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• folk •

Pronunciation: fowk • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. People in general, ordinary people: 'folk hero', 'folklore'. 2. (Plural) Parents or members of the wider family: 'My folks won't let me go. What do your folks say?'

Notes: L is pronounced [w] before K in other words, too: milk, talk, welcome. This word is almost slang; it is folksy itself. Folksy is the most often used adjective from today's word, though folkish is out there somewhere.

In Play: The first sense of this word is an informal, almost slang way of saying people: "Folks around here don't like such carryings-on." Since we had an example of folk referring to the parents in the Meaning, let's try one about the broader family: "My folks back home are happy without me and I'm happier without them!"

Word History: Today's Good Word seems to be an authentic (Germanic) English word, not a borrowing. We find it in several other Germanic languages, like Dutch volk, German Volk, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish folk. The going theory is that all these words derive from PIE plê-go- "abundance, multitude" based on pelê-/polê/plê- "to fill" + go-, a noun suffix. If so, this would relate it to Russian polnyi "full", German voll "full", and English full—all of which derive from the same root. Some etymologists for good reason have associated it with Latin vulgus "common people, hoi poloi", though the connection is hard to make. The [v] and [g] are voiced variants of [f] and [k], separated only by vibration of the vocal cords. This would suggest a borrowing from some Germanic tribe, say, the Franks, a perennial enemy of the Romans. Were the Romans to have borrowed the Frankish word for "people", it would probably be a pejorative term in Latin. (Let's now thank Tomasz Kowaltowski for suggesting today's fascinating Good Word.)

and the German "volkommen' is 'welcome"?

I am a regular reader of this site and have learnt a lot about words.
However, in good English, surely 'milk' and 'welcome' must include the 'l' sound.

I might be climbing out on a limb here, but, without a doubt, many of us often balk at folks who don’t say all the consonants in words like milk, welcome, handsome, Wednesday, sandwich and pumpkin. Comb through any dictionary for miscellaneous examples and make a column of them; not all are foreign words that just walked into our language. I acknowledge that such pronunciations are benighted and dumb, or at least untoward. They make me bristle through and through. Try to stay calm. It might feel awkward, but sigh, clutch your handkerchief and subtly give a thumbs down to anyone who would talk like that, even if she’s your daughter.

I am a regular reader of this site and have learnt a lot about words.
However, in good English, surely 'milk' and 'welcome' must include the 'l' sound.

I agree here. I even just tried saying wewcome out loud and felt quite babyish.

English speakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey can't pronounce [l] unless followed by a vowel. My sons (in their 50s) to this day can't do it despite a quarter century in Colorado . I've heard people from other parts of the country who have the same problem, but haven't tracked them.

It is a wide-spread phenomenon. It manifests in Serbian, too. The past tense is expressed by the suffix -l. So, the feminine of raditi "to work" is radila, but the masculine is radio. Since Serbian doesn't have a letter for [w], O serves the purpose.

So what do they do about something like talc? Or is that simply talcum?

I know quite a few West Africans, who tend to say weckum for "welcome," but other than that I haven't noticed anyone having any problem pronouncing the L. Tawk, though, is universal...

I grew up in Baltimore, have lived in Rhode Island since college. I don't notice the absence of "l", but sometimes it's diminished. It seems to reappear in full force in "talkative". Similarly with "welcome".

Re "talk" vs. "talc", the "a" isn't pronounced the same, but the comment on "talcum" indicates to me that the pronunciation of the "l" is likely heard in the same way as described above.

I can usually peg the Baltimorean by his speech. Of course I speak perfect red neck and I timidly speak English as a second language.