Word that would appear to have a related word but does not
An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not.[1] Such words usually have a prefix or suffix that would imply that there is an antonym, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite. If the prefix or suffix is negative, such as 'dis-' or -'less', the word can be called an orphaned negative.[2]
Unpaired words can be the result of one of the words falling out of popular usage, or can be created when only one word of a pair is borrowed from another language, in either case yielding an accidental gap, specifically a morphological gap. Other unpaired words were never part of a pair; their starting or ending phonemes, by accident, happen to match those of an existing morpheme, leading to a reinterpretation.
The classification of a word as "unpaired" can be problematic, as a word thought to be unattested might reappear in real-world usage or be created, for example, through humorous back-formation. In some cases a paired word does exist, but is quite rare or archaic (no longer in general use).
Such words – and particularly the back-formations, used as nonce words – find occasional use in wordplay, particularly light verse.
In English
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Words not attested or very rare in English usage.
- ^ a b c Jocular or facetious coinages as intentional back-formation.
References
- ^ Injeeli, Prudent (2013). Mind Your Words Master the Art of Learning and Teaching Vocabulary. Trafford on Demand Pub. ISBN 978-1-4669-9131-6. OCLC 850242046.
- ^ "Orphaned negative". Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Feckful". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "Flammable vs. Inflammable". Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ "Nocuous". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "Committal". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "What's Going On With 'Nonplussed'?". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nonsense". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
- ^ "Whelmen - Middle English Compendium".
- ^ "Whelm". Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Words We're Watching: Prepone". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "Ruthful". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
External links
- "Unpaired words" at World Wide Words
- "Absent antonyms" at 2Wheels: The Return
- Words with no opposite equivalent, posted by James Briggs on April 2, 2003, at The Phrase Finder
- Brev Is the Soul of Wit, Ben Schott, The New York Times, April 19, 2010
- Parker, J. H. "The Mystery of The Vanished Positive" in Daily Mail, Annual for Boys and Girls, 1953, Ed. French, S. Daily Mail: London pp. 42–43 – article on the topic, ending in a short poem "A Very Descript Man"[usurped] using humorous opposites of unpaired words
- Jack Winter, "How I Met My Wife", The New Yorker, July 25, 1994, p. 82, uses many unpaired words for humorous effect
- Semantic Enigmas: "I once read a nonsense poem that removed the apparently negative prefixes of words like 'inept', 'inert' and 'uncouth' to make new words: 'ept', 'ert' and 'couth'. I've searched for the poem since, but no luck. Can anyone help?", The Guardian – cites "Gloss" by David McCord and "A Dream of Couth" in The Game of Words by Willard R. Espy
