Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1993, Page 113

Learned & Popular Etymology
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troversy that sprang up in 1987 on the suitability of the new term
as against other (non-echoic) contenders, although various authorities
were quoted to the efifect that eyðni conformed exactly to Icelandic
rules of word-formation, was short and succinct and had the advantage
of referring exclusively to the disease in question (Þjóðviljinn 1987:2;
Heilbrigðismál 1987:5).
Echoic coinages are also to be found in the spoken language. It is
easy to see how this comes about: there is a strong tendency among
Icelanders who are fluent in a more cosmopolitan language — usually
English — to introduce foreign forms into their speech, particularly
when discussing subjects which they are used to discussing in the
language concemed. Professionals, for instance, frequently use forms
such as kontakt and tendens instead of the native samband and til-
hneiging. Language-conscious speakers will take pains to avoid these
forms, even hesitating to find the right Icelandic word when every-
one listening has the same foreign term on the tip of their tongues.
But searching for the right word is a complex exercise which wanders
over the borderline between conscious and unconscious activity, eas-
ily stirring up Freudian displacements and making the sort of echoic
connections we have been examining. There is no doubt, for example,
that this is the process behind the recent fondness in the media for the
new term ásœttanlegur which distinctly echoes its English translation
‘acceptable’,6 and has come to be used of agreements and negotia-
tions instead of the native viðunandi. It can also lead to semantic shifts
in the existent lexis: thus my impression is that fýsilegur ‘desirable’
(the first syllable rhymes with fleece) has moved towards the meaning
of English feasible, especially in phrases such as fýsilegur kostur ‘a
feasible altemative’. Similar processes should also be considered as
concomittant factors in correspondences such as Búkolla mentioned
6 The comesjjondence becomes clearer if we consider the Icelandic pronunciation
°f the first two syllables of the two words: ['auisaiht] and ['ahkseft]. The first syllables,
both stressed, are both heavy (V: and VCC), while since Icelandic monophthongal and
diphthongal length are phonologically identical, the second syllables both have short
vowels followed by unvoiced fricatives ‘buffering’ the following [t].