An analytic dictionary of English etymology; an introduction.

9780816652723

An analytic dictionary of English etymology; an introduction.

Liberman, Anatoly.

U. of Minnesota Press

2008

359 pages

$50.00

Hardcover

PE1580

Liberman (Germanic philology, University of Minnesota) doesn't tell us the root of every word in English. Instead he picks some of the one that interest him most, like boy, jeep, mooch, fag, and witch. His long training in the sources of words gives him the expertise to sift through centuries of theories. Liberman's explanations involve a fairly esoteric knowledge of vowel shifts and the insidious nature of cognates. For those who love words, this is absolutely fascinating.

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