Re: [tied] etymology of 'hussy'

From: Ray
Message: 25538
Date: 2003-09-05

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:

> <housewife> (originally spelt <husewif>) is older. It was already
in use
> in Early Middle English (13th c.). English /w/ is notoriously
unstable
> in compounds, so the word was often contracted into <huzzif> or
> <hussive> (the vowel was shortened before the Great Vowel Shift),
and
> then further into <huzzy> or <hussy> (about the 16th c.). The
> differentiation of meaning between the full form (with a restored
long
> vowel) and the colloquial contractions is a still more recent
phenomenon.
>
> Piotr


Thank you, Piotr

I have one question. I read a book by Larry Trask, which says
that 'hussy' was the result of 'huswif' undergoing phonological
reduction. Then 'hussy' underwent analogy, and then the modern
form 'housewife' occurred.

It seems to imply that 'hussy' replaced 'huswif'! That means the 2
words were not coeval???

I will appreciate your reply

Ray