Nonce word
Encyclopedia
A nonce word is a word
used only "for the nonce"—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. Quark, for example, was formerly a nonce word in English, appearing only in James Joyce
's Finnegans Wake
. Murray Gell-Mann
then adopted it to name a new class of subatomic particle
. The use of the term nonce word in this way was apparently the work of James Murray
, the influential editor
of Oxford English Dictionary
.
Nonce words frequently arise through the combination of an existing word with a familiar prefix or suffix
, in order to meet a particular need (or as a joke
). The result is a special kind of pseudoword
: although it would not be found in any dictionary
, it is instantly comprehensible (e.g., Bananaphone
). If the need recurs (or the joke is widely enjoyed), nonce words easily enter regular use just because their meaning is obvious.
Alternatively, nonce words can be logatome
s. These are nonsense word
s that nevertheless obey the phonotactics of a language, that "sound like" native words. Many examples are found in nonsense verse
, such as “Jabberwocky
”. Nonce words may also disobey the phonotactics, such as fnord
(fn- does not occur in modern English), or be barely pronounceable or unpronounceable nonsense, such as kwyjibo.
Nonce words are often created as part of pop culture and advertising
campaigns. A poem by Seamus Heaney
entitled "Nonce Words" is included in his collection "District and Circle".
Nonce words are often used to study the development of language
in children because they allow researchers to test how children treat words for which they have no prior knowledge. This permits inferences about the default assumptions children make about new word meanings, syntactic structure, etc. Frequently used nonce words include "wug", "blicket", and "dax". Wug is among the earliest known nonce words used in language learning studies, and is best known for its use in Jean Berko
's "Wug test
", in which children were presented with a novel object, called a wug, and then shown multiple instances of the object and asked to complete a sentence that elicits a plural form—e.g., "This is a wug. Now there are two of them. There are two...?" The use of the plural form "wugs" by the child suggests that they have applied a plural rule to the form, and that this knowledge is not specific to prior experience with the word, but applies to all nouns, whether familiar or novel.
Examples of nonce words previously used in child developmental studies include:
Other examples of nonce words include:
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
used only "for the nonce"—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. Quark, for example, was formerly a nonce word in English, appearing only in James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
. Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
then adopted it to name a new class of subatomic particle
Subatomic particle
In physics or chemistry, subatomic particles are the smaller particles composing nucleons and atoms. There are two types of subatomic particles: elementary particles, which are not made of other particles, and composite particles...
. The use of the term nonce word in this way was apparently the work of James Murray
James Murray (lexicographer)
Sir James Augustus Henry Murray was a Scottish lexicographer and philologist. He was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until his death.-Life and learning:...
, the influential editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
.
Nonce words frequently arise through the combination of an existing word with a familiar prefix or suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
, in order to meet a particular need (or as a joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
). The result is a special kind of pseudoword
Pseudoword
A pseudoword is a unit of speech or text that appears to be an actual word in a certain language , while in fact it is not part of the lexicon. Within linguistics, a pseudoword is defined specifically as respecting the phonotactic restrictions of a language...
: although it would not be found in any dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
, it is instantly comprehensible (e.g., Bananaphone
Bananaphone
Bananawhoa is a popular children's album released by Raffi in 1994. The title track's lyrics describes the bananaphone. The song uses many puns such as "It's a phone with appeal!" and nonce words like "bananular" and "interactive-odular" as Raffi extols the virtues of his unique telephone. The...
). If the need recurs (or the joke is widely enjoyed), nonce words easily enter regular use just because their meaning is obvious.
Alternatively, nonce words can be logatome
Logatome
A logatome is an artificial word of one or more syllables which obeys all the phonotactic rules of a language but has no meaning. Examples of English logatomes would be the nonsense words snarp or bluck....
s. These are nonsense word
Nonsense word
A nonsense word, unlike a sememe, may have no definition. If it can be pronounced according to a language's phonotactics, it is a logatome. Nonsense words are used in literature for poetic or humorous effect. Proper names of real or fictional entities are sometimes nonsense words.-See...
s that nevertheless obey the phonotactics of a language, that "sound like" native words. Many examples are found in nonsense verse
Nonsense verse
Nonsense verse is a form of light, often rhythmical verse, usually for children, depicting peculiar characters in amusing and fantastical situations. It is whimsical and humorous in tone and tends to employ fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words. Nonsense verse is closely related to...
, such as “Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
”. Nonce words may also disobey the phonotactics, such as fnord
Fnord
Fnord is the typographic representation of disinformation or irrelevant information intending to misdirect, with the implication of a worldwide conspiracy....
(fn- does not occur in modern English), or be barely pronounceable or unpronounceable nonsense, such as kwyjibo.
Nonce words are often created as part of pop culture and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
campaigns. A poem by Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
entitled "Nonce Words" is included in his collection "District and Circle".
Nonce words are often used to study the development of language
Language development
Language development is a process starting early in human life, when a person begins to acquire language by learning it as it is spoken and by mimicry. Children's language development moves from simple to complex. Infants start without language. Yet by four months of age, babies can read lips and...
in children because they allow researchers to test how children treat words for which they have no prior knowledge. This permits inferences about the default assumptions children make about new word meanings, syntactic structure, etc. Frequently used nonce words include "wug", "blicket", and "dax". Wug is among the earliest known nonce words used in language learning studies, and is best known for its use in Jean Berko
Jean Berko Gleason
Jean Berko Gleason is a Boston University psycholinguist best known for having created the Wug Test. The test, which was designed to investigate the manner in which children acquire grammatical understanding, was created in 1958...
's "Wug test
Wug test
The wug test is an experiment in linguistics, created by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958. It was designed as a way to investigate the acquisition of the plural and other inflectional morphemes in English-speaking children....
", in which children were presented with a novel object, called a wug, and then shown multiple instances of the object and asked to complete a sentence that elicits a plural form—e.g., "This is a wug. Now there are two of them. There are two...?" The use of the plural form "wugs" by the child suggests that they have applied a plural rule to the form, and that this knowledge is not specific to prior experience with the word, but applies to all nouns, whether familiar or novel.
Examples of nonce words previously used in child developmental studies include:
| Nonce words |
|---|
| wug |
| blicket |
| dax |
| toma |
| pimwit |
| zav |
| speff |
| tulver |
| gazzer |
| fem |
| fendle |
| tupa |
Other examples of nonce words include:
- RuncibleRuncible"Runcible" is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear. The word appears several times in his works, most famously as the "runcible spoon" used by the Owl and the Pussycat. The word "runcible" was apparently one of Lear's favourite inventions, appearing in several of his works in reference to a...
, from Edward Lear, which later came to describe a curved fork with a cutting edge. - SupercalifragilisticexpialidociousSupercalifragilisticexpialidociousSupercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an English word, with 34 letters, that was in the song with the same title in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke...
, from the movie musical Mary PoppinsMary Poppins (film)Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
. - FnordFnordFnord is the typographic representation of disinformation or irrelevant information intending to misdirect, with the implication of a worldwide conspiracy....
, from the book Principia DiscordiaPrincipia DiscordiaPrincipia Discordia is a Discordian religious text written by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley . It was originally published under the title "Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost" in a limited edition of 5 copies in 1965...