Boy: Porovnání verzí

Řádek 1: Řádek 1:
'''Form:'''
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== Boy ==
  
ME: bey, beye, boey, boi, ...
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=== Forms ===
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ME: boe, boi, boye…<br />
  
 
ModE: boy
 
ModE: boy
  
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=== Etymology ===
  
'''Meanings'''
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Origin uncertain<br />
 
 
early meanings: 'male servant' or 'person of low birth status'
 
 
 
later the meaning 'young male'
 
 
 
 
 
'''Origin'''
 
 
 
- uncertain
 
 
 
2 theories:
 
 
 
 
 
a) Germanic origin (OE word or borrowing from other Germanic languages)
 
- a surname/nickname (Roberti litelboie, Willelmi Godeboye, Alanus Boye, ...)
 
 
 
 
 
b) Borrowing from French
 
- ''boie'': aphaeresis (a shortened form) of the Anglo-Norman word ''emboié''/''embuié''/''enbué'' (ADJ - 'fettered' or N - 'a person in chains')
 
- ''boiasse'': a French word for a female servant; ''-asse'' as a female suffix, analogically male servant without the suffix
 
 
 
 
 
'''Evidence in other languages'''
 
 
 
Middle Dutch ''boye'' - (female) servant 
 
  
Low German ''boi''  
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Several theories:<br />
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A borrowing from French (in that case pre-conquest name evidence is rejected)
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* Anglo Norman boie (unrecorded shortened variant of emboié) meaning person in chains
 +
* Plausible explanation of the sense ‘male servant’
 +
* Or more directly connected with Anglo-Norman boie (chain)<br />
 +
An alternative French etymology
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* from Old French boiasse, a variant of Anglo-Nornam baisse (a female servant)
 +
* the ending –asse  as an equivalent of the feminine siffix –esse > a masculine form boie
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* but there is no evidence of the masculine form in French or a feminine form in English<br />
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Of Germanic origin: native OE word or as a borrowing
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Words for "boy" double as "servant, attendant" across the Indo-European map.
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Italian: ragazzo, Middle English knāve, Old Church Slavonic otroku -- and often it is difficult to say which meaning came first.
  
Frisian ''boai''
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=== Original Meaning===
  
all of these forms could originate from a nursery form of the word 'brother' (cf. German ''Bub(e)'')
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A male servant, slave (1300)<br />
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Perhaps attested earlier as a byname or surname: Boia (OE period)<br />
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<br />
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=== Other meanings ===
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* Rascal/ knave/ rogue/ devil (rarely) (1405)
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* A male child or youth; also a son (1440)
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* In pl. shackles, fetters (1485)
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* A non-white slave (1625)
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* A criminal (1834)
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* A junior military rank (1841)
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* As a familiar address to a male dog (That’s my boy!)
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* US slang for heroin<br />
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<br />
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ModE boy looks like a semantic blend of an onomatopoeic word for an evil spirit (*boi) and a baby word for 'brother' (*bo).<br />
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<br />
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A noticeable number of the modern words for 'boy', 'girl', and 'child' were originally colloquial nicknames, derogatory and commonplace. These, as is natural, are of the most diverse, and in part obscure, origin.<br />
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<br />
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=== References ===

Verze z 25. 11. 2014, 23:18

Boy

Forms

ME: boe, boi, boye…

ModE: boy

Etymology

Origin uncertain

Several theories:
A borrowing from French (in that case pre-conquest name evidence is rejected)

  • Anglo Norman boie (unrecorded shortened variant of emboié) meaning person in chains
  • Plausible explanation of the sense ‘male servant’
  • Or more directly connected with Anglo-Norman boie (chain)

An alternative French etymology

  • from Old French boiasse, a variant of Anglo-Nornam baisse (a female servant)
  • the ending –asse as an equivalent of the feminine siffix –esse > a masculine form boie
  • but there is no evidence of the masculine form in French or a feminine form in English
Of Germanic origin: native OE word or as a borrowing
Words for "boy" double as "servant, attendant" across the Indo-European map.
Italian: ragazzo, Middle English knāve, Old Church Slavonic otroku -- and often it is difficult to say which meaning came first.


Original Meaning

A male servant, slave (1300)
Perhaps attested earlier as a byname or surname: Boia (OE period)

Other meanings

  • Rascal/ knave/ rogue/ devil (rarely) (1405)
  • A male child or youth; also a son (1440)
  • In pl. shackles, fetters (1485)
  • A non-white slave (1625)
  • A criminal (1834)
  • A junior military rank (1841)
  • As a familiar address to a male dog (That’s my boy!)
  • US slang for heroin


ModE boy looks like a semantic blend of an onomatopoeic word for an evil spirit (*boi) and a baby word for 'brother' (*bo).

A noticeable number of the modern words for 'boy', 'girl', and 'child' were originally colloquial nicknames, derogatory and commonplace. These, as is natural, are of the most diverse, and in part obscure, origin.

References