It’s not a rule but a general principle that the smaller the word the older it is. I’m referring to English in the main but I believe it to hold true for all European languages as well. I have no knowledge of any other.
My premise is that the first words ever spoken were short, single syllable sounds, partly because they were easier to speak but also because there were many simple words to choose from in the beginning of speech. Just as a baby learns simple words first, I am assuming that this was the way that language grew.
In this way all of the things that have been associated with humans for millennia, in the main, are short. It works for:
- People: man, boy, girl, he, she.
- Animals: cow, dog, duck, cat, fox, sheep, wolf.
- Celestial bodies: moon, sun, sky, wind, cloud, god?
- Dwellings: home, door, rug, roof, hut,
It even holds for the smallest of words, I.
Of course there are modern exceptions, pi for example or car although this is a shortened word form but you need exceptions to prove a rule.
In this way we can tell when items came into human usage: A door came before a window and certainly came before a conservatory. A rug came before a carpet which came before laminated flooring. An ox was known in Europe well before a hippopotamus.
Is this a workable thesis or just a quirk of etymology (itself quite a long word)? Discuss.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 