Early appearances of "irregardless"

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Fri May 4 15:43:41 UTC 2007 

At 6:30 AM -0700 5/4/07, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>I could swear - but won't quite - that I too used to say "to unopen"
>(jars, for example).
>
>JL

another frequently cited kids' innovation (one I attested, oh, 20
years ago when mine were the right age) is "unfree", as in the
imperative "Unfree [= 'let go of'] me!"

LH

>
>
>
>Michael Israel <michael.israel at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society
>Poster:       Michael Israel
>Subject:      Re: Early appearances of "irregardless"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Larry points out that redundant negative morphology
>often crops up in places where a blending analysis
>is not very plausible, and that such unneedless redundancy
>is not unusual either in English or crosslinguistically.
>
>It's can also be found in some of the ways young
>children will creatively use negaive morphology. The following
>examples are from Melissa Bowerman's diary studies of her
>two daughters:
>
>(Child trying to get out of swimsuit says:)
>     Child:    How do I untake this off?
>     (= How do I take this off?)
>
>Child:    Will you unopen this?
>     (= Will you open this?)
>
>(Child trying to pull sheet of stamps apart says:)
>     Child:    Ho do you unbreak this?
>     (= How do you break this?)
>
>(Child holding up chain of glued paper strips says:)
>     Child:    I know you take these apart. Unsplit them and put'em on.
>     (= Split them and put'em on.)
>
>
>Of course, these sorts of uses are unlikely to have a lasting
>effect on any adult variety of English, but they do suggest that
>innovations along these lines might be more natural than our
>logical prejudices would have us believe.
>
>-mi
>
>
>On 5/3/07, Laurence Horn  wrote:
>>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society
>>  Poster:       Laurence Horn
>>  Subject:      Re: Early appearances of "irregardless"
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  >Btw, "irregardless" is almost certainly a blend ("regardless" +
>>  >"irrespective").
>>  >
>>  >Gerald Cohen
>>
>>  I wouldn't say almost certainly.   The redundancy of negative prefix
>>  + privative suffix represents what used to be a much more robust
>>  pattern found especially among adjectives of the form "unXless" in
>>  the 16th and 17th centuries, typically meaning 'unXful' or 'Xless'.
>>  The OED, under un(1), 5a, lists such forms as
>>
>>  unboundless
>>  undauntless
>>  uneffectless
>>  unguiltless
>>  unhelpless
>>  unfathomless
>>  unmatchless
>>  unmerciless
>>  unnumberless
>>  unquestionless
>>  unremorseless
>>  unrestless
>>  unshameless
>>  unshapeless
>>  untimeless
>>  unwitless
>>
>>  So "unmatchless", for example, meant 'unmatched' or 'matchless".  Nor
>>  is English alone in allowing such redundancy; cf. German
>>  "unzweifellos", lit. 'undoubtless', but actually 'doubtless'. (The
>>  literal reading arrived at compositionally in these cases is ruled
>>  out by the general constraint that prevents attaching un- to
>>  evaluatively or formally negative bases (e.g. *unsad or *unhostile
>>  alongside unhappy, unfriendly).  Perhaps a blend analysis makes sense
>>  for some of those , but "unmatchless" would be more plausibly a blend
>>  of "unmatched" and "matchless", and we don't have analogous sources
>>  for "irregardless" (regardless + irregardful?). Some speakers may
>>  have "irrespective" in mind--but it's no slam dunk, as Mr. Tenet
>>  would say.  Similar redundant morphology pops up with un-verbs and
>>  their kin:  unthaw (= thaw), unloose(n), debone, dissever,
>>  unshell,...  Blend analyses don't seem (to me) particularly
>>  compelling in such cases.
>>
>>  LH
>>
>>  >________________________________
>>  >
>>  >From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Bonnie Taylor-Blake
>>  >Sent: Thu 5/3/2007 7:33 PM
>>  >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>  >Subject: Early appearances of "irregardless"
>  > >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >I'm always a little concerned that I'm simply repeating work that
>>  someone's
>>  >already posted or published here or elsewhere.  Irregardless, since the
>>  word
>>  >came up on the list today, I'll go ahead and share several early
>>  appearances
>>  >of "irregardless" that I've found in American publications.  (OED2
>>  provides
>>  >as an early sighting an entry from Wentworth's _American Dialect
>>  >Dictionary_, 1912.)
>>  >
>>  >-- Bonnie
>>  >
>>  >----------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  >(From the poem "The Old Woman and Her Tabby," *City Gazette and Daily
>>  >Advertiser* [Charleston, South Carolina], 23 June 1795, Vol. XIII, Issue
>>  >2458, Pg. 3.  [Archives of Americana])
>>  >
>>  >But death, irregardless of tenderest ties,
>>  >    Resolv'd the good *Betty*, at length, to bereave:
>>  >He strikes -- the poor fav'rite reluctantly dies!
>>  >    Breaks her mistress's heart -- both descend to the grave.
>>  >
>>  >-------------------
>>  >
>>  >(From "Trip to Harrisburg, &c."  *The Grant County Witness* [Platteville,
>>  >Wisconsin], 3 October 1861, Pg. 2.  [newspaperarchive.com])
>>  >
>>  >As five as per order, down came the tents irregardless of the occupants,
>>  >should there be any.
>>  >
>>  >----------------
>>  >
>>  >(From *The New York Herald*, 29 January 1862.  [Accessible Archives])
>>  >
>>  >He was the bearer of messages from commercial men in the South to English
>>  >merchants in reference to opening a trade with the South irregardless of
>>  the
>>  >federal blockade.
>>  >
>>  >----------------
>>  >
>>  >(From "Notes on Current Events:  Foreign an Domestic.  The War Policy and
>>  >the Constitution," *The Knickerbocker Monthly; A National Magazine*,
>>  March
>>  >1863, 61, 3, Pg. 280.  [APS Online])
>>  >
>>  >Goaded on, solicited, threatened, implored, to appease the fanatical
>>  >representatives of abolitionism, irregardless of what conservatism which
>>  >recent elections demonstrate so incontestably preponderates at the North,
>>  >[...].
>>  >
>>  >----------------
>>  >
>>  >(From "Texas Items," *Flake's Bulletin* [Galveston, Texas], 3 October
>>  1867,
>>  >Vol. III, Issue 90, Pg. 5. [Archive of Americana])
>>  >
>>  >Judge Noonan has applied to the Governor for permission to summon jurors
>>  >irregardless of the test oath ordered to be administered by General
>>  Griffin,
>>  >knowing that such a jury as required cannot be found in his upper
>>  counties.
>>  >[Reprinted from the San Antonio Herald, 25 September.]
>>  >
>>  >----------------
>>  >
>>  >("Irregardless" appears with growing frequency in publications from the
>>  >1870s and thereafter. -- BTB)
>>  >
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