An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. Such words usually have a
prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particul ...
or
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...
that would imply that there is an
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
, 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.
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
In linguistics an accidental gap, also known as a gap, paradigm gap, accidental lexical gap, lexical gap, lacuna, or hole in the pattern, is a potential word, word sense, morpheme, or other form that does not exist in some language despite bei ...
, specifically a
morphological gap. Other unpaired words were never part of a pair; their starting or ending
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...
s, by accident, happen to match those of an existing
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology.
In English, morphemes are ...
, 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 etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the ...
. 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
Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phon ...
, particularly
light verse. There are a handful of notable
examples in modern English.
In English
See also
*
Accidental gap
In linguistics an accidental gap, also known as a gap, paradigm gap, accidental lexical gap, lexical gap, lacuna, or hole in the pattern, is a potential word, word sense, morpheme, or other form that does not exist in some language despite bei ...
*
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the ...
*
Cranberry morpheme
In morphology (linguistics), linguistic morphology a cranberry morpheme (also called unique morpheme or fossilized term) is a type of bound morpheme that cannot be assigned an ''independent'' meaning and grammatical function, but nonetheless serves ...
*
Defective verb
In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb that either lacks a conjugated form or entails incomplete conjugation, and thus cannot be conjugated for certain grammatical tenses, aspects, persons, genders, or moods that the majority of verbs or ...
– other form of lexical gap
*
Eggcorn
An eggcorn is the alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements,, sense 2 creating a new phrase having a different meaning from the original but which still makes sense and is plausible when used ...
*
False cognate
False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For example, the Eng ...
*
Fossilization (linguistics) In linguistic morphology, fossilization refers to two close notions. One is preserving of ancient linguistic features which have lost their grammatical functions in language. Another is loss of productivity of a grammatical paradigm (''e.g.'' of an ...
*
Polarity item In linguistics, a polarity item is a lexical item that is associated with affirmation or negation. An affirmation is a positive polarity item, abbreviated PPI or AFF. A negation is a negative polarity item, abbreviated NPI or NEG.
The linguisti ...
Notes
References
External links
"Unpaired words"at ''World Wide Words''
"Absent antonyms"at ''2Wheels: The Return''
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
Examples
* 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 {{usurped,
"A Very Descript Man"} 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
''The Guardian'' – cites "Gloss" by
David McCord and "A Dream of Couth" in ''The Game of Words'' by
Willard R. Espy
Linguistic morphology