A.Word.A.Day -- haplology

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May 15, 2000

This week's theme
Words about words

This week's words
haplology
verbicide
lexis
analects
metathesis
anadiplosis
anagoge

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

It's another of those words that go out of their way not to apply to themselves. If today's word were to practice what it preaches we would be seeing a leaner, meaner version of it, one that would be more suitable for Scrabble, and save two keystrokes. How does haplogy sound? See you in a few hundred years! In the meanwhile, look for more meta-words or words about words in AWAD during this week.

haplology

(hap-LOL-uh-jee)

noun: The loss of one of two identical or similar adjacent syllables in a word, as in Latin nutrix, `nurse,' from earlier nutritrix.

From Greek haplos, haplous (single, simple).

"There is also a consensus that arkuwar is the verbal noun to this stem, by haplology from expected arkuwawar."
H. Craig Melchert, Hittite arku-, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Jan 1, 1998.

X-Bonus

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. -Chinese Proverb

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