"epicanthal fold" not in OED

[Douglas G. Wilson]

On 4/23/2011 1:09 PM, Ronald Butters wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ronald Butters<ronbutters at AOL.COM>
> Subject:      "epicanthal fold" not in OED
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED has EPICANTHUS  "A downward fold of skin which sometimes covers the =
> inner angle or canthus of the eye, esp. in Mongols" and EPICANTHIC as a =
> derivative. But OED does not have the usual anatomical derivative, =
> EPICANTHAL, seen most frequently in EPICANTHAL FOLD (which usually =
> accompanies eyes that exhibit a PALPEBRAL SLANT).=20
--

I would use "epicanthic [fold]" in non-technical speech. My Dorland's
medical dictionary shows both "-ic" and "-al". I don't recall hearing
"epicanthal" myself ... but maybe I've ignored it ... surely I wouldn't
bat an eyelid at it.

MW3 has "epicanthic fold". The shorter equivalent AFAIK is "epicanthus".

"Palpebral" means "of the eyelid[s]". I don't know whether the
collocation "palpebral slant" qualifies for a heading in a general
dictionary. "Palpebral slant" = "slant of the palpebra[e]", I guess,
just like "talar tilt" = "tilt of the talus", etc., etc. Any body part
could have a slant or a tilt, and many such terms are standardized, with
technical literature giving (sometimes varying) rules for how they are
measured and how normality is assessed and how much it has to tilt
before you call it a tilt, etc. ... which may be problematic for a
general dictionary.

I'm pretty sure I haven't ever heard "palpebral slant" in lay speech.
Maybe it's used routinely by plastic surgeons. I see some examples on
the Web in basic medical-type contexts.

I wonder how well a measured "palpebral slant" (so-and-so many degrees,
I guess) would correspond to a layman's impression of "how slanted is
this eye" (not slanted, really really slanted, only-a-little, inward,
outward, etc.). What is casually perceived as a "slanted eye" may be
heavily influenced by not only the size and shape of any epicanthus but
also the shape of the nasal bridge, prominence of the zygomatic arch,
local skin redundancy, single vs. double eyelid, etc., etc., I would
casually guess. Not to mention makeup artistry in some cases. And maybe
even facial expression.

I don't know exactly what "Mongol" means here. Probably the entry hasn't
been revised lately. Anyway, since an epicanthus is an epicanthus
whoever has it, I don't know that any sort of "Mongol" needs to be
mentioned ... although the heading for the synonymous "Mongolian fold"
might or might not have an etymological note explaining exactly what
this "Mongolian" originally meant.

-- Doug Wilson

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