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Re: OT: Official language post

From:David Barrow <davidab@...>
Date:Saturday, March 29, 2003, 19:20
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