Notes & Queries Archive
REPLY1850

Ergh, Er, or Argh

By JARTZBERG.

Might not these words (queried by T.W., Vol. ii. p 22.) be corruptions of "*burgh*," aspirated *wurgh*, and the aspirate then dropped; or might not *ark, argh*, &c., be corruptions of "*wark*:" thus Southwark, commonly pronounced *Southark*? I merely offer this as a conjecture.

Topics: Linguistic Corruptions, Historical Linguistics

Locations: Southwark