Amalgamation (grammar)
Fusion is the contraction ( contraction ) of two words from different parts of speech to form a fusion word . In standard German it usually consists of a certain preposition and a matching article , and generally of frequently spoken word groups that can be easily pulled together by the rules of coarticulation in a language .
Fusion words are generally used more frequently in colloquial language, in poetry, in headings that are as short as possible, and so on, than in the upscale standard or written language .
German
Official fusion words
Examples of official melting words of Germans are:
- for ← to (preposition) + the / a (definite or indefinite article) - the / the / a in the dative ;
- to ← to + the / one - the / one in the dative ;
- in ← in + dem - der / das in dative ;
- ins ← in + das - that in the accusative .
Fusion words of the spoken language
Examples from the spoken language are in German:
- through ← through + das - das in the accusative ;
- for ← for + das - das in the accusative ;
- under the ← under + the - that in the dative .
From northern and central German :
- so'n ← so / such + a ;
Examples from the Rhineland :
- daddet ← that + she / it / that ;
- hammer ← have + we ;
- hömma ← listen + times ;
- schapp ← I + have ;
- willing? ← want + you .
Examples from Kölschen :
- lommer ← lohß + mer - (let us) ;
- Jommer ← Jon + mer? / Mer + jon. - both a complete sentence each (Are we going? We're going.) ;
- kaa i schnit ← can + esch + nit - (I can't [that]) ;
- küttä ← kütt + hä / dä - (he comes) .
Examples from Eschweiler Platt :
- semme ← sen + mie - (we are) ;
- hamme ← han + mie - (we have) ;
- womme ← wool + mie - (we want) ;
- wämme ← wän + mie - (if we) ;
- mösseme ← size + mie - (we have to) .
Examples from Bavarian-Austrian :
- samma ← san + me - (we are) ;
- gemma ← go + me - (let's go) ;
- därma ← dä + me - (we do) ;
- dadma ← dadn + me - (we would) .
Sound omissions by apostrophes
The omission of sounds ( elision ), which is often marked in writing by an apostrophe as an ellipsis , should not be confused with fusion words, although there can also be overlaps, as already mentioned above. In German:
- ausm, aus'm ← from + to - the / the dative ;
- in'm ← in + one - one in the dative ;
- durch'n ← by + a / the - one in the accusative .
English
In English there are a large number of melting words, with most of them a vowel is "swallowed", which is then replaced by an apostrophe in the written language, such as in I'm for "I am". Sometimes there are also other changes like won't for “will not”. These amalgamations are mainly used in spoken and informal written language and should be avoided in formal written language.
The main mergers are listed here.
| Normal form | merger | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| not | -n't | Irregular shapes: "ain't", "don't", "won't", "shan't". “N't” can only be attached to auxiliary or modal verbs that have not already been shortened. |
| let us | let's | |
| I am | In the | |
| are | -'re | we're / wɪr / is pronounced differently than were / wɜr / in some dialects . |
| is | -'s | |
| does | informally, for example in: “What's he do there every day?” (What does he do there every day?) | |
| has | ||
| have | -'ve | |
| had | -'d | |
| did | informally, for example in: "Where'd she go?" (Where did she go?) | |
| would / should / could | ||
| want | -'ll | |
| of | O' | as with "barrel o'monkeys", "Land o'Goshen", "lots o'luck"; most often used at o'clock , although this form is used exclusively today. |
| it | 't- | outdated |
| them | 'em | Perceived as informal. Originally comes from hem , which is not the same as them , a Nordic loan word . |
| is not | isn't, or ain't | ain't stands for am not and only in today's language for is not ; it is therefore generally seen as colloquial in this variant. |
Some other simplified pronunciations of word groups, which can also be represented as cases of elision , can also be viewed as (non-standard) fusion words . These are mostly not anchored in the standard language, but are used in the written language. Examples are wanna for want to , gonna for going to , y'all for you all .
In the so-called subject – auxiliary inversion , in which the auxiliary verb changes place with the subject, the entire shortened form and not just the auxiliary verb changes place. The question form of He won't go, for example, is Won't he go , whereas the unabridged counterpart Will he not go? is, therefore that not follows the subject and not the auxiliary verb.
French
The French language has many abbreviations that are similar to the English variant, but inevitably occur as in C'est la vie (“That's life”), where c'est stands for ce + est (“that is”). This formation of words is called elision .
In general, every monosyllabic word that ends in an e caduc ( Schwa ) is merged with the next word if it begins with a vowel, h or y . In addition to ce → c'- (the demonstrative pronoun dies : “this”), these are the words que → qu'- (conjunction, relative pronoun or interrogative pronoun “like”), ne → n'- (“not”), se → s'- (“self” before a verb), je → j'- (“I”), me → m'- (“me” before a verb), te → t'- (“you” before a verb ), le → l'- (“the” or “to be” before a verb or after a verb in the imperative and before y ode en ) and de → d'- (“from”). All of these shortenings are imperative. One would therefore never write or say ce est or que elle , but use the shortened form.
The article la (“die”) must be shortened to l'- before words that begin with a vowel , as with l'idée and when la is used as an object pronoun, before a verb or after a verb in the imperative and before y ode en .
Moi (“me”) and toi (“you”) must be shortened to m'- and t'- after a verb in the imperative and before y or en .
In addition, a repetition of the same sounds must be avoided, for example with the preposition si (“if”) followed by il (“he”) or ils (“she”), otherwise two i ’s would collide. si il becomes s'il (“if he”) and si ils becomes s'ils (“if she”).
Some prepositions also need to be merged with the direct articles. au stands for à le , aux for à les , du for de le and des for de les . The amalgamation of cela ("this") to ça, however, is informal.
In common language, the personal pronoun is sometimes fused with the following verb. For example, je ne sais pas ( ʒənəsɛpa , “I don't know”) can also be colloquially known as chais pas ( ʃɛpa ). Here the ne is completely left out and the ʒ from je is mixed up with the s from sais .
Italian
In Italian , prepositions are merged with direct articles. The prepositions a , da , di , in , su , con un per in combination with the different variants of the articles il , lo , la , l ', i , gli , gl', and le .
| il | lo | la | l ' | i | gli | (gl ') | le | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | al | allo | alla | Alles' | ai | agli | (agl ') | all |
| there | dal | dallo | dalla | dall ' | dai | dagli | (dagl ') | dalle |
| di | del | dello | della | dell ' | dei | degli | (degl ') | dent |
| in | nel | nello | nella | nell ' | no | negli | (negl ') | nelle |
| see below | sul | sullo | sulla | sull ' | sui | sugli | (sugl ') | sulle |
| con | col | (collo) | (colla) | (coll ') | coi | (cogli) | (colle) | |
| by | (pel) | (pello) | (pella) | (pell ') | (pei) | (pegli) | (skin) |
- Fusion with a , da , di , in , and su are mandatory, whereas those with con and per are optional.
- The words in brackets are no longer used, but still exist in expressions such as colla voce .
- In the past, gl was used for words beginning with i , but is rarely used today.
The words ci and è (forms of essere , sein) and the words vi and è are shortened to c'è and v'è (both means “there is”.)
The words dove and è are merged to dov'è (“where is”).
Spanish
In Spanish : there are two absolutely necessary mergers between articles and pronouns al (am) for a el and del (from) for de el (not to be confused with a él which to him means and de él what his means).
Some other amalgamations were anchored in parlance in the 17th century. Most of them consisted of de + personal and demonstrative pronouns: destas for de estas (from these, fem.), Daquel for de aquel (from these, masc.), Dél for de él (from imh) etc. There are also feminine articles before words starting with a- : l'alma for la alma , now el alma (the soul). Some demonstrative pronouns are shortened as follows: aquí (here) + pronouns, or pronouns + otro / a (others): aqueste , aqueso , estotro , etc. The modern aquel ( dass , masc.) Is the only remnant of these fusions. The personal pronouns nosotros (we) and vosotros (you) are also remnants of this old language. In ancient texts, the unstressed words were often shortened, so that words like todol for todo el (all die, masc.), Ques for que es (which is), yas for ya se , dome for de ome = de hombre .
In addition, when using “con” with “mi”, “ti” or “si” a melting word is used that conmigo for con mí (with me), contigo for con ti (with you), consigo for con sí (with him) is written.
Portuguese
In Portuguese , amalgamations are more common and more common than in Spanish. Individual prepositions often merge with other articles and pronouns. For example, de and por combine with the articles o and a , from which do , da and pelo , pela arise. The preposition de combines with the pronouns ele and ela (he, she) and promotes the combinations dele , dela (his, her). There are also fusions between certain verbs and object pronouns, e.g. B. the verb amar (to love) merges with a (they) to amá-la (to love).
Norwegian
There are no mergers or abbreviations in the Norwegian written language. In the spoken language, however, abbreviations do occur. These characteristics vary from dialect to dialect and between social classes. Relatively common abbreviations are jakke for jeg har ikke “I have not”, pronounced like “jäi har ikke”, and dække for det er ikke “it is not”, pronounced like “deh ar ikke”.
In some cases, even long sentences can be combined into one word by omitting consonants, vowels and spaces. An example of such a sentence is Det ordner seg av seg selv “That will be found”, pronounced in the Bokmål as “Deh vill ordne säi av säi sell”, but in the spoken language as “dånesæsæsjæl” (“donesäsäschäl”) .
Latin
In Latin there are some melting words. One example is the verb nolo "I don't want", which was created by merging non volo ( volo means "I want").
Chinese
There are a few fusion words in classical Chinese , some of which are also used in modern Chinese .
| Long form | Transliteration | merger | Transliteration | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 之 乎 | tjə ga | 諸 | tjᴀ | In rare cases, 諸 can also be the abbreviation for 有 之 乎. 諸 can also stand alone with the meaning “all who belong to the class…”, as in 諸侯 which means “all feudal lords” |
| 若 之 何 | njᴀ tjə gaj | 奈何 | najs gaj | |
| 於 之 | ʔa tjə | 焉 | ʔrjan | 於 之 is not used at all, just 焉. |
| 之 焉 | tjə ʔrjan | 旃 | tjan | Rare. |
| 于 之 | wja tjə | 爰 | wjan | Rare. The prepositions 於, 于, and 乎 have different origins, but can all be used in the same way (with the exception of 乎, which can also be used as a question particle). |
| 如 之 | nja tjə | 然 | njan | |
| 曰 之 | wjot tjə | 云 | wjən | |
| 不 之 | pjə tjə | 弗 | pjət | |
| 毋 之 | mja tjə | 勿 | mjət | 弗 and 勿 were not originally fusion words, but were reinvented as such during the War of the States . |
| 而已 | njə ljəʔ | 耳 | njəʔ | |
| 胡 不 | ga pjə | 盍 | gap | 胡 is a variant of 何. |
| 也 乎 | ljᴀjʔ ga | 與 | ljaʔ | Also written as 歟 |
| 也 乎 | ljᴀjʔ ga | 邪 | zjᴀ | Oh written as 耶. Probably a dialect of 與. |
| 不 乎 | pjə ga | 夫 | pja | 夫 has many other meanings |
Japanese
Some amalgamations in the quickly spoken language are ~ っ す(-ssu) for で す(desu) and す い ま せ ん(suimasen) for す み ま せ ん(sumimasen) . で は(dewa) is often shortened to じ ゃ(ja) . In some cases the particle の(no ) is shortened to ん(n) .
After some verbs ending in ~ て(-te) some auxiliary verbs are abbreviated. Examples:
| Original shape | Transliteration | merger | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~ て い る / ~ て い た / ~ て い ま す / etc. | -te iru / -te ita / -te imasu / etc. | ~ て る / ~ て た / ~ て ま す / etc. | -te ru / -te ta / -te masu / etc. |
| ~ て い く / ~ て い っ た /etc.* | -te iku / -te itta / etc. * | ~ て く / ~ て っ た /etc.* | -te ku / -te tta / etc. * |
| ~ て お く / ~ て お い た / ~ て お き ま す / etc. | -te oku / -te oita / -te okimasu / etc. | ~ と く / ~ と い た / ~ と き ま す / etc. | -toku / -toita / -tokimasu / etc. |
| ~ て し ま う / ~ て し ま っ た / ~ て し ま い ま す / etc. | -te shimau / -te shimatta / -te shimaimasu / etc. | ~ ち ゃ う / ~ ち ゃ っ た / ~ ち ゃ い ま す / etc. | -chau / -chatta / -chaimasu / etc. |
| ~ で し ま う / ~ で し ま っ た / ~ で し ま い ま す / etc. | -de shimau / -de shimatta / -de shimaimasu / etc. | ~ じ ゃ う / ~ じ ゃ っ た / ~ じ ゃ い ま す / etc. | -jau / -jatta / -jaimasu / etc. |
| ~ て は | -te wa | ~ ち ゃ | -cha |
| ~ で は | -de wa | ~ じ ゃ | -Yes |
| ~ な く て は | -nakute wa | ~ な く ち ゃ | -nakucha |
* This abbreviation is never used in a friendly tone to avoid confusion between ikimasu (go) and kimasu (come).
The ending ~ な け れ ば(-nakereba) can be shortened to ~ な き ゃ(-nakya) if it is used to indicate duties. It is often used with auxiliary verbs. For example, 行 か な き ゃ （い け な い ( ikanakya (ikenai) ) means “I have to go”.
Sometimes abbreviations are also used to form new words:
- The word 何 か(nanika) “something” is shortened to な ん か(nanka) and is then a colloquial word, which means something like “to a certain extent”, but can also be used as a filler word without meaning.
- じ ゃ な い(ja nai) “Is not” shortened to じ ゃ ん(jan) is an empty phrase that indicates the end of a speech or statement.
- The commonly used phrase と い う(to iu) is often shortened to ~ っ て / ~ て / ~ っ つ ー(-tte / -te / -ttsū) for a more informal feel.
- The words だ(da) and で す(desu) are older abbreviations that come from で あ る(de aru) and で ご ざ い ま す(de gozaimasu) . These words are fully integrated into the language and are no longer considered melting words. Nevertheless, ellen あ る(de aru) is sometimes used in the formal written language instead of form (da) .
Different Japanese dialects often use amalgamations, which, however, are only understood within the individual dialects.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Edwin G. Pulleyblank: Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar . Ed .: University of British Columbia Press . 1995, ISBN 0-7748-0505-6 .
- ↑ a b Search for ancient Chinese reconstructions ( memento of the original from December 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , contains William H. Baxter's reconstructions.
