The World of Dr. Justice: Etymology of the Day: goujat

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Etymology of the Day: goujat

It turns out there is a curious reflex of goy in the French lexicon: goujat.

1. (vieux) valet d’armée
2. (vieux ou régional) apprenti maçon

3. (vieux) rustre …

[mot languedocien, de l’ancien provençal gojat “gars”, hébreu goya “servante chrétienne”]

-- Dictionnaire de la langue française (Bordas)

For much more about the background of such servantes chrétiennes, try this essay:

http://worldofdrjustice.blogspot.com/2013/08/phrase-for-sabbath-shabbos-goy-updated.html

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About the Author

David Justice studied French at the Sorbonne, mathematics and physics at Harvard and MIT, and math and linguistics at Berkeley. He is the author of The Semantics of Form in Arabic, in the Mirror of European Languages; and of the fictional works I Don’t Do Divorce Cases (which includes stories originally published in Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) and Murphy on the Mount. He taught French at Berkeley, and linguistics at the University of Alberta, then worked at Merriam-Webster as Editor of Etymology (where he edited Webster’s Book of Word Histories) and as Editor of Pronunciation. He subsequently was editor-in-chief at Franklin Electronic Publishers. He is currently employed as a language analyst, and consultant for the University of Maryland. He lives with his bride of forty years, overlooking a peaceful lake.