Re: OT: Official language post
| From: | David Barrow <davidab@...> |
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| Date: | Saturday, March 29, 2003, 19:20 |
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John Cowan wrote:
> Tristan McLeay scripsit:
>
> > Rarely are they synonyms, actually. Related words with similar meanings,
> > yes, but in many of the ones with a Germanic equivalent, the
> > Romance-derived word is much classier, eg. house vs mansion.
>
> Sometimes it's funny. The newfangled fashion of labeling the introductory
> section of a book "Foreword" instead of "Preface" was much denounced by
> 19th-century purists, for "Preface", despite its Latin origin, is sound old
> English of 16th-century vintage, whereas "Foreword" is a loan translation
> from the German "Vorwort".
This from http://www.etymonline.com
preface (n.) - c.1380, from O.Fr. preface, from M.L. prefatia, from L. prfatio
"fore-speaking, introduction," from prfari "to say beforehand," from pr-
"before" fari "speak." The verb is 1616, from the noun.
foreword - 1842, perhaps a loan-translation of Ger. Vorwart "preface," modeled
on L. prfatio "preface."
Vorwart should be Vorwort
Foreword existed in Old English but it meant condition, stipulation; Old English
words for "preface" were "foresaegdnes" (foresaidness) , "forespraec"
(forespeech)
David Barrow