Words

Our tree climbing experiences will present many brick walls along the way.  These often appear when we face a country of origin which is completely different than our own.   You know, those ancestors liked to travel around.   Language is one of the key factors that involve our attention as we try to sort through the branch we are hanging.  For me, the JONES surname has offered a variety of difficult brick walls since my country of origin (Wales) has a completely different language [its origin and roots] than my English.   The following table gives such examples.

It is titled "Words of Life" and begins with the "English" [American] word such as "birth", "baby", "infant", etc.  These are certainly words of life as we examine them in our tree climbing.  The far right column gives the "Anglo-Saxon" for the same word.   Between these are the "Welsh", "Latin", "French", and "Greek" to explore these words as they have occurred among the documents of the day.  It can be seen that the "Welsh" word is distinctively different than any other of the languages explored.  It is this distinction that becomes involved in the origin of the JONES surname.  You may need to explore the various languages that your own ancestors shared along the way...understanding "words" can be a brick wall breaker.

Digging Roots

Placing your surname into its language origins will often provide additional insight into your family tree.  Language has a way of explaining the roots of words, and the derivation of their meanings.   Many surnames take their meaning from trades, crafts, or activities that were first the way of life for the family.  The surname "Smith" for instance derives from the labor of the hammer and anvil.  The Saxon word "smytt"(1) means "strikes" which would certainly be the main activity of those pounding the iron.

The figure to the right shows the language derivation for my surname Jones.  It took a number of years to put all this language stuff together, but it has a history all to itself.  From Hebrew to modern English.  Who would have thought.

Digging roots can be fun.

(1) Corson, H., Hand-Book of Anglo-Saxon, Henry Holt & Co., 1873, p.447.