Etymology

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The Modern English word "folk", derives from Old English "folc" meaning "common people", "men", "tribe" or "multitude". The Old English noun itself came from Proto-Germanic "*fulka" which perhaps originally referred to a "host of warriors" (compare Old Norse "volc" meaning "people" but more so "army" or "detachment" and Lithuanian "pulkas" meaning "crowd", the latter is considered to be an early Lithuanian loanword from Germanic origin). The word gradually disappeared from English after the Norman Invasion but was reintroduced in 1846 by antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803-85) as an Anglo-Saxonism. This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally," and opened up a flood of compound formations, eg. folk art (1921), folk-hero (1899), folk-medicine (1898), folk-tale (1891), folk-song (1847), folk-dance (1912). Folk-music is from 1889; in reference to the branch of modern popular music (originally associated with Greenwich Village in New York City) it dates from 1958.

Cognates in other Germanic language

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Folk has a cognate in almost every other Germanic language, all deriving from Proto-Germanic "*fulka", some are listed below:

• Danish - folk
• Dutch - volk
• Swedish - folk
• Frisian - folk
• Norwegian - folk
• German - Volk
• Afrikaans - folk

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"My idea of heaven is a place where the Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues” - Mark Knopfler #Quotes #Music #Blues
sanjeevn (sanjeev ) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:56:12 -0000
"My idea of heaven is a place where the Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues” - Mark Knopfler #Quotes #Music #Blues
@USEmbPretoria Well yeah. I guess we stil have a lot to learn abt the US folk. Boondocks makes us think they kewl abt thngs. Oh wel
Buhlebonga (Buhle Mbonambi) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:02:54 -0000
@USEmbPretoria Well yeah. I guess we stil have a lot to learn abt the US folk. Boondocks makes us think they kewl abt thngs. Oh wel
back from lansdowne. @kate_bradley and the goodbye horses were terrific, but strange folk at that pub. that includes 'faster mummy harder'.
rosieryan (Rosanna Ryan) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:33:34 -0000
back from lansdowne. @kate_bradley and the goodbye horses were terrific, but strange folk at that pub. that includes 'faster mummy harder'.
Har dere lest "Tribes"? Det bør dere ha gjort, mener den ene respondenten - nei, han ene "ekte folk"'n.
Trudelutt2 (Trude Lerfald) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:27:23 -0000
Har dere lest "Tribes"? Det bør dere ha gjort, mener den ene respondenten - nei, han ene "ekte folk"'n.
@hvorforikke Vi er her vi, jeg vet ikke hvor lenge folk blir da.
vincent__h (Vincent Hasselgård) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:50:03 -0000
@hvorforikke Vi er her vi, jeg vet ikke hvor lenge folk blir da.
Test cet aprem du nouveau son d'accordéon (suite au passage chez le facteur) et de la nouvelle guitare folk.. yeah
petit_homme (Petit Homme) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:38:02 -0000
Test cet aprem du nouveau son d'accordéon (suite au passage chez le facteur) et de la nouvelle guitare folk.. yeah

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