Etymology and development of semantics of ‘Angel’ and ‘Demon’ in English, Dutch, and Ukrainian: a comparative study

Abstract

The paper deals with a dichotomy of an angel and a demon as opposed creatures that embody the good and the evil in various cultures. An interdisciplinary overview of angels and demons outlines their roles and significance in philosophy, literature, religion, and arts. Common and particular ways of ‘angel’ and ‘demon’ reflection in English, Dutch, and Ukrainian are identified with three types of linguistic analysis: etymological, componential, and that of dictionary definitions. Thus, the paper gives the results of an etymological analysis for the two key lexemes based on English (‘angel’, ‘demon’), Dutch (‘engel’, ‘demon’), and Ukrainian (‘ангел’, ‘демон’) etymological dictionary entries followed by comparison and contrast and identification of both isomorphic and allomorphic features. It also provides the semantic changes in the meanings of ‘angel’ and ‘demon’ in three languages under study. The dictionary interpretations for the studied lexemes are added to present the ideas/images of angels and demons reflected in the consciousness of the English, Dutch, and Ukrainians. In fact, the obtained data enable readers to witness similarities and differences in perception, conceptualisation and categorisation of the good (embodied by angels) and the evil (embodied by demons) by speakers of different languages. This can both contribute to improved dictionary definitions and facilitate intercultural communication making it more efficient in today’s globalized world.