[Ads-l] Antedating of "Back-Formation"

[Laurence Horn]

Interesting.  I'd have guessed, given the form and the time frame, that "back-formation" was a calque from the German, but the OED entry says "hence, German rückbildung", so it looks like the Brits were the innovators this time.

LH

> On Jun 4, 2016, at 11:00 AM, Shapiro, Fred <Fred.Shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> This antedating may be of interest to historians of the OED.
> 
> 
> 
> back-formation (OED 1888)
> 
> 
> 1887 _The Academy_ 7 May 327 (ProQuest)  On the whole the most likely supposition seems to be that the existence of the word _celour_ in English suggested the verb _ceelyn_ (to ceil), either as a mere "back-formation" or as an adaptation of Latin _celare_, French _celer_, with senses derived from that of the noun.
> 
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=K77b18YcQrX8Mt9s-fB8P4Di-87wuQ2qh0KjDnLARcQ&s=DPMQlclwVcQn2owiqOT0UxTIOWSkjrYc-7OaZWkIF8I&e= 

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org