User talk:2601:602:C07F:3B50:B8E9:3E31:6C61:D2F8

As for the etymology of ‘fake’, it’s probably from Old English ‘fācn.’ I understand that we can’t contribute independent research per the rules, but the etymology on the page is conjecture anyway.

Realistically what happened is a dialect that did not have the rounding sound change in which ā became long, lax o (perhaps Scots.) Obviously, nonstandard dialect/Scots retained the word into middle period, then the word was back-formed because the speakers assumed that it was a plural, just like ‘game’ in which the etymologically correct form should be ‘gamen.’

To finish out my reasoning, the word became an adjective due to it being used with other nouns in compounds (they are compounds regardless of spelling convention i.e. if they use dashes or are spelled together as one word or neither, as is the case here) much like how ‘fun’ became an adjective in American English.

As far as my background, I have a bachelors degree in Linguistics from the University of Washington and have studied Old English and the Germanic languages consistently for nearly 30 years. 2601:602:C07F:3B50:B8E9:3E31:6C61:D2F8 17:12, 14 June 2024 (UTC)