Q: `workaholic'

[Gabriella Rundblad]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Hi Larry and the rest,
 
>Is there an accepted name for the slightly peculiar process
>in which a piece of a word is somewhat arbitrarily ripped out of it
>and then used as a kind of affix for forming new words?
 
I don't know if it is accepted or the best term available, but I've come
across the term abstracted form: "Abstracted means the use of a part of
a word or phrase in what seems to be the meaning it contributes to the
expression, as when -gate acquires a meaning from appearance in
Watergate, the Korea gate, etc." (Barnhart 1980: 3)
 
 
Gabriella
 
 
 
Gabriella Rundblad
Department of English Language and Linguistics
University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TN
phone: +44 114 222 02 25
fax: +44 114 276 82 51
 
 
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