Intrusive N in Messenger, Passenger etc.

[Mark Mandel]

And "wharfinger" < "wharfage".

Mark Mandel


On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>wrote:

> And don't forget "sassenger."
> =20
> G. Cohen
> =20
> =20
> Original message from Laurence Horn,  Wed 11/19/2008 10:32 PM:
>
>
> At 2:35 PM -0700 11/19/08, Josh Macfelder wrote:
> >A friend of mine asked me where the N in "messenger/passenger etc"
> >came from, and I was only able to come up with "It's an intrusive N"
> >but I have no other information about this feature. Except for maybe
> >the fact that Merriam-Webster's traces it back to the Middle English
> >period.
>
> It's especially striking given that there isn't an earlier /n/ in
> these words to yield progressive assimilation as with the intrusive
> "pundint"s of John McCain, Sarah Palin, et al.
>
> LH
>
> >Also, the Shorter OED that I'm using gives the following etymology:
> >"Old & mod. French passager use as noun of adjective meaning
> >'passing', formed as PASSAGE noun: see -ER2. For the intrusive n cf.
> >harbinger, messenger, etc."
> >Since it's just "compare with," any additional info would be =
> appreciated.
> >Thanks in advance.
> >
>
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