Description
Book SynopsisAnecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science.
Trade ReviewHats off to Joseph Shipley. -- William Safire New York Times A dictionary as invaluable to the philologist as it is a wellspring of delight for any inquisitive person. Perihelion A word-loving browser's delight. Atlantic Monthly The title promises a discursive voyage, and Shipley is as good as his word. He's a scholarly, humorous, rambling fellow, and his 636-page itinerary is filled with the excitement of chance encounters with long-lost cousins in distant lands. Newsday Not since the late Frank H. Vizetelly has there been an etymologist of the stature and erudition of Joseph T. Shipley, whose 26 books on various aspects of the English language are not only illuminating but a joy to read. Now, with The Origins of English Words, Dr. Shipley has outdone himself. West Coast Review of Books
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Frequent Word Forms and Transformations
Notes on Usage
Bibliography
List of Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Indo-European roots
Index of English Words
