Linguistics of Currency

F4　—　Neighboring Disciplines

Etymology is the fossil of currency before currency existed. Banco (desk), peso (weight), dollar (descendant of the thaler). We will excavate the monetary history sleeping within words.

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 6 min (3,017 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 5 readings

What this course teaches you to do

• Can explain currency names derived from units of weight (Peso, Pound, Mark, Monme), including their lineage.
• Can explain the etymology of Banco → Bank and Banca rotta → bankruptcy.
• Can trace the journey of the names Thaler → Dollar and Silver Coin → Yen/Yuan.
• Can practice the discipline of distinguishing between verified and unverified etymologies.

Lessons (6)

1. Fossils of Weight — Peso, Pound, Mark, MonmeMany major currency names were originally units of weight. Words carry the memory of an era of weighing.
2. Fossils of the desk — Banco and Banca RottaA bank is a table, bankruptcy is a broken table. The language of finance preserves the storefronts of the Rialto Bridge.
3. Traveling Names — From Thaler to Dollar, from Silver Yuan to YenThe name of the silver coin from Joachim's Valley crossed the sea to become the dollar. A name travels farther than the coin itself.
4. Characters That Crossed the Sea — The Correct Interpretation of Kanji Containing 'Shell'The 'shell' in 貨, 財, and 買 is a memory of China, not Japanese history. Separate the memory of the character from the history of the land.
5. The Politics of a Name — Kaiyuan, Changpyeong, and the New YenKaiyuan means a new era, Sangpyeong is a wish for price stability. A name is the first proclamation and a vessel for a wish.
6. The Method of Etymology — The Reliable Shelf and the Dubious ShelfThe origin of the dollar sign also comes with reservations about its various theories. Etymology is a verifiable historical source, and also a nest of popular theories.

Readings (5)

• Italy　Overview: 2,700 years of the world　the 14th century　Banco and Bankruptcy
  Section 2. Banco and banca rotta. Including the scene at the bench.
• The Hanseatic sea and the mark　Germany　the 12th–15th centuries　Northern Germany, before the scales of a merchant house
  Section 1. Mark = weight. Its correspondence with the pound is also clearly stated.
• Towards the euro　Spain　the present　Madrid, the Puerta del Sol
  Section 3. An Eastward Journey of a Name — From Silver Dollar to Yen and Yuan
• The country of the Spanish dollar　United States　the 17th–18th centuries　A colonial port in the Caribbean
  Section 6. The Dollar Sign: A Prominent but Contested Theory — A Case Study
• Korea　Overview: 2,700 years of the world　the 17th century　The Sangpyeong Tongbo
  Section 5. Forever Peaceful — A Coin Named for a Wish

Assessment

6 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 1 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.