[Vwoolf] larks

[ANNE Fernald [Staff/Faculty [A&S]]]

Here is what my OED tells me about the etymology, which is uncertain but
does seem to support a link:

lark, v.2
View as:

   - Outline<http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showfullentry/false?t:ac=Entry/105880>
    |
   - Full entry<http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showfullentry/true?t:ac=Entry/105880>

Quotations:

   - Show all<http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showallquotations/true?t:ac=Entry/105880>
    |
   - Hide all<http://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry:showallquotations/false?t:ac=Entry/105880>

*Pronunciation:*  /lɑːk/
*Etymology:*  Belongs to lark
n.2<http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/105877#eid39740766>;
the noun and verb appear first in 1811–3. The origin is somewhat uncertain.

Possibly it may represent the northern lake
v.1<http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/105171#eid39907331>,
as heard by sporting men from Yorkshire jockeys or grooms; the sound /lɛək/
/læək/ , which is written *lairk* in Robinson's *Whitby Glossary* and in
dialect books, would to a southern hearer more naturally suggest ‘lark’
than ‘lake’ as its equivalent in educated pronunciation. On the other hand,
it is quite as likely that the word may have originated in some allusion to
lark n.1 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/105876#eid39739718>; compare the
similar use of *skylark* verb, which is found a few years earlier (1809).


On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 9:27 AM, Toni McNaron <mcnar001 at umn.edu> wrote:

> I agree with Michael Davis in that both the bird and the playful gaminess
> is going on in the reference.  I also think about the fact that larks, when
> they flourished, were often the very first birds to greet the dawn, hence
> they were seen as excited about another day in which they could make
> beautiful music, fly around, eat bugs, etc.  So a imagine larks as
> exuberant, hence perhaps how the verb "to lark" came into existence in the
> first place.
>
> Toni McNaron
>
>
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-- 
Anne E. Fernald<http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/english/faculty/english_faculty/anne_fernald_28537.asp>
Director of Writing/Composition at Lincoln Center,
Associate Professor of
English<http://www.fordham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/english/index.asp>and
Women's
Studies <http://www.fordham.edu/womens_studies>
Fordham University
113 W 60th St.
New York NY 10023

212/636-7613
fernald at fordham.edu
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