Obscured figurae etymologicae and Word Origins. Two Examples Involving Gothic

The figura etymologica is a rhetorical device in which the slots of a grammatical construction are filled by cognate lexemes, as in English she sang a song or he told a tale. As well as such cognate accusatives, other constructions occur, such as a manly man. In examples such as these, it is not disputed that the elements are etymologically related. This article suggests that similar, but not transparent, figures of speech can sometimes be used in reverse, as it were, to identify cognates that have not already been recognized. Gothic features in both examples.