Discover thousands of names and their etymologies accompanied by a selection of photography and graphic art.
Paper traces the use of corpora, or large sets of text, in historical linguistics research. Learn how this research method may be faulty.
Short essay describes the work of historical linguistics research. Learn about the successes and failures of this linguistic branch.
Research paper looks at the development of this grandparent of many languages spoken in Europe and Asia. Learn about its structure and phonetics.
Many words in the English language have interesting pedigrees. Find origins and backgrounds for words from "Abacus" to "Zero."
Paper on language evolution includes charts showing how different languages may be related to one another. Find links to related articles.
Discern word meanings and origins by perusing this list of roots. Meanings for bases, prefixes and suffixes are provided.
Researcher Kjell Gustafson provides a brief description of the field. With definitions of key terms and the comparative method.
Full title of this essay is "Everything you ever wanted to know about Proto-Indo-European (and the comparative method), but were afraid to ask!"
Guide to phonosemantics discusses the history of word formation and the theory that all words sound like their meaning. With related links.
Defines etymology, provides some history of this branch of linguistics, and details some general methods of tracing the etymology of a word.
Read a brief discussion about the academic discipline and find links to related topics.
List of common phrases with their origin as well as phrases of unknown history. Readers can contribute an answer or learn how phrases come to be.
John A. Halloran's paper describes how phonetics developed in the ancient Sumerian language. With a glossary of Sumerian words.
Each day, editors answer a reader question about the origin of a phrase or word. Browse the archives, or check out the etymology bibliography.
Several research papers study various influences on English including 'Black English', Yiddish, British, and regional US influences.
Weekly column answers reader questions about the origins of words and phrases. Browse the archive and user comments, or submit a query.
Etymologist writes on word origins from a British perspective. Read articles, user questions and answers and book reviews.