Gremlich Johns, on 20 August 2014 - 03:23 PM, said:
"In linguistic analysis, contractions should not be confused with
abbreviations or
acronyms (including initialisms), with which they share some semantic and phonetic functions, though all three are connoted by the term "abbreviation" in loose parlance. Contraction is also distinguished from clipping, where beginnings and endings are omitted." (copied from wikipedia)
The latter instance, clipping, is seen in Clan-speak quineg, quiaff, stravag which are actually combinations of words which have become single words. One could argue that those words are abbreviations. These are not contractions in the strictest sense and are in fact acceptable words to use among the Warrior caste to make something rhetorical (to make a point) or to ask a proper question. When the writers identified contractions, they meant the words like won't, didn't, can't etc - not what are essentially slang terms. Study up on youth slang and populare culture vocabulary. A contraction that has evolved to become its own word with no punctuation in it is no longer a contraction and the "definition" which you ascribe to specific Clan words is not applicable. This does not make the Clans hypocritical, just speakers of a slightly evolved Alpha language.
Just sayin' ;-)
look here
Yet,
clipping &
blending are simply mechanisms where the end result is some often form of contraction (of which
portmanteaus,
clipped compounds, and other similar structures are subsets and/or related concepts).
At its heart, "a
contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters (actually, sounds)" - a definition that includes or describes each of the previous mechanisms & concepts.
Moreover, the combination of the stated reason behind the Clans' aversion of contractions - which would carry over to other, similar structures - and the fact that they use them nonetheless is part of what makes them hypocrites with regard to the use & decrying of contractions (and similar linguistic structures).
This reverence for the language of their forefathers gave birth to a subtle but very striking taboo in Clan society: the use of contractions in speech is forbidden. Warriors blanch and others become visibly upset at when one uses contractions in speech, even though the words used are not offensive. The Loremaster of Clan Wolf, describes to a Comstar man the rationale behind this odd taboo. He explained, "We in the Clans have learned almost from birth to revere the old Star League ways; everything we do should in some way glorify the Clans and the memory of the Star League. This specifically includes our speech, because we believe as strongly in the freedom of speech and expression as did the Star League. To slight the beauty of the language with contractions is to treat it as your (Comstar's Anastasius Focht) people in the Inner Sphere treated the memory of the Star League. You have cut out its heart and reduced it to a cultural contraction, devoid of beauty and the best of its meaning. Only someone wishing to deliberately scorn the language and shock the listener would use contractions."
This does not mean that the Clans have allowed the language to stagnate. Over the years, the Kerenskys and the Clans have added terms to express unique Clan concepts. These words come from a wide variety of languages, especially Russian. Some are military terms adapted for common use. Others are formed by splicing together two words to form a third. These added words sometimes create the effect of listening to a completely foreign tongue.
Clan warriors also have a "battle language,". Like warriors in the Inner Sphere, Clan warriors use a wide range of acronyms, hyphenations, splices, and buzz words to convey the most meaning in the least number of words. Clan warriors' battle language is so quick and complex that even when Inner Sphere forces are able to intercept Clan communications, they seldom understand what they hear.
The above is from page 17 of the
Clan Wolf sourcebook.
The Loremaster of Clan Wolf goes on at length to Focht about how the Clans believe that "to slight the beauty of the [Star League Standard English] with contractions is to treat it as... the Inner Sphere treated the memory of the Star League", how the use of contractions is to "cut out its heart and [reduce] it to a cultural contraction, devoid of beauty and the best of its meaning", and how "only someone wishing to deliberately scorn the language and shock the listener would use contractions".
And then, in the very next paragraph, it is stated that "over the years, the Kerenskys and the Clans have added terms to express unique Clan concepts", including those "formed by splicing together two words to form a third".
The concept of a "rising star" is far from a "unique Clan concept", and yet they have the term "ristar"; the concept of being disgraced is far from a "unique Clan concept", and yet they have the term "dezgra"; the concept of being powerless is far from a "unique Clan concept", and yet they have the term "powless". And then there are "quiaff", "quineg", "sibko", and others.
It's also specifically noted that the use of such structures in the Clans' common speech is distinct from their use of military jargon while conducting an operation (the mentioned "battle language").
Additionally, several of the novels discuss, in detail and/or at length, how "proper" Clan warriors "bristle" or "recoil" at the use of contractions by Spheroids & lower-caste Clansmen and "lesser" (e.g. freeborn or solahma) Clan warriors - and then still go on about how such-and-such is a ristar, and how so-and-so is a dezgra bloodfoul surat (or some such), and using the
tag questions "quiaff" (instead of "affirmative", or even just "yes") and "quineg" (instead of "negative", or even just "no").
The Clans' whole sthick with language is that they espouse the belief that it should be used in a form that most would recognize & describe as "prim and proper" and that the use of contractions is a means of debasing the revered language of the equally-revered Star League - and then they litter it with what are still technically contractions (e.g. ristar, sibko) & what really are just lazy shortenings and slurrings (e.g. dezgra, powless), anyway. In other words, they espouse a set of beliefs, and then act in a way contrary to those espoused beliefs - which is
the very definition of being hypocrites.
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