Linguistic Development of Names for Common Herbs from Old English to Modern English

Polanc, Neža (author), Kavalir, Monika (mentor)

The thesis analyses the evolution of nouns denoting twelve commonly used herbs in present-day medicine. It studies the diachronic development of selected nouns as it aims to uncover their origin and the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors modifying their structure, meaning and usage. The thesis investigates the relationship between changes in society and changes in language over time from a sociolinguistic perspective. The first part of the thesis provides a short overview of the factors affecting language change, focusing primarily on the external reasons. The second part analyses the evolution of the names for a dozen frequently used medicinal herbs. The sample for the analysis is based on “A Review of 12 Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs”, an article published in the Archives of Family Medicine in 1998. The analysis starts with all the known forms of nouns referring to the twelve individual herbs in Modern English, Middle English, and Old English. After determining the time period in which the name of the herb was first used in English, it states the etymological origin of the noun. The formal and semantic changes of the appellations are described and, finally, examples are provided of whether and how an herb is used in a selected authentic Old English medical text from the Early Middle Ages. The third part summarises the findings of the analysis and discusses why certain noun forms appeared at specific times in the history of the English language and aims to pinpoint the common denominator and causes for the linguistic changes.

• Language: English
• Keywords: herbs names, traditional medicine, language change, English etymology, history of English
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-159716
• Publication date in RUL: 19.07.2024

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Jezikovni razvoj poimenovanj pogosto rabljenih zelišč od stare do sodobne angleščine

Abstract

Magistrska naloga analizira razvoj samostalnikov, ki označujejo dvanajst pogosto uporabljenih zelišč v današnji medicini. Posveti se diahronemu razvoju izbranih samostalnikov z namenom odkriti njihov izvor ter jezikovne in zunajjezikovne dejavnike, ki so vplivali na njihovo strukturo, pomen in rabo. Raziskuje tudi razmerje med družbenimi in jezikovnimi spremembami skozi čas s sociolingvističnega vidika. V prvem delu naloge je podan kratek pregled dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na jezikovne spremembe, pri čemer so v ospredje postavljeni zunanji vzroki. V drugem delu je obravnavan razvoj poimenovanj za dvanajst pogosto uporabljenih zdravilnih zelišč. Obravnavan vzorec je povzet po članku A Review of 12 Commonly Used Medicinal Herbs, objavljenem v strokovni reviji Archives of Family Medicine leta 1998. Najprej so analizirane vse znane oblike samostalnikov, ki se nanašajo na dvanajst izbranih zelišč, v sodobni, srednji in stari angleščini. Po tem, ko je časovno opredeljeno, v katerem obdobju je bilo poimenovanje zelišča prvič uporabljeno v angleščini, je naveden etimološki izvor samostalnika. Opisane so formalne in pomenske spremembe poimenovanj, na koncu pa so navedeni primeri, ali in kako je zelišče uporabljeno v izbranem izvirnem zgodnjesrednjeveškem medicinskem besedilu, napisanem v stari angleščini. V tretjem delu so povzete ugotovitve analize, prav tako pa razmislek o tem, zakaj so se določene samostalniške oblike pojavile v določenih obdobjih v zgodovini angleškega jezika. V tem delu magistrska naloga poskuša najti skupni imenovalec in vzroke za obravnavane jezikovne spremembe.

• Keywords: poimenovanja zelišč, tradicionalna medicina, jezikovne spremembe, angleška etimologija, zgodovina angleščine