An Etymology Study of “Woman”.docVIP

An Etymology Study of “Woman” 　　【Abstract】There is a unique history of evolution behind every single word surviving into Modern English. This paper is to explore the etymology and history of evolution of the word “woman” in terms of spelling （form）， pronunciation， gender， part of speech， and meaning. Also discussed are the reasons that cause the changes on all aforementioned aspects of the word “woman”. 　　【Key words】woman； etymology； Old English； Middle English； Modern English 　　1. Introduction 　　The English language is characteristic of its cosmopolitan vocabulary that contains a large number of borrowings from many other languages. During the past 1500 years， English has never ceased evolving and changing： old words die out， new words are coined or borrowed， and existing words change meanings， which makes English a flexible and living language. There is a unique history of evolution behind every single word surviving into Modern English. This paper is to explore the etymology and history of evolution of the word “woman” in terms of spelling （form）， pronunciation， gender， part of speech， and meaning. Also discussed are the reasons that cause the changes on all aforementioned aspects of the word “woman”. 　　2. Spelling of “Woman” 　　The forms of the Modern English word “woman” and its plural “women” date back to Old English words “wīfman”， “wīfmann” （Etymological 1643） or “wīfmon”， and “wīfmen” respectively. These words are combinations of “wīf” and “man”， “mann” or “mon”， and “men”， which is a typical characteristic of Old English （Webster 2629）. According to Barnhart， the word “man” took several forms before 725 in Old English， such as “man”， “mann” and “mon” for singular， and “men” and “menn” for plural， therefore， it is not surprising to have “wīfman” in various forms in accordance with different forms of “man”. In Old English， the word “man” had two senses or meanings： human being in general， and “adult male human being”， while the primary sense of this