Editing Archaism

{{Short description|Outdated language rarely used}}
{{distinguish|Anarchism}}
{{original research|date=March 2009}}
In [[language]], an '''archaism'''  is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. [[lexicon|Lexical]] archaisms are single archaic words or expressions used regularly in an affair (e.g. [[religion]] or [[law]]) or freely; [[literature|literary]] archaism is the survival of archaic language in a traditional literary text such as a [[nursery rhyme]] or the deliberate use of a [[style (fiction)|style]] characteristic of an earlier age—for example, in his 1960 novel ''[[The Sot-Weed Factor (1960 novel)|The Sot-Weed Factor]]'', John Barth writes in an 18th-century style.<ref name="McArthurMcArthur2005">{{cite book|author1=Thomas Burns McArthur|author2=Roshan McArthur|title=Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMsWFsI0YkIC&pg=PT162|access-date=4 September 2013|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280637-6|page=162}}</ref>  Archaic words or expressions may have distinctive emotional [[connotation]]s—some can be humorous (''forsooth''), some highly formal (''What say you?''), and some solemn (''With thee do I plight my troth''). 
The word ''archaism'' is from the {{langx|grc|ἀρχαϊκός}}, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately {{lang|grc|ἀρχαῖος}}, ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient'.

A distinction between '''archaic''' and '''obsolete''' words and [[word sense]]s is widely used by dictionaries. An archaic word or sense is one that still has some current use but whose use has dwindled to a few specialized contexts, outside which it [[connotation|connotes]] old-fashioned language. In contrast, an obsolete word or sense is one that is no longer used at all. A reader encounters them when reading texts that are centuries old. For example, the works of [[Shakespeare]] are old enough that some obsolete words or senses are encountered therein, for which [[gloss (annotation)|glosses (annotations)]] are often provided in the margins.

Archaisms can either be used deliberately (to achieve a specific effect) or as part of a specific [[jargon]] (for example in [[law]]) or formula (for example in [[religion|religious]] contexts).  Many nursery rhymes contain archaisms.  Some archaisms called [[fossil word]]s remain in use within certain fixed expressions despite having faded away in all other contexts (for example, ''[[wikt:vim|vim]]'' is not used in normal English outside the [[set phrase]] ''vim and vigor'').

An outdated form of language is called archaic. In contrast, a language or dialect that contains many archaic traits (archaisms) relative to closely related languages or dialects spoken ''at the same time'' is called [[Linguistic conservatism|conservative]].

==Usage==
Archaisms are most frequently encountered in [[history]], [[poetry]], [[fantasy literature]], [[law]], [[philosophy]], [[science]], [[technology]], [[geography]] and [[ritual]] writing and speech. Archaisms are kept alive by these ritual and literary uses and by the study of older literature. Should they remain recognised, they can potentially be revived.

Because they are things of continual discovery and re-invention, science and technology have historically generated forms of speech and writing which have dated and fallen into disuse relatively quickly. However, the emotional associations of certain words have kept them alive, for example the archaic 'wireless' rather than 'radio' for a generation of British citizens who lived through the [[Second World War]]; but in recent years the term has been repurposed as a non-archaic term for [[Wi-Fi|wifi]] and [[Cellular network|cell-phone]] technology. 

A similar desire to evoke a former age means that archaic place names are frequently used in circumstances where doing so conveys a political or emotional subtext, or when the official new name is not recognised by all (for example: 'Madras' rather than 'Chennai'). So, a restaurant seeking to conjure up historic associations might prefer to call itself ''Old Bombay'' or refer to ''Persian cuisine'' in preference to using the newer place name. A notable contemporary example is the airline [[Cathay Pacific]], which uses the archaic [[Cathay]] for [[China]].

Archaisms are frequently misunderstood, leading to changes in usage. One example is the [[phrase]] "odd man out", which originally came from the phrase "to find the odd man out", where the verb "to find out" has been split by its object "the odd man", meaning the item which does not fit. The object + split verb has been reinterpreted as a noun + adjective, such that "out" describes the man rather than any verb.

The [[pronominal adverbs]] found in [[legal writing|the writing of lawyers]] (e.g. ''heretofore'', ''hereunto'', ''thereof'') are examples of archaisms as a form of jargon. Some [[phraseology|phraseologies]], especially in religious contexts, retain archaic elements that are not used in ordinary speech in any other context: "With this ring I thee wed."  Archaisms are also used in the [[dialogue]] of [[historical novel]]s to evoke the flavour of the period. Some may count as [[inherently funny word]]s and are used for [[humour|humorous]] effect.

== Examples ==
A type of archaism is the use of ''[[thou]]'', the second-person singular pronoun that fell out of general use in the 17th century, while ''you'' or ''ye'', formerly only used to address groups, and then also to respectfully address individuals, is now used to address both individuals and groups. ''Thou'' is the [[nominative case|nominative]] form; the [[oblique case|oblique]]/[[objective (grammar)|objective]] form is ''thee'' (functioning as both [[accusative case|accusative]] and [[dative case|dative]]), and the [[genitive|possessive]] is ''thy'' or ''thine''.

<blockquote>Though '''thou hast''' ever so many counsellors, yet do not forsake the counsel of '''thy''' own soul.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Strauss | first = Emanuel | department = Volume 2 | year = 1994 | title = Dictionary of European Proverbs | publisher = Routledge | page = 1044 | isbn =0415096243}}</ref>
:— English proverb</blockquote>
<blockquote>Today me, tomorrow '''thee'''.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Strauss | first = Emanuel |department = Volume 2 | year = 1994 | title = Dictionary of European Proverbs | publisher = Routledge | page = 1038 | isbn =0415096243}}</ref>
:— English proverb</blockquote>

That is: today this happens to me, but tomorrow to you.

<blockquote>To '''thine''' own self be true.<ref>Polonius, ''Hamlet'', scene III</ref>
: —William Shakespeare</blockquote>

Archaisms often linger in proverbs, "falling easier on the tongue",<ref name="AllertonNesselhauf2004">{{cite book|author1=David John Allerton|author2=Nadja Nesselhauf|author3=Paul Skandera|title=Phraseological Units: Basic Concepts and Their Application|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3kdAQAAIAAJ|access-date=4 September 2013|year=2004|publisher=Schwabe Verlag Basel|isbn=978-3-7965-1949-9|page=80}}</ref>
and employing two of the [[Rhetorical operations|four fundamental]] rhetorical effects, permutation (immutatio) and addition (adiectio).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://visart.info/DR/arh.htm|title=АРХАИКА|website=Медиаэнциклопедия ИЗО}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Anachronism]]
* [[Fossil word]]
* [[Historical linguistics]]
* [[Legal English]]
* [[Linguistic conservatism]]
* [[List of alternative country names]]
* [[List of archaic technological nomenclature]]
* [[Neologism]]
* [[Thou]]
* [[Ye olde]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tn7q1pf Archaism] entry in the ''[http://escholarship.org/uc/nelc_uee UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology]''

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Archaic words and phrases|*]]
[[Category:Lexicology]]