More language change on the fly (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:11 AM -0700 8/27/07, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>On Aug 27, 2007, at 9:03 AM, Bill Mullins wrote:
>
>>Maybe "relented" grew out of "related"?
>
>nice idea.  that would make it phonological at root: hearing some
>spontaneous nasalization on the /e/ of "related" as representing an /
>n/ (following a somewhat raised variant of /E/).  such perceptions
>(in both directions: hearing spontaneous nasalization as an /n/,
>hearing an /n/ as merely spontaneous nasalization) are very common,
>especially in unaccented syllables, but also sometimes in accented
>syllables; they are detectable in misspellings (with {n} written
>where it doesn't belong, and with {n} omitted where it does).
>
>in any case, there are some cases where the spelling {relent} pretty
>clearly represents "relate" (in at least two senses of "relate"):

Note, though, that all the examples I cited earlier, including the
one that kicked off the thread--

"Manny Ramirez didn't start for the Red Sox. Manager Terry Francona
said it was just a day off but relented that Ramirez had been
bothered by a sore back."

--involves "relented that" rather than the infinitival complement
you're discussing here.  Of course "related" takes a finite
complement too, but it lacks the concessive or reluctant nature of
the examples I cited yesterday, and "resign", which has the right
semantics, doesn't help with those "that" clauses either for
syntactic reasons.  "relent to" in your bottom examples may well have
been a refashioning of "resign to", but that still leaves "relent
that".

LH

>
>The speed is relented to the synchronous speed oJ. of the induction
>motor. Torques and currents are. suitably referred to the rated values.
>www.springerlink.com/index/T663NX768X7778NX.pdf
>
>The present invention is relented to apparatuses or mechanical
>devices for medical treatment of certain ailments. More precisely,
>the present invention is ...
>www.patentstorm.us/patents/5618264-description.html
>
>I started/tried to start drawing D4K some yesterday and I didn't get
>much done, but hey, small steps.  When I relented it to Phil, that
>is, my lack of drawing much or getting back into the groove, Phil
>asked me if I was retiring, which I didn't necessarily 'get', but..
>no, I'm not retiring.
>blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?
>fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=2524763&blogID=290740299&Mytoken=C34...
>
>PAM BENNETT WAHLBERG, MEERKAT RESCUE: They are relented to sibits
>(ph) and genits (ph), linsangs (ph), bassas (ph), and bingerons
>(ph).  ["(ph)" indicates that a photograph was displayed on the tv
>screen at that point]
>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15128914/
>
>
>on the other hand, there are cases where "relent to" seems to mean
>something like 'resign to' (so that semantics rather than phonology
>is at issue):
>
>I just got done watching The O'Reilly factor on Fox news, and well, I
>am relented to sitting back and scratching my head.
>blog.360.yahoo.com/ blog-nowThF0ifqcLqH20wn_k3axZI6uR?p=2
>
>If I had your 4 episodes a day on TIVO I would be thrilled, alas I am
>relented to my few seasons of DVDs. ...
>www.joehollywood.com/mash/board/viewtopic.php?
>p=875&sid=d53baa087903caa0730a9e86a8acccb2
>
>I was just about to relent myself to editing all of the breaks out of
>the source of each page (an undertaking that meant several hours of
>additional work), ...
>avg-joe.com/onthego/01/onthego3.htm
>
>If i am the child, will I fight for my life, or just relent myself to
>fate, knowing that there is no cure?? I do not know. Live life
>bedridden? or take ...
>kev-walkabout.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org