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#31054
06/03/2001 12:03 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I offer this for any commentary and discussion.
The first sentence is the source.
"It's Word Flex from FlowGo.com and the eUniverse Entertainment Network
The history of ourselves and our nation lies in the (sometimes) strange origins of how words work their way in to our common language.
Today's Word:
Metanalysis
Metanalysis is a technical term in linguistics that was coined in 1914 by Otto Jespersen, a Danish linguist who was one of the great grammarians of English.
Metanalysis can be broadly defined as 'a reinterpretation of the division between words or syntactic units', as the Oxford English Dictionary does. A usual example in English is the shift of the letter n based on a misunderstanding of the previous indefinite article a/an. So--and I'll be oversimplifying some of the changes here--the word adder was originally nadder, but the phrase "a nadder" was reinterpreted as "an adder." Likewise, apron was originally napron.
In the other direction, newt 'type of salamander' was originally ewt, but "an ewt" was taken as "a newt." And nickname was originally an ekename (eke is an archaic term for 'also').
Metanalysis is also used to refer to syntactic interpretations. Jespersen gave the following example: "It is good for a man/not to touch a woman," which could be apprehended as "It is good/for a man not to touch a woman."
Sometimes metanalysis is given an especially broad range, where it is applied to any process of counter-etymological regularization--as when the plural of Walkman becomes Walkmans instead of Walkmen, or when the nonce past tense of sing-song is sing-songed instead of sang-song. But it's likely that by the time you encounter the word used in such a restricted way, you'll already be a linguist, and won't need my help anymore."
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I will start, by saying that I had never heard of an ekename. Also that I have given much thought to the
syntactical differences that can occur.
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#31055
06/03/2001 2:22 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The dictionary gives "archaic" meaning of "eke" as "also". That makes ekename the ancestor of police blotter notation "aka" meaning "also known as".
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#31056
06/03/2001 2:29 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
So are our screen names ekenames?
A word found in Regency-period books : nunchon which is now our luncheon. According to OED origin unknown ... a meal taken between two main meals which became a light noon meal.
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#31057
06/03/2001 2:51 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
luncheon
n.
earlier lunchion, lunshin < prec., prob. after dial. nuncheon, a snack, lunch < ME nonachenche, lit., noon drink a lunch; esp., a formal lunch with others
"nonachenche" = noon drink . That explains origin nicely
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#31058
06/03/2001 10:11 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
So, by the same theory of metamorphosis, are all "H' nouns that take the "an" instead of "a" destined to become "N" nouns...i.e. an honor...noner?
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#31059
06/05/2001 4:27 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
I think it's used as a descriptive term for what has happened in some words rather than a predictive theory of what will happen in all cases.
Bingley
Bingley
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