Examples of Condensation in Other Languages
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Implied, but not STATED is specifically about condensation in colloquial Russian, but condensation is an active linguistic process in many languages other than Russian. For example: in Russian—as well as in English, German, Czech, and Polish—having a “temperature” is synonymous with having a fever. The problem is that, logically, everyone has a temperature, normally 98.6°F/37°C. It is only when someone has a temperature above 98.6°F/37°C that it becomes a fever. Therefore, when it is said that someone has a “temperature,” what is really meant is that they have an elevated temperature (Russian: повышенная температура, German: erhöhte Temperatur, Czech: zvýšená teplota, Polish: wysoka temperatura). The reason that hardly anybody says “elevated temperature” is that it is a lot longer (four syllables) than just saying “temperature.” In Dutch, the word order of the collocation elevated temperature is reversed: temperatuurverhoging, and so the Dutch say that someone has a verhoging [(temperatuur > Ø) verhoging] (literally: ‘an elevation’), rather than they have a “temperature.”
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This tendency to reduce a long word or collocation to the minimum unambiguous length is a reflection of the law of conservation of linguistic energy. The minimum unambiguous length in English and German is generally two syllables, but there are nevertheless a number of one-syllable condensates. In Russian and Polish, the minimum unambiguous length is usually three syllables.
Long words and word collocations can be condensed to their minimum unambiguous length because of the amount of redundant information in language. Linguistic redundancy is what helps you understand what someone is saying in a noisy room. Even if you cannot understand every word that the speaker said, you can still understand the utterance, because of the built-in redundancy of the language.
The frequency with which words are used together in a collocation is one type of redundancy. The more often that they are used together, the higher the probability that they will be used together again. This makes it possible to reduce one (or more) of the words in the collocation to syntactic zero (Ø) and let the remaining word carry the full semantic load.
Implied, but not STATED uses models to demonstrate how condensates are formed:
[modifier + noun = collocation]
[(modifier > Ø) + noun = condensate][elevated + temperature = collocation]
[(elevated > Ø) + temperature = noun condensate]
The frequent collocation of words in a given context creates an expectation of their collocation in the listener’s/reader’s mind in that context.
For example:
printed circuit board
circuit breaker
circuit court
french fries
pickup truck
tennis shoes
Once that expectation exists, the collocation is really redundant and one (or more) of the words in it can be reduced to Ø, in most cases, without the listener/reader even noticing that something is “missing.” In actuality, it is only in terms of the standard codified language—the language of dictionaries and written texts and the language that students first learn—that something is missing.
• Often only the solder joints hold the parts to the board. [printed circuit > Ø) + board]
• Switching on the AC tripped the breaker every time. [(circuit > Ø) breaker]
• The Ninth Circuit overturned a misdemeanor conviction. [circuit + (court > Ø)]
The best explanation of a noun condensate is probably the phrase “short for,” which is often found in such dictionaries as provide a definition for condensates. A noun condensate is, therefore, just a shorter form of a longer collocation.
It should not be at all unexpected to hear “you want fries with that?” in an American fast-food establishment where that question is asked hundreds of times a day, and the server behind the counter can save linguistic energy by using the noun condensate instead of the full collocation. [(french > Ø) + fries] (Chips in British English) In Germany, the question is identical: Möchten Sie Pommes dazu? In Czech, nobody orders bramborové hranolky. They ask for hranolky instead. [(bramborové > Ø) + hranolky] (literally: potato facets [strips]) |
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In America, you might see someone climb into a dark blue pickup, start the engine, and pull out of the lot.
[pickup + (truck > Ø)] | [(parking > Ø) lot]
- In Holland, you might find “een leuke bestel” for sale. [bestel(wagen > Ø) | (auto > Ø) | (bus > Ø)] (delivery van)
Ford TRANSIT CONNECT Bouwjaar: 2004 met vele opties … kortom een leuke bestel voor weinig geld. - amsterdam.backpage.com, Posted: Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 7:08 AM
- In Holland, you might read a detective [detective(roman > Ø)] | (verhaal > Ø)] (detective novel | story)
Ik mag graag een goede detective lezen, zoals die van Agatha Christie, maar ik vrees dat ik niet tegen al die bloederige beschrijvingen kan die tegenwoordig mode zijn. - Kate Morton, Het geheim van de zusters, Meulenhoff Boekerij B.V., 2013.
Truncation
People who have to say long words like temperature a lot, are inclined to say temp instead. This process is known as truncation, and the resulting neologisms are called truncates.
- temp [temp/erature/]
- One of the dialogues in the Cambridge English for Nursing Pre-intermediate Students teaches the student to say: “Her temp’s up today. It’s 37.3.” (p. 94)
- prop [prop/eller/]
- Pilots of propeller-driven aircraft are more likely to say that they fly a prop.
The three-blade prop’s biggest claim to fame is a smoother, quieter ride.
- (Flying Magazine, September 1981, p. 11)
- obit [obit/urary/]
- “My obit is going to be full of Bogart, I’m sure,” said Lauren Bacall in the Vanity Fair magazine profile of her in March 2011, adding: “I’ll never know if that’s true. If that’s the way, that’s the way it is.”
- Enid Nemy, “Lauren Bacall Dies at 89; in a Bygone Hollywood, She Purred Every Word,” The New York Times, August 12, 2014.
- Uni [Uni/versität/] (university)
- German university students go to the Uni, and might have a Uni-Seminar, with a Uni-Professor, and suffer from Uni-Stress, because of their Uni-Finanzierung.
Viele Studenten gehen nur zur Uni um Spaß zu haben! - Uni [uni/versity] caf [caf/eteria/]
-
Uni caf food rarely has a great reputation for quality, but it's cheap.
- The People's Yelo Pages: A Resource Guide to Living in Melbourne, 1975, p. 54.
- Zig [Zig/arette/] (cigarette)
- Akku [Akku/mulator/] accu [accu/mulator/] (baterry)
- German and Dutch mobile phone owners complain if the Akku (GM) accu (NL) in their device is empty.
• Der Akku des Handys war schon lange leer.
• Hij probeerde nogmaals het mobieltje, maar de accu was volkomen leeg. - Krimi [Krimi/nalroman/] (detective novel, literally: criminal novel) [Krimi/nalfilm/] (detective movie).
- A German might read a novel by a well-known Krimiautor, or watch a Krimiserie on TV.
• Ich glaube, ihr habt zu viele Krimis gelesen oder geguckt.
Klaus Struck, Sportstadtmord. Ein Hamburg-Krimi. Tatort Steilshoop, ACABUS Verlag, 2014, p. 129. - детектив [детектив/ный/ (фильм > Ø)] (detective movie) [детектив/ный/ (роман > Ø)] (detective novel)
- A Russian, however, would read a детектив.
- • Но Кирилл детективов не любил. Он читал Джейн Остин и Шарлотту Бронте в оригинале.
- Богатырева Елена, Три жены: Роман, Издательский Дом «Нева», 2004, p. 256.
- kryminał [(powieść > Ø) + kryminal/na/] | [(film > Ø) + kryminal/ny/]
- Polish readers call a whodunit a kryminał.
• Zawsze lubił powieści detektywistyczne, w każdym razie kiedyś, gdy jeszcze regularnie czytał, a więc w młodości, zwłaszcza kryminały arthura Conan Doyle'a i Agathy Christie. - Michael Kobr, Volker Klüpfel, Szczodre gody, Wydawnictwo Akcent, 2013 p. 34.
The Viennese municipal department MA48 (Straßenreinigung) has a cigarette-themed, pole-mounted trashcan that is a part of the campaign to reduce the number of cigarette butts on the street. The trashcan asks: “Do you have a cigarette?” in Viennese dialect. Host [du] an Tschick? In real German, this is: Hast du eine Zigarette? [Zig/arette/] This condensate works in English as well. “Hey, can I bum a cig?” |
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Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes |
- bieb [bib/liotheek/] (library)
- Someone in Holland might go to the bieb to check out the latest thriller.
• Als we ergens naar toe gaan dan zoek ik de hele bieb door naar boeken die ook maar iets met die omgeving te maken hebben.
Piet Meij, Thomas. Onnavolgbaar. Mysterie rond een vermoord meisje in een vreemd land, Gopher Publishers, 2006, p. 74.
- hools [hool/igan/ + -s]
- • Ilkay Shechter wurde beim Training am Sonntag von FCK-Hools antisemitisch beschimpft.
FCK = Fußball Club Kaiserslautern.
"FCK-Hools beschimpfen Shechter mit antisemitischen Parolen," Berliner Kurier, Montag, 27. Februar 2012. - • Hools: Football Club Territory is a location-based mobile multiplayer RPG, which moves the competition between football club supporters to virtual world.
Google Play - • Wat ik begreep was dit gewoon afgesproken werk met de hools van Aberdeen, wat je ook in het eerste filmpje ziet. Als het willekeurige supporters waren zouden ze wel wegrennen. Deze jongens gaan gewoon de confrontatie aan.
Wij Zijn Voetbal.
- Demo [Demo/nstration/] Alex [Alex/anderplatz/]
- • Wenn man sich den zeitgeschichtlichen Horizont oder Kontext noch mal anschaut von Ende Oktober, Anfang November, da gab es also am 2. November den Rücktritt vom Big Boss der Gewerkschaft, des Oberbonzen Harry Tisch, am 4. November gab es die große historische Demo auf dem Alex.
- Bernd Gehrke, Renate Hürtgen, Der betriebliche Aufbruch im Herbst 1989: die unbekannte Seite der DDR-Revolution: Diskussion - Analysen - Dokumente,Bildungswerk Berlin der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 2001 p. 102.
- demo [demo/nstration/ (record > Ø)]
- But in English, a demo is a demonstration record | CD | tape.
• We would cut a demo, he said, that we would pitch to the major labels and hopefully land a record deal.- Collin Raye, A Voice Undefeated, Ignatius Press, 2014, p. 76.
- benzo [benzo/diazepine/]
- • And of the 71.4 million prescriptions written for anxiety disorders in 2006, most—more than 40 million—were for benzos.
- Andrea Tone, The Age of Anxiety: A History of America's Turbulent Affair with Tranquilizers, Basic Books, 2008 p. 230.
- • Die Tabletten sind meist unter ihren Handelsnamen bekannt, als "Valium" oder "Tavor", manche sagen auch: "Benzos".
- Die Welt am Sonntag: WISSENSCHAFT: "Beruhigen oder vergessen," vom 14.09.2014
- panto [panto/mime/]
-
• All the best pantos for Christmas 2013, as well as information on where to buy tickets. "Best pantos for Christmas 2013," The Telegraph, 1:30PM GMT 26 Nov 2013.
This condensate combines with other nouns to form compounds like: pantoland, panto stage, and panto props.
Bill Stickers, Beware!
- keys [ki/logram/ + -s] (especially of drugs)
- • Comin' into Los Angeles
Bringin' in a couple of keys
Don't touch my bags if you please,
Mister customs man. - "Coming into Los Angeles" as written by Arlo Guthrie, performed at Woodstock in 1969.
- kees [ki/logram/ + s) (especially of drugs)
- Get the hell out of here, go down to Colombia and buy a couple of kees of coke.
- Douglas Terman, Enemy Territory, Bantam Books, 1990, p. 216.
- Muj [Muj/ahideen/] (pronounced 'mooj')
- The Station Chief spoke, Wilson later said with some amusement, as if he were CecilB. DeMille: "Charlie, you're not going to belive how fierce the muj are going to look."
- George Crile, Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003, p. 496.
- Nam [/Viet/nam]
- incoming! [incoming + (artillery fire > Ø)]
- Charlie [(Victor > Ø) + Charlie] (Viet Cong, from phonetic alphabet for VC, Victor Charlie)
- Anywhere in Nam you were subject to being fired upon by enemy mortars. But after you were in-country for a while, it became less frightening to hear the "incoming." Charlie would pop the rounds into base camps to psychologically harass us in our sleep.
- Randall Juge, To Nam and Back, Llumina Press, 2004, p. 81.
When her husband calls the Philharmoniker [Philharmoni/e/ + -ker] for tickets (Merkel and Sauer are music lovers, with a passion for Wagner and Webern) and is offered comps [comp/limentary/ (ticket) + -s], he insists on giving his credit-card number, and the couple take their seats almost unnoticed. Strictly speaking, der Philharmoniker (m.) is a member of a philharmonic orchestra, but when used in the plural (die Philharmoniker, plurale tantum) in colloquial German, it means the orchestra. George Packer, "The Quiet German The astonishing rise of Angela Merkel, the most powerful woman in the world," The New Yorker: "Profiles," December 1, 2014 issue. |
Das Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester (n.) Die Berliner Philharmoniker (pl.) Die Berliner Philharmonie (f.) |
In German, the plural of a truncate is invariably formed with –s, even though the plural of the original term is formed with –en.
- Prominenten (VIP’s), but Promis [Promi/nent/ + -s = Promis]
- • Die Herausgeber der Zeitschriften wollten die Prominenten in ganz gewöhnlichen Situationen zeigen.
- Was ist Was: Fotographie, Band 63, 1993, p. 45.
- • Die verdeckte Werbung mit Promis ist ein lohnendes Geschäft.
- Helmut Volpers, Uli Bernhard, Detlef Schnier, Public relations und werbliche Erscheinungsformen im Fernsehen: eine Typologisierung persuasiver Kommunikationsangebote des Fernsehens, LfM, Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2008, p. 246.
- Kriminalromanen (whodunit's), but Krimis
- • Das Lesen von Zeitungen ist etwas anderes als das Lesen von Kriminalromanen.
- Paul R. Portmann-Tselikas, „In allen Fächern Sprache lernen“, Herausforderung Bildungssprache - und wie man sie meistert, Waxmann Verlag, 2013, p. 277.
- • Jungen lesen bevorzugt Krimis, Fantasy-, Horror- und Abenteuerprosa.
- Katrin Müller-Walde, Warum Jungen nicht mehr lesen und wie wir das ändern können, Campus Verlag, 2010, p. 66.
Suffixed Condensates
A suffix is often attached to these truncated forms to make them seem more like ‘real nouns’. In English the suffix is invariably –i / -ie / -y. In Russian, the suffixes are generally -ка, and -ик. In Dutch, -je. In German, –i / -y.
- 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko [Chur/yumov–Gerasimenko/ + y{1}]
At ESA, where they control Rosetta, the robotic space probe sent to perform a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the long name of the comet has been condensed to Chury. - • Weil "Chury" noch nicht lange Gast im inneren, wärmeren Planetensystem ist, steckt er voll begehrter Urmaterie. Er ist eine Art "Zeitkapsel".
- • ESA tweeted a photo of the comet after Rosetta's maneuver. Chury and the space probe now lie some 250 million miles from Earth, about halfway between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, according to ESA.
- “‘We’re in orbit!’ Rosetta becomes first spacecraft to orbit comet,” Dave Gilbert and Nick Thompson, CNN, updated 4:44 PM EDT, Wed August 6, 2014
- “Ein riskantes Tête-à-tête,” Wiener Zeitung, vom 02.08.2014, 10:00 Uhr.
• The Aussie, generally more resistant since hitting an almost four-year low in January, has taken a hammering since the start of September, harried by a stronger U.S. dollar.
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- veggies [veg/etables/ + -g + -ies]
- In a popular sandwich chain (store > Ø), every customer is asked: “What kind of veggies do you want?”
- choccy biccy [choc/olate/ + -cy & bi(s)c/uit/ + -cy]
- You can be assured of a warm welcome and maybe, a free cup of tea or coffee along with a choccy biccy!!!
Falkirk and District Arts and Civic Council: "Falkirk Model Railway Club" - • I was thiking just then shall i have a glass of wine or a cup of hot choccy with a bit of brandy in?
- netmums.com: "Thread: hot choccy or wine? hmm help me decide please :)"
- Schoggi [Scho(k >g)/olade/ + -gi] (Swiss German)
- • Dieses Resultat einer Marktforschungsstudie wurde in „Schoggi", der Zeitschrift des Schweizer Schokoladenverbands, veröffentlicht.
- Konstanze Marx, Die Verarbeitung von Komplex-Anaphern: neurolinguistische Untersuchungen zur kognitiven Textverstehenstheorie, Univerlagtuberlin, 2011, p. 123.
- • Unter einem Schoggi-Job versteht man eine besonders leichte und angenehme Arbeit, die erst noch gut bezahlt ist.
eBlanace.ch: "30/1 Eine Schoggi-Job-Rechnung"
- schoki [schok/olade/ + -i]
- ;-) supa g’schäft leider bissl teuer diese edle schoki [Wien]
www.empfehlenswert-wien.at: "Schokov" - • Apfel, Banane, Schoki — so sieht meist mein üblicher Uni-Snack aus (+Kaffee) :) [Berlin]
http://berlindurchmeineaugen.blog.de: "Lecker Lunchpaket" - • Irgendwo habe ich mal aufgeschnappt, dass man Marshmallows in heiße Schoki geben kann
Suzus Blog: " Geschenke – Heiße Schokolade mit Marshmallows," 26. Dezember 2013.
- chocola [chocola/de/] (uncountable)
- • Bij dat kraampje kun je allerlei soorten chocola kopen?
Dutch Wiktionary
- tennies (plurale tantum) [tenn/is/ + (shoes > Ø) + ies]
- • On a hike, battered but comfortable tennies are better than stiff and sturdy boots that don't fit.
- Bob Julyan, Best Hikes with Children in New Mexico, The Mountaineers Books, 2004, p. 18.
- Polish: tenisówki [(obuwie > Ø) + tenisow/e/ + -ki] (tennies)
- • W pośpiechu wciągnąłem sweter i nakładałem tenisówki.
- Kultura, Instytut Literacki, 1990, p. 63.
- Dutch: gympjes [gym/nastiek/ (schoenen > Ø) + -pjes{2}] (gym shoes)
- • Overigens bestaat de werkkledij van de Berkeleyan student en studente uit een T-shirt met gebruiksaanwijzing, shorts en gympjes of slippers.
- Marcel Janssens, De kaarters van de Faculty Club: Californische notities, Den Gulden Engel, 1987, p. 35.
- Russian: тенниска [теннис/ный/ + (рубашка > Ø) + -ка] (polo shirt, literally: tennis shirt)
- • Родионов слегка нервничал и все время поправлял воротник своей тенниски, хотя он лежал безукоризненно.
- Светлана Алешина, Недолго музыка играла, Litres, 2013.
- Russian: мобильник [мобильн/ый/ (телефон > Ø) + -ик] (mobile /tele/phone)
- • Лена отключила мобильник, посмотрела на изумленную Надежду совершенно пустыми глазами и вдруг с размаху кинула мобильник об стенку.
- Наталья Алехандрова, Сестра моя - смерть: роман, Издательский Дом «Нева», 2004, p. 244.
- Czech: Lanovka [lanov/á/ + (dráha > Ø) + -ka] (funicular, literally: cable (rail)way)
- Lanovka nás vyvezla na Petřín.
- Czech: binárka [binár/ní/ + (soubor > Ø) + -ka] (binary file)
- zdroják [zdroj/ový/ + (kód > Ø) + -ák] (source code)
- Brzy přibude Linuxová binárka a časem i zdrojáky.
- Polish: binarka [(plik > Ø) binarn/y/ + -ka] (binary file)
- źródło [(kod > Ø) źródło/wy/] (source code)
- Chodzi o to, że zlinkowano binarkę z nowszą wersją glibc. Ja bym w tej sytuacji pobrał źródła i spróbował samemu skompilować.
-
Russian: бинарка [бинар/ный/ (файл > Ø) + -ка] (binary file)
- исходник [исхо́дн/ый/ (код > Ø) + -ик] (source code)
- Код для микроконтроллера написан на ASM если надо дам и исходники и бинарку.
- Czech: detektivka [detektiv/ní/ + (roman > Ø) + -ka] | [detektiv/ní/ + (povídka > Ø) + -ka] (detective novel | story)
- • J. K. Rowlingová už dopsala pokračování k detektivce, kterou překvapila celý literární svět.
- “Využila jsem svého vnitřního chlapa, vtipkuje Rowlingová o detektivce,” iDNES.cz / Kultura, 24. července 2013 14:31
- Dutch: bandje [(cassette >Ø)band + -je] (cassette tape)
- • Judy spoelde het bandje van het antwoordapparaat terug. Het bandje piepte terwijl het werd teruggedraaid.
- Harlan Coben, Dood spel, Meulenhoff Boekerij B.V., 2013.
- German: Öffi [öff/entliche/ + (Verkehrsmittel > Ø) + -i] (public transportation, prevalent in Austria)
- • Studie beweist: Autofahrer sind dicker als Öffi-Nutzer (article headline)
- Krone Zeitung, 20.08.2014, 10:50
- This suffixed condensate combines freely with other nouns to form compounds like: Öffi-Card, Öffi-Ticket, Öffi-Jahreskarte, Öffi-Fahrschein, Öffi-Nutzer, and Öffi-Tarife.
- German: Rolli [Roll/stuhl/ + -i] (wheelchair)
- Barrierefrei – mit Rolli und Kinderwagen zum Hagenstein
- MIJN WALDECKER LAND, 17. August 2014
- This suffixed condensate combines freely with other nouns to form compounds like: Rolli-Eingang, E-Rolli (Elektro-Rollstuhl), Rolli-WC, Rolli-Toilette, and Rolli-Parkplätze.
- German: Ami [Am/erikaner/ + -i]
- • Die Amis schenken uns manchmal Kaugummis und mir haben sie sogar schon mal Schokolade gegeben.
- Von Clowns, Trockenflitzern und anderen Überlebenskünstlern, Dietmar Seiler, Gudrun Blank (eds.), BoD, 2012, p. 153.
- German: Ossi [Os/tdeutscher/ + -s + -i] (East German) | Wessi [Wes/tdeutscher/ + -s + -i] (West German)
- • Die große Ossi-Wessi-Diskussion
- 25 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall teilen 60 Prozent der Deutschen unser Land immer noch in Ost und West. Besonders deutlich wird das in Berlin.
- Hildburg Bruns, „Mauer im Kopf“, BZ, 19. August 2014.
hoodie [hood/ed/ + sweatshirt > Ø) + -ie]
When they became fashionable around the world, the term hoodie was borrowed, rather than calqued, for use in the local language.
hooded sweatshirt |
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| English | German | Dutch | Russian | Polish |
| hoodie | Hoodie | hoodie | худи | hoodie (kangurka) |
• Weil die Klimaanlage so stark eingestellt ist, haben sich alle in Hoodies eingepackt.
Henning Kober, Unter diesem Einfluss: Roman, S. Fischer, 2009.
• Ik maakte er gebruik van dat hij afgeleid was om hem te bestuderen: afgetrapte cowboylaarzen, afgedragen spijkerbroek en een grijze hoodie.
Tammara Webber, Makkelijk, VBK Media, 2014.
• Bluzy z kapturem typu kangurka (hoodie) z podłużną kieszenią są już dostępne! UWAGA: towar jest limitowany (zaledwie kilka sztuk z każdego rozmiaru).
Sztuka Łowienia
• W nowej kolekcji znalazły się również luźne, wygodne bluzy w stylu hoodie - kangurki w paski oraz bluzy z kolorowymi nadrukami.
Gazeta.pl, "Kobieta."
The Polish word kangurka refers to the kangaroo-like pouch on the front of a hoodie. The Polish word for kangaroo is kangur. [kangur + -ka]
And even though the spelling makes it look unfamiliar, the Welsh name for a hoodie is hwdi, which is pronounced [hoodie].
Mobile, Hand-held Radiotelephones
Condensates for the now ever-present mobile telephone, however, demonstrate a variety of types of formation.
When this now omnipresent means of communication burst on the scene in the 1980s, the terms used to describe it were long and cumbersome. An article in The Information Technology Review in 1985 said:
Most of us regard a telephone on the dashboard or a “walkie-talkie” radio in the hand as a luxury or a status symbol rather than a necessity. But a new technology called cellular radio is now emerging to make high-quality, full-service mobile telephones and radio transceivers much more widely available. Mobile communications that have been for 20 years a curiosity will become commonplace—and soon enough a necessity for many.
Most market studies suggest that cellular radio technology will increase the number of mobile telephone users tenfold within the first few years. Projections for the use of hand-held, portable radiotelephones based on cellular technology are equally optimistic. The result is likely to be one of the greatest changes in communications patterns since the invention of the telephone.{3}
The key terms in Huff’s description are clearly visible in the various condensates that are now in daily use to describe this ubiquitous technology.
In the USA, people talk on cell phones, a term condensed from hand-held cellular mobile radiotelephone. “I’ll call you on my cell,” is heard so often today as to need no citation.
The same process is visible in Polish, where the condensate is komórka (cell), derived from (radio)telefon komórkowy.
In the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Holland, Russia, and the Czech Republic, the condensate is some version of mobile, condensed from mobile telephone: NL: mobieltje < mobiele telefoon, CZ: mobil < mobilní telefon, RU: мобилник < мобильный телефон.
While in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines & Singapore this device is known as a handphone, condensed from hand-held radiotelephone. The Germans are in the same camp, and name their device das Handy, condensed from Handfunktelefon, which is how it was marketed by such firms as Bosch, Hagenuk,{4} and Ericsson{5} in the early 1990s. [Hand(funktelefon > Ø) + -y]
Homonyms
Because the frequency of use of words and collocations varies with the context in which they are used, there can be a number of meanings for a given spelling. These homonyms require a knowledge of the context in which the condensate is used to determine which of the possible meanings applies.
Prop (plural: props)
- theatrical property
- aircraft propeller
- a proposition on an election ballot
• Several stations will be set up throughout the exhibit including a Digital Puppet Theater, where guests use iPads to create their own puppet show and display it on a big screen, a Main Stage complete with costumes and props, and a Discover the Imagination Station, which utilizes a green screen to place guests in a variety of landscapes.
Charleston Daily Mail, “New exhibit brings stories to life,” Wednesday, July 16, 201:
• The pilot can directly control the blade pitch of an adjustable prop, setting it for fine pitch for takeoff and climb and increasing the pitch for cruise.
Flying Magazine, vol. 124, No. 3 (March 1997), p. 111.
• The 3.25 percent rental-car tax was put in place 14 years ago when Arizona voters approved Prop 302, a ballot measure designed to raise revenue to help build the University of Phoenix Stadium and other Spring training facilities.
“Customers Won’t Get Any Money Back from Rental-car Tax Refund,” CBS 5 (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation), Phoenix, AZ, Posted: Jul 18, 2014 7:53 PM EDT
Roadie (plural: roadies)
- A person who rides a road bike
- A member of the road crew for a band, especially a stagehand or technician.
- A beer for the road, to be consumed while driving
- "One for the road," a final drink, usually before heading home (Australian)
• The Kona Odyssey is held once a year in the Otways region of Victoria. It attracts a huge number of roadies as February is a relatively dull month for road racing events.
“The Otway Odyssey Through The Eyes of A Roadie,” CyclingTips, February 20, 2013.
• A benevolent roadie from Tulsa who embodied all that is wise and true once proclaimed this sacred parable to me: “If duct tape can’t fix it, it just cain’t be fixed.”
Kevin Mitchell, How to Put a Band Together: Handy Guide, Alfred Music Publishing, p.19.
• You know I sip a beer on the way home. You know a roadie. But I don’t hurt nobody. I drive real slow and careful too.
Julian B. Roebuck & Komanduri Srinivasa Murty, The Southern Subculture of Drinking and Driving: A Generalized Deviance Model for the Southern White Male, Taylor & Francis, 1996, p. 137.
• Alcoholics won’t leave a drink behind. There could be a fire starting in the bar, but they’ll drain the glass before they leave. Or they’ll take a “roadie” along with them.
Mary Ellen Pinkham, How to Stop the One You Love from Drinking: I Know Because Intervention Worked for Me, Putnam, 1986, p. 59.
• “The ‘roadie’ on your way into the city on the train, in a cab or on the street can get you an on-the-spot fine of $110 for consuming alcohol in public,” said Senior Sergeant Corey Allen from Brisbane City Police Station.
“A ‘roadie’ could lighten your wallet by a whopping $110,” Brisbane City News, December 06, 2012
Australians
Australians use suffixed condensates a great deal more than other English speakers.
For example:
| barbie | [barb/ecue/ + -ie] |
| brekkie | [break/fast/ + -ie] |
| chewie | [chew/ing/ + (gum > Ø) + -ie] |
| coldie | [cold + (beer > Ø) + -ie] |
| footy | [foot/ball/ + -y] |
| kindy | [kind/ergarten/ + -y] |
| lappy | [lap/top/ + -p- + -ie] |
| rellie | [rel/ative/ + -l- + -ie] |
| remie | [rem/ote/ + (control > Ø) + -ie] |
| sunnies | [sun/glasses/ + -n- + -ies] (plurale tantum) |
| U-ie | [U/-turn/ + -ie] |
| webby | [web/cam/ + -ie] |
Cockney Rhyming Slang
Cockney Rhyming Slang is a cryptolect{6} that originated during the Victorian era in London’s East End, generally defined as the area that is within the sound of the Bow bells (the bells of the Church of St Mary Le Bow, in Cheapside). The first detailed record of Rhyming Slang dates to 1859, the year of publication for The Slang Dictionary by John Camden Hotten. Rhyming Slang was popularized in the twentieth century through its use in such television programs as The Sweeney, Minder, and Only Fools and Horses, which extended the reach of this cryptolect beyond the sound of the Bow bells to households around the world.
Rhyming Slang is classified as a cryptolect, because it “encrypts” a normal word by replacing it with a fixed collocation that ends in a rhyme with the “en clair” normal word that it replaces. The word telephone, for example, is replaced by the fixed collocation dog and bone, and the word stairs is encrypted as apples and pears.
At first glance, Rhyming Slang would appear to contradict the law of conservation of linguistic energy, because it replaces a shorter linguistic unit with a longer one. When in actual use, however, the cryptolexemes of rhyming slang do adhere to the law of conservation of linguistic energy, because, as their frequency of use increases, the cryptolexeme is condensed to the first, non-rhyming part of the collocation. The use of Rhyming Slang in this manner marks the speaker as an insider. Outsiders and literary sources tend to use the whole cryptolexeme.
A native speaker of Cockney Rhyming Slang would say:
Let’s have a butcher’s at that magazine.
Let’s have a look (butcher’s hook) at that magazine. [butcher’s + (hook > Ø)]
Use your loaf.
Use your head (loaf of bread). [loaf + (of bread > Ø)]
Anything on the custard tonight?
Anything on the telly (custard and jelly; telly = television) tonight? [custard + (and jelly > Ø)]
I would love to believe you, but you are always telling porkies!
I would love to believe you, but you are always telling lies! (porkies < pork pies = lies)? [pork + (pies > Ø) + -ies]
The title of the television show The Sweeney is another example of this phenomenon. The cryptolexeme Sweeney Todd is Rhyming Slang for Flying Squad, the name of the unit of the Met (another condensate = London’s Metropolitan Police) depicted in the series.
Long before television made it popular, Rhyming Slang was “deported” to Australia along with the many Cockney convicts, sent to the penal colony there. Australian Rhyming Slang uses many of the same fixed collocations as are found in the UK, but there are a number of distinctly Australian cryptolexemes like Charley Wheeler (pronounced wheelah), which “encrypts” the word sheila, the Australian slang for a woman. The collocation is the name of the famous Australian painter Charles Wheeler, whose nudes were especially popular. [Charl/es/ + (Wheeler > Ø) + -ie]
Vocative Truncation
Vocative is the name of the grammatical case that is used to mark the names of people being directly addressed.
Compare:
I don’t know Mark.
I don’t know, Mark.
In the second instance, Mark is the person addressed, not the person who is unknown.
In Russian, English, and Dutch, names longer than one syllable are subject to vocative truncation.
English Vocative Condensates
Either you do, or you don’t, Vic. There’s no ‘think so’ about it. [Vic/toria/]
Chris Ewan, The Good Thief’s Guide to Berlin, Minotaur Books, 2013, p. 125.
What I’m trying to say, Sal, is there anyway that the two of you could work together here? [Sal/ly/ (Tishell > Ø)]
Doc Martin, season 6, “Hazardous Exposure” (episode 6), minute 35.
Russian Vocative Condensates
Ну, скажи мне, Галь, что тебе нравится, что ты с удовольствием делаешь? [Гал/я/]
Well, tell me, Galya, what do you like, what do you enjoy doing?
«Социальный проект: ‹Детский вопрос›», Радио России, выпуск 219 полностью, эфир 1 декабря 2012 года.
Ну как, Кир? Все в порядке? [Кир/а/]
Well, Kira? Is everything alright?
Самуил Алешин, «Вашингтонский рейс», Современная драматургия, номер 2, 1997, стр. 37.
Dutch Vocative Truncates
- Mieke > Miek
- Stella > Stel
- Suzanne > Suus
- Petra > Peet
Miek, als je het niet doet, kom ik naar jullie toe.
I. van der Beek, Ongrijpbare schaduw, Uitgeverij Kok, 2006, p. 139.
Wacht even, Suus, Bert roept iets.
Linda van Rijn, Last Minute, Marmer, 2011.
Footnotes:
1 - The ‘Y’ in Churyumov is the first half of the Latin transliteration of the single Russian letter Ю [yu], pronounced like the English word ‘you’.
2 - The ending –je becomes –pje when the word to which it is added ends in –m–: compare: filmpje, boompje.
3 - Duane L. Huff, “The Magic of Cellular Radio,” The Information Technology Review, MIT Press, 1985, p. 137. Emphasis added.
4 - Elizabeth M Christopher, International Management: Explorations Across Cultures, Kogan Page Publishers, 2012, p. 272.
5 - Der Spiegel, volume 47 (1993), issues 36 & 37, p. 82.
6 - Compare: dialect, idiolect, sociolect, and ethnolect.
Reference:
H.J. Caspar, Sprachliches Zweisilbigkeit". An interesting discussion of German condensates (in German).
Mirjam Ernestus, "Je zegt minder dan je denkt." A Dutch researcher working on condensation.
To learn more about Implied, but not STATED, follow the links below.
