On the Etymology of Dike
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8730632 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard A Spears (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 318-318 |
| Publication date | 1985-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1283 • E-ISSN: 1527-2133 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/454909 |
| OpenAlex | W2328103666 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 5 |
IN A BRIEF NOTE IN American Speech (57 [1982]: 269), Archibald A. Hill attempts to show that dyke or dike 'lesbian' is ultimately derived from hermaphrodite via morphodike. In addition, he chides editors of OED Supplement (1972) for not recognizing this derivation at entry for dike. Because Professor Hill slightly misstated evidence found in OED Supplement, his conclusions may be doubted by anyone who checks reference. Although his conclusion seems questionable, he may be right. In this paper I would like to re-examine evidence and present additional possibilities from other sources. Spelled dike or dyke, word is usually glossed as 'lesbian' or 'an aggressive, mannish lesbian', or 'a mannish woman'. In general slang, various forms of dyke and those words which are related to it range from generic term for mannish woman to toughest, most masculine variety of lesbian. The term is usually considered slang or cant and may have some degree of taboo connected with its use in certain settings. The dictionary and glossary attestations suggest that word is used in general slang primarily as slur or an epithet. I will be dealing with term and its variants as they are recognized in dictionaries and word lists. Hill states in his note that 1976 OED Supplement entry for morphodite contains a number of citations of form spelled morphodyke.There are only three citations for whole entry. One is for entry word morphodite, one is for morphodyte, and only last is for morphodyke. The first citation is from Dialect Notes (1: 421), and other two are taken from 1950s fiction. The entry word, and presumably two variant forms, are identified in OED Supplement as Colloq. shortening and mispronunciation of Hermaphrodite. This definition does not indicate that any of forms of morphodite or hermaphrodite have anything to do with female homosexuals. In The Queen's English, Rodgers glosses hermaphrodite as the stereotype homosexual referring to both males and females. The single crucial OED citation is clearly in support of this meaning: 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) xix. 174 He or she waddled by. But I suppose morphodykes are likely to take it personally when people get married. Thus although it is possible that dike comes from hermaphrodite, there is nothing in OED Supplement (1976) entry that does more than support this etymology if it were to be established on other, more substantial, grounds. This possible derivation must be weighed against other possi
Dike · Etymology · Linguistics · Lexicography and Language Studies · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism · Geology · History · Paleontology · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,19 |
| Citation span | 2000 - 2025 (26) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |