{"id":4338,"date":"2006-01-24T23:47:45","date_gmt":"2006-01-25T03:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/01\/24\/speak-blawg\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:13","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:13","slug":"speak-blawg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/01\/24\/speak-blawg\/","title":{"rendered":"speak blawg?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This morning, at Language Log<\/A><\/EM>, linguist Benjamin Zimmer from, <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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UPenn, posted <\/SPAN>“Blawgs, phonolawgically speaking<\/FONT><\/A>” as a <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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follow-up to Mark Liberman’s <\/FONT><\/FONT>piece<\/FONT><\/A> at the same weblog “Who <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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Let the Blawgs Out?”.  Both were inspired by <\/FONT>our<\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT>war<\/FONT><\/A> on the <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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use of “blawg” terminology and the defense<\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT>of its usage by <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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the Editor of Blawg Review.<\/EM>   Zimmer<\/FONT> takes a look at what<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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makes “blawg” such an interesting portmanteau or <\/FONT><\/SPAN>“blend <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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word,” with special emphasis on the morphophono<\/FONT><\/SPAN>logical <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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aspects of the word. <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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\"shift<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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For an interesting peek at another profession that is (literally) <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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focused <\/SPAN>on parsing words and making fine distinctions, law-<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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types <\/SPAN>could not do better than checking out Zimmer’s post <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT>bisecting the blog-law-blawg<\/EM> portmanteau.<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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For example, he explains that one type of blended word is <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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the sandwich variety, where part of one of the blended words <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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is inserted into the other word (rather than attached to it). A <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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famous example is Lewis Carroll’s “chortle,”  where  <\/SPAN>chortle = <\/EM><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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ch(uck)le + (sn)ort.<\/EM> .  But, “blawg” is unique: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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“The recipe for such sandwich words is pretty constant: <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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take a polysyllabic word and replace the primarily-stressed <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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syllable with a punchy monosyllabic word of your choice. <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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It’s clear, however, that blawg<\/SPAN> is a different beast, morpho-<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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phonologically speaking. <\/FONT>Denise Howell<\/FONT><\/A> took a monosyllabic <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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word (blog<\/SPAN>) and inserted another monosyllable (law<\/SPAN>), such <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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that the “bread” for the sandwich consists merely of one <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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initial consonant (b-<\/SPAN>) and one final consonant (-g<\/SPAN>). I know <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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of no other sandwich word so dominated by its filling.<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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                                                                       \"dictionaryN\"<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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“<\/SPAN>What’s more, the two component words are maximally over-<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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lapping for some speakers and nearly so for others. . . . “<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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[Ed note<\/EM>: a discussion of whether “blawg” sounds like <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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“blog,” and if it matters, follows.]<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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After this brief exposure to linguistics, it seems to me that linguists <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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are science-minded persons, who like words more than numbers, <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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and are too nice to want to be lawyers.  Like lawyers, however, <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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they apparently do tend to take liberties when describing the pos-<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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itions of <\/SPAN>others.  Thus, where I said I was surprised, Benjamin says <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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I am <\/SPAN>“shocked.”  Where I merely gave a prominent example, he says <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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I am “troubled.”  <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/DIV>
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One thing for sure, I bet Benjamin and Mark would be quite annoyed, <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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if someone wanted to permanently call their weblog a “bling<\/EM>“, merely <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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because <\/SPAN>weblogs by linguists are so <\/EM>unique.<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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p.s.<\/STRONG><\/EM> (Jan. 25, 10 AM): Just a quick apology to Benjamin Zimmer<\/A> <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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for mistakenly calling him “Zimmerman” in the first version of this <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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post.  All the portmanteau talk led me astray: “when it comes <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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to morphophonology, <\/FONT><\/SPAN>Zimmer is the <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT>Man!”<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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update <\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/EM>(Jan. 27, 2005):  Denise Howell, coiner of “blawg” and still <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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one of our very<\/EM> favorite persons in the entire blogiverse, has a piece <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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at Bag & Baggage<\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/A> about the recent discussion at <\/FONT><\/SPAN>Language Log<\/FONT><\/A><\/EM>, <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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by linguists <\/FONT>Benjamin Zimmer<\/FONT><\/A> and<\/FONT><\/SPAN> <\/FONT>Mark Liberman<\/FONT><\/A> on the use of <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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“blawg.” <\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT>Denise suggests, in “I, Sandwich Dominatrix<\/FONT><\/A>,” Jan. 25, 2006) <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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without ever linking to f\/k\/a or mentioning us, that:<\/FONT> <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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                                                              Tyler, the original “baggage”<\/EM><\/FONT><\/FONT>:  \"tyler<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“If you are among the folks — linguists excluded; it’s their <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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job<\/EM> — who might be spending a little too much thought and <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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energy on this borderline microbial issue, please consider <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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channeling your efforts toward something of more tangible <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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benefit to mankind.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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See our response by scrolling down to the update to our original post<\/A> <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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on making the word “blawg” obsolete.”<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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“snowflakeS” Speak Brooks?<\/STRONG><\/EM>  We sure do.  So, here are a <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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half dozen haiku and senryu from Randy Brooks:<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/SPAN> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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big brother’s grin . . . <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the last piece of the puzzle <\/DIV>
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out of his pocket<\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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mourning dove<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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returns to the porch rail<\/DIV>
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      new snow fluffs off <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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sawing–<\/DIV>
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the sap begins to flow <\/DIV>
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out of the evergreen <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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\"expect  <\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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eyeing the spot<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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where our bumpers bumped–<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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snow in his thick eyebrows<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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cedar walking cane<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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hangs from the coat rack<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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dust on the handles curves<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“schoolBrooks” <\/FONT>Randy Brooks<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A>, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/DIV>
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from <\/FONT>School’s Out<\/FONT><\/A><\/EM> (Press Here, 1999)<\/FONT><\/FONT>  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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                                                                                                            \"trashman<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/SPAN><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning, at Language Log, linguist Benjamin Zimmer from,  UPenn, posted “Blawgs, phonolawgically speaking” as a follow-up to Mark Liberman’s piece at the same weblog “Who Let the Blawgs Out?”.  Both were inspired by our war on the use of “blawg” terminology and the defense of its usage by the Editor of Blawg Review.   Zimmer takes a look at what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-17Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12814,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338\/revisions\/12814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}