Editing Yeoman (section)

== Etymology ==
The etymology of yeoman is uncertain, for several reasons.

The earliest documented use occurs in [[Middle English]].<ref name="1928_OED_YeomanIA"/> There are no known [[Old English]] words which are considered acceptable parent words for yeoman.<ref name="1911_Britannica_YeomanIA"/> Nor are there any readily identifiable [[cognates]] of yeoman in [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]], [[Old Frisian]], [[Old Dutch]], [[Old Saxon]], or [[Middle Low German]].<ref name="2009_Liberman"/> The four last-named of these languages are [[West Germanic languages]], closely related to Old English at the time they were spoken. Taken together, these facts would indicate that yeoman (1) is a word specific to the [[Old English#Dialects|regional dialects]] found in England; and (2) is nothing similar to any word used in continental Europe.

Another complicating factor for the etymology is that yeoman is a [[compound word]] made by joining two other words: ''yeo'' + ''man''. Linguists have been perplexed about the origin of ''yeo'' since scholars such as [[John Mitchell Kemble]] and [[Joseph Bosworth]] began the modern linguistic study of Old English in the early to mid 19th century.<ref name="2009_Liberman"/> Two possible etymologies have been proposed to explain the origin of ''yeo''.

=== ''Oxford English Dictionary'' ===
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (OED) has proposed that yeoman is derived from ''yongerman'', which first appeared in a manuscript called ''Pseudo-Cnut's Constitutiones de Foresta''.<ref name="1928_OED_YeomanIA"/> Although the manuscript has been demonstrated to be a forgery (it was produced during the reign of [[King Henry II of England]], rather than during the reign of [[King Cnut]]), it is considered authentic to the 11th and 12th-century [[Royal forest#Forest law|forest laws]].<ref name="Pseudo-Cnut_forest_laws"/> According to the OED,<ref name="1928_OED_YeomanIA"/> the manuscript refers to 3 social classes: (1) the [[thegn]] (noble) at the top; (2) the tunman (townman) at the bottom; and (3) the lesser thegn in the middle. ''Yongerman'' is considered a [[synonym]] for a lesser thegn. OED suggested that ''yongerman'' is related to ''youngman'', meaning a male youth or young male adult who was in the service of a high-ranking individual or family.

This proposed etymology is that ''youngman'' is in turn related to [[Old Norse]] ''ungmenni'' (youths); [[North Frisian language|North Frisian]] ''ongman'' (lad, fellow); [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''jongeman'' (youngman); and [[German language|German]] ''Jungmann'' (deckhand, ordinary seaman);<ref name="1928_OED_YoungmanIA"/> cf. also German ''[[wikt:Junker#German|Junker]]'' ⇐ ''jung[er] Herr''. This etymology provides a plausible [[semantic]] link from ''yongerman'' to ''youngman'', while at the same time providing most of the earliest definitions of yeoman.

=== ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology'' ===
The ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology'' (CDE) is another well-respected scholarly source, as it is published by the same company which produces ''[[The Chambers Dictionary]]''. Their proposed etymology reconstructs a possible Old English word, ''*ġēamann'', as the parent of yeoman. (The asterisk or star as the first letter is a linguistic convention to indicate the word has been reconstructed, and is unattested in any surviving record). The reconstructed word is a compound word made from the root word ''ġē'', ''ġēa'' (district, region) + ''mann'' (man). To further strengthen their etymology, CDE compares their reconstructed word to Old Frisian ''gāman'' (villager), and modern [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]] ''gea'', ''goa'', Dutch ''gouw'', German ''Gau'' (district, region).<ref name="1988_CDE_YeomanIA"/>

When comparing the simpler and more comprehensive OED etymology with the CDE etymology, modern linguists have expressed dissatisfaction with the CDE version.<ref name="2009_Liberman"/>