THE ETYMOLOGY NERD
  • Home
  • ALGOSPEAK
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • EVENTS
  • MORE
    • Shop
    • Media/publicity
    • Blog (Archived)

ROBOT'S CHANGING STATUS

3/23/2017

0 Comments

 
In a bizarre twist, the word robot derives from Czech, something rare in English. The word picked up popularity after the 1920 sci-fi play Rossum's Universal Robots. In it, flesh-and-blood people were depicted as servants, which explains both how robot today is a "servant" and how the word has origins relating to people. Anyway, the robot part came from the Czech word robotnik, or "forced worker" with "farmer" connotations (sort of like a serf), from robota, "slavery". This derives from the Proto-Slavic cognate orbota, which is in turn from the earlier Proto-Slavic word orbh, "slave". Etymologists reconstruct the word as coming from the Proto-Indo-European term herbh, or "to change status"; something one must do when sold into slavery. Anyway, back to the play. Rossum's Universal Robots eventually made its way to the US, where the latter term came to be applied to machines serving you, an easy connection to make. If anyone refers to a "slave robot" or your "robot" updates its "status", appreciate the etymological irony. It's also justified to giggle at farmers losing their jobs to robots now!
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    AUTHOR

    Picture
    Hello! I'm Adam Aleksic. I have a linguistics degree from Harvard University, where I co-founded the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society and wrote my thesis on Serbo-Croatian language policy. In addition to etymology, I also really enjoy traveling, trivia, philosophy, board games, conlanging, and art history. 

    Archives

    December 2023
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    TAGS

    All
    Interview
    Satire

Picture
CONTACT: [email protected]
SUBSTACK • TIKTOK • INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE
I do not have a facebook account that's an impostor
  • Home
  • ALGOSPEAK
  • Infographics
    • Interactive Map
  • EVENTS
  • MORE
    • Shop
    • Media/publicity
    • Blog (Archived)