LL-L "Morphology" 2007.11.13 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  13 November 2007 - Volume 02
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: marshatrue at peoplepc.com
Subject: LL-L "Morphology" 2007.11.11 (06) [E]

Ron, I suspect this "marker of endearment" stems from the nursery rhyme
"Itsy-Bitsy Spider" which mothers have been extending to their babies names
for eons (which came first, the baby-talk or the rhyme?).  It can have a
sarcastic connotation of cutsey, as in referring to a couple of people one
doesn't like as being "palsy-walsy" with each other but in general here in
the U.S. it's genuinely affectionate grown-up baby-talk to call Phoebe
"Phoebes."  The rest of the cast on "Friends" wouldn't have been caught dead
saying "Phoebey-Woebsey," but Phoebes is an acceptably adult variant.
You're right that it only works with some names, those which can be
abbreviated easily.  My name, Marsha, doesn't fit that mold, no matter how I
work it.  Yours does, however.....I can imagine a woman cooing "Rons" to
you.....but that gets into another subject entirely!

Marsha
/enjoying the conversation from the shadows of American pop culture

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Dear Lowlanders,

I'd be grateful to you for some input regarding the following topic.

As we all know, English has two frequently used suffixes *-s* (/-z/):

   1. Plural marker: e.g., The Walton* s* have two son*s* and three
   daughter*s*.
   2. Genitive marker: e.g., The Walton*s'* (/-z-z/) children*'**s *names
   are somewhat odd, owing to Mr. Walton*'s *obsession with Shakespear*'s
   *plays.

However, there appears to be a third, albeit lesser-used one.

The other day I caught myself addressing my friend Jake as "Jakes." It was
quite spontaneous, not at all planned. I believe it was an expression of
what I would call "casual affection." There was no noticeable reaction on
Jake's part, so I assume it was at least acceptable to him (unless he was
being overly generous).

This made me think about *-s* (/-z/) as ... let's say a "marker of
endearment."

*Question 1*: Is it confined to American English?

Unless I'm sorely mistaken, you hear this used mostly with women's names,
though I hear it used with men's names as well. This makes me wonder ...

*Question 2*: Is there a connotation of "cutesy" in it?
 <snip>

*Question 4*: What might the origin of this suffix be?

------------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology

Hi, Marsha dearest!

What a treat seeing you venturing forth from the depth of Oregon's woods to
grace us with your illustrious presence ... and that just seconds after I
sent off the previous Morphology installment!

I have a hunch that the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" was not the trend-setter, that
the -s device was already in place. Or? Well, people still say "itsy" and
"bitsy" or the combo in other contexts.

but Phoebes is an acceptably adult variant.

You are certainly right there. I think that Lisa Kudrow did a fine job in
her delivery and development of this off-beat character, a modern West Coast
offshoot of the Ashkenazi Vaudeville-derived tradition that has is the main
ancestor of the only American sitcoms worth watching in my opinion. (Jason
Alexander, Bea Arthur, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Debra Messing, Jerry Seinfeld,
Ben Stiller and Jerry Stiller are other such examples in the sitcom world).

I can imagine a woman cooing "Rons" to you.....but that gets into another
subject entirely!

Oh, you mean with a "Rrrrr..." and then a "...zzzz" like from Eartha Kitt?
Well, yes, that's an entirely different topic.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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