How did English words come out with pork for pig's meat, beef for cow, mutton for goat but no name for chicken

Answer 1

The names of the animals were established in Old English but many of the names for the meat came from French with the Norman conquest. Beef comes from the French boeuf; pork from porc; and mutton from mouton. These are the French words for the animals.

Obviously the people at the time liked the distinction between the words for the animal and its meat and the two words stayed. Chicken was not much used as a name for meat in those days, they would usually be called fowls.

Answer 2

The person or persons responsible for coming up for the name of meat found in fish and chicken were making a statement to linguistics community. They wanted to show that not only was language important and a necessity to any growing culture but it was also possible to handicap communications by adding to many words that had the same meaning. For instance if one place called cow meat cow meat and not beef it would have the same meaning but if someone who called it beef came to a town that called it cow meat the town would not know what they were talking about. Problems arose from this when English speaking communities traveled to other countries to trade. They had already heard the term cow meat and did not know what the term beef meant. Because of this the linguistic authority’s decoded to go with that groups recommendation and start to simplify new words and meanings rather then complicate them.

Answer 3

Because English is an amalgam primarily of the 11th century Germanic language and Norman French, with a smattering of British (celtic) remnants and lots of later add-ons. And your poulet does lead to poultry.

Answer 4

Poultry is for chicken..or chicken itself is the name of hen's meat.

I don't know, but when you say chicken I automatically think of the meat and not the animal.

Answer 5

In the south we call chicken "yard bird"

Answer 6

Chicken would be 'poultry' or 'fowl'.