French Etymological Dictionary

The French Etymological Dictionary (FEW) is the most comprehensive etymological dictionary of the Gallo-Roman languages and their dialects. It was designed by the Swiss linguist Walther von Wartburg and written with the collaboration of numerous linguists. The original edition in German was published from 1922.

The FEW explains the origin and history of the entire Gallo-Roman vocabulary, i.e. French and Occitan , including its dialects. The Swiss National Science Foundation supported this project from 1952, and the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) since 1993 .

The work was essentially completed during Walter von Wartburg's lifetime, although further processing continued until 2002. It comprises 25 volumes - 160 fascicles - with more than 17,000 pages.
The Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française (DELF) by Oscar Bloch and Walter von Wartburg, ( Presses universitaires de France , Paris 1932, last edition 2004, ISBN 978-2-13-054426-5 ), has a different objective than the FEW . In the presentation of the word material, in contrast to the FEW, he does not proceed from the etymon , but from the New French vocabulary. Walter von Wartburg has updated the so-called “Bloch-Wartburg” in the various editions according to the research results made when the FEW was written.

Overview

• Volumes 1 to 14 contain the Latin, Greek, pre-Romanesque and some onomatopoeic etyma (original words ).
• Volumes 15 to 17 contain the Germanic Etyma.
• Volume 18 includes the Anglizismen ,
• Volume 19 Orientalia ,
• Volume 20 the borrowings from other languages ​​(Breton, Basque, Hebrew, etc.).
• Volumes 21 to 23 organize material of unknown or uncertain origin, including borrowings from other Romance languages, as well as corrections and new research results.
• Volumes 24 and 25 are revisions of the letter A.

literature

• Kurt Baldinger (ed.): Introduction aux dictionnaires les plus importants pour l'histoire du Français (= Bibliothèque française et romane. Volume 8). Klincksieck, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-252-01655-8 .
• Walther von Wartburg : Meaning and tasks of the French etymological dictionary. In: Walther von Wartburg: Of language and people. Collected Essays. Francke, Bern [1956], pp. 166-177.
• Walther von Wartburg: Le «French Etymological Dictionary»: Évolution etproblemèmes actuels. In: Walther von Wartburg: Of language and people. Collected Essays. Francke, Bern [1956], pp. 184-208.

Web links

• Homepage of the FEW at CNRS-ATILF University of Nancy

proof

1. ↑ http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/crai_0065-0536_2001_num_145_2_16302
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated February 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.