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ocgforme · 12-04-2010, 05:20 AM

I'm no lexicographer, just fond of language in general, so here's a stab at a layman's explanation:

You're experiencing a couple of language phenomenon at once with these coined words. Firstly, humans tend to shorten words which are used often. That's how perambulators became prams, lol. (And why no one says "electronic mail" when "e-mail" is just as readily understood.) Secondly, *written* words which begin as hyphenated compound words (or created words like e-mail) *also* tend to be "Anglicized" into a standard, single word, though that tended to happen more slowly before the 20th century. Many centuries ago, "to-morrow" was a valid word and the accepted spelling. Now it's "tomorrow", and the earlier form is barely seen even in poetry a century old. "For ever" was the accepted form for centuries, but now we use "forever" and *rarely* see the equally valid but "old fashioned" form outside of formal poetry or a single, emphatic use in a prose piece.

The same type of thing happens when a name used as an adjective transitions into common English. A good example: mohawk. Originally, the word was capitalized, just as we still do for "Chinese food" or "French toast", but gradually, the word implied less "the hairstyle worn by warriors of the Mohawk tribe" --which would be capitalized-- and more "that particular hairstyle that makes some people point and laugh". It's a more generalized meaning, and thus is no longer capitalized. Annoyingly, I'm seeing the phrase "french fries" everywhere, but it should be *French fries*. Still. Harrumph.

Pbook won't become standard usage (I desperately hope), in part because it's harder to blend two consonants when speaking without adding a vowel sound-- so it's going to *feel* awkward and *look* awkward. E-mail is a good example of what works: it's got a vowel in the first syllable, and a dipthong (vowel pair) in the second syllable. No fuss, no muss, and if people forget the hyphen, it follows the rules they know about their native language (usually a subconscious framework and not formally studied). Drop the hyphen and it's a "regular word", see?

...Then again, some overly-certified "experts" formally changed the plural of octopus to 'octopuses', simply to make spelling "easier". Let's gut the perfectly valid, Latin-based, LOGICAL format for singular and plural nouns, just because our colleges have turned out two generations of teachers who don't *know* the rule, rather than REALLY fix the problem.

12-04-2010, 05:20 AM	#2
ocgforme Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 340 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: many	I'm no lexicographer, just fond of language in general, so here's a stab at a layman's explanation: You're experiencing a couple of language phenomenon at once with these coined words. Firstly, humans tend to shorten words which are used often. That's how perambulators became prams, lol. (And why no one says "electronic mail" when "e-mail" is just as readily understood.) Secondly, written words which begin as hyphenated compound words (or created words like e-mail) also tend to be "Anglicized" into a standard, single word, though that tended to happen more slowly before the 20th century. Many centuries ago, "to-morrow" was a valid word and the accepted spelling. Now it's "tomorrow", and the earlier form is barely seen even in poetry a century old. "For ever" was the accepted form for centuries, but now we use "forever" and rarely see the equally valid but "old fashioned" form outside of formal poetry or a single, emphatic use in a prose piece. The same type of thing happens when a name used as an adjective transitions into common English. A good example: mohawk. Originally, the word was capitalized, just as we still do for "Chinese food" or "French toast", but gradually, the word implied less "the hairstyle worn by warriors of the Mohawk tribe" --which would be capitalized-- and more "that particular hairstyle that makes some people point and laugh". It's a more generalized meaning, and thus is no longer capitalized. Annoyingly, I'm seeing the phrase "french fries" everywhere, but it should be French fries. Still. Harrumph. Pbook won't become standard usage (I desperately hope), in part because it's harder to blend two consonants when speaking without adding a vowel sound-- so it's going to feel awkward and look awkward. E-mail is a good example of what works: it's got a vowel in the first syllable, and a dipthong (vowel pair) in the second syllable. No fuss, no muss, and if people forget the hyphen, it follows the rules they know about their native language (usually a subconscious framework and not formally studied). Drop the hyphen and it's a "regular word", see? ...Then again, some overly-certified "experts" formally changed the plural of octopus to 'octopuses', simply to make spelling "easier". Let's gut the perfectly valid, Latin-based, LOGICAL format for singular and plural nouns, just because our colleges have turned out two generations of teachers who don't know the rule, rather than REALLY fix the problem.