Re: proof that most etymologies are only fairy-tales

Peter T. Daniels wrote:
On Aug 6, 9:17 am, "Ekkehard Dengler" <ED...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My favourite
weird-but-(probably)-true etymology is "tabby": "al-3atta:biyya(t),
a suburb of Baghdad" > "striped silk" > "striped cat" > "cat" >
"spinster" > "gossip". That's quite some distance covered in a
handful of centuries.

? Where did it take the last two steps?

In Britain, presumably. I suggest consulting the Collins English Dictionary,
the American Heritage Dictionary and/or the OED. I'm not sure the most
recent couple of meanings could currently be said to exist, but perhaps this
sentence from a short story by Katherine Mansfield will convince you that
the dictionaries I've just mentioned didn't make them up.

www.theshortstory.org.uk/stories/downloads/mansfield.doc
"And proud young Kate, the enchanted princess, came in to see what the old
tabbies wanted now."

I don't think it's ever safe to say that the meaning of a word whose
history isn't well known couldn't have evolved in a particular way,
since, unlike sound change, semantic change is largely unpredictable.

What's "predictable" about sound change?

I think you know the answer to your question.

At any rate I doubt that it can serve as a basis for reconstructing
PPIE etyma.

Which isn't what internal reconstruction does ...

Precisely.

Regards,
Ekkehard


.

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