What is the etymology of the word girl?

Answer 1

It might seem odd that the Serbian noun 'grlo' (in Cyrillic грло) is related to English 'girl', and it may seem even more peculiar to speculate that girl comes from the corresponding Proto-Slavic word. This reasoning is quite plausible if we take into account that 'grlo' in Serbian also denotes a head of cattle, usually a horse, and also a household member.

Additionally, the original meaning of the noun girl was "child in general" (boy or girl, and that usually marked with plural). The emergence of meaning 'čeljade' (members of a household) in relation to the noun 'grlo' (neck in Serbian) is motivated in Serbian. Proto-IndoEuropean root *guer- gained its expansion -dlo only in BaltoSlavic languages (ProtoSlavic *grъdlo > O.C.S. гръло, Russian горло, Polish gardlo, Old Prussian gircele). In Germanic languages an expected shift had occurred: Old High German querka, querechela 'throat', Old Islandic kuerk 'throat, craw'. In Latin gurgulio 'throat, trachea' has l, but doesn't have the meaning of a household member and could not have produced the meaning ‘girl’.

The explanation for this is quite sensible and is verifiable by historical and geographic sources. Namely, this is probably the case of a Germanic loanword from a Slavic dialect from the north of today's East Germany, the area where West Slavs (Sorbs or Wends) and Anglo-Saxons had been in direct contact.

The above-mentioned circumstances would explain why etymological dictionaries fail to pinpoint the most probable origin of some frequent English words such as boy, girl, berry, glad, etc. – they mostly neglect the Slavic influence on the Anglo-Saxon language stratum.

Answer 2

The word "girl" is of uncertain origin, but it likely comes from Low German or Middle Dutch. It is thought to have originally meant "young person" and may be related to the word "child."