An unpaired word is one that, according to the usual rules of the language, would appear to have a related word but does not. Such words usually have a

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

that would imply that there is an

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...

, with the prefix or suffix being absent or opposite. If the prefix or suffix is negative, such as 'dis-' or -'less', the word can be called an orphaned negative. Unpaired words can be the result of one of the words falling out of popular usage, or can be created when only one word of a pair is borrowed from another language, in either case yielding an

accidental gap In linguistics an accidental gap, also known as a gap, paradigm gap, accidental lexical gap, lexical gap, lacuna, or hole in the pattern, is a potential word, word sense, morpheme, or other form that does not exist in some language despite being ...

, specifically a morphological gap. Other unpaired words were never part of a pair; their starting or ending

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...

s, by accident, happen to match those of an existing

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

, leading to a reinterpretation. The classification of a word as "unpaired" can be problematic, as a word thought to be unattested might reappear in real-world usage or be created, for example, through humorous

back-formation In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the c ...

. In some cases a paired word does exist, but is quite rare or archaic (no longer in general use). Such words – and particularly the back-formations, used as

nonce word A nonce word (also called an occasionalism) is a lexeme created for a single occasion to solve an immediate problem of communication.''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language''. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ...

s – find occasional use in

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

, particularly

light verse Light poetry or light verse is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Light poems are usually brief, can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play including puns, adventurous rhyme, and heavy alliteration. Typically, light ...

. There are a handful of notable examples in modern English.

In English

Notes

References

External links

"Unpaired words"
at ''World Wide Words''
"Absent antonyms"
at ''2Wheels: The Return''

posted by James Briggs on April 2, 2003, at ''The Phrase Finder''
Brev Is the Soul of Wit

Ben Schott Ben Schott (born 26 May 1974) is a British writer, photographer, and author of the ''Schott's Miscellanies'' and '' Schott's Almanac'' series. Early life and university Ben Schott was born in North London, England, the son of a neurologist ...

, ''The New York Times'', April 19, 2010

Examples

* Parker, J. H. "The Mystery of The Vanished Positive" in ''Daily Mail, Annual for Boys and Girls,'' 1953, Ed. French, S. Daily Mail: London pp. 42–43 – article on the topic, ending in a short poem {{usurped,
"A Very Descript Man"
} using humorous opposites of unpaired words * Jack Winter
"How I Met My Wife"
''The New Yorker'', July 25, 1994, p. 82, uses many unpaired words for humorous effect

''The Guardian'' – cites "Gloss" by

David McCord David Thompson Watson McCord (November 15, 1897 in New York CityApril 13, 1997) was an American poet and college fundraiser. Life He grew up in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Harvard University. His work appeared in ''Harper's''. He raised ...

and "A Dream of Couth" in ''The Game of Words'' by

Willard R. Espy Willard Richardson Espy (December 11, 1910February 20, 1999) was an American editor, philologist, writer, poet, and local historian. Raised in the seaside village of Oysterville, Washington, Espy later studied at the University of Redlands in Ca ...

Linguistic morphology

In English

See also

Notes

References

External links

Examples