Reanalysis

Translations

rianalisi | réanalyse | Reanalyse

Article

Also known as folk-etymology, the reanalysis of form and function is a phenomenon by which a form is analyzed as a different type of formation, by a redefinition of the function of its components. This can have consequences on the morphological and morphosyntactic behavior of the form. In some cases, it may be induced by contact, or produce false calques by folk-etymology (as in cucaracha / cockroach *< cock + roach). In general, it involves a mistaken segmentation on the first level of patterning of a sign.

Example

A folk segmentation of the Luwian suffix -alla/i- in several loans produced, in Hittite, a derivational morpheme -talla/i- (Melchert 2005, 456).

Luwian irhuit=alla- *= Old Hittite irhui=*talla-

In Iron Age Luwian, the loanword sariyas(s)i-, “eunuch” (from Akkadian ša rēši), is almost certainly reanalyzed as an as(s)a/i- genitival adjective (Giusfredi 2012).

References

Giusfredi, F. 2012. Note sui prestiti accadici e urartei in luvio-geroglifico. P. Cotticelli, M. Giorgieri, C. Mora, A. Rizza (eds.), Interferenze linguistiche e contatti culturali in Anatolia tra II e I millennio a.C., studi in onore di Onofrio Carruba in occasione del suo 80. compleanno, Como, pp. 153-172. Melchert, H.C. 2005. The Problem of the Luvian Influence on Hittite. O. Hackstein and G. Meiser (eds.), Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel, pp. 445-460.