Shm-reduplication
Encyclopedia
Shm-reduplication is a form of reduplication
in which the original word or its first syllable (the base) is repeated with the copy (the reduplicant) beginning with shm- (sometimes schm-), pronounced ʃ. The construction is generally used to indicate irony, derision or skepticism with respect to comments about the discussed object:
Further phonological details revealed by Bert Vaux and Andrew Nevins' online survey of shm-reduplication can be found here http://php-dev.imt.uwm.edu/prjs/markj/projects/fll_surveys/shm/.
and was subsequently transferred to English
, especially urban northeastern American English
, by Yiddish speaking Jews. It is now known and used by many non-Jewish English speakers. The construction also transferred into Modern Hebrew
usage, as a productive derogatory prefix resulting in an echoic expressive, as in David Ben Gurion's famous dismissal of the United Nations
(UN), um shmum
(UN Shm-UN) during a March 29, 1955 government meeting. "When an Israeli speaker would like to express his impatience with or disdain for philosophy, s/he can say filosófya-shmilosófya.
Zuckermann (2009) mentions in this context the Turkic
initial m-segment conveying a sense of "and so on" as in the Turkish
sentence dergi mergi okumuyor, literally "magazine 'shmagazine' read:NEGATIVE:PRESENT:3rd person singular", i.e. "(He) doesn’t read magazines, journals or anything like that."
. The essential argument was that the reduplication can be repeated indefinitely, producing a sequence of phrases of geometrically increasing length, which cannot occur in a context-free language.
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
in which the original word or its first syllable (the base) is repeated with the copy (the reduplicant) beginning with shm- (sometimes schm-), pronounced ʃ. The construction is generally used to indicate irony, derision or skepticism with respect to comments about the discussed object:
- He's just a baby!
- Baby-shmaby. He's already 5 years old!
Phonological properties
- Words beginning with a single consonant typically replace that consonant with shm- (table shmable).
- Words beginning with a consonant cluster are more variable: some speakers replace only the first consonant if possible (breakfast shmreakfast), others replace the entire cluster (breakfast shmeakfast).
- Vowel-initial words append the shm- directly to the beginning of the reduplicant (apple shmapple).
- Some speakers target the stressed syllable rather than the first syllable (incredible inshmedible); a subset of these do not copy base material preceding the stressed syllable (incredible shmedible; cf. Spitzer 1952).
- When speaking two words, only the second word is usually shm-reduplicated (Led ZeppelinLed ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
Led Shmeppelin) - Shm-reduplication is generally avoided or altered with words that already begin with shm-; for instance, schmuck does not yield the expected *schmuck schmuck, but rather total avoidance or mutation of the shm- (giving forms like schmuck shluck, schmuck fluck, and so on).
- Many speakers use sm- instead of shm- with words that contain a sh (Ashmont Smashmont, not *shmashmont).
Further phonological details revealed by Bert Vaux and Andrew Nevins' online survey of shm-reduplication can be found here http://php-dev.imt.uwm.edu/prjs/markj/projects/fll_surveys/shm/.
Origins and sociolinguistic distribution
The construction appears to have originated in YiddishYiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and was subsequently transferred to English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, especially urban northeastern American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
, by Yiddish speaking Jews. It is now known and used by many non-Jewish English speakers. The construction also transferred into Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew , also known as Israeli Hebrew or Modern Israeli Hebrew, is the language spoken in Israel and in some Jewish communities worldwide, from the early 20th century to the present....
usage, as a productive derogatory prefix resulting in an echoic expressive, as in David Ben Gurion's famous dismissal of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(UN), um shmum
Um-Shmum
Um-Shmum is a phrase coined by David Ben-Gurion on 29 March 1955 during a debate within his cabinet, as a scorning utterance towards the United Nations and an expression that reflects, even as to date, the way many Israelis feel about the institution...
(UN Shm-UN) during a March 29, 1955 government meeting. "When an Israeli speaker would like to express his impatience with or disdain for philosophy, s/he can say filosófya-shmilosófya.
Zuckermann (2009) mentions in this context the Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
initial m-segment conveying a sense of "and so on" as in the Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
sentence dergi mergi okumuyor, literally "magazine 'shmagazine' read:NEGATIVE:PRESENT:3rd person singular", i.e. "(He) doesn’t read magazines, journals or anything like that."
As a counterexample in linguistics
Shm-reduplication has been advanced as an example of a natural language phenomenon that cannot be captured by a context-free grammarContext-free grammar
In formal language theory, a context-free grammar is a formal grammar in which every production rule is of the formwhere V is a single nonterminal symbol, and w is a string of terminals and/or nonterminals ....
. The essential argument was that the reduplication can be repeated indefinitely, producing a sequence of phrases of geometrically increasing length, which cannot occur in a context-free language.
See also
- Inherently funny wordInherently funny wordWords may be considered inherently funny, for reasons ranging from onomatopoeia to phonosemantics. Such words have been used by a range of influential comedians, including W. C...
- Joe ShmoeJoe ShmoeJoe Shmoe is one of the most commonly used fictional names in American English. It is used to identify the typical, everyday person who does not have any special status, frequently in contrast to some group...
- ReduplicationReduplicationReduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
- RedundancyRedundancy (language)In linguistics, redundancy is the construction of a phrase that presents some idea using more information, often via multiple means, than is necessary for one to be able understand the idea....
- Pig LatinPig LatinPig Latin is a language game of alterations played in English. To form the Pig Latin form of an English word the first consonant is moved to the end of the word and an ay is affixed . The object is to conceal the meaning of the words from others not familiar with the rules...
- SpoonerismSpoonerismA spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
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