[B-Greek] OT - Word Evolution Dictionary
James Ernest
j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Tue Feb 10 12:46:22 EST 2009
Maybe this is one of those "much-needed gaps in the literature." What would
such a book or website be good for?
- Students of linguistic evolution (phonology, morphology, semantics) might
like to have an assortment of case studies but wouldn't need anything like
the complete vocabulary of any period or writer; and they probably wouldn't
want to privilege English derivatives.
- A mutant form of Hegelian idealism might want to try to trace each *
Wortgeist* forward through the dialectical unfolding of its inner potential.
- The many preachers and Bible teachers who love to provide new instances of
the etymological fallacy in every new sermon or teaching would rejoice to
have a handy source of copious misusable information (and misinformation).
- To be fair: people like me (and, I gather, Mark) who enjoy language would
probably enjoy browsing such a work and would probably learn some things
from it.
So maybe it's a potential Wiki project--to be built by hobbyists of all
levels of competency, containing lots of good info but also always in
principle unreliable, like other Wiki knowledge accumulations.
James Ernest
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