Abstract
The science of etymology involves studying changes in the form and analysis of words. Research on the etymology of specific signs in ASL can also provide us with the tools to link the history of ASL to early French Sign Language (LSF), to which it is related, and also to modern LSF.
Highlights
Scientific etymology documents the entry of a word into the language and follows its form as it changes through time to the present-day modern form
Changes in word forms are due to well- studied social and linguistic forces, such as borrowing a word from another language. It is common for speakers of a language to create folk etymologies – stories about where words have come from that may not be historically accurate - to explain the form of a word
Folk etymologies often arise when there is a gap in our knowledge about the true history of a sign and in sign languages are based on iconic resemblances between the form of a sign and objects and ideas of that period
Summary
Scientific etymology documents the entry of a word into the language and follows its form as it changes through time to the present-day modern form. Changes in word forms are due to well- studied social and linguistic forces, such as borrowing a word from another language It is common for speakers of a language to create folk etymologies – stories about where words have come from that may not be historically accurate - to explain the form of a word. These informal theories about the history of words are different from scientific etymologies and must be kept separate from scientific research on the actual history. As word form and the perception of the word shifts over time, the accepted folk etymology will often change as well
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