Etymology has always interested me; not so much from an "evolutionary" perspective (how the meaning has changed), but from what could be described as an "originatory" (its original meaning ) one. What do words really mean and what are their essences? What is the idea behind the word?
Russell Lockhart, in his essay 'Words as Eggs', says that 'words take on life, induce images, excite the imagination, begin to weave textures with one another, and tell whole stories, if we but scratch the surface' (Lockhart 1983, p. 110). For me, this is the adventure of etymology.
The online etymology dictionary states that the word etymology stems from the from the Greek word etymologia, whose root is etymon which means "true sense" (neut. of etymos "true," related to eteos "true") and logos which means "word. A more complete (and Heideggerian)etymology of logos isreserved for another post.
Heidegger says that ‘words and languages are not wrappings in which things are packed for the commerce of those who write and speak. It is in words and language that things first come into being and are’ (Heidegger 1959, p. 13).
Jung states that 'the word alone is a mere abstraction, an exchangeable coin in intellectual commerce… The mere use of words is futile if you do not know what they stand for... The words you use are empty and valueless, and they gain life and meaning only when you try to learn about their numinosity, their relationship to the living individual. Then only do you begin to understand that the names mean very little, but that the way they are related to you is all-important. (Jung 1967c, p. 257)
Elsewhere, Jung states that 'no one pays attention to what lies behind words, to the basic ideas that are there. Yet the idea is the only thing that is truly there. (McGuire and Hull 1977, p. 467).
This belief leads Jung to also assume that 'practically every word would become an archetype, because every word has its history’. (Jung 1984, p. 538)
Another digression of interest in this line of thinking lies in the relationship between the Greek work etymos, from which we derive the very word etymology, and noumênia which means the "true or natural new moon". The relationship is called a collocation. Collocations are words that are frequently used together.
In Kantian philosophy, as well as Jungian psychology, a fundamental distinction exists between phenomenon and noumenon, between things as they appear to us and things as they really are (in their essence). Phenomenon stems from the Greek word phainomena which means "appearances" and derives from the word from phainomai which means "to appear". Noumena stems from the Greek word noomenon which refers to "that which is apprehended by thought", and which is the neuter of present passive participle of noein which means "to think, conceive", which stems from nous which means "mind". Furthermore, noeo means "to perceive by the mind", to "think, consider, reflect".
As noein and noeo have basically the same meaning and appear to be related to noumênia, which is a collocation of etymous (the root of etymology), can we not conclude that the very etymology of the word etymology concerns us with the true and noumenal meaning of words? In this case, as Jung and Heidegger tell us, words represent archetypal forms/images, in which we encounter Being. Although properly explored in another post, this is analogous to the distinction between eidos and eidolon.
We can see from this brief excursion that words are formulations, or more literally forms of various noumenal essences. What matter therefore, is the encounter with the essence, and this is what creative etymology promises (and ultimately delivers).
Sources:
Heidegger, M. 1959, An Introduction to Metaphysics, trans. Manheim, R., Yale University Press, New Haven.
Jung, C. G. 1967c, The Symbolic Life, Bollingen Series, vol. 18, trans. Baynes, H. G., Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Jung, C. G. 1984, Dream Analysis: Notes of the seminar given in 1928-1930 by C G Jung, vol. 1, McGuire, W. (ed), Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.
Lockhart, R. A. 1983, Words as Eggs: psyche in language and clinic, Spring Publications, Dallas, TX.
McGuire, W. & Hull, R. F. C. (eds) 1977, C G Jung Speaking: Interviews and Encounters, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Online Dictionary of Etymology: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=etymology&searchmode=none