polysyllabism
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English[edit]
Noun[edit]
polysyllabism (usually uncountable, plural polysyllabisms)
- (linguistics) The state or characteristic of having or using words containing multiple syllables, sometimes as a stage in the development of language.
- 1936, Martin Joos, "Book Review: The Psycho-Biology of Language by George K. Zipf," Language, vol. 12, no. 3 (July/Sep), p. 202,
- Chinese polysyllabism is a sort of synthesis, or aggregation, or 'addition' of morphemes and their meanings.
- 1936, Martin Joos, "Book Review: The Psycho-Biology of Language by George K. Zipf," Language, vol. 12, no. 3 (July/Sep), p. 202,
- Polysyllabicism.
- 1867, William Dwight Whitney, Language and the Study of Language, New York: Scribner, page 348:
- Cumbrous compounds are formed as the names of objects and a character of tedious and time-wasting polysyllabism is given to the language.
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- “polysyllabism”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.