An excellent example of changing the etymology of a word is the word "Yankee." Who is it? Residents of America, violent oil conquerors, or American football team? If you delve into the history of the meaning of the word "Yankees", you can trace the thread leading to the time of the creation of the United States. In short, these are immigrants from various regions of Central Europe, rooted in the New Earth.
Meaning of the word “Yankees”
To this day, historians cannot figure out where this bright and sonorous word came from. There are many theories about his ancestor. Some believe that it came from the indigenous inhabitants of North America, but the main version to this day is the attitude to the languages of Western and Central Europe.
If you go back to the time of the war for US independence, you can find out that all immigrants who settled in New England were called by this word. Initially, the meaning of "Yankee" was a derogatory appeal to the adherents of American autonomy. Over time, the interpretation has changed significantly, and today the "Yankees" can be called absolutely any American. In the modern context, this no longer has such an offensive effect, although you should not contact your friends from America like that.
Beginning of the term distribution
Residents of the entire civilized world since the 17th century could easily answer the question of who the Yankees are. At that moment, the whole continent was divided into two warring camps: some believed that this territory should be left in the usual colonial form, while others, on the contrary, wanted to get the maximum rights and not depend on the outdated governments of the modern world.
Such a discrepancy, as expected in such cases, resulted in one of the most significant conflicts in the history of the United States of America - the famous War of Independence. During this bloody clash, a nickname for the adversaries, which we still know as the "Yankees," has taken root among the southerners. The concept changed its meaning almost immediately after the end of the Civil War. A huge role in this was played by the national and cultural upsurge of the New England natives.
For the first time, the wards of General James Wolfe and their opponents found out who the Yankees were. The famous commander used this word to refer to his subordinates, and sometimes even as a battle cry.
Basic versions of the origin of the word "Yankees"
The definition of a word has many variations of the source. Depending on the state, many scientists adhere to one or another position, but in general there are two main theories.
The first option, supported by an extremely reputable University of Oxford, states that this word has roots from the language of the Chiroki Indians. This people had a very similar word, which can be read as "iinki". It refers to a man who came from distant lands. This opinion has a lot of contradictions, since the Chiroki called the same name another Indian people, namely the Incas.
According to the second theory, to the question of who the Yankees are, the researchers of the language and culture answer unequivocally - this is a derivative of the combination of two words. Jan and kitty are one of the most common names of colonists, immigrants from Holland. It was the Dutch travelers who had the highest percentage among adherents of the independence of the United States of America. Natives of this region of Europe occupied an impressive territory from the north of the continent to the city of Albany, whose name is often confused with Alabama. There is an opinion that from the very beginning of the colonization of the New Earth, the “Yankees” were Americans who spoke with a pronounced Dutch accent.
Speaking about this term, it is also worth mentioning another, less popular theory, according to which the word came from the diminutive German name Janke.
Using the definition of "Yankee"
The main source of the use of this word is called by immigrants from the UK who fought against the rebel natives of New England. That is what they called "rebels." In the period of the XVIII century, this was an extremely offensive expression of negativity, the use of which could in many cases result in a fight, and sometimes a shootout.
To date, the meaning of the word has been largely lost, and now any American can be called Yankees. Who this is, does not have such great significance, but for residents of the CIS countries this word can be compared in meaning with the dismissive "Pindos".