitsky.
5. One of the standard solitaire games in WinXP.
6. Search robot.
7. Lee Tamahori's film "And Came...".
8. Predator laying out nets.
9. Hypostasis of Arachne.
10. Film by David Cronenberg.
11. In heraldry it symbolizes work, caution and wisdom, and in dream fortune telling it symbolizes treason or litigation.
12. Of fish, the most terrible enemy for him is the trout, of amphibians - the toad, of reptiles - the lizard, of birds - the starling, but the most terrible enemy for him is man.
13. Lithograph of the French graphic artist O. Redon.
14. “Who hung a net on a birch branch to dry?” (mystery).
15. In 1870, Starley built the first bicycle of this system.
16. Who is a haymaker?
17. Mutated man in...

Spider

In mythopoetic traditions, creative people are associated with the image of P. activity, professional craft. skills, hard work, favorable omens, wisdom, as well as cold cruelty, greed, malice, witchcraft abilities. The use of P. in magic is known. medicine both to protect a person from diseases and to send them to him (in black magic).

Ancient world. Encyclopedic dictionary in 2 volumes. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf. V. D. Gladky. 1998.

The Great Mother, in her terrible form as the weaver of fate, is sometimes depicted as a spider. All lunar goddesses are spinners and weavers of fate, and the Cosmic Spider, the Great Spider, or Great Spinner, is the Creator who spins the thread of life from his own substance, attaches to himself by the umbilical cord all people and weaves them into the web of patterns of the world. The spider in the center of the web symbolizes the center of the world, the Sun surrounded by rays extending from it in all directions; The moon, representing the cycles of life and death, weaving the web of time. Among the American Indians, the spider is wind and thunder, protection from evil. In Christianity - the devil who lures sinners; a miser who drinks the blood of the poor. The spider above the bowl is a symbol of St. Norbert. For the Egyptians, the spider is an attribute of Neith as the weaver of the world. Among the Greeks, the spider is an attribute of Athena as the weaver of the world, as well as Persephone, Harmony and the Fates (Moira) as the spinners of destinies; the appearance of Arachne. For Indians and Buddhists, the spider is the weaver of the web of illusion of Maya, and also the Creator as a spinner of thread from his own sub...

spider V. V. Vinogradov. History of Words, 2010

spider

Old Russian - pauk (note sign).

In the Russian language, the word “spider” appeared in the middle of the 15th century, as the nickname has been known since the 12th century.

Spider is a hook-shaped sign used in musical notation; due to its great similarity, a predatory arthropod that weaves a web became known as such. Perhaps it comes from the root “paok” - “to weave, bend.”

Related are:

Ukrainian and Belarusian - pavuk.

Bulgarian - payak.

Slovenian – pajek.

Derivatives: spider, spider.

Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. M.: Russian language from A to Z. Publishing house

Spider `Efremova's Explanatory Dictionary`

1. m. 1) An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web in which it catches small animals that serve as food for it. 2) transfer decomposition A cruel person who exploits the labor of others, extorting the last property from another. 2. m. A type of fishing tackle.

SPIDER

Sea spider. Arch. The embryo of a stingray, initially floating in the film. SRNG 18, 278.

Large dictionary of Russian sayings. - M: Olma Media Group V. M. Mokienko, T. G. Nikitina 2007

1) warden, 2) castle, 3) moneylender

spider Obsesslav. Formed using a prefix pa- from *ǫkъ (ǫ from on, ǫ > at), the same root as the Greek. onkos"hook", lat. ancus“having crooked hands”, Old Indian. ácati“bends”, etc. The spider is named after its curved legs. School etymological dictionary of the Russian language. Origin of words. - M.: Bustard N. M. Shansky, T. A. Bobrova 2004

spider, m. 1. An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web, in which it catches small animals that serve as food for it (zool.). 2. transfer A symbol of cruel and insatiable greed and exploitation. World-eating spiders. - You sucked the blood out of me, sucked it out and out... Oh you... spider! M. Gorky.

spider

-A , m.

An arthropod that weaves a web to catch insects that serve as food.

“Helen,” he used to shout to her, “go quickly, the spider is sucking a fly, free the unfortunate thing!” Turgenev, On the Eve.

Large black spiders usually appear in the second half of summer. They build wheel-type nets. Arsenyev, Dersu Uzala.

interesting things about the usual in Russian language WHERE COME FROM
NAMES OF COLORS (SHADES)

Sometimes in this magazine I post materials on etymology: about the origin of words, titles, names, unusual facts. Overall, just some interesting sci-pop.

Today is about colors.

Among the color adjectives in our speech there are many foreign ones. Here borrowed from French:
- beige,
- fawn,
- orange,
- lilac,
- violet,
- crimson,
- burgundy.

Adjective white perhaps the oldest. This is a common Slavic word of Indo-European character, derived from Indo-European bha* - « shine, sparkle, shine"using the suffix -t- (cf. Latvian Bals - " pale", Greek Phalos " white", etc.).

The suffix -t- in this word can be distinguished (only in etymological terms, of course) by such single-root formations of other Indo-European languages ​​that contain other suffixes, like Greek Phanos“light, bright”, Old Irish Ban“white”, or are root (an example is ancient Indian Bhas“shine, shine”, where –s represents the ending).
Thus, the word white originally meant “ shiny, glowing».

As a word that came from the Greek language, it is worth noting the words flashlight(from Middle Greek Phanarion, which is a suffixal derivative of Ancient Greek Phanos"light, shine") and fantasy(from Ancient Greek Phantasua"vision, ghost")

By its figurative nature, the adjective adjoins the word white blue, which at the time of its birth also meant “ brilliant, shining" This common Slavic word was formed using the suffix -n- from the same stem (si-) as the verb to shine. The relationship between the words blue and shine is undeniable. It is quite possible that the words gray And gray, which in this case are derivatives through the suffixes -u- and -z-.

Adjectives green And yellow are closely related not only to the fact that they represent adjacent colors of the spectrum. They are also united by blood ties. After all, these common Slavic words are the same root and differ from each other only in the suffixes by which they were formed.
Word green(from zelenish) – derived using the suffix -en- from the same stem (zel-) as the dialect potion“grass, greenery”, Greek. Chloe"grass", German Gelb“yellow”, etc. We see the same basis, but with a re-vocalization e/o (cf. I’m taking - cart, I’m carrying - burden, etc.) in the words cereal(from *zolkъ) and gold(from *zolto) with etymological suffixes -k- and -t- (cf. related words containing the same suffixes: dialectal click And yellow).
Word yellow(from zhltyi) formed using the suffix -t- from the same stem (zhl- *gil) as the dialect yellowhorn"jaundice", click"become yellow."
The ancient forms *zel- and *gil- form the same non-derivative stem and differ only phonetically; quality of the initial laryngeal consonant (cf. a similar phenomenon in literature. City and dial. Zorod"fence") and the e/i reversal. The meaning of these forms was not initially differentiated, which was clearly manifested in the words green And gold(literally – “ yellow»).

The word stands apart in relation to all color designations red. And not only because, as already noted, it is quite young. The fact is that it is peculiar in this meaning only to the Russian language. In other Slavic languages, the old names derived from the stem are still used to denote the color red heart– (cf. Ukrainian Chervoniy, Bulgarian Cherven, Polish Czerwony etc.). The latter is explained by the fact that in the common Slavic era red paint was prepared from worms (a special type).

As a color name, the actual Russian adjective red arose on the basis of common Slavic red(red) " beautiful, good", derived using the suffix -н- from the word beauty"decoration". In its original meaning the word red It is still used freely in all other Slavic languages ​​except Russian. In our language, it in its original meaning is found only in phraseological units such as debt in payment is red, for the sake of a catchphrase, red price, red fish, red maiden, in the world and death is red, etc.

The word is also peculiar black. It differs from other common Slavic color designations primarily in that (despite its former productivity) the sign underlying it cannot be established even with the help of deep etymological analysis. And the ancient suffix -n- at its core is visible, it seems, only against the background of Baltic correspondences like Litovsk. Kirsna“black” (name of the river), Old Prussian. Kirsnan"black".

Spider

1. m.
   1. An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web in which it catches small animals that serve as food.
   2. trans. decomposition A cruel person who exploits the labor of others, extorting the last property from another.
2. m. A type of fishing tackle.

Ozhegov's Dictionary

PA U TO, A, m. A predatory arthropod that spins webs.

Spiders in a jar about predatory, evil people fighting each other.

| decrease spider, chka, m.

| adj. spider, ya, ye. Spider webs.

Ushakov's Dictionary

Spider

spider, spider, husband.

1. An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web in which it catches small animals that serve as food ( zool.).

2. trans. A symbol of cruel and insatiable greed and exploitation. World-eating spiders. “You sucked the blood out of me, sucked it out and out... Oh you... Spider!” M. Gorky.

Toponymic Dictionary of the Caucasus

Spider

river in the Tuapse district of the Krasnodar Territory; originates on the southern slopes of the Kohotkh ridge, flows into the Black Sea on the eastern outskirts of the city of Tuapse. The Adyghe name of the river is Ptseshish (Ptseshysh), which translated means “river teeming with fish,” where ptse means “fish”; shyysh – “many”, “a huge number of objects” (Adyghe).

a river flowing through Tuapse to the Black Sea. Previously it was called Ptseshish, which translated from Adyghe means “river teeming with fish” (Meretukov K. X.).

Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language

Spider

Old Russian - pauk (note sign).

In the Russian language, the word “spider” appeared in the middle of the 15th century, as the nickname has been known since the 12th century.

Spider is a hook-shaped sign used in musical notation; due to its great similarity, a predatory arthropod that weaves a web became known as such. Perhaps it comes from the root “paok” - “to weave, bend.”

Related are:

Ukrainian and Belarusian - pavuk.

Bulgarian - payak.

Slovenian – pajek.

Derivatives: spider, spider.

Biblical encyclopedia arch. Nikephoros

Spider

(Job 8:14) is a well-known insect from the class of invertebrates, distinguished from all other insects by the special structure of its body. The spider with remarkable skill spreads its web, the subtlety and fragility of which, according to the word of Holy Scripture, serves as a visual expression of the vain hope and enterprises of wicked people (Isa. 59:5). The remarkable structure of their legs, acting in some way like the human arm, has often been described by naturalists. The expression in Proverbs 30:28, “a spider clings with its legs, but is in the royal palace,” according to some, means some other large animal of the lizard breed, but there is a surprising correspondence between the structure of the spider’s legs and the terms used to express its method weave a web, there is not enough talk in favor of the said assumption.

Sentences containing "spider"

Artists and animators immersed themselves in studying reference books and books on biology, and the film's artistic director Christian Rivers even caught a real spider for greater clarity.

Unlike the vast majority of others, etymology has one very significant drawback: too many people consider themselves competent in this area. The etymology of words often fascinates people who have a rather vague understanding of linguistics. And the less prepared this or that amateur is linguistically, the more categorically he usually expresses his judgments about the most complex etymological problems.

If, for example, you have difficulty distinguishing a ruff from a pike, then, you have to think, you will never risk putting forward any new hypothesis concerning problems of ichthyology *. Without possessing the appropriate knowledge, no one will dare to express their opinions on the most complex issues of nuclear physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

* (Ichthyology is a branch of zoology that studies fish.)

In fact, everyone expresses their opinions about the origin of words. In this regard, etymology can only be compared with meteorology or... football, where there are probably no fewer “experts” in predicting the weather or the result of a match than there are amateur etymologists.

About folk etymology. Usually people begin their “etymological studies” already in early childhood. Such childish formations as buzzer (alarm clock), planer (plane), shovel (spatula), hammer (hammer), mazelin (vaseline) and others, caused by the natural desire to somehow comprehend every incomprehensible word, are typical not only of childhood. Take such examples of reinterpretation of words in folk dialects as spinzhak (jacket), semi-clinic (clinic), semi-garden (front garden) etc. In all these cases, incomprehensible elephants of foreign origin were “corrected” and “adjusted” to some well-known Russian words and roots: the word jacket → spinzhak was associated with the back, polyclinic → semi-clinic is “half a clinic,” and front garden → semi-garden - “half garden.”

The ancient Romans called such etymological comparisons “bull” or “cow” etymology. Since "etymologies" of this kind often arose among the people, these false interpretations were later called "folk etymology" (as opposed to scientific etymology). The very term folk etymology not entirely successful. Firstly, it shows a somewhat disdainful attitude towards the people, who for many centuries were cut off from the development of science. Secondly (and this is the most important thing), a significant part of the “folk etymology” did not arise in the folk environment at all.

For example, back in the 18th century, academician and philologist V.K. Trediakovsky wrote that the name of the ancient inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, Iberians, is a distorted word upers, since they are geographically located on all sides stubborn seas. Britannia, according to Trediakovsky, this is a distorted Fraternization(from the word Brother), Scythians are hermitages(from wander), Turks - from brisk(cf. nimble“fast, agile”), etc. Consequently, here we are faced with “folk etymology” at the highest (academic!) level. And the people have nothing to do with it. It’s just that at the time of Trediakovsky, etymology had not yet been formed as a science, and this provided wide scope for all kinds of unbridled fantasies.

Instead of the term folk etymology some scientists prefer to use the expression false etymology or naive etymology. But these terms are even less successful. Firstly, scientific etymology may be false. And secondly, not every folk etymology must necessarily be naive. For example, at least one of the two etymologies we have considered for the word bride is definitely false. But both of them, undoubtedly, belong to the category of scientific etymology and do not contain anything naive in themselves. “Folk etymology” is always false, but not every false etymology is “folk” at the same time. This is why one of these terms cannot be replaced by another.

De-etymologization and folk etymology. The essence of folk etymology can only be understood if we remember what was discussed in the previous chapter.

Words in their development gradually lose their ancient etymological connections, or, in other words, become de-etymologized. Thus, they become etymologically incomprehensible. Scientific etymology establishes the true origin of the word being analyzed, relying on those methods of comparative historical research with which we are now familiar. In other words, scientists restore the most ancient stages available to them in the history of the word, simultaneously drawing on material from related languages.

In contrast, folk etymology does not reconstruct lost etymological connections, but tries to explain the origin of the word based on the state of the language contemporary to the author of the etymology. As a rule, such “etymologies” do not contain any scientific argumentation. They rely only on a coincidence or even a very distant similarity in the sound of words.

The discrepancy between scientific and folk etymology clearly appears in the case of the origin of the Russian word otter*. Scientists have restored its ancient form * udra[udra], found a large number of matches in related languages ​​and explained the original meaning of the word otter, associated with the meaning “watery, aquatic”.

* (As you remember, our acquaintance with the science of etymology began with a story about this word.)

Folk etymological interpretation of the origin of the word otter(from tear out) fundamentally contradicts the facts of the history of language; it is in no way connected with ideas about the kinship of languages ​​and related correspondences. This explanation relies only on the consonance of words otter And tear out, supported by a witty, but completely fantastic argument of a semantic nature. In addition, a comparative historical analysis of the word otter shows that its appearance dates back to the era when prefixed formations like you-tear were not yet productive in Indo-European languages ​​at all.

Etymology and archaeology. In many places, and especially in the steppe zone of our homeland, ancient mounds of impressive size rise. There is such a mound near the village, but no one knows who built it and when. And a legend arises around such a mound.

They say that in ancient times - a hundred, or maybe two hundred years ago - a lady’s beloved dog died. From morning to night the lady shed bitter tears, mourning her inconsolable grief. And in that village there were soldiers standing there at that time. They felt sorry for the lady who was dying for her dog. They dug a grave near the village, buried that dog according to Christian custom, and began to carry earth in their hats to the place where the grave was. They carried it for a long time - until a huge mound grew in that place...

This legend has its own continuation, albeit taken from real life. One day, archaeological scientists arrived at the mound and began conducting archaeological excavations. And under this mound they discovered not a dog at all, but a rich burial of a Scythian leader, buried here not a hundred or even two hundred, but two and a half thousand years ago...

We see the same picture in the history of many words. Folk etymology is the same legend, trying to explain the incomprehensible facts of the distant past with close and understandable phenomena of our modern language. And etymological scientists, as a result of a kind of “archaeological excavation,” establish that the origins of a word we do not understand go far into the depths of centuries, and in many cases, in the place of the etymological “dog,” they discover traces of such deep antiquity, from which even legends and legends.

Folk and children's etymology."You've had enough secrets speak! Secretary which!"

"We go to walk, - We truants!"

These and other examples given below, taken from K.I. Chukovsky’s book “From Two to Five,” are indicative in many respects. First of all, in children's comparisons the main features of folk etymology are most clearly depicted. Secondly, the fallacy of children's etymology does not raise any doubts and the disclosure of the error, as a rule, does not require detailed and complex explanations. Finally, it is easier here than in other cases to distinguish different types of folk etymology.

In examples with words secretary And truant etymological connection with secret And walk was installed, in general, correctly. Only in the first case is this connection not direct and it can only be revealed on the material of the French (and ultimately Latin) language from which these words were borrowed: secret[secret`] means “mystery, secret” and “secret, secret”, a secretaire[secretary] - “desk, bureau (with secret compartments)” and “scribe, secretary.” Thus, the error in this case was that the words secret And secretary (secretary), indeed, interconnected by a long chain of intermediate etymological links, they were placed in a direct etymological connection, which these words do not have.

A different picture is observed in the case of words walk And truant. The main mistake here is of a semantic nature. Relationship between words walk, truant, stroll and stroll no one doubts it. But the words truant and truant have a special meaning: they do not refer to those who walk or truant, but only to people who, for unjustified reasons, do not show up for work or school. Moreover truants just quite rare walking. If a absentee sleeps during working hours, sits at the cinema or reads a detective novel, this does not stop him from being truant(this word, as we see, has undergone partial de-etymologization).

Etymological errors of a different order are observed in cases quitter- "a man who makes boats" or specialist- “a person who likes to sleep” *. This also includes the examples discussed above with the words altar- “resident of Altai” and dealer- "an uncle who looks after young ladies." In all these cases, the words between which an etymological connection is assumed, in fact, in terms of their origin, have nothing in common with each other.

* (These examples are also taken from the book by K.I. Chukovsky.)

"Special" - a person who likes to sleep

No matter how convincing the word formation looks:

the last case clearly does not belong to this series. The word spets is an abbreviation for specialist. And the last word - ultimately - goes back to Latin specialis[in medieval pronunciation: spetsialis] “special, special”, in turn associated with Latin words species[spec`kies] "type, variety" and specio[spekio] “I see, I look.” Thus, sleep And specialist etymologically they are completely unrelated to each other.

* (Compare: And the Swede, and the reaper, and the player on the pipe (about a jack of all trades).)

Folk etymology and distortion of words. In all the examples from children's etymology just considered, one or another explanation of the origin of the word did not, however, lead to its distortion. But not in all cases the word lends itself to folk etymological interpretation in the form in which it exists in the language. And since you still want to explain an incomprehensible word, distortions such as kopatka or mazelin, which are not typical only of children's language, were often introduced into it.

Examples with the words spinjak, semi-clinic, semi-kindergarten belong to the same type. But these dialectal and vernacular (non-literary) forms do not exhaust all examples of this kind. Moreover, folk etymological changes in words can be observed even in the literary language, and such cases are not at all rare.

The Old Russian word svdtel was formed from the verb vdti “to know” and it meant a person who knows something. Nowadays we say not the witness, but the witness, and we associate this word not with the verb to know, but with see, perceiving it in the meaning of “eyewitness” (one who saw something).

The Latin verb vagari [vagari] "to wander" had a suffixed derivative vagabundus [vagabundus] "wandering", which in Italian gave vaga-bondo [vagabbndo], and in Spanish - vagabundo [vagabundo] "vagrant". The rare suffix -bundo in Spanish was "corrected" to -mundo, and the word vagamundo began to be perceived as a compound word, derived from vagar [vagar] "to wander" and mundo [mundo] "peace, light." So, as a result of folk etymological changes, the Spanish word vagamundo acquired the meaning “wandering around the world.”

When considering the etymology of various words, scientists constantly have to keep in mind the possibilities of this kind of folk etymological rethinking, which often greatly complicates the study, because they replace real ancient etymological connections with secondary, contrived connections.

"I am Ra myself!" Nowhere, perhaps, has folk etymology become as widespread as in the interpretation of proper names. For example, a university student begins to study Latin. In one of his first lessons he learns that the word ira[i'ra] means "anger" in Latin. And immediately tries to connect this word with a Russian name Ira, Irina, “explaining” the latter with the meaning of the Latin word. In fact, the name Irina was borrowed from the Greek language, where the word eiren[eire`ne, in modern Greek pronunciation: iri`ni] means “peace”. This word was used by the ancient Greeks as a proper name (Eirene - Irina - the name of the goddess of peace).

Curious "etymology" of the name of the ancient Spartan king Menelaus was proposed by one of the Russian authors in the 19th century. Since King Menelaus always quarreled with everyone, he was often told me(= me) don't bark"don't scold me" (?!). This is where the name supposedly came from.

Menelaus - "don't scold me"

At every step, such “etymologies” are encountered when explaining geographical names. Many toponyms are distinguished by their exceptional antiquity. Some of them have long lost etymological connections in the language, others never had these connections, since they were borrowed from other languages. But the desire to somehow explain these incomprehensible names often led to the appearance of the most ridiculous “etymologies” and even entire legends, often “supported” by references to actual historical events.

Where did the name of the city come from? Kolomna? They say that Father Sergius once blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy not far from this city. After the blessing, Father Sergius headed to Kolomna, but for some reason the residents of the city drove him away and even threatened him with stakes. “I treat them kindly, but they stake me (me),” Sergius later complained. From this stake me and the city was given a name Kolomna.

Another equally fantastic example of this type is the “etymology” of the name of the river and city Samara(modern city of Kuibyshev).

According to legend, a small river ran from east to west, and from the north, the mighty river Ra (the ancient name of the Volga River) rushed its waves across it. “Move aside!” the big river shouts to the small river, “make way for me: after all, I am Ra!”

"And I herself - Ra“, - the river answers calmly and continues its run to the west.

Two streams collided with each other - and the majestic river Ra gave way to its small rival: it, too, was forced to turn its flow to the west. From words Ra herself and the river was named Samara, and at the site of the collision formed the Volga-Ra Samara bow (bend).

In a similar way, folk etymology tried to explain, for example, the names of rivers Yakhroma And Vorskla. The first name was allegedly obtained from the exclamation of the wife of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, who, while crossing this river, twisted her leg and exclaimed: "I'm lame!" The legend associates the second name with the name of Peter I. Looking through a telescope, the king dropped the lens into the water. Attempts to find "glass" ( Sklo) were not successful. Since then, the river began to be called Warehouse thief("glass thief").

Of course, all these legends have nothing to do with the actual origin of the corresponding toponyms. But they are important in another way. The examples considered show how closely folk etymology is connected with oral folk art - folklore. Many tales and legends arose in a similar way - as a result of an attempt at etymological understanding of incomprehensible words and names.

We have already encountered this kind of phenomena in the example of the origin of the name of the ancient Greek “foam-born” goddess Aphrodite and Athens Tritogeny. Similar examples can be found in the oral folk art of any country. The research of etymologists, aimed at studying the features of folk etymology, allows us to shed new light on the most complex problems associated with the ancient origins of oral folk art.

Anger and fire. In all the examples considered so far, the difference between folk and scientific etymology has always appeared with sufficient clarity. Unfortunately, however, there are many such cases when it is not at all possible to draw a more or less clear line between these two seemingly different types of etymological explanations.

Some of the etymologies proposed by the Roman grammarian Varro have long been classified as folk. More thorough research has shown, however, that these explanations of Varro are confirmed by scientific analysis.

In the reasoning of one of M. Gorky’s heroes, Matvey Kozhemyakin, one encounters the idea that the word anger is related in origin to the word fire. As an example confirming this etymology, Matvey Kozhemyakin refers to the verb ognetsya, in which he considers the prefix o- as part of the root fire (fire). The folk etymological nature of this explanation is completely indisputable.

But relatively recently, the Soviet etymologist V.V. Martynov put forward the same idea as a scientific hypothesis. One of the author's main arguments is also the word fire - only in its more ancient form. V.V. Martynov presented interesting arguments in favor of his point of view, and, despite its controversy, this etymology must now be taken into account; as with a scientific hypothesis.

The example with the word anger shows how arbitrary the boundaries between folk and scientific etymology can be. In some cases, an etymology that has long been considered folk may eventually receive universal scientific recognition. And, conversely, an etymology that appears as scientific may in fact turn out to be an unrevealed folk etymology.

"Goodbye meat!" How difficult it can sometimes be to resolve the question of whether a particular etymology belongs to the folk etymology can be judged by the example of the origin of the word carnival. This word came into the Russian language (through French mediation) from the Italian language.

Initially, carnival was an Italian spring holiday similar to Russian Maslenitsa. This holiday was accompanied by various street processions, masquerades, mass dances, and funny theatrical games. Since this holiday took place before the beginning of Lent, during which the Christian religion forbade eating meat, the origin of the Italian carnevale[carnevale] "carnival" has long been associated with words carne[ka`rne] "meat" and vale[va`le] "farewell" *.

* (Wed. from Pushkin in “Eugene Onegin”: “At the end of the letter put vale...” The word vale has the same meaning in Latin and in Italian.)

At first glance, we have a typical folk etymology. This explanation is very similar to, for example, the etymology Montevideo- from montem video"I see a mountain" or Menelaus- from "Don't bark me." A number of highly respected scientists have announced the etymology came vale"goodbye meat!" erroneous folk etymology. Instead, another explanation of the origin of this word was proposed.

For a long time - even at festivals dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis and the Greek god Dionysus - a prominent place during the solemn procession was given to a cart in the shape of a ship or boat. Latin words carrus navalis[ka'rrus nava'lis] literally means: "ship (or sea) cart." The ancient tradition survived in Italy until the 18th century, when noble Italian women still went to the carnival in similar “sea carts” *. Therefore, according to this explanation, the Italian word carnevale comes from carrus navalis(or, more precisely, from a later form of these words: carro navale).

* (And now this kind of “carts” can be found at carnivals in Latin American countries.)

However, no matter how tempting the latter interpretation may seem, it cannot be accepted as indisputable. Firstly, numerous monuments of Latin writing do not give us a single example with a combination of words carrus navalis. The Italians, too, as far as we know, never called their carnival “sea floats” with the words carro navale. All these are just assumptions of scientists.

Secondly, the connection of the words carnival or carnival with the meaning “meat” is found not only in Italian. Greek apokreos[apokreos] “Maslenitsa, carnival” has a completely clear etymology: aro-- a prefix meaning removal, separation or termination, and kreos(or kreas) "meat". Word meat-eater"Maslenitsa" is well known in various Slavic languages, and its etymology is again related to "meat".

True, the matter here was apparently not without cripples. But if we accept the etymology of the Italian carnevale, raising this word to carrus navalis, then you have to recognize the Greek apokreos and Slavic meat-eater tracings from a reinterpreted Latin (or Italian) word. And this already looks extremely implausible. In short, the question of whether etymology carnevale"goodbye meat!" popular or not, still cannot be considered finally decided.

Thus, folk etymology is not just a set of ridiculous and naive explanations of the origin of various words, but a complex phenomenon that often puts a researcher involved in the history of words in a difficult position. The influence of folk etymology has left numerous traces in the language. Moreover, these traces in a number of cases turned out to be so imperceptibly “disguised” that scientists are not always able to distinguish folk etymology from the true one. All this creates certain difficulties in the work of etymologists, forcing language researchers to attract more and more new material, allowing them to penetrate into the most intimate secrets of ancient word creation.

In mythopoetic traditions, the image of P. is associated with creative activity, professional and craft skills, hard work, favorable omens (cf. in this regard, the prohibition to kill P.), wisdom, as well as cold cruelty (cf. Mythological encyclopedia

spider - -a, m. 1. An arthropod animal that weaves a web to catch insects that serve as food for it. “Helen,” he used to shout to her, “go quickly, the spider is sucking a fly, free the unfortunate thing!” Turgenev, On the Eve. Small academic dictionary

spider - spider gen. p. -a, dial. pavok, pavka, arkhang. (Dev.), from where also pavel "spider" (see), Ukrainian. spider, gen. p. -a, blr. pavuk, other Russian spider, cslav. ration, Bulgarian payak (Mladenov 416), Serbo-Croatian. puk, slovenian. rȃjok, rȃjǝk, rȃvok, Czech. Etymological Dictionary of Max Vasmer

spider - This animal got its name from its curved legs: the word spider is formed by a prefix from the noun ok, related to the Latin ancus - “having crooked arms.” Krylov's etymological dictionary

spider - 1) overseer; 2) castle; 3) moneylender Dictionary of thieves' jargon

spider - (foreign) - bloodsucker, a merciless person who benefits from the labors of another (sucking, like a spider, the blood and strength of another) Cf. Spider (folk) - secret agent (catching like a spider in a web). Wed. I've worked it out, that means... Mikhelson's Phraseological Dictionary

spider - Obsesslav. Formed using the prefix pa- from *ǫkъ (ǫ from on, ǫ > у), the same root as the Greek. onkos “hook”, lat. ancus “having crooked hands”, Old Indian. ácati “bends,” etc. The spider is named for its curved legs. Shansky Etymological Dictionary

Spider - (Job 8:14) is a well-known insect from the class of invertebrates, distinguished from all other insects by the special structure of its body. The spider with remarkable skill spreads its web, the thinness and fragility of which, according to the word of St. Archimandrite Biblical Encyclopedia. Nikephoros

spider - Spider, spiders, spider, spiders, spider, spiders, spider, spiders, spider, spiders, spider, spiders Zaliznyak's Grammar Dictionary

spider - spider I m. 1. An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web in which it catches small animals that serve as food. 2. transfer decomposition A cruel person who exploits the labor of others, extorting the last property from another. II m. A type of fishing tackle. Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

spider - SPIDER m. pavuk, pavok, pavko, pavel, mizgir, flyspider, netnik, purse, tenetnik, a well-known insect everywhere. Spider, spider eggs. Spider, arachnid and arachnid insect. Catch flies before your legs are plucked! Cobweb, cobweb... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

spider - Spider/. Morphemic-spelling dictionary

spider - noun, number of synonyms... Dictionary of Russian synonyms

spider - spelling spider Lopatin's spelling dictionary

spider - Long-legged (Nikitin). Long-legged (Kholodovsky). Greedy (Tarutin). Bloodthirsty (German-Danchenko). Insatiably greedy (Block). Gray (Sologub). Hardworking (Nekrasov). Dictionary of literary epithets

spider - SPIDER -a; m. 1. An arthropod with poisonous glands that weaves a web to catch insects and kill them. P. caught a fly. P. weaves a web. Marine item. Cross spider. 2. Unwind About someone who cruelly exploits someone. You are real... Kuznetsov's Explanatory Dictionary

spider - The struts supporting the secondary mirror structure in the tube of a reflecting telescope. The diffraction that occurs with this design causes a ray halo to appear in photographic images of bright stars. Large Astronomical Dictionary

spider - PA'UK, spider, male. 1. An arthropod with poisonous glands, usually weaving a web in which it catches small animals that serve as food for it (zool.). 2. transfer A symbol of cruel and insatiable greed and exploitation. World-eating spiders. Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

spider - SPIDER, a, m. A predatory arthropod that weaves a web. Spiders in a Jar is about predatory, evil people fighting each other. | decrease spider, chka, m. | adj. spider, ya, ye. Spider webs. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary