Which of the following refers to the study of word formation and word meaning?
Words, like facts, are difficult to remember out of context. Remembering is greatly facilitated when you have a body of information with which to associate either a word or a fact. For words, interesting origins or histories will help provide a context. For example, a hippopotamus is a "river horse," from the Greek hippos, meaning "horse," and potamos, meaning "river." Show Indiana is called the Hoosier state, and its people Hoosiers. Why? In the early days, the pioneers were gruff in manner; when someone knocked at the front door, a pioneer's voice would often boom, "Who's yere?" If you were offered a Hobson's choice, would you know what was meant? Thomas Hobson owned a livery stable in seventeenth-century England. He loved his horses, and to prevent any one horse from being overworked, he hired them out in turn, beginning with stall number one. Customers had to take the horses they were given. Thus Hobson's choice means no choice at all. (Pauk, p. 314) Etymology is the study of the origins of words. The English language is living and growing. Although many of our words have been part of our language for many years, new words are added all the time. Following are various ways our language is influenced.
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