Revived words

[jmcd]

Do any of you know of words which have fallen out of use and then been revived? In any language I mean. It would be interesting to know and share.

[sirdanilot]

I doubt that this is something that happens often, since people do not generally have knowledge of outdated words. So your best bet is in semantic fields that are completely new and thus required a lot of new voc abulry fast. The internet and computers are such a field.
Is the word 'file' used often outside computers? Where does it come from ?

[jmcd]

The word 'file' as a noun has multiple meanings: 1. an object used to file things i.e. shave bits off them 2. an object used to file things i.e. put them tidy 3. a digital equivalent of number two. 4. A line of things; a column 5. And apparently more besides. It has never died out.

I expect that this happens mostly in cases of cultural revival and only in languages with a literary tradition.

I'm sure it has happened, if seldom, since whole languages have been revived (like Hebrew) and reviving one vocabulary item is a great deal easier.

[linguoboy]

I doubt that this is something that happens often, since people do not generally have knowledge of outdated words. So your best bet is in semantic fields that are completely new and thus required a lot of new voc abulry fast. The internet and computers are such a field.

My favourite example in this respect is Icelandic skjár. Historically, the meaning was "amniotic sac of a calf stretched over a window frame", a term which fell into disuse with the spread of glazing. But it was dusted off and pressed back into service recently when they needed a native term for "computer screen".

Other obsolete words have been revived by literary authors, particularly during the Romantic period. Sir Walter Scott, for instance, revived bard, smoulder, raid, and foray. He also brought back fitful (a Shakespearean coinage) with a slightly different meaning. German examples from the same period include Mär, Hain, Reich, and (with a shift in meaning) bieder. I'm sure the same thing happened in Dutch as well.

[Ziz]

I'm sure it has happened, if seldom, since whole languages have been revived (like Hebrew) and reviving one vocabulary item is a great deal easier.

Indeed, and somewhat relevantly, this was accomplished in part by giving more important meanings to older words. Ḳashḳeshet is derived from "fish scales" and liṿyatan was the mythical creature "Leviathan," and now they're "dandruff" and just "whale."

[sirdanilot]

I doubt that this is something that happens often, since people do not generally have knowledge of outdated words. So your best bet is in semantic fields that are completely new and thus required a lot of new voc abulry fast. The internet and computers are such a field.

My favourite example in this respect is Icelandic skjár. Historically, the meaning was "amniotic sac of a calf stretched over a window frame", a term which fell into disuse with the spread of glazing. But it was dusted off and pressed back into service recently when they needed a native term for "computer screen".

Other obsolete words have been revived by literary authors, particularly during the Romantic period. Sir Walter Scott, for instance, revived bard, smoulder, raid, and foray. He also brought back fitful (a Shakespearean coinage) with a slightly different meaning. German examples from the same period include Mär, Hain, Reich, and (with a shift in meaning) bieder. I'm sure the same thing happened in Dutch as well.

I don't know an example from Dutch. Dutch people do like to make up new compounds from existing words for new concepts, though, although they are mainly borrowers (mainly from english, historically also from French and german). But there is probably some example somewhere.

I had no idea smoulder and raid were once not commonly used and I would like to see some explanation or evidence of this. Bard, isn't that a middle-age singer/messenger dude? In that case you can't really classify this as an example, since this is simply an outdated concept that then happened to be talked about again because of nationalism/history interest an so on. I have no idea what foray means so I cannot judge that.

The icelandic example is spot-on though, since that truly is a completely outdated concept that came back to be used for a completely new concept. Very nice.

Perhaps English 'churning' (when making ice-cream in an ice-cream maker) is an example, because who talks about churning butter anymore? And there was probably a nice gap between the period that churning butter was common and when ice-cream makers started appearing. I like food so I come up with examples like these, haha.

[linguoboy]

I had no idea smoulder and raid were once not commonly used and I would like to see some explanation or evidence of this.

Do you have access to a scholarly dictionary of English? There's a gap of two centuries in attestation between the appearance of "raid" in Scottish chronicles and its use by Scott in his novels. Same for "smoulder". Before Scott used it in his 1815 poem "The Lord of the Isles", its last attested appearance was in Knowles' Generall historie of the Turkes of 1603.

Bard, isn't that a middle-age singer/messenger dude? In that case you can't really classify this as an example, since this is simply an outdated concept that then happened to be talked about again because of nationalism/history interest an so on.

Are you somehow unclear on the meaning of "revival"?

Moreover, bard has multiple meanings. The definition "ancient Celtic minstrel" survived in technical usage in the same way as brehon or thane. But in addition to this, bard was used popularly in spoken varieties of the Scottish Lowlands to mean any sort of travelling minstrel. The second meaning is what Scott revived, and it's the one being invoked nowadays when Shakespeare is referred to as "the Bard" or when a critic for the Village Voice calls singer Bob Dylan "the world's first and greatest rock 'n' roll beatnik bard".

Perhaps English 'churning' (when making ice-cream in an ice-cream maker) is an example, because who talks about churning butter anymore?

Dairymen? Industrial mechanical churns have replaced earlier hand-operated models, but there was no point at which the term "churning" stopped being applied to the process. Similarly, cutting off a horse's balls is still called "gelding" despite the fact that not many of our contemporaries have any firsthand knowledge of the process (or direct contact with horses, for that matter).

(What, no nitpicking of the German examples?)

[Xephyr]

I would imagine there are quite a few words that have been (near-)resurrected from (near-)disuse, by fantasy literature. Both in terms of medieval technology: cuirass, haubergeon, halberd, morningstar, etc. and in terms of old mythological creatures: hippogriff, kobold, hobgoblin, basilisk, etc.

[jmcd]

Those are all interesting examples. I already knew that 'raid' was originally a Scots word (it's cognate to 'road' after all) and it came into usage in English in the 19th century but I didn't realise it was used in English before that or that Walter Scott encouraged its revived usage in English.

As for churning, ice cream was found in Europe in the 16th century and there were technical innovations to the butter churn in the 19th century so there was some overlap.

[zompist]

Can't get at my OED any more, but perhaps "car"? It may have had a feeble life in poetry, but had perhaps died out in ordinary language till it was revived for "train car".

[jmcd]

From etymonline: "From 16th to 19th c. chiefly poetic, with associations of dignity, solemnity, or splendour ..." [OED].

[sirdanilot]

(What, no nitpicking of the German examples?)

No because I do not really care about German, and my knowledge of the German language is quite poor, despite the fact that I visit the country once in a while (at least 1-2 times per year because family). I was never attracted to the German language and culture; the language to me sounds like Dutch people who are brushing their teeth. I took only 2 years of German in high-school. Of course because I am a native Dutch speaker I can understand and read and hear almost anything in German and I can also make myself understandable in a spontaneously created Dutch-German pidgin, but I have absolutely no wish at all to get more fluent in the language. I just realy really dislike it.

[linguoboy]

(What, no nitpicking of the German examples?)

No because I do not really care about German, and my knowledge of the German language is quite poor, despite the fact that I visit the country once in a while (at least 1-2 times per year because family).

It's not like you let lack of knowledge hold you back from nitpicking the English-language examples.

[sirdanilot]

(What, no nitpicking of the German examples?)

No because I do not really care about German, and my knowledge of the German language is quite poor, despite the fact that I visit the country once in a while (at least 1-2 times per year because family).

It's not like you let lack of knowledge hold you back from nitpicking the English-language examples.

Wow, you must be the very best scientist in the world, because rather than appreciating people critiqueing your examples, you wish to be held as an absolute unquestionable authority.

I am of course not a native speaker of English and have not studied the history of the language, but my knowledge of it is far greater than that of German. Besides, even if I knew f* all about English, I am perfectly entitled to ask for you to back-up the examples you cite, because you just put them there without any back-up at all.

I really hope you don't act like this unquestionable authority in your university position (if you have one), because good lord the last thing that is needed in linguistics is another Dixon or figure that does not wish to be questioned.

[masako]

I really hope you don't act like this unquestionable authority in your university position...

[KathTheDragon]

Wow, you must be the very best scientist in the world, because rather than appreciating people critiqueing your examples, you wish to be held as an absolute unquestionable authority.

[Citation Needed]

[linguoboy]

I really hope you don't act like this unquestionable authority in your university position (if you have one), because good lord the last thing that is needed in linguistics is another Dixon or figure that does not wish to be questioned.

I'm perfectly fine with being asked for lexicographical evidence. (I didn't refuse to provide it, did I?) It's just that I would appreciate it more from someone who understood how to use a dictionary.

[sirdanilot]

And where did you gather that I do not understand this...?

[احمکي ارش-ھجن]

regarding the word "foray", it simply means a sudden attack or skirmish, usually it is chaotic.
You know "they went into the foray"

[linguoboy]

regarding the word "foray", it simply means a sudden attack or skirmish, usually it is chaotic.
You know "they went into the foray"

I don't get a single Ghit for that phrasing. IME, a "foray" is something you make, not something you go into. Are you sure you aren't confusing it with fray?

[Zaarin]

regarding the word "foray", it simply means a sudden attack or skirmish, usually it is chaotic.
You know "they went into the foray"

As Linguoboy said, I think you mean "fray." A foray is a brief, quick attack usually with the intent of obtaining supplies.

[Salmoneus]

I generally think of it as an exploratory or preliminary endeavour. For instance, an actor might make a foray into directing - they may or may not commit to it, they're just having a go now and seeing how it works out. A guy who wants their company to adopt a certain strategy might make forays in that direction by floating ideas along those lines. For me, the 'attack' nature of it is no longer central to the meaning, although the military or quasi-military use is still one of the most common.

[Zaarin]

I generally think of it as an exploratory or preliminary endeavour. For instance, an actor might make a foray into directing - they may or may not commit to it, they're just having a go now and seeing how it works out. A guy who wants their company to adopt a certain strategy might make forays in that direction by floating ideas along those lines. For me, the 'attack' nature of it is no longer central to the meaning, although the military or quasi-military use is still one of the most common.

True, but the non-military use is basically a metaphorical application of the military meaning.

[Tropylium]

Languages that acquired a literal tradition late tend to have plenty of these, especially if we count words scavenged from dialects, even though such ones were never necessarily widespread.

a couple Finnish examples:
jauhe "grain prepared for grinding" > "powder"
juna "line" > "train"
kaasu "cold fog" > "gas"
kone "tool" > "machine"
tehdas "workstation" > "factory"

[jal]

Of course because I am a native Dutch speaker I can understand and read and hear almost anything in German

I call bullshit. Standard German is so far removed from standard Dutch, that there's really no mutual intelligibility without at least some studying the other language, let alone that one can "understand (...) almost anything".

I have absolutely no wish at all to get more fluent in the language. I just realy really dislike it.

Which is tremendously silly, and a very immature remark.

Back on topic, I'm trying to think of Dutch examples, but I can't think of any right now. There may have been a number of examples from literature, but that's not really my forte.


JAL