Yankee English · revision 1053

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈjæŋ.ki/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Of unknown origin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) It probably comes from Dutch: perhaps from ''Janke'', a diminutive of the name ''Jan'' “John”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) or a back-formation from ''Jan Kees'', a dialect form of ''Jan Kaas'' “John Cheese”, a nickname for Dutchmen, mistaken for a plural.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Random House suggests it was applied by the Dutch of colonial New York to English settlers in Connecticut.^(RHWU)^(Etymonline) The forms ''Yankey'' and ''Yanky'' occur as nicknames in the 1680s.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A nickname, as in ''Yankey Duch'' (1683) and ''Captain Yankey'' (1684);^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) as a term of contempt for New Englanders it appears in 1758.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ First used derisively by the British for New Englanders,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) the name was adopted with pride by the New Englanders themselves after the Battle of Lexington in 1775.^(AHD) As a general name for a native of New England it dates from 1765.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The British applied it to all Americans from about 1784,^(AHD)^(OED 1989) and Southerners applied it to Northerners (1817), especially to Union soldiers in the Civil War.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1683 – ''Yankey'', a nickname.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1758 – a term of contempt for a New Englander.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1765 – a native of New England.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1784 – any American, in British use.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+ * 1817 – a Northerner, in Southern use.^(AHD)

+ * 1952 – a code word for the letter Y.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A native or inhabitant of [[New England]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A native or inhabitant of a northern US state, especially a [[Union]] soldier in the American [[Civil War]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A native or inhabitant of the United States; an American.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A code word for the letter ''Y'' in radio communication.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Yankeedom]]

+ * [[Yankeefy]]

+ * [[Yankeeland]]

+ * [[Yank]]

+ * [[Yankee-Doodle]]

+ * [[Yankeeism]]

+ * [[yanqui]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Jan]]

+ * [[John]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}