my mud character is named Haplo

[juldea]

haplology \hap-LAH-luh-jee\ (noun)
: contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar
sounds or syllables

Example sentence:
If you have ever pronounced "probably" as if it were
spelled "probly," you have demonstrated haplology in your own
speech.

Did You Know?
Try to say "pierced-ear earrings" three times fast. That
exercise will demonstrate why haplology happens; sometimes,
it's just easier to drop a syllable and leave yourself with
something that's easier to say (such as "pierced earrings").
American philologist Maurice Bloomfield recognized the tendency
to drop one of a pair of similar syllables about 100 years ago.
He is credited with joining the combining from "hapl-" or
"haplo-" (meaning "single") with "-logy" (meaning "word" or
"speech") to create "haplology" as a name for the phenomenon.
Haplology is quite common in English, and often the contracted
forms it generates spread into the written language. In fact,
haplology played a role in naming the nation that is the cradle
of English: "England" was condensed via haplology from "Engla
land."

Comments

[vambot5.livejournal.com]

I thought it was once "Angle-Land".

[adalius.livejournal.com]

Or Anglo Land

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Hey, I didn't write that entry, Marrion Webster did.

[baronbrian.livejournal.com]

Haplo? IT means Single? Doesn't seem to fit you anymore. You're the least single person I know.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Heh I wasn't single when I made it up, either. I didn't even know it meant that. It was just the name of the main character of the Death Gate books, which I was reading at the time. It's a male character, too. =P

heehee I think "least single" is a funny but great thing to say. :)