971: jaw Aug 6, 2017

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There are plenty of words for which there is no agreed etymology, but there are still a number of ways in which looking over those words can be insightful or at the very least interesting. The word 'jaw' comes from the Middle English 'jowe, joue' meaning more or less what it does now, but aside from that there is some debate. It is thought that the word comes either from Old French 'joue' meaning 'cheek', which could originate from Gaulish, but there are some issues with this explanation. It could also be Germanic, and related to 'chew' and 'jowl'. Either way, 'jaw' (or really 'jowe') replaced the Old English 'ceace, ceafl'. That C in Old English, by the way, would have been pronounced like the CH in 'chew', which in Old English was 'cēowan'. In related words in Dutch and German, however, a /k/ is used, such as in 'kauwen' and 'kauen' respectively, as one who didn't know Old English pronunciation might assume. This is also the case with 'jowl', or, in Old English 'ceole', but related words in Dutch and German, like 'kevels' and 'Kehle' respectively, have /k/.

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