Title
Author(s)
Citation
Issue Date
Type
Funny-Feely Words in English
Nelson, Beverly
言語文化, 18: 55-95
1981-12-20
Departmental Bulletin Paper
Text Version publisher
URL
http://doi.org/10.15057/9022
Right
Hitotsubashi University Repository
FUNNY．FEELY WORDS IN ENGLISH
Beverly Nelson
Recently I becamc intercsted in the large number of cmotionally
charged adjectives ending in一夕in English and began making lists。This
P乱per is the result of personal observation，the gleaning of opinions of
friends，and rcference to one particularly uscful book，Hans Marchand’s
ThβC醜807￠θ3㈱4Tツρ85σPγ85β泌加y Eπ81お1”グoγ4Fo襯α∫加（Wies−
baden l Otto Harrasso、vitz，1960）．I have not made footnotes because
my debt is almost completely to Marchand，especially pages287−9，In
ad（lition，I collsulted Thθ 5hoア≠β7 0顔o，・4Eη8」∫5みヱ）づ6≠づo，3αぴ， revised and
edlted by C，T，OniQns （Oxford：Clarcndon Press、1973），Thθ 0ゆγ4
D∫o擁oπα7ア‘ゾE銘8瓦31多E砂”zoJo8y，cdlted by C．T、Onions （Oxford：Cla−
rcndon Press，1966），an（1 Thβ ∫∼απ40卯多 Hoz‘εθ Co〃68θ 1）zo∫∫oπα牝ソ （1975）
for Amerlcan usage，For background，I also rea（1parts of Thθ0738伽3
㈱4Dθ∂8Joρ魏伽∫σ’hθE”8眺1多L㈱8襯8θby Thomas Pyles（New York l
Harcourt，Brace，Jovanovich，1971），some useful entries in。4Fづア5’1）￠o一
加πα7ッo∫L耀8漉脇05㈱4Pho榴吻3，editcd by David Crysta1（London：
Andre Deutsch，1980），an（l the prefatory essay by Jullan Franklyn in his
。4 1万α’o麗α7y‘ゾ1∼勿多翅η8SJαη8 （London：Routledge and Kegan Paul，
1960），
Since I am not a trained linguist and in writing this paper am straying
far from my nelds of competence，I wish to register a caveat．This is not
an academic paper，for all that I have tried to make it as sound as it is
possible for an amateur to do．Especially、I feel uneasy about my forays
into historical lingulstics．I do not know Old English or enough about
the history of the Enghsh language，1et alone French、German，Latin and
Greek，to speak with any assurancc、All citations of dates and derivations
that are une畦uivocally state（1are from Tho Sho吻70功γ4Eπ8Z25h D呂漉oη一
α7ッ，not the result of in（1ependent research，Educated and even wild
guesses as to derivatlon are always（I hope）1abelled as such．I am aware
that I leave皿any gaps and、for the rest，illclude much of dubiQus aca−
demic value，Thereforc I would like this paper to be taken simply as a
report from one native speaker about a class of words that is both alive
and thriving ln the popular language，though generally ignored in the
teaching of English abroad，
My approach was admittedly random．In the future I want to make
the lists more complete and more useful by annotating them。Oddly
enough，the latter seems a more attainable goaL Exhaustiveness is ex−
tremely di伍cult becausc of regional variations in the use of一ツadjectives，
56
the ease with which they may bc coine（1for some occas正on and forgotten
about，and the high tumover rate of the most popular words，this last
a characteristic of slang in generaL For example，twenty years ago，￠6妙
was current and a vital part of most children’s vocabul＆ries hl the
United States，Today，郷6妙，an ablaut rhymc of￠o妙，seems to have almost
supPlanted the earlier、vor（i，doubtless aided ln this by much repetition
of the former on一‘Sesame Street．”y％oたッcarries the same meaning and
is used exactly asづo砂was，Both mean【【exceedingly dlsagreeable．”The
question is whether to treat them as one word or two、It is possible that
ツ％々ツdoes di仔ehn one respect，that is，in forming rhy皿e groups with
a few of the strongest taboo words in use today．
But let me begin by explaining why this一アsu伍x and colloquial an（1
slang vocabulary in general intercsts me as a teacher of English to speak−
ers of other languages
INTRODUCTION
stu（ients of English in Japan and elsewhere around the world tend to be
taught a rather bloodless，1ifeless variety of English，sometimes called“1ntema−
tional English，”What this is has not been prescnbed by any one recognized
authoritative bo（1y，but seems to be defined similarly wherever Englisll is taught
to speakers of other languages primarily for use as a tool of practical communi−
cation．
It is only natural that a rational apProach to studying a foreigll l anguage
will presuppose a choice about what aspects（especially，what vocabulary items）
of the language are essential and what aspects are dispensable or safe to defer
until the essentials are mastered，Words an（l structures with limited applicability
are rightly neglected．But this is decide（ily different for English than for lan−
guages which are not recognized illtemational languages，For most students of
English，the pared−down intemational form is considered a（1equate even for those
who are considere（1fluent．This is the case precisely because Eng正ish is used as
an intemational language by a great number of people whose native language
is not English and who acquired the language from teachers with similar ap−
proaches．Much dialog in English occurs between people who have leame（1it as a
foreign language an〔1who therefore ten（1not to use or even know ce丘ain usages，
and because even native speakers outside their home territories tend to have
leame（i to restrict themselves to the more limited intemational variety of their
language which，in any case，very loosely corresponds to formal Enghsh．The
existence of a number of dialects of English（American，Australian，etc。）which
are most（1重stinct at the colloquial level also seems to lustify restricting intema．
tional English to common formal usages．
PeoPle leaming Japanese，to take a contrasting example，will generally五rst
be taught the standard formal language，but even before an acceptable level of
57
a（1ult vocabulary has been attained in this and while this is being worke（10n，
students will begin to be gradually intro｛1uced to more colloquial forms and vo−
cabularies that will enable them eventually to understand and be understood by
the average untraveHe（l Japanese，Of course， for any langllage， it takes talent
an（1a conslderable commitment of time to progress to the level where ordinary
conversations between native speakers are comprehensible，but for several reasons
Japanese cannot be as easily simpli血ed for use as English can．The stu（ient of
Japanese can rarely use it with anyone but native speakers of that language，
and native speakers tend not to edit their speech even for foreigners，In speaking
with a foreigner，many Japanese will alter their speech，but often not in ways
that aid un（1erstanding．Sometimes this results in severe distortions in speech
which make comprehension impossible evell for students who are capable of un一
（1erstan（1ing normal Japanese，For example，some people will employ as many
8α〃‘z匁o （10an words from English an（l assorted other languages） as possible， as
they wou1（1not in normal speech．People who do this are trying to be helpfu1，
but8α〃碗80，because they seldom soun（11ike the original and because they tend
not to be taught hl class whell prevalent native forms exist，usua1正y only make
things worse，By far the most common alteration met with is slower，more careful
yh
eh
eb
y
b
a student at various stages in the study of Japanese，Therefore，because
bur（ien of understanding is generally on the non−natlve student，not only
usefulness for rational purposes of communication，but the frequency of use
十し十し
pronunciation．This ceτtainly is helpfu1，but it is se1（10m accompanied by vocab−
sense of what words known
ulary editing for theτe is no general might be
mtive speakers must be considered in teaching Japanese as a foreign 1anguage。
This is true of most languges，English is an exception，
of
In genera1，I must say that the existence of a restricte（1，rational form
students in Japan（an〔1
English is a positive good．But there are some problems。
elsewhere）are often misled into thinkillg that they are leaming American English
or British English when what most stu（1ents are actually leaming一一from America11，
British or Japanese teachers alike一一is almost alw▼ays intemational English，with
even pronunciation differences flattened out，They are then unreasonably dis−
tressed about their ability when confronted with tlle living forms of American or
British dialect on television，in movies，or on visits to the country where it is
spoken。I am not referring to the skill of comprehension of normally pace（i，clear，
formal English，which m＆y be wrongly neglected in the Japanese secondary
schools，Rather，I mean to emphasize that hearing will inevitably be a problem
even to the wel1−prepare〔1，advanced student of a good English course，not only
because or（1inary speech is always less clearly enunciated than formal speech but
also because of the large amomt of new vocabulary he wi11encomter when
infomal Enghsh is used，
Intematioml English is a variety of formal English，and formality in English
58
is expressed in clear，careful pronunciation（fewer or no contractions alld less
elision），moderate to slow spced，and formal diction（no slallg，fewer idiomatic
usages，fewer colloquial and ‘一colorfu1” words）， It is this Iast， the question of
diction，that is the har（1est to teach，and is therefore often avoided by te＆chers，
Slang and idioms，which are soon dated in any case，are sel（10m taught for use
in speaking，for the teacher is well aware of the（langer of their slipping into
othenvise fomal diction。Unfortunately，much that is merely colloquial usage
（but frequently heard）is also considered dangerous for the same reasQn．A dic．
tion mistake in English is receive（i as amusing and will usually be laughed at．
Native speakers often take advantage of this humorous effect to disarm audiences
at formal meetings and to prove that they are folksy，not stuffy．But such humor
ullinten（led is only elllbarrassillg and so，perhaps to save the students’feelings
as well as time in the classroom，relatively mistake−proof English has become the
nom，As I have sai（l above，this is not necessarily bad，But it is unfortunate
that English as taught （an（i especially 一‘English Conversation”）is not understood
more widcly as the properly】imite（i form of English it usually is．Much （1is−
couragement could thereby be avoided、
Persons who have gone beyond the normal course to study English literature
or linguistics are well aware of the richness of English vocabulaW and，through
long study of its best manifest＆tions in literature，probably have comman（10f
richer vocabularies tllan the average moderately−e（1ucated native speaker．But
even here there are gaps．There are classes of words used with great frequency
in speech which are not foun（1 with equal frequency in the written 1εしnguage，
even in literat皿e，an（1which are too colloquial，carrying strong but imprecise
connotative meaning in addition to the denotative meaning，to be inclu（1ed in
most spokell English courses，It can bc argued that the habitua1，carelcss use of
such words ill or（linary colloqllial conversation by llative speakers is regrettable，
and that their ovcruse ten〔ls to blur semantic distinctions which ought to be
preserved．The fact tha，t these words are used，even with great frequency，ought
not，the argument might go，lead us to legitimize the doubtful pmctice by teach．
illg them，In fact，these words are generally mt taught，even to native speakers，
but picke（1up as part of the oral Ianguage，An（i for many reasons，orally trans．
mitte（11anguage seems to carry a heavier than usual affective b皿den．Collo−
quial and slang vocabulary all（1usage may not be as precise in some ways as
the more formal language，but without it a whole range of meaning and much
pleasure would be lost，I am not suggesting that learners of English apply their
limited time and energy to learning this rather unstable vocabulary，item by item．
But there are some broad catcgories of non−formal affective words which，when
seen as a group to follow certain pattems of formation，usage and meaning，can
be understood even when encountere（1for the丘rst time．
I wou1（l Iike to（liscuss olle such class of words here，These are adjectives
59
which can be most convenjently labelledづノ、vords，with subcatcgories of一（iouble−
1etter＋ッwords，一5ッwordsand吻／一妙／一吻／一吻words・ForcxamPle，5み吻，7πθ53ッ，
琵コリ5ツ and γ乞oた8∫ア．Possibly because of the association with the hypocoristic addi−
tion of一夕to names an（1f乱miliaτobjects，these words often，if not always，have
a familiar and comfortable，sometimes affectionate or playful feeling for the user．
Frequently，but not always，they also carry a slight con〈1escen（iing or disparaging
connotation，and the form is far more frequently derived from wor（1s with neg−
ative or disparaging denotations than not。The formation is nearly always made
with native Anglo−Saxon vocabulary or borrowed words which are mistakable
for words of native origin，which also helps to explaill the familiar feeling these
words caπy．Obviously foreign wor（ls（generally adopte（1from or through Frellch）
feel colder，more abstract and intellectuaL Except for some forms extant frQm
the Mid（11e English period or earlier，づ’woKls are emphatically not fomlaL Using
one in an otherwise formal sentellce in a fomlal situation will evoke smiles both
because of the diction slip an（1because these words are frielldly and not vcry
serious．Even used in anger，ワwor（ls tend not to be taken too seriously，“70rds
in the−double−1ettcr ＋』y subcategory particularly are consi（lered chil（lisll and are
thus often avoi（1ed by men，who are more careful of their dignity than womcn。
Native speakers are aware of the playfulness in the formation of these wor（1s
（except in some of the oldest forms）an（1are not at a1110ath to coin their own
versions in speech。This trend is especially strong in Australia an（1America where
−ly wor（1s are in far greater usc，and more new forms are being invented than in
England．Australians and Americans seem to be more casual and playfu1、1ess
respectful of their language than the English。In the United States，Madison
Aveme，not known for its respect for the language，may have something to do
with this．Pro（luct names and a（1vertizing slogalls abound with examples ofづノ
formations presumably in hopes of cashing in on tlle home an（1hearth associ乱一
tions they carry，Most of these are nouns， not a（1j ectives， but they contribute
to a general tren（1toward acceptance of the adjectival form as we1L Some exam−
ples are plastic san（i、vich bags called l‘Baggies”（the nuances added by theづノ
are“sma11，”‘『convenient”and‘‘familiar，”though most people ha（1used waxed
paper before），a chocolate caramel candy roll called“Tootsie−Roll”（with a word
play on∫oo∫5づθmeaning“honey”or“s、veetie”when applied to a young woman）
and a metal spiral toy called“‘Slinky”because of its sinous，slithery movements，
I don’t know whether Americans actually produce more一夕wor（1s，or only seem
to because they move into general use much faster than would be the case in
England or Australia，This is not to say that they are considered formal，but
Americans seem to like to spice up their Ianguage with slang，an（1this is much
in evidence even in the、vritten language of such publications as I‘Time”or
“Newsweek”to say nothing of the oral transmission of new usages ma（le possible
by radio and television，But the modem facetious temperament which delights in
60
these words can also ceτtainly be found in England these days，Witness the word
≠θ勿，surely a wor（l one might have expected to gain cuτrency in Ameτica．
Strangely，it soun（1s as（1istinctly British to my ear as砺60r Joγ触．Cockney
slang also comes to mind as a particularly rich source of一ッwords．But ulti−
mately，the usage of一夕、∼℃rds is not restricted today to any group、class or lo−
cahty、Only the choice of which−y words are used may di丘er，一y a（1jectives are not
as well preserved in literature as words derived from and squaτely in the written
tradition．As with most words in the oral tradition，only the best of them are
likely to survive，though this too may change as metho（1s and technology for
the transmission an（i preseτvation of the oral language improve an（1gradually
replace some of the fmc廿onsfomerlyreservedtothewrittentradition，Certainly，
formerly locally restricted uses are，through the mass media，gaining broader
c皿rency，and new forms are picke（1up much more quickly than ever before．
But whether tlle mass media contributes to prolonging the life span of what
woul（l otherwise be sllort−1ived linguistic trends or rather to a more rapid tum−
over of popular language is not yet cleaL What I am presenting here，however，
is llot so much a new bo（1y of individual vocabulary items to master as a suggestion
as to how to interpreむthem，how the form itself determines an（1informs the
meaning and usage of the words．So I wlll not discuss frequency，constltuency
or geographical distribution of usage except in passing，though these are questions
of considerable interest to nle。
Although in this article I will be discussing only 一夕 adjectives，I should
remark brlefly oll the一ッnoulls from which it is suppose（1that much of the affect
of一ツadjectives derives・The一ツadded to proper names as a diminutive，affec−
tion＆te su伍x is not o1（ler thall the a丘ective＆djectival su伍x一二y itself，but it does
predate and seems to have influence（1the connotations Qf familiarity，mild
cQndescensioll and／or affection that the adjectival su伍x 一ツ now carries．The
earliest recor（1ed appearallce of the hypocoristic一ッattached to nouns was in l400
in Scottish pet forms of names（sometimes spelled一づθ）．This usage continues to
the present and ls related to other diminutive usages such as llumorous nurseτy
rhyme language（“Goosey，Goosey Gan（1er”and“Hickory，Dickory，Dock，”for
example），two−word nonsense jingles（for example、hoたθly一ρoたθ1γ、from hoo％5一
ρoo％3，and hence加ア￠砂一汐㈱砂meaning“underhanded business”），and baby−talk
（examples includeノ研￠癖θ5for一‘pyjamas，”ρo勿 fQr“toilet”an（180わθ44ッーわッβ
for“ o to bed”
．Clipped forms of wor（ls likeダα彿而θ5are by nature dimi皿tives。
The一夕sometimes adds an a丘ectionate，playful，childish nuance（87卿初θ，h㈱勿，
勉8h漉an（1δ05ε￠8are examples）an（10ther times affectionate condescension（as
in∫oo！5￠θan（10」4ρ8βツ）・Later formations ten（1to incorporate more negative
nuances，（for example，Zoo彫ッfrom J観醜o，h砂勿from hゆmeaning “aware”，
ゐoJ5h￠θfrom BoJ51∼θ∂魏and oo窺痂θfrom Co窺｝脇痂5’）．In these last examples，
it is not only the一夕but the clipPed fornl which shows lack of respect，D7％88Zθ
61
（a drug a〔idict） an（i α」冷乞θ （an alcoholic） are also negative and carry the sense
of“addicted to．”Not quite so negative，but amusedly（1isparagillg，while carrying
the sense of “addicte（i to，”are wor（1s such as≠γθゐ扉θ （a person who would never
miss the popular television program“Star Trek”）and8γo％ρづθ（a rock−star fan），
The relation of this hypocoristic an（i later derogatoryづノto the a（1jectivaI
suf五x一夕 is clearly one of association rather than（1erivation and it only gra（1ually
took hold．Modem a（1jectival formations，however，ten（1to depend strongly on
this association and thus are almost always considered undignified，trivial and
colloquia1．This will become clearer as I discuss the historical development of
the −y adjective．
FORMATION
DENOMINAL DERIVATIVES
Overa11，the greatest number of一夕adjectives are denomina1，that is，forme（l
by adding the su伍x一』γtQ nouns，Deverbal and deadjectival formation cannot
be found in Old Englisll alld only very rarely in八li（1dle English，In the∬iodern
English period，however，deverbal formation，especially from certain shapes of
verbs，has been very common．It seems even to be favored in present−day Eng−
1ish．
In Old English，adding the su伍x一づ8to a substantive was one way of making
adjectives．This correspollds with the噌adjectival ending still current in many
Germanic languages．For example，in modem German，the su伍x一喀added to
nouns yields adjectives with the meaning“characterized by the presence of”or
“possessing in quantity，”etc．Although figurative use is also possible，the su佑x
is neutral emotionally．It is believe（1that in Old English similarly there was no
special feeling attache（1to the su伍x。The wor（i o7ψッ，for example，in Old Eng−
lish（07砺’∫8）meant“skillfu1，”“dexterous，”and by a slight extension，“clever”
and“ingenious、”It was not until the Middle English perio（l that it took on the
additional meaning of“cunning”or“artfu1，”an（1this may have been through asso−
ciation with words like観励074．Whether the derogatory Mid（11e English meaning
was use（10nly seriously or not，that is，whether it indicated only serious criticism
or cou1（1also be applied in a casual or humorous way，I do not know。But at
least it can be said that during the込liddle English period exten【1ed and figura−
tive usages increased，as additions to older words as well as many new words
appeared，
The new words were derived in three ways。The greatest number were formed
on the same pattem as the Old English一∫8adlectives，that is，substantive＋ッ
（or 4／づθ） and，in general，they had not only concrete reference to the substan−
tive they aroきe from，but from the start丘gurative（metaphorica1）application as
we1L One example is弄θ7ッwhich meant，as one would expect and as it still does，
62
“characterizedbythepresence・f丘re”・r“P・ssessing五re，inquantity”butwhich
also was use to describe ar（ior or passion in persons，In this case，it is fairly
certain there was no casual or humorous usage because even now the word is not
use（l facetiously or condescendingly，ヱ〉側8h≠ッ，which is a late Middle English
word formed from the substantiveη催8h∫＋ッ、is now mostly used in reference to
children and its sense of“wayward”is a later development，dating from the
Modem English period，In Middle English，it meant simply“poor，”or“possessing
nothing．”『吻（碗」θ÷ッ），on the other han（1，meant‘‘cunning”but the nega−
tive meaning was ca皿ied over from the substantive痂」βand was not added
with the suffix一ツ．
In trying to date the beginning of the associatioll of the su伍xづ’with the
playful negative feelings that now attach strongly to it，examples from Middle
English are inconclusive。Negative comotations were common，but neutral an（1
positive comotations were even more so，for example，hψか（んψ＋夕）meaning
“fortullate，”“apt，”“felicitous”；伽5砂（加5’＋ッ）meaning“reliable，”“trustworthy”；
ω07”リノ（ωo〆’ん＋夕）meaning“va’luable，”“good”；〃凝碗夕（〃‘γが6＋ツ）meaning“success−
ful，”6‘fortunate”l and距吻ノ（！掘θ＋ッ，whereあ4θwas“time”or“season”）meaning
“goo（i in condition or appearance，”It seems that through the Middle English period，
the sumx づノstill had only a neutral， adjectival sense， though apPlication of
fig皿ative meanings in describing persons，especially，was expanding，and it is
probable that this was important in the later development of affective meaning、
The second way in which new a（1jectives ending inづノwere brought into
English in the Middle English period was through adoption from French，The
number of words adopted into Anglo−French and thence into English was，of
course，very large，but not many were retained in the English一夕adjectival form
we are focussillg on here，Mostガ＆djectives from O1〔1French survive in the
femilline一伽en（iing and are thereby clearly recognizable as the Latin through
French borrowings they usually were（though the relate〔1Lathl su伍x form would
be一膨），Some duplication occurred historically，as when the Middle English
hα5♂ヴan（1hα5あびθcQexisted，but by the Mo（lern English period ゐα5リノ （a back−
formation from hα5好or its plura1んα5傭，it is believed）ha（1edge（1hα5勧θout，
The卿α55ヴー解観∬加θ一ア麗α∬夕cluster is probably the only one thεしt survive（i in all
three manifestions（though the一ヴform is substantive not adjectiva1，it proba−
bly came from the now lost一ザadiectival form）．Other Anglo−French一ヴadjectives
that passed into English and were naturalized as一ツadjectives inclu（ieゴo勿from
ゴo好，∫85妙from’θ5酵（≠θ5！θ（hea（1）＋ヴ）an（1雄吻from伽4ヴ（θ），all in the
Mid（11e English perioαAlthough the Old French 一ヴadlectival ending derives
from the Latin一吻（％刎％5）an（1is apparently not historically related to the Ger−
manic噌which is believed derived from the Latin一∫6and！or the Greek一魏
（meaning“characterize（l by”），there are strong functional parallels between一ゲ
an（1一づ8，I do not lmow how strong the final（∫or5）sound was in Old French，
63
but it seems likely that at least by the Middle French perio（i it had become
soft enough that in oral trallsmission it would seem to have disappeared，Forms
such asブoあ in Modenl Flrench sho、v that ill sonle cases at least the∫Yvas even願
tually dropped completely．In English，though not ill the other Germanic Ian−
guages，the final consonant8disapPeare（1 during the Nli（1（lle English perio（1・ It
is not impossible that this（iisappearance was partly due to the influence of the
phonetic form（weak五nal consQnant）of the French一がadjectives an（1suggested
by the functional parallelism of一ヴand噌．In any case，this一ッcategory of words
assimilated these borrowe（i French words so completely as to make them feel
part of the o1（1er familiar Anglo−Saxon family。Most French vocabulary that
entered English at and after the time of the Norman Conquest has remained
recognizably Anglo−French，if only by virtue of the non−native a伍xes which tip
us off，The吻θform，with no phonetic parallel i1101d or Middle English，is
like most Anglo−French vocabulary，emotionally neutral and forma1，But｝％α55ッ，
彪74夕， hα5’ツ，ブo〃ツ an（1 ≠θ5妙 look like，feel like and act like native substan−
tive＋』γadjectives，The一ヴa（1jectives werereceived from Frenchrea（1y−made，already
in adjectival form，but if，as seems clear from the relatiollship of’65好to∫θ560
（躍’8in Modem Frellch meanillg“head”），一ヴwas an adjectival su伍x added to
nouns，functionally if not historically corresponding to噌，it must be supposed
that although the words were borrowed whole so to speak，their parts were rec−
ognized．Thus，new formations could follow．Tlle process would have seemed
a simple continuation of past practice，and not the analogy it rea11y was，Some
of the一づ8words in Old English were adopted ready−made from Old Teutonic，
01d Norse and other Germanic languages，while others were newly formed on
the same pattem．
Of course，a correspon（1ence to adjectival formatiQn in other European lall−
guages was not absolutely necessary for a foreign word to nlld inciusion in theづ’
adjective category．NumerQus examples exist of words with purely・accidental
similarity of form bo皿owed from other languages。In a sellse，all other examples
of一夕word formation could be placed ill a thir（i category marke（1miscellaneous，
as there are so many different pattems as tQ appear without pattem。In a later
section I will try to outline the most pro（luctive of these source pattems for一ッ
a（ljective formation，but without trying to Pllt them into an historical context・
Most of them，as will be seen in indivi（lual examples offere（1for denominal an（1
deverbal formations，are the result of mistakes．The role of misunderstanding in
semantic change is far greater than is usually thought，especially in word groups
like一ッadjectives which depend so thoroughly on oral transmission。One example
of an inference of i（1entity when in fact there was none etymologically may be
seen in a words hkeβα5夕．Experts may even now make（1istinctions，but I shall
try to demonstrate that the average language user has not，an（1the result has
been an overruling of tlle experts with widesprea（l usage ofβα5ツas a native 一‘ソ
64
adjective。
Middle Enghsh words like8αsッan（1ργ勿ッ （with a一』γadlectival suf五x that
came through the OI〔1French一θ，一紹from Latin一α’％一，一α∫α，and related to the sepa−
rately bo皿owed一傭adjectival su伍x）seem little different from nativeツwor（is
of the噌tradition as far as the aHlective meaning is concemed．The triv量a里ity
and decadence of certain of their uses even before the Modern English period
testifies to their early full membership in the native一ツadjective class，though if
only（lerivation is considere（1they perhaps shou1（1be in the more austere companyF
of wor（1s like伽oh夕and oo％％砂．Altemative derivations from their substantives
or verbs＋ッmay o丘er some i（iea why these words an（1not others were picked
up，but nothing can be clearly ascertained．p擁”夕 early took on the sense of
“covert” beyon（i the denotationa1“ rivate．” Its use in such phrases as “Privy
Council”now feels archaic an（l a little quaint，but the『uasi−substantive form
meaning“outhouse”is still c皿rent as might be expected，E硲y、too，has respectable
denotations，though less elevate（1and more comfortable，but its continued vitality
may best be seen in cu皿ent meanings of“1aid back”and一‘loose，”not at all
excluding the sexual implications，
Given what we know of modem mistaken formations（for example，p8αas
the singular of the collective nounρθα5θin the 17th century，or the frequently
seen American ten（1ency to use the singular noun肋405，（from Greek meaning
“praise，”
with plural forms of verbs which will probably pave the way for the
apPearance of海％400n the analogy of わ7αびo），there is every reason to believe
that in the confusion of the Norman Conquest，during which an（i for the
two centuries thereafter Old English was left to itself，ceasing to be the lan−
guage of the educated，cultured classes and thus less controlled by a conservative
literary elite，and becoming a language transmitted primarily by oral means，
word formation very often proce〔1e（i on questionable association of forms that
seemed the same because they sounded the same，Unquestionab正y，this was a
time of great expansion，not only of vocabulary but also of a伍x forms by which
indivi（iual Iexical items cou1（1be transformed to produce fine gradations of mean−
ing．Beyond this，however，it was the occasion for the kind of grammatical sim−
pli且cation of Anglo−Saxon English that oral transmission in the absence of strong
conservative efforts seems generally to ten（1to、This is not to say that English
became less expressive a language，but that its expressiveness became less depend−
ent on built−in（and therefore ultimately limited）formal devices such as verb
inflections and more on facility in using Prepositions，compoun（1verbs an（10ther
key grammatical words for expressing relationships，Word order also became far
more important，All of this has made English more a language that explains
than one that（1e五nes and this is the meaning of what has been called the
flexibility of English。
Parenthetically，I might add that the split in Ellglish diction occasioned by
65
that great influx of French an（1Latin vocabulary through Anglo−French is still
felt in the modem language．This is what makes possible a system in which for−
mality in speech or writing is marked most clearly by diction，choice of words．
Informa1，col1Qquial and slang vocabulary is weighted heavily towards the more
vivi（i an（i emotionally expressive Anglo−Saxon side，Presumably，had English not
borrowed much of what would become the intellectual an（1formal vocabulary，
but built onto the mtive base，or had borrowed more slowly，we wou1（l not now，
for example、be able to call our extensive and much used vulgar vocabulary“fo皿一
1etter wor（1s”and thereby mean that our strongest feelings are habitually ex−
presse（i in Anglo−Saxon vocabulary，Nor would一』γadjectives have retaine（1so clearly
the famihar feel of homely words to the present had the form also continued to
beneede（1toexpressneutralconnotation，Akhldofdivisionoflaborevolved，
The influx of neutral foreign vocabulary，along with the hiatus in the native
literary tradition，in a sense free（i Anglo−Saxon vocabulary from responsibihty．
To the leamers an（i observers of Norman French，the example of foreign words
with seemingly set de丘nitions and prescribed usages must have ma（1e their own
language feel less intimi（1ating an（i more alive an（l receptive to the users’intend−
ed meaning．一y a（ijectives seem particularly to reflect the feeling of ownership
with the accompanying permissiveness in the native language at that time，but
nevertheless，the mo（iem playful attitu（1e toward word formation in this一夕a（1−
jective category is probably not responsible for many of the forms that（1ate
from the Middle English period．Unintentioml mistakes leading to analogical
formation were sti11the most common，though nursery rhyme usages alrea（1y
portended a more whimsical future for this class of adjectives。
A more certain example of mistaken analogy thanθαsッorρ吻ッmentione（i
above is another word from the Middle English period，ρθ砂（1aterρθ’妙），a phone−
tic rendering of the Frenchρθ漉 Originally it was used as a synonym for
small but as the affective character of一ッwords emerged early in the Mo（1ern
English period，the connotations of“trivia1，”“unimportant”and“inferior”appeared
and gra（1ually prevailed over the neutral connotation・Interestingly，despite its
−double−1etter＋ッform（more reminiscent of childhoo（1than一ッalone），it carries
a strong feeling of contempt and is rarely used affectionately，
One factor probably・affecting the developments of both denotation an（l
connotation is subjective need to express some meanings more than otheτs．
In a logically balance（11anguage（there is none such）one might expect an
antonym for every possible lexical morpheme，A look at the following list，how−
ever，shows that一アadjectives expressing variously「amusement，disgust and dis−
appointment with the small size or amomt of something far outnumber the ones
meaning large in some way。And of the words denoting large，thτee are archaic
and one is neutral in connotation、Only two are playful and only one has a
negative connotation．This is 配84妙 which deschbes persons who think too
66
wel1・fthemselves・rtheirp・siti・ns・Stil1，thef・m吻iss・undigni丘e（landわ客8
is such a simple，comfortable wor（i that配88吻functions more to deflate than
to（1eliver an effective insult．Note also that as applie（l to persons，it is not
bigness or importance that is being scomed but the assumption of it by people
who are really small and unimportant．（This list is not strictly denomina1，nor
can it be，as it is base（l on denotation。）
SMALL
1。 h％魏070麗5 ￠π4 0みづ！4歪5ん
tiny
teeny−tiny
teeny−weeny
teenSy−WeenSy
bitty
itty−bitty
bitsy
itsy−bitsy
2。吻加吻，多68α勧θ
sl《impy
shrimpy
sketchy
scanty
measly
petty
paltry
piddly
puny
runty
dinky
rinky−dink
LARGE
1． α■ohαゴo
vasty
massy
hugy
2． ，乞θ多〆7α♂
bulky
3．h牌070％吻”88α漉θ
hulky
biggity1−ety
I will discuss the present affective value ofづ’adjectives more fully in a
later section，but here I want to mention something that relates to the historica1
（ievelopment of the meanings and hence usages of these words．Contrary to what
would seem to be common sense to（1ay，that is，that slang and colloquial vocab−
ulary w皿move into the stan（1ard an〔1even formal language as it gains accept−
ance an（1widespread use，the movement of一ツadjectives was for many centu−
ries in the opposite direction、away from formal English，Many words that
existed an（i were thoroughly respectable before began in the Mid（11e English
period to be tinged with the affect that the whole −y a（1jective category was
gradually taMng on as new and clearly popular forms were increasingly being formed．
67
The new elegant vocabulary borrowed from French an（i Latin seemed to strengthen
by contrast the comfortable feel of the native vocabulary，New一ッadjectives
were derive（1more and more from a word pool that was consciously colloquiaI
or even vulgar，that is from Anglo−Saxon root words or completely naturalized
foreign wor（1s that phonetically resemble（i the native words an（1thus could be
mistaken for them、The16th century was not as productive or as uninhibit−
edly playful in the foτmation of these words as the19th and20th centuries
have proven to be，but it was certainly a tuming point．As great numbers of
new一ッwords appeared and as already exねnt一ッwords took on new丑gurative
meanings，the often mildly disparaging，always homey flavor that we now associate
with these words became firmly established，
Some older words that took on new figurative and affective meaning in the
16th century were o剛5妙（which originally meant“har（1”like a crust，but came
to also mean“short−tempered”or“c皿t”by1570），伽碗夕（which meant only
“thriving” in Mi（1（11e English but took on the a（iditional sense of ‘‘fruga1” or
‘‘
arsimonious”by1526），o加理（“sorrowful”in Middle English but“cautious，”
“stingジand“suspicious”by1542），’θ5妙（“headstrong”in Middle English but
only “irritable” and “resentfu1” by 1526），8歪44y （“possessed”or“insane”in Old
English and “affected by vertigo” in Mid（11e English，but also ‘‘1ighthea（ie（1，”
“flighty，”“frivolous”and‘‘inconstant”by1547）and吻oo吻（which was related
to various states of mind or feelings in Okl English，became“
roud”oゼ‘head−
strong”by1460，and“subject to ba（1moods，”“il1−humored”or“melancholy”
by1593）．New coinages in the16th century inclu（1e（1‘7α妙（“full of cracks，”
“且imsy”一1576），5砺oッ（‘‘insolent”or‘‘presumptuous”一1530，with the nuance of
“wantonness” a（1de（i before 1603）， ’部ohツ （“peevish”， “testy”一1592）， hα％8h砂
（“proud”一1530），o鵤6砂（“ch皿lish，”by association with crab−apple−1550）and
o伽粥5ッ（“heavy an（1awkwar（1，”“ungainly”一1597）。
A glance at these words，all used to express some（lisagreeable or at least
laughable human character or personality trait，w皿give one an i（iea of the gen−
eral tren（1in −1γadjectives。This list is short but really quite representative．
Tθ吻and∫8’ohッare perhaps the most negative，but they describe nothing more
evil than the kind of irritability that most families have at times to put up with
in one or another Qf their members，I will not go on with lists by centuries，but
only note that by the18th century一ッadjectives became even more decidedly
colloquial and，frequently，slangy，And the fact that so many of the great number
ofづ’adjectives coine（1in the 19th an（i 20th centuries were current only in cer−
tain segments of society（foτexample，among university students）or for only a
few years before（1ying out attests to the flexibility an（i popularity of the for−
mation as well as to the slangy and therefore often transient character of many
of the words now being invente（1。
Substantives which lend themselves most readily to−y adjective formation
68
are native single−syllable，commonplace，concrete nouns，to which the suf丘xヲ
adds the meaning“full of，”“characterized by the presence of，”or“similar to，”
etc、Certain categories of nouns are particularly productive．Natural phenomena，
vegetation，food，animals and parts of animal an（1human physiology areτich
sources・But interestingly，certain categories of every（1ay things that satisfy the
above requh5ements are almost completely unpro（luctive，for example，fumiture．
I don’t know why．We can say卿oωッand o％5h魏ッto mean“soft，”and60矧to
mean“square and bulky，”and even o吻わoα■吻meaning‘「close”or“stuHy”was
once cu1Tent though now it is obsolete（1ate19th century Cockney slang）。But
we（10not say＊ohα吹γ，＊鰯88夕or率4θεたッ，and わθ4⑳ only substantively （and
therefore probably （ier玉ved hypocoristically） in the children’s wor（1δθ4吻一わ夕θ
meaning一‘goo〔1−night，”despite theirseeming appropriateness．If one considers various
household items to try to imagine why they are so unproductive of−y a（1jectives，
it becomes apparent that items caτrying a single and yet broadly applicable
sensory image are far more likely to be found in this form．Pillows and cushions
肛e soft an（1so少昭o町and躍shゼoηy mean“soft，”but they also carry tlle com−
fortable associations of home，sofa and bed．They are simple metaphors and fall
into the“similar to”pattem、We might also sayρ昭oω崩θor o％5hづo犯崩o with
no（1enotational difference．Aside from the obvious fact thatμJJoωッand o％5h∫o％ッ
are shorter and easier to say（a strong recommendation for popularity in English
which greatly favors short forms in general），the feeling of these一ッwords is
quite different from their一巌θcomterparts．一五狛8is also a native a（1jectivaI
su伍x，from the Ol（1English−」ゼo an（1related to the Old English Jづoh meaning
“body，”『‘form，”or“likeness，”so the di仔erence isn’t in comparative familiarity．
一L齢θhas not been as pro（luctive asづdn forming durable words，but it is ca−
pable of being applied far more broadly than一』γbecause it carries no particular
selectional restrictions except as regards the form of the root it joins，which
should be a concrete noun。In contrast to一ッ，which has an affective component
that makes it somewhatτesistant to arbitrary combinations with emotionally
neutral，polysyllabic and foreign wor（is，一嫌θ，being itself neutral，goes almost
anywhere。Not only4θε観たθan（10h傭7励θ，but∫8」θ加5Zo鋸一倣θand even棺6h8難一
〇αわ初θ’一倣θare possible，although as the words get longer hyphens are commonly
used。The more improbable，impossible−soun（1ing combinations tend to delight
us as whimsica1，but they also tend to be considere（1temporary constructs，take−
apart wor（is。The existence of the free morpheme娩8may contτibute to this
attitude．
With the territory marked out by the一ッadjectives thus sketched out，I
now want to offer a few lists、not exhaustive but lengthy・enough to give an
idea of what kinds of words have produced the most一ッadjectives．Most of the
words are commonly used in extended or丘gurative senses as well as or instead
of in the concrete“full of”or“characterized by the presence of”senses．The lists
69
are intende（1to be of（1enominal−」ノadjectives（grouped according to the de−
notation of the noun）but some deverbal forms may have crept in the cases where
a noun and verb fom both exist and take the same sllape。Within each group，
the words are separated into three columns in（1icating their usage in making what
I have called pτimary，secondary an（1tertiary references（concrete，metaphor−
ical and associationa1），The words in column III are without exception but
not necessarily exclusively capable of （1escribing Peτsons or characteristics or
qualities of peτsons，Here，however，a word will only be liste（1in the most ex．
ten（1ed丘gurative catagory that it may be五tted into．Hence the emptiness of column
I．In group1（animals an（i animal anatomy），this emptiness corresponds to
linguistic reality，as most of the words in column III are not used in any concrete
sense．But in the other four word groups this is less the case and the spareness
of column I is more an aτtifact of my methodology，Colum且II wor（1s，it may
be noted，ten（1to draw on simple sensory images，but sometimes，as with柳o％一
878」砂for example，there is a more comphcated concept involved．I would also
like to insert the caution here that a皿mber of the words liste（1in column III
are relate（i to the figurative meaning only by mistake。For example，o耀わ妙does
not come from the animal but from the apple，but most people are not aware of
this and so the animal association，far−fetched as it must be，is in people’s min（ls
as they use the word。
DENoMINAL−y ADJEcTlvEs
1．ANIMALS AND ANIMAL ANATOMY
I． II． III．
wormy snaky ratty
mosquitoey spidery catty
maggoty clammy batty
fishy crabby
salmony buggy
ducky mousy
tigery 10USy
mongrelly grubby
woolly antsy
sllky waspy
fleecy piggy
furry hoggy
feathery bully
scaly bitchy
leathery foxy
bristly weaselly
五nny s吼ui汀elly
webby horsy
beaky doggy
pearly owly
cocky
kooky（from cuckoo）
10vey−dovey
wingy
70
I．
2，FOOD AND DRINK
bacony
eggy
OIliony
garlicky
II，
III．
meaty
comy
gristly
lemony
cinnamony
minty
carroty
spicy
yeasty
chocolaty
buttery
fudgy
C「eamy
cheesy
laτdy
milky
watery
floury
mealy
mushy
porky
beefy
salty
peppe「y
fruity
peachy
juicy
saucy
sugary
sy「upy
doughy
treacly
bready
soupy
toasty
cakey
vinegary
oily
grαiny
ricey
beery
3．NATURE AND ELEMENTS
I， II．
III．
boggy starry
fenny craggy
steamy
marshy rocky
swampy pebbly
hilly gravelly
hu皿mocky sandy
mQuntainy coPPely
deserty silvery
reefy tinny
91assy
marbly
airy
且ery
earthy
stony
brassy
steely
且inty
starchy
soapy
bubbly
chalky
oily
ashy
9「easy
clayey
tidy
loamy
tany
pitchy
smoky
gassy
vapo「y
wavy
4．WEATHER AND CLIMATE
I． II．
III．
windy hazy
icy
chilly
frosty
rainy Cloudy
snowy muddy
sleety dewy
pud（11y wintew
showery summery
gusty
breezy
s（lually
blizzardy springy
stormy
muggy
foggy
misty
sunshiny
sunny
smoggy
71
I．
5・VEGETATION
II．
111．
jungly
bushy
weedy
meadowy
bmnchy
forcsty
twiggy
Woody
mossy
leafy
femy
9「assy
t皿fy
Pmy
blossomy
briery
burry
heathery
thistly
brambly
thorny
seedy
reedy
nutty
crabby
nowery
woodsy
backwoodsy
spiky
splny
husky
tassly
「osy
palmy
cottQny
mbbery
Next，1’d like to look at another similarly productive class of nouns，human
anatomy，in greater detail to see what can be discovere（1about the formation of
theirッadjectival forms an（1the evolution of their meanings，This list is as
complete as I can make it，but doubtless there are words I have missed，espe−
cially obsolete usages．Words that are quite possible if somewhat poetic−sounding
because they are not idiomatic，like弄匁8θ7夕or々郷o規y，are not dealt with here．
The categories are somewhat arbitrary of course．I hope that they will be taken
as approximations of rather than presumptions of fact．
1，PRIMARY：
CONCRETE
REFERENCE
“（prominently）
present”
bloody
＊nOSy
II．SECONDARYl
METAPHORICAL
I I I．TERTIARY：
REFERENCE
ASSOCIATIONAL
REFERENCE
“simllar，
metonymic relatioll
like”
to root
＊toothy
＊hairy
＊throaty
fleshy
寧skinny
Slnewy
toothy
bloody
haiw
nosy
throaty
skinny
fleshy
heady
handy
Smewy
hearty
h＆iry
bony
leggy
hippy
chesty
bosomy
cheeky
brainy
ne「vy
gutsy
lippy
busty
whiskery
dimply
pimply
warty
fatty
The words in column I all mean“having lots of”or‘‘conspicuously possessed
of、”In fact，they are used almost exclusively to express an abmdance of that
72
bodily part or the predominance or importance of that part in relation to the
whole．Someone who is‘‘toothジseems to have more or larger teeth than usuaL
His teeth are a conspicuous，identifying feature，VVe also say“toothy smile”
with the obvious denotation，The other wor（1s follow similar pattems except for
わZoo吻which seems never to refer to unspilled blood。
Theτareness of overlap of concrete an（1丘g皿ative meaning and the lapse
of concrete meaning in％03ッ，’h70α砂and面㈱ッwhich are all current in丘gura．
tive senses would seem to in（1icate that as the more interesting extended mean−
ings took ho1（1，concrete meanings lost groun（1、Nothing is ever that simple，
however，andピoo∫h夕an（1h碑ッaτe examples of wor（1s that once were used meta−
phorically but have receded back to their more concrete meanings．They are obso−
1ete in the secon（1ary sense．The case of hα￠鯉is f皿ther complicated by the much
later emergence of what I have called a tertiary meaning，In Middle English，
hα勿meant“similar to hair”or“hairlike”but these meanings have been lost。
Very recently（an（1possibly only in the Unite（1States）it has taken on a signlf−
icance that is relate（1to hair only by association，one imagines，with an i（1iom
containing the wor（1肱甑This is the meaning of一‘（1i伍cult，”‘‘frightening”or
I‘
isky、”I assume it comes from the idea in“miss by a hair（＝haifs breadth）’7
0r“make it by a hair”where hα〃means a very narrow margin．Also，the usage
“hairy experience”is reminiscent of“hair−raising experience”an（i th三s may have
also influenced the new usage、
FJ65h夕 and 5初￠θz耽ソ can be use（1 in the sense of “一like” but the usage is
restricted，FZ65h夕meaning“且eshlike”is use（10nly in reference to the flesh or
pulp of fmit．Whether the transference occurled in the noun or the adjective
五rst is not clear．S￠犯θωツmeaning “tougl1” or “stringy like sinews” apPeared in
the 16th century．It also apPears farther afield in the sense of 【‘elaborate，” as
applie（1to arguments，possibly af壬ected by the similarity to the wor（15魏％o％5
meaning“twisted。”BJoo勿is the only other wor（i in column I with figurative
meaning．It might be argued that uses suck as‘一bloody battle”are metaphorical
and thatわJoo吻also should be listed in column II．Rowever，even in simple
metaphorわJoo吻remains concrete in its reference，and thus a“bloody battle”
is one in which much bloo（1was shed．It is an arresting image（and surely was
much more so when it was fresh），but whether this is an extended meaning of
配oo吻is（iebatable。There is another（chiefly British）figurative use ofわJoo41y，
though，which is not at all ambiguous．This is as an intensi丘er which seems to
have come from an earlier now obsolete expletive，“God’s bloo（1”ノ“’sblood，”but
may simply have been a back−formation from the adverbわJoo4吻，its prior existence
mistakenly inferred．The fact that bZoo吻appeared very early，however，in the
Middle English period，seems to suggest the formeL
It may be seen that even though some column I wor（1s have figurative
meanings，these are not the primary meanings，Whereas the most commonly used
73
and understoo（1meanings of all the wor（1s、in column I aτe the concrete ones，
directly related to the given body pa■t，this is true of none of the words ill
column III，exceptわJoo吻an（1加Z7ッof course。None of the other words in this
column refers concretely to the noun，that is，body part，from which it was
formed in any of its meanings，and only5勉㈱ッ，％05ッand∫h70α妙ever did so
historically．
Originally，in the17th cent皿y，初5ッmeant“having a consPicuous nose・”
but now it is never use（1in that sense，perhaps because of the strength of its
associative meaning．1〉05ツnow means“i皿itatingly and invasively c皿ious，”
perhaps influenced by the i（1iom“stick one’s nose into other people3s business．”
We also have the verb％05θα60協which dQubtless refers to how dogs behave．
Similarly，we cannot mean that a person’s hands aτe conspicuous or large or
noticeable by the word h㈱吻，But in this case the meaning was not lost；it
never existed．The meanings of“skillful，”“usefu1”or“near at hand”are the
original16th century meanings．The possibility that the word developed from
the wor（1h㈱4乞oy4，rather than from hα％4＋ッ，or was at least m且uence（1by the
word h㈱耽アψ，may o丘er one explanation for the asbence of concrete reference．
H㈱吻has entered the language more formally than”05ッ，It seems that
words like％05ッ，which are use（1 to （1escribe to disadvantage the character，
mood、or temperament of persons，are least likely to be acceptable in formal
diction，Also，the further the meaning ranges from the concrete，the moτe in．
forma1，even slangy the word seems to become．Obviously，none of the wor（1s in
column I can be use（1to describe the character or a characteristic trait of persons、
BJoo吻might be use（1to express disgust with a person but is more likely to have
a general situational referent，Hα〃y only applies to situations，But all the words
in column III except h昭吻and again of courseδJoo吻and h碗7ッare primarily
used in this way、
Tゐγo礎y and5冷伽矧might have been put in column I except that their
meanings are oblique，in different wεしys、In speciahze（1 vocabulary ’hγoα砂 once
referred to animals with extra fol（1s of skin aroun（l the throat，But this concrete
meaning is obsolete．Now∫hγoα砂means“guttera1”or“11us1｛y”an（1refers to the
quality of a voice，“coming from the throat，”In the16th century s々伽矧meant
“consisting of skin”or‘一skinlike”but both these meanings have been lost．The
current meaning of“thin or emaciated”appeared in the17th century，possibly
related to the idiom“to be skin and bone”∼vith no Hesh between．A19th cen−
tury meaning，“miseτ1y，”possibly from5雇が傭，has also disappeared，
B鵤伽ッ also is oblique in its reference，but for yet another reason．This
word seems to be of relatively recent vintage as a一ッadjective，but its血gurative
meaning of“intelligent’ンor，one step again removed，“intellectua1，”di（1not come
with the a〔1dition of the一ッ．In O1（1English，δγα伽refeπe（i to the substance within
the skul1，but in Middle English this substance was assumed to be the organ or seat
7ヰ
of thought，memory，sensation an（1imagination．And so，in the Middle English
period，the盒gurative meanings of“intellectual power，”【‘intellect，”“sense”an（1
“imagillation”were a｛lded・Since，：indeed，as far as we know even todεしy，these
Middle English period assumptions about the functions of the brain weτe correct，
ゐ7伽雑夕referring to the actual functions，though not to the substance，of the organ
does not seem strictly metaphoricaL But in that it di丘ers from most of the wor（1s
in column I in refer血g to the function rather than the appearance of the bo（1y
part，it is■emove（1from what we call concrete reference．
Hθα吻is a Mid（11e English wor（1，but despite its age，it seems never to have
carried a concτete meaning．From the earliest recording，hβα吻has meant“head一
】ong，”1‘precipitate”or“violellt”（referring to events or actions）an（1“headstrong，”
etc，（referring to persons）．From the late16th century，it took on the additional
meaning of“intoxicating” oτ “stupefying” （referring to events or things）．Even−
tually，the ‘‘headstrong” mealling，apPlied to persons，lost currency．
Of the words that〔1escribe traits or character of persons or of deeds done，
onlyゐα”4夕，hθαγ妙，置）Joo4ツand perhaps5配ππ』ソcan also be used to describe things．
And ollly hαη吻an（1hθα7妙，the oldest words，are not disparaging．The others
are all more or less（1erogatory，though in speech形甥ッ，8初5ッan（1δ脇魏夕can be
uttered with grudging admiration as well as with disgust．B鵤初ッis not very
bad，butづ％∫θ”￠86つz’、∼℃uld be a better choice if one wanted to convey respect
for the intelligence being described，Cノ膨砂means“impertinent”an（1tends to be
used mostly in reference to chil（1ren，usually affectionately．When used to describe
an adult，it diminishes that person’s dignity．It is also frequently used to describe
small wild animals like biτ（1s and squirrels which are not afraid to come close
to peoPle and bother them・1〉θ7∂ツis all old word an（l so might be expecte（i not
to be derogatory，but the senses in which it is now use（l are relatively recent．
The original me乱nings of“strong”alld “vigorous” are obsolete．There are two
current meallings，but as far as I can tell，they do not coexist．The meaning of
“nervous”
r‘I
xcitable”is Bτitish、111the Ullite（l States，it means only“inso−
lentノ’“brash”or一‘presumptuous，”1〉05ッalso took on its ngg巳tive meaning well
after the word itself existed・ I could 丘n（1 no （lates for 8％診5夕， Z歪1）コりツ or ∼）γαづπ夕，
none of which is liste（1in the sho吻70がb躍E％8」歪5h1）歪o♂づo，￠僻ッ。α‘♂5ッ乱ndδ7α伽夕
are listed withollt dates in the』Rαη40彫Ho％sθ Co〃88θ1）￠o顔o㎎σy夕．I suspect they
are all fairly recent，though possibly19th century．0％≠slγis very similar in meaning
to the American usage of％θγ∂ッ，but it also can mem一‘lusty”and“vigorous．”
L勿リコリタhas a tough flavor，probably through association with the phrase “don’t
give me any of your lip”meaning“shut up”or“no excuses。”Lづ勲ツjust means
talkative，howeveL It is the most slangy of the words on this list，
I have written rather glibly of the changes in meaning that have occurre（1
in many of these worcls，especially those in column III，suggesting that possibly
signi且cant factors in the semantic changes were popular i（1ioms，clich6s or pτoverbs、
75
of which one of the words was the word in question．Clearly，this can be no
more than a workhlg hypothesis untll more evidellce can be accumulated。But it
seems to me to be an area of some potelltial for study。Pholletic influences on
word formation such as the symesthenic properties of certain consonant clusters
have been studied far more than the effect of collocationally related words，
that is to say，wor（1s that repeatedly appear together in（1iscourse．The bon（ls
between the various items in a collocation group are variously weak an（1strong，
but it might be supposed that habitual linkage of a single wor（1in a fossilized
i（1iomatic phrase woul（i likely result in at least less resistance against that word
moving towar（1the（almQst alwa｝7s五gurative）sense of tlle whole idiom in one
of its senses．This new sense could be considere（1a clipped form of the i（1iom．I
have no evidence to support my suggestion，but nothing in my limited observa−
tion thus far excludes this as a possible （indee（l probable）source of infhlence for
semantic change，among others certainly。One other possibly relevant reason for
exploring this kin（l of Illental assQciatioll as a route in word formation is the
data gathered by psycholinguists on what they call the syntagmatic response，in
contrast to the more logically sophisticated para（ligmatic response．Sylltagmatic
associations result in collocation sets，In a test situatioll，subjects are given words
and asked to free−associate，The一‘ rimitive”response seems to be syntagmatic，
that is，an attempt is made to complete sequences in a familiar way，with words
that seem to belong with the tested item。Granting that this response is said to
be more common in children，and may be more playful than not，does not detract
from my suggestion when the word category we are ta1】dng about is one that is
clearly in（lebted to a less than fully adult an（l serious apProa・ch to language。
Proper language，1ike proper etiquette，naturally intimidates many people，who
feel they must defer to language experts who alone can reasstlre them that thcy
aren’t making mistakes．This is a perhaps too small part of the self−consciousness
and insecurity of our age to worry mllch about．But it makes the gulf all thc
greater between formal and popular language，Popular1＆nguage is comfortablc
and permissive and for the most part orally transmitted，Mistakes，so ca皿ed，do
not live on to haunt one as they might ill the written language．People feel
very relaxe（i with this language an（1in some ways proprietary，considering them．
selves experts on it regardless of age or levei of education、一y a（1j ectives are
to（iay as free a fie1（1 for invention as they are thought to have been in O1（i
English under the benign neglect of the Anglo−French−speaking literati。
DEVERBAL DERIVATIVES
Deverba1〔ierivatives are in general a later development，五rst appearing in
Mi（i（lle English in about the 13th century，but not very pro（1uctive until the
Modem English period、By now，they may even have outstripped nouns．The
oldest forms includeみoo勿，初β」吻（now found almost exclusively in the negative
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foτm吻痂θ1吻ノ痂θ」吻is used，but usually as a self−conscious back−formation from
the negative an（l is most often accompallied by a self−deprecating smile），and
5」βψッmeaning“sleep−inducing”（the presellt mealling is broader，illclu（ling‘一desire
to sleep”），
It may be too fancifu1，but I wonder if deverbal formation like this can be
relate（1to the一伽8form of the veτb、Since substantives were use（1adjectivally
even in Old English，and one formation of substantives was from verbs in the
一魏8form，the adjectival use of一伽8forms was possibly felt to be denomina1．
The fact that in speech the difference between4700ρ伽8and4yoo勿，for example，
is not very great also suggests that the two forms may have been confused or
bluπed，Iesulting in deverba1一ッadjective formation．
Another perhaps more defensible guess as to the origin of deveτbal forms is
that they may have originated from substantives with identical foτms to the
verbs they correspond to，■esulting in confusion as to whether it wa，s the noun
or verb that generated tlle 一ツ adjective In cases where the dates cannot be
establishe（1for the noun an（1verb forms，there is no way of㎞owing．And once
confusioll entered，the field woukl have beell free for illventiveness．Certainly
deverbal formation gives much broa（1er scope to would−be word coiners．The
opening up of this derivation path helps to account for the amazing growth of
this vocabulary in the Modern English period．
Like nouns，many verbs tend to be pro（1uctive or not depending on their
ordinariness，their shoτtness an（1their concrete meaning，but in ad（1ition，certain
classes of verbs may be described as pro（1uctive types based on their verbal
su缶xati・n（wmch・circulaτlyen・ugh，isintumrelatedt・mea血nginm・stcases）．
A surprisingly large number of the verbs contributing to the一ッadjective fom
are−870r−」6verbs。For example，oJ嬬67，吻魏θy、εμ躍θ■an（1剛窺bJ8，ノ初8」8，剛認8，
Perhaps this should not be surprising though since these verbal forms are almost
exclusively onomatopoeic or symbolicp at least in the sense that they repτesent
soun（is an（1／0r movements translated into tlle sound system of English．Marchand
argues well for the formation of almost all the wor（1s in the−87and−Zθclasses
solely on their symbolic sound value，not neglecting to cre（1it otheτ generative
sources such as bo皿owed or received words（noting however that they may have
ha（1similar symbolic value in the original language），and rhyme an（1ablaut
variations from other words or word clusters suggesting a feeling or sensory
perception，He claims that both一βγand−」θverbs shou1（1be consi（1ered compounds
of‘Isymbolic elements，”Ncither is a su舐x on a proper root or basic word．
Sometimes a seeming root exists，but on investigation the root often is found
to have come after the longer word，For example，吻初ゐ（1400）is more recent
than勘魏ん」θ（c．1100），and加8（1665）appeared after卿β」8（1532）．Note that
both foms can take the一ッsu伍x．We caゴsay勘撤ッas well as’ω伽砂，伽βッ
as well as傘吻，But the denominal forms are more likely to be associational，
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negative and slangy（’ω魏たy，for example，now means“stupi（1ノ川na了ve”or‘‘effemi−
nate”
while the deverbal forms are more metaphoric in a recognizably sensory
way・
Both−6γand一’θverbs denote som（10r movement．Marchand makes a slight
（1istinction in nuance between the type of movement，deciding that−」θveτbs tend
to denote shorter，jerkier movements，while−8γverbs suggest repetitiveness・But
the （1istinction is considerably blunfed by the phonetic consi（1eration that apPears
to come into play in deciding which ending will appear。L in the root excludes
−18as the final element。Likewise，7exclu（1es一θ伊．
Because this（1istinction between一θ〆and−」θverbs is only interesting，not di−
rectly relevant tQ the discussion of一ツa（1jectives except as they are one pro（1uctive
class of roots，I will list the two together here in a somewhat less organized
and digeste（l fQrm than before。Most of these words along with other deverbal
and denominal forms will appear again at the en（10f this paper in lists organize（1
by semantic reference．Here，in addition to demonstrating even with this by no
means exhaustive list the great number of possibleヲformations from only two
types of verb，I wanted to suggest the importance of synaesthenic factors both on
meaning and on association of meaning，For−y a（ijective foτmation，synaesthenic
collocations may，for certain types of stem words，prove more signi丘cant than
purely semantic collocations，In making this list，there were times when I
faltere（1，wondering whether in fact I was familiar with a cert巳in word。The
form itself，the pattem，is so familiar that one is conditione（1to believe in the
words it produces，1（1i（1check though，an（i I believe that what follows is a list
of real words．The clipped forms in parentheses，sometimes but not always derived
by back−formation，are invariably more slangy and removed from concrete ref−
erence even to the sound symbols than the longer forms，In a few cases，they
may be relate（1to the wor（1beside it only ill my imagination，but I do not
claim imaginativeness for this．I think the same associations might be ma（1e
by anyone。
Lest this remarkable list lead anyone to think that these words constitute
the bulk of the deverba1一ッ乱djectives，1et me emphasize that very many other
shapes of verb are also productive，in particular，single−syllable verbs of native
origin which are the most likely to appear in verbal i（1ioms and，through a similar
process to the one for substantives，that is metonymy，yield vivid一ッadjectives
with vivid associational reference．
TwO TYPEs OF DEvERBAL−y ADJECTlvES
1。一θy type
2．一」8 type
blubbery
babbly
bubbly
blustery
blistery
blithery
clattery
cluttery
rumy
rumbly
bumbly
rustly
scribbly
bustly
cackly
scrambly
bungly
scumy（scu任y）
78
chattery （chatty）
dathery
dithery
dod（iery
fluttery
Hustery
Hickery
nittery（nitty）
glittery
glimmery
jabbery
lumbery
littery
puckery
quave「y
sputtery
spluttery
spattery
splattcry
shattery
chort】y
chuckly
crackly
crinkly
crunlbly
crumply
dangly
daPPly
shu田y
sizzly
SIlimy
snufHy
sparkly
sprinkly
squiggly
strag91y
dawdly
tangly
diddly
dribbly
tickly
tingly
tinkly
drizzly
fiddly
trickly
draggly （draggy）
trembly
丘zzly（盒zzy）
tumbly
frizzly（frizzy）
twinkly（twinky）
gabbly （gabby）
waggly（waggy）
fumbly
waddly
gag91y
gargly
warbly
whcedly
scattery（scatty）
skittery
giggly
grizzly
wiggly
shuddery
grumbly
shivery
showerv
slobbery （slobby）
gurgly
hustly
jangly
shimmery
jig91y
jingly
splintery
tcetery
tottery
tittery
twittery（twitty）
wave「y
whimpcry（wimpy）
whispery
wrig91y
w血kly
hustly−bustly
slithery （＊slithy）
smothery
wobbly
jumbly
mottly
muddly
mumbly
prickly
rambly
rattly
riPPly
DEADJEcTlvAL DERlvATloN
DeadjectivaHormations of一夕adjectives seem first to have appeare（l in the
14th celltury，only a，century or so later than（1everbaHormations。But very few
exa’mples of this formation are available alld most there are ave archaic or obso−
1ete・This should not be surprising，One s皿viving example，血’妙，may offer sQme
insight into the formation，Fα勿might have come from the adjectiva1，substan−
tival or verbal form ofμ」．They are all the s＆me。It is certainly Iikely that word
clusters like this led to confusion乱bout the‘Irules”of一夕adjective formation，
and if，for example，someone knew the word血勿and assumed that it was
derive（1from the adjective力’，he could then model other deadjectival formations
on that・Actually，in the case of／4’，（1eadjectival formation is a strong Possibility
not a blind guess since the adjective form preceded the others，but it is not
certain because all three forms weτe extant beforeμ物ノappeared．Sti11，since
there already was an adjectival form，力」，the question is why another a（1jective
is wanted・One might suggest that tlle一ツm＆kes the adjective more obviously
79
adjectival in cases where it is har（l to disthlguish it from its homonymiG and
homophonic noull an（i verb forms。 This is a ratiollal explanation， an（i might
apply to a few other of the words ill my list（below），for example，07づ5p夕and
6hπ砂，but it leaves nlost of the ite111s unexplaine（L
The most commonly advallced explanation（oHlered as the only explanation
in the5ho吻グ0刃bγ4E”8」励1）観歪o，卿ッ）is that一夕ha（1become or was becoming
a sufHx that“felt”strongly adjectiva1．But what is an adjectival feeling∼Adjec−
tives are lexical items attached to noun substantives．“A（1jectivar’simply
means“（1escriptive of some relationship，”III grammar，it is de丘ne（i functionally
simply as a皿adjunct to a noun substantive．The effect on the substantive is
attributive（descriptive）or limiting（naπowing the range of meaning）、Thus，the
a（1ded一ツwas unnecessary grammatically．That is，the一ツadded to adjectives
（ioesn’t make them act any more like a（1jectives than they would without・In
fact，by the Mi（1dle English perio（1，substantives without adjectival su仔ixation
were beginnillg to be used adjectivally（a use that expande（i greatly in the Modern
English period）as il1“flower gardell，” so that strictly speaking there was no
need for even the dellomin乱1ッadjective．This development is believed to have
hastelled the demise of some neutral denominal adjectival su伍xes，for example，
一β雑which survives only in a few words like80」4θ％，θα7’h碗andωoo4碗．But the
一夕su伍x was not neutral and was in fact growing more and more specialized as
to affect，It was therefore able to offer a meaningful altemative to the substan−
tives used attributively as we11as to adjectives。The difference betweenωoo4
use（i attributively an（1 ωoo4θ％ was negligible， although today a difference ill
habitual usage makes them non−interchangeable．But the differences between
ωoo4an（1ωoo吻orωoo451y or betweenωoo4伽andωoo4θ％ツare well（しefille（1・
As we have seen，一夕can express various relations to the stem it is attached
to，These are“consisting of ，” “containing ，” “possessing ，” “conspic−
uously possessing ，” “possessing in “uεしntity，” “1narked by an excess of
，” “of the nature of ，”“resenlbling ，”“renliniscent of ，”“associated
in one’s mind in a direct or oblique way with ，”8’o．，α4づ頭％伽窺it woul（1
seem，In addition，ヲhas，over the years，（1eveloped illcreasingly誼ective nuances
of familiarity，triviality and negativity．The earliest was probably f＆miliarity，
with the natural association of having direct effect on the speaker or writer、
Most likely，this is the nuance to be taken from words like伽8アand％5砂∼vhich
are certainly not trivia1，undignified or negative．Vα吻，for example，might be
interpreted as“something was vast an（11was somehow諭ected。”Awareness of
the observer is incorporated，So the−y added to adjectives most often（1i（1not
a（1jectivize so much as subjectivize、That we feel many of these wor（1s to be
“poetic”is，I believe，a relic of times（now past）when poets used一ッas a
（1evice for bringing experience closer to the observers，poet alldτeader、The con−
tinuing movement of一ッ，however，toward nuances of triviality，worthlesslless and
80
10athsomeness has，in more recent times，1imited the poetic use of this（1evice to
cases where all the affect now carried byづ’is appropriate or，ironically，where
an archaic eHect is wanted．
To summarize，一夕can be merely neutra1，expressing only adjectival function，
when added to substantives and verbs，depending on the age of the formation
and many other factors，but added to adjectives only the affective sense is signif−
icant，This is also generally tme of一ッadded to substantives which are frequently
or idiomatically used as noun attributives、For example，フo膨18α74θ％is neutra1，
but弄o膨γッ8ακ8％（not a cu皿ent or common expression）would feel somehow
like an expression of how the garden is perceived by the speaker．Similarly，
Chアづ5枷αsρβ5β初is straightforward while Cん擁5顔α∬ッρ貿θεθ弼wQuld tell us that
the present，whenever given or received，is felt by the speaker to be redolent of
Christmas・（Ch眺加α∬夕，by the way，is a very commonly・used一ッa（1jective．）
One rather common if not much approved modem derivation of dea（1jectiva1
一ツadjectives is from一∫5h adjectives，for example，夕θ♂Jo痂5h夕orωα5が5h夕，Here，
the slightly disparaging and diminishing affects of一歪5h are intensified by the
addition of一』γ。The most interesting of these words（if indeed it is derived from
一酌and not laterally from勉ッ）is∫5hッwhich is used broadly to express strong
disgust or distaste．It is in very common use in the United States，particularly
among chi1（1ren，but it is not entere（1in any dictionary I have been able to
consult，not even dictionaries of American slang．Even if it were，I doubt its
origin could be （iefinitively given，So I feel free to imagine that this delightfully
p皿e expression of negativity comes from一幼an（i一ッ，the closest these two have
come to becoming words in their own right for all the independent meaning they
carry，Parenthetically，I might ad（i that一づεh is also commonly added to一夕adjec−
tives，a practice more accepted than the other、vay around。Examples include
ργθ顔5h，4・翻夕紘5」θ吻乞5hand・」4一∫b8ゆ5h，Infact，alm・stany一ッadjective
can take一歪5h though the result，if too unwieldy，will not be very much used．
One other interesting example of a deadjectiva1一夕wor（i is60励which is a
short，clipped form of60卿γ幼」θand means“comfortable and cozy．”It is said
to have originally been a nursery word but it is wi（1ely used to（iay，mostly in a
folksyish way．
The following list of deadjectiva1一ッa（1jectives，like my other lists，is not
meant to be exhaustive，only suggestive．Words dating from the Middle English
period to the en（i of the19th century are listed relatively chronologically in column
I。All are archaic or obsolete except for those marked with an asterisk．Words in
column II are all20th century formations or at least unlikely to be very old．
1，
DEADJEcTlvAL−y ADJEcTIvEs
II．
fatty寧
waspishy
moisty
yellowishy
crispy串
girlishy
81
slippery串
boyishy
leany
womanishy
hugy
ishy
haughty串
yellowy
chilly申
O「angy
fainty
blacky
whity
woodeny
WOQIleny
9「eeny
paly
dusky卓
vasty
dampy
bleaky
lanky率
pinky
pu甲ly
goody
bluey
comfy申
AFFECT
A much repeate（1theme in the discussion of一夕a（1jectives an（1indee（1the
most important aspect of them is the affect or feeling that so many of them
carry．As has been said，these include familiarity，comfort，warmth，affection，
nostalgia，childishness，廿iviality，humoτ，disapprobation，contempt，etc。Very few
are completely neutraL Which of these a丘ective connotations a given word carries
an（i the strength of that affect are（1etermined by a great vaτiety of factors。
These factors are rarely independently determinative，but I shall try to list them
as if they were，in or（ier to summarize and state clearly・what was often only
hinted at above．
The shade，tone，strength and ldnd of affect varies depending on the following：
C初77β％o』γ’Archaic or obsolete forms ten（1to soun（i poetic an（1distant rather
than familiar．Examples include％5砂，郷α∬夕，力㈱夕，μα8％θ夕，5砂勿an（i5ωθθpッ，
。488’Still−current words from before the Mo（1em English period are almost
all neutral in a丘ect in at least one of their nleanings。Recently coined、vords are
the most likely to feel slangy，folksy or to carry a strong depreciative nuance，
L碑8’h J The wor（1s with the strongest negative＆ffect ten（i to be built on
single−syllable Anglo−Saxon or seemingly・Anglo−Saxon words，One prototype of
this can be seen in wor（1s Iike Zo勿，ッ％o砂or歪5h夕，another in words likeわJoo吻，
6吻ρッand5h吻．Words of more than two syllables＋ッ，on the other hand，tend
to have strong humorous Havor，Needless to say，length of a word alone（10es
nOt detemine aHeCt．
∫頭κFo脇’ In general，一』γwords feel as if they，the words themselves，
belong to the user，just as a（iding一』γto the names of persons or objects makes
them related to the user，Ad（1ing一ッseems to be a way of emotionally apprQpri一
82
ating outside phenomena、，of b血ging them into our personal spheres．
Double−1etter＋ッwords always feel more homey and familiar than words
with一ッalone．Examples includeルε5ッ，耀55ッ，50αわ妙，8耀6勿，5Zoρ勿，ρ吻an（1
ρo’∫夕・Hαρρツ・汐y6≠砂andルπ麗ツare exceptiolls to this，probably because of their
age an（1because the root words are not widely recogllized or remembered．
Other by−forms of theづ’suf五x include−5ッ，which sounds tauntingly insulting
and more playful than一夕alone，and一吻ノ／一砂／一θ砂／一吻，which ca皿y a strong hu−
morous Havoτand more than a hint of nursery rhymes．一5夕is not proli且c，but a
few examples will show the general feeling。Tづρ5夕，μゐ5y，4伽5ッan（10伽硲ッall
take on a more negative feeling by association with childish an（1（1eflating forms
of address such as∫oo籾一ωoo籾andρoρslγ一ωoρ5』γ．They are primarily irreverant．
一Dッ／一妙ノーθ砂／一吻also often feel childish an（1 but the is more
deflating， feeling
innocent than with一εッ．For example，わ忽8吻（or扉88θ砂）an（1砂ρ勿are words
use（I to prick the pretensions of conceited，aflecte（1people，But use of
words
with this cluster of sufnxes marks the user too，as a country bumpkin，a
sma11
child，hopelessly out of date or self−deprecatingly humorous．Thus the most
common reason for employing them is to disarm other people．Some words are
truly reserved for children．Except humorously，no adult would use
50α7θ4ターoα’
orノ㍗α乞4』ソーoα6in conversation∼vith another adult．
F塀∫吻一（clipPed from砺7漉4）of
course has a一夕rather than一吻su伍x，but as one item in Qne of the rare synonym
pairs that are exactly equivalent in meaning and usage，the feelhlg from56僻8吻一
bleeds over intoノン痂4ツー．
丑勿耀㈱4R砂θ媚o％’The presence of repetition，rhyme pairs or ablaut
rhyme pairs（whether singly or severa11y，whether incorporated into one i（1iomatic
or hyphenated usage or present only・by implication，in our minds）tends to re（1uce
the seriousness of words and make them humorous．They delight us．Examples
・fthel・yphenatedtypeincludetheab・ve−menti・ned！・・！5ター（ω・・∫5ッ）aswellas
！oρsッー劾7∂夕，μ銘夕一ω拗βッ，oJ励吻一6」αoん吻and加5吻一δ％5勿．The last two have simi。
1arly hyphenated noun forms，oJ乞oゐ一〇1αo冷 and h％5云」θ一わ％361θ．
In addition，rhyme and repetition encourage associations with other words
and help to broaden the applications and extend the meanings of words．Rhyming
synonyms like卿88ッan（i鵠甥βッwhich reinforce each other are common，Ablaut
rhyme seems to be the source of a great many of the丘gurative，extende〔i meanings
of一夕adjectives。For example，not only is！o％6hッstrengthened by the existence
of∫θ吻and観oh夕，it may very well be that≠o％o勿took on its meaning of“testジ
or“tetchy”by association fτom those words．FJ解7ッ（as in“且urry shrt”）is
without any root but seems to take its sense from words like伽yθ，μJJ andグ畷，
and伽吻appeared as a less crisp version of伽勿ッ．Words expressive of sound
or motion are particularly likely to have this type of relationship，because of
the sound symbolism in certain consonants an（l collsollant clusters and to a lesser
extent in vowels．Thus5砂勿，soρ勿and50吻ッare a1正associated in o皿minds
83
through the wet consonant／s／in their full range of meanings and are now used
almost interchangeably。
R．hyme plays an in（1irect role in much一夕adjective fo㎜ation，as it is very
important in influencing which possible root words will be picked up and which
of the一夕adjectives will be the most strongly affective，
Word blending，an ever more popular method of一ツadjective production，
naturally results in relate（1rhyme pairs，Lewis Carroll is famous for his whimsical
fomations，but a more useful example would be5脚88ア（from5翅o々θand力8）
rhyming with力88y．（ヲα醜ッ，which seems like a blend of8㈱8砂（or8α4〆804perhaps）
＆n（1α魏ω僻4，actually is believe（1to come from a noτth English（iialect word
8側」齢，but its easy association with its synonym側舳αγ4is undoubte（ily signif−
icant in its adoption into general use，One suspects that if8αωたツhad not existed，
牢α麟y or some such word wou1（1surely have appeare（1by the20th century，by
which timeヲwords had appeared for almost every negative human trait，
One special type of rhyme association is related to the taboos on certain
words．Thusγ％4吻came into general use as a bowdlerization ofわZoo吻’，in the
tτa（1ition of Cockney rhyming slang．Other examples include卿％o砂and夕％o砂
which rhyme with two unacceptable words，5％o砂and＊μo々y・the latter of
which is never found with theづノsu伍x，being too strong，ugly and serious in
affect for even the most negative affect of一ッ．Natuτally，manyF words formed in
response to taboo are not一夕adjectives，Rhyme and sound association are basic
to many kinds of word formation in English、
A casual glance at the lists will reveal a remarkable number of rhymes and
slant rhymes in the root words，and not only in the obvious final rhyme imposed
by any su伍x．The existence of such pairs asω6砂ッー6788ρッ，ω乞勉ρy−5∫粥ρ夕、402りθッー
窺oρθy，わα88y−5α88夕an（1翅oo吻一bγoo吻in which the rhyme is accompanied by a
parallelism in both meaning and feeling as well suggests that the sounds have
influenced the content，though historically the influence was probably mutua1．In
pairs likeわo∬』ソ吻∬ニソ，8αわわツー8γ％わわツand 507％％ohツーoず％％oん夕，it is possible to isolate
consonants that suggest a certain a丘ect because of soun（1association with a
number of other words．
50観45ツ励oJ￠鋤’Sounds quite clearly caπy meaning in a systematic way・
It is important to the affect what vowels an（l what consonants appear and
whether they are long or short，initial or且na1。But this is not something that can
be（1iscussed fully here。A few examples will su伍ce，Long vowels generally comote
slower an（1deeper movement than short vowels，open−mouth vowels feel heavier
an（11arger than closed−mouth ones，In the word cluster5伽8，5㈱8，ε㈱8and
50％8，the possible symbolism is ignored，but in other clusters such as o砂，oJ妙，
oJop，we feel a progression from a faint，sharp sound to a heavy，dull one，一y
adjectives，because they frequently descτibe somd and motion，very commonly
contain soun（i−significant vo、vels，an（1 awareness of this in the user is increased
84
by the existence of ablaut rhyming near−synonyms，For example，ブ㍑8そy一グ㈱8砂，
5％姻ッー5％遡夕，グ勅θ7ッーブαわわθ7ッ、吻P吻一・」・ρρθ≠夕and卿吻一餌4吻．C・ns・nantsand
consonant clusters ten（l to be even more precise in their symbolism．As mentioned
above，／s／soun（is wet or watery and ／1／frequently connotes duration．Thus
／s1／carries a stronger，in the sense of more negative，1iquid meaning than！s／
alone，For example，5Joρρ夕，5Zoゐ砂，5Joδbθγッ，5Jog8ッ，sJoεhッ，5」％5h夕，5」％ゆ』γand
sZ吻ッ。By extension，words connoting a liquid−1ike flowing movement also are
enhance（i by the／sl／、For example，ε勧砂，5魏hθ7夕an（i5砂ρθ7y．／gl！often carries
a similar liquid feeling to／s1／but somewhat heavier，as in8Joρ勿and8耽ッ．
Another connotation of／gl／can be seen in words like8」魏θ7y，8距獅郷θ牝y，8」臨碗夕，
8」θの獅夕，8Jo35ッ，8Z伽砂，8Joωッan（i8砂ッ．／g／alone often feels more viscous than
liqui（i，as in800θツ，800ρツ，8％翅魏‘γand8伽zん夕．／gr／is not li（luid at all but rather
carries a feeling that can be guessed at from wor（is like8痂妙，87伽夕，8γ副θ勿
and8ダ観8ツ・Another nuance of！gr／possibly comes from association with the wor（1
8yo僻，Examples include gγo％o妙，8耀励砂an（18鰯駕勿．／fl／is containe（1in a great
number of words describing movement of a generally awkward type，as in fop勿，
ブ砂ρッ，頂oたθγッ，f魏θ7夕，万協∫8型，μ勿andガ％吻γ夕，／b1／suggests associations with
the wordδZo凹as inδJoω夕，ゐ」幼δθη，わ勧δθη，ゐ」伽θ7夕an（1ゐ」％吻7ッ、Some of these
associations can be trace（i back to the older languages from which EngHsh deve1−
oped，but there is no reason to doubt that analogies to mouth shape an（1natural
sounds played a role in origins even so removed．Often a single phoneme
set expresses many diflerent feelings，some dependent on mimicry，others on
association with word clusters of near−synonyms，For example，a large number
of／skr／ words sound shrill or harsh， 1ike so7θα卿夕 and 56yθθ6h夕， 50γ％πo趣ソ and
56鰯6h夕，but even more are semantically related to the Old Norse words5たγ砺
meaning“shrivelled”and5加α納meaning一‘1ean and large−boned．”For example，
s6翅ω％夕，50γα88y，56γ幼δ夕and s6吻砂ツ，／kr／frequently carries similar associations，
probably（lue to the interchangeability of these soun（is in the old languages．、Ve
can see evidence of this in word pairs like soγα88ツーo劉α88y，so伊z耀ohツー07％πoh夕，50γ乞窺ρツー
07伽ρッand so翅ωZター6γαω砂。These examples have all been of initial soun（1s．Similarly，
middle and fiml consonants and consonant clusters can carry the same or only
slightly different meanings．For example，／t／and／k／soun（1as quick and sharp
in the final as in the initial position．Thus，6」露♂θ7ツーoJα甜θγ：γ，’ω露’θγy，f％甜θγツ、51剛’∫θγツ，
o加≠∫87ツand∫齢夕一嬬ん夕，oJ齢ツ，吻o砂an〔10」％o為y．Finals like！PI however seem
to indicate a sharp stop（which is what they are phonetically）and the−y ad（1ed
does not（ietract from this in o砂勿，〃ゆρy，4γ砂ρッ，5犯ψ勿and伽ρ勿．The final
／∫／is reminiscent of the feeling in5卿α5h，while／mp／reminds us of枷窺ρ，
Of course，none of these associations of sound with sensory impressions
depends on the suf五x一ア，but the fact that words incorporating sQund and motion
symbolism are almost universally convertible into−y adjectives gives us some
idea of the sensory receptivity of the 一ツ su伍x．Many 一ツ a（ij ectives do not have
85
strong or appaτent sound symbolism，but those that do are stronger for it，Our
first knowledge of this world was sensory and as infants we were totally depen（ient
on ouτsenses toτelate to the tastes，smells，sounds，shapes an（1motions around
us，With the development of linguistic skills，we gradually were weaned away
from some of this dependence，but it probably was with mixe（l feelings that we
saw language coming between us and our experience，We became to some extent
alienate（i from the vivid dhlectness of perceptions that had previously de五ne（1us。
Why一ッadjectives，themselves merely vocal artifacts，feel as they generally do，
is a，question for psycholinguistics an（l phonetics to answer，but surely it is
deeply relate（l to the value of certain sounds an（1mouth shapes as symbols of
affect．
5碗507ッ1挽α88η’Sensory imagery is not only■elate（1to phonetics，that is，
sound。It also can come from the semantic meaning（1irectly and in（1irectly from
the sense of words、which is to say from■elationships of words to other words．
If a wor（1ca皿ies reference to sensory perception，it will have stronger affect
than a synonym which does not so refer，and it will tend to have broader
aPPlication。
The sensory content of many wor（ls elicits almost predictable，physical responses
that seem almost as much part of the words as the more consciously prescribed
dictlonary pmunciatioll oτspelling．We can hardly say“snotty”without wrinkhng
our noses，or“tinkly”without modulating our voices。F％γ7ッ，声α≠hθ型and s6α砂
make ouτnngers tingle so that more often tllan not the wor（1s are accompanied
by at least a vague flutter of the hands。The closer to sensation，the stronger
the feeling associated with the word，and the more likely gesture will accompany
the verbal expression of feeling、It also is clear that the more diHuse the image，
the weaker the emotive component。Gγα55ッ，for example，is only moderately
strong。We think perhaps of rolling on lawns as children，or going barefoot，
feeling the texture・but it is also visual and olfactory and in addition likely to
be cluttered with idiosyncratic memories．Slmilarly，ωooJJ碗ッ，」α≠hθ劉ッ，5裾5ッ，伽わ吻，
5α吻・7％勘ツandeven・h…切arestr・nglysens・rybutals・diHuseintending
to be（1ilute｛1with in（1ivi（1ual memories associated with these feelings．Accordingly，
the emotional strength of these wor（1s varies widely from indivi（1ual to individuaL
Ooβッ，on the other hand，carries a single sensory mess＆ge with primitive strength
that is almost precognitive、Words which evoke texture and consistency such as
・・β夕・8・・θツ・8％吻・8襯辮ツ・加βツ・ε∫吻，ε」卿，Z襯勿、灘吻，5卿吻，5卿吻，
andγ襯矧are all very strong，because they take us back to the mu（1−pie（1ays
of childhood when we related to the world more completely through our senses
and feelings．
E物観84ハ4θ㈱伽85’ In some ways similar to the two preceding character−
istics that affect aHect，this factor is broader and includes the others．The more
concrete and literal the meaning conveyed and the more narrowly an（1conven一
86
tionally it is applie（1，the less a仔ective，more ordinarily descriptive＆word becomes．
Words used metaphoricany and五guratively tend to have stronger aHect and
also to feel more colloquial or slangy．Thus，耀α40ω夕and Jθψ，for all their
pastoral associations an（1tactile references，have remained close to a neutral refer−
ence and are a㎞ost never used丘guratively，FJo躍ツandωθ吻，in contrast，
while still current in their concrete senses，are far more often use（1in their slightly
pejorative 五gurative senses of “overly ornate or elaborate” and “unhealthily
thin”respectively，In the same way，5％8α型sounds and is less playful and inter−
esting when it is applied to cake than when applied to a personahty or a smile，
1∼oo≠『oγ4．・It should be obvious from all the above that strength of affect
will be greatly（iependent on the denotation，connotation and usage of the root
word itself。But it is worth repeating that一ッwill more often be a伍xed to some
wor（is than otheτs，an（1the words most likely to take一ッare those with the
strongest affect themselves or，and this is extremely important，those which
commonly occ皿in idioms with strong affect，Examples of this may be seen in the
human anatomy list above．It seems，for example，that hα吻very likely comes
from a combination of I‘by a hair”an（1“hair−raising，”clipped and su伍xed for
convenience．Thus，the sense（that is，the system of linguistic relationships a
wor（l forms with other words）of the root will frequently be a factor in the for．
mation of a一ッa（1jective．And also，because of the lingering association with the
i（1iomatic uses of the root word，the一ッa（ijective will be enriched and strengthened
in its a丘ect．
K客η4ρノィ4ヶoた Of all the （1i丘erent kinds of aHect， negativity， variously
expressed as dislike，contempt，disapprobation，etcりis the strongest，Explicit or
implicit negative value judgments inherent in certain words or usages make them
stronger and more vivid than words with neutral or positive ju（igments・But
even here there are gradations、Thus，formations from expletives，likeわZoo吻，
γ嘱吻，翅％o砂an（1σγ妙ρ夕，aside from all their other strengtlls as metaphors and
synaesthenic symbols，are especially stτongly affecting because they are strongly
negative．A more subtle example may demonstrate this point more clearly。M％3勿
is（lescriptive of the texture of mush an（1 ca皿ies a negative charge， possibly
relate（1to the way many children feel about oatmeal an（i the like after they
have in their own minds out鎮own soft baby−food，whereas oγθα翅夕with not so
different a texture carries a positive charge．Partly because it is negative，”￠彿εhツ
is stronger，and the negative meaning caπies over into metaphor with extended
meanings of‘‘spineless，”“sentimental”and“unclear，”w1丘le the associations of
67βα窺ッare closer to the concrete meaning of o紹α粥ッ，Neutτal and positive一夕
adjectives tend to be more concrete in more of their applicaUons，and thus poorer
in aSSOCiatiOn an（1 in a丘eCt．
Fア85加θ55’Consciousness of a woτd having been made rather than feeling
it as a given，a part of language passively received，makes it seem more alive
87
and powerfu1。Especially when the root from which the一夕adjective was（1erived
is lost or forgotten， sonle of the delight hl the creation of the word or even
awareness of its membership in this familiar and personal category is also lost．
Thus，to a certain extent，this correlates closely with the age of the word as
well as cu皿ency of the word from which it was derive（i、Dα伽砂，h6α∂ツ，伽5ツand
磁ッare all almost unrecognizable as taken from the Anglo−French4α加6（ulti−
mately from the Latin4歪8纏α5），the Old English hφ8andわ観8an（1the Middle
English ’歪4＋‘y， and predictably they carry little a丘ective sense。 Possibly the
last，翅夕，has some small sense of picaymeness that makes it less than a goo（1
example。It is also（1if壬erent from the others mentioned with it by virtue of its
root wor（l being obvious，but that doesn’t help because it is used in the sense
of“time，”a now乱rchaic meaning．Similarly，ωoπ勿，鋤5砂，hθ誠h夕，hθの吻an（1
ωθα7ッare，it seems，too old an（1respectable to be much toye（1with。1了砂ρッalso
seemed immune and certain正y is more often use（1in the older neutral sense than
not，but ill the irreverant20th century it took on the added nleanillg of‘『（1runk”
and it can be found in the related phrase sZ妙一hαρ勿meaning“dazed”or“punch−
drunk．”
There are，of course，many ways in which a wor（i can appear fresh。It can
be newly minted，a word for a single occasion，formed by one person．For
example，if I found a nee（i for the image Iikely to be produce（1by it，I coul（1say
“scissorsy。”If the wor（i caught on and came into general use，it would to that
extent lose its freshness，though not necessarily its force．Another way thatづノ
words call appear fresh is through original uses and applications ranging far
from its original or concrete referellce．Lilくe poetry、colloquial language and slang
are better when not too hackneyed、But一ッwords，more than poetry，（1epend on
originality that is built soli（11y on the falniliar things in life．
・4ρμ￠o観oη’The greatest number by far of thesc−1γadjectives describe how
we feel about other people，their character traits，moods，personalities，behavior．
The words are value laden and yet not alienating，We＆re comected by our
feelings to the people we apPly these words to and so even the strongest
criticism couched in these words is not unmitigated at least by pity．If we call
peoPle“silly”or“crabby”or even “dripPy，” they are still related to us and
we probably feel some affection for them、Other words are stronger an（l the link
is Iess one of affection than the simple recognition that that person has gotten
to you，The judgments are llot cold an（l absh・act，however negative．They are
gut−1evel judgments．Most of these words are critical of people’s faults：5紹α妙，
8幼わツ・8瑠砂ッ，87・％・1多夕，5雑・吻，5η吻，sη・・砂，s枷8夕，伽妙，5’吻，ε砂勿，5％吻，
ω8β勿，etc。But there are，as can be seen even from this short list，且ne gradations
of disapprobation。Some faults are clearly worse than others．But all the words
have in colnmon，by virtue of the su伍x一夕，what might be calle（i a put一（lown
mechanism．Describing people with these words criticizes them an（1at the same
88
time tells them they aren’t worth our attention except insofar as they deserve
the criticism，一y a（1jectives applie（1to people work to deflate them．Thus，Richard
Nixon was called“tricky Dicky”not at all out of affection but emphatically to
deny him the respect an（l dignity he postured，Rather than buming anger，these
words express contempt，
Really stuffy people probably hate being called“stuffy．”Nobody likes his
deeply felt emotions to be labelle（1“sapPy，”They know that they are not just
being criticized，they are being teased as wel1，The wor（is（ion’t hurt them so
much as poke fun at them，They are not being taken seriously．Accor（lingly，
calling a frightening authority figure“bossy”is unthinkable；being frightene（1pre−
cludes the use of these not−quite−serious words。A（leeply（iepressed person perhaps
shou1（1n’t be tease（1，but callillg him or her“moody”or even meaner“broody”
makes his anguish less frightening to the people around him．We use these words
to describe characteristics in others （1ess frequently in ourselves） that a丘ect us
personally，and these wor（1s are a kind of（1efense．Of course，not all of these
words carry the same power for eveτyone。‘℃rabby”may be a more oτ1ess
seτious accusation depending partly on personal i（liosyncratic associations，family
an（i peer group values，etc．
CONCLUSION
I will conclude this paper with a few more word lists．The first group of
lists is of一ツ a（1jectives，however derived，that carry sensory （、vhat I have called
secon（iary referentia1）impressions，These tend to be neutral in value，synaesthenic
an（1more or less delightful dependlng on how fQssilize（i over time the images
they ca皿y are。The second group of lists is of−ly adlectlves that are applie（i
丘guratively to persons．Perhaps it is unnecessary to say here that numerous as
一夕adjectives used to describe persons are，they represent only a very sma1Hrac−
tion of the total words available for such use in English，Denotationally，一ッ
a（11ectives are too rough to satisfy the hunger for precision。They tell as much
about the observer as the observed．A glance at the following random list of
forma1，not to say pedantic，words for unpleasant human traits will make clear
the comparative lack of depth and rallge of the一ツadjectives，
UNATTRACTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS（FORMAL）
loquacious puerile sadistic＊ superficia1卓
gullible申 inane寧 masochistic＊ ignorant寧
pompous寧 intQlerant申 neurotic率 insensitive專
tacitum wanton parsimonious servile
opinionated寧 crass＊ defeatist申 cringing
phlegmatic dogmatic＊ chavinistic＊ insolent＊
blas6＊ vitriolic uxorious abstemious
complacent孝 desultory epicurean Machiavellian
punctilious sardonic pronigate peremptory
vapid surreptitious prodiga1 吼uerulous
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iconoclastic
lnisanthropic
perfunctory
cunning
flagrant
stoic
unctUOUS
obsequious
presumptuous＊
niggardly
vail1910rious
llcentious
fretfu1串
fastidious零
extravagant寧
Only the starred words are commonly heard in conversation，But while no one
would suggest dispensing with these and other precise words，many of them would
not be un（1erstoo（1by a great number of native speakers。For the p皿poses of
norma1，0r（1inary communication，then，the student of English as a foreign language
would（io well to postpone mastering lists like the above and at least familiarize
himself or herself with the一夕adjective lists that follow，There is nQ need to
self−consciously produce them in the student’s own speech．That will come or
not as the student is exposed to the everyday language。
I have divide（i the 一ツ words use（1 to （iescribe persons’traits or behavior
into as many smaller categories as seemed necessary to make the general meaning
an（l affect of most words clear．There are，of course，some words that resist cate−
gorization，but on the whole，it is surprising how few para（1igmatic groups
emerged and how crowded certain of them are，The categories are organized roughly
on the basis of synonymy，recognizing，however，that the words in each group
may be synonymous（or interchangeable without loss of meaning）in only some
contexts．Naturally、wor（1s expressing general aversion will have more synonyms
than more（1enotationally precise words，But exact connotational congruence is
almost impossible among一夕adjectives where so m、uch of the meaning is affective
and（1epends so much on associations and i（1iosyncratic emotiona1τesponse．In
every category，I have liste（1the words only in such order as might reveal inter−
esting relationships to other words。
A brief glance through these lists reveals frequent striking similarities between
words that mean approximately the same thing．The sound symbolism here is
not at all subtle，it leaps o丘the page in some cases．Here，as elsewhere，my lists
are not as full as I cou1（1hope，and are less than satisfactory also in narrowing
the meanings down to a signi五cant leveL
As I stated at the beginning of this paper，the collecthlg of words was not
systematic，And in all cases、I allowed myself，along with a few friends whom I
consulted，to be the final arbiters of cuπency and sense，As the project grew，I
became increasingly frustrate（1with dictiomries，especially the supposedly up−to一
（1ate American ones which all too frequently listed every meaning for a wor（1
but mine，or omitted words I feel certain are widely use（1in the United States，
There is（1anger，I know，in naively believing oneself a model of proper usage
（even of such non−proper words as these），but after consklering the altematives，
1〔1eci（1ed that using myself as a native−1anguage informant as I compiled the
lists would probably be of more use to people than doing a random dictionary
so此，the results of which I wou1（1not，in any case，feel quali丘e（1to evaluate．
Parts of this paper were diachronic but for the most part my lists are
90
synchronic，my criteria being whether I and other native speak6rs were familiar
with（having read or heard）or used these words．Dictionaries are weak on this
P・int・edit・rsgenerallybeingass1・wt・labelausage・bs・leteast・qualifya
newwo「df・rinclusi・n・Perhapsmylistswilln・ts・muchc・rrectf・rthis（f・r
theyhavetheir・wnweaknesses，n・tleast・fwhichisthefactthattheyt…vill
soon be dated）as fill a gap an（1complement other so皿ces of information about
’ツw・rds・especiallyastheyareusedbyAmeτicans．Attheveryleast，lh・pe
that they have amused you as一ッwords are meant to do．
SENSORY IMAGERY
1，LIGHT！DARK
dazzly dapPly dingy
nashy m・ttly dusky
nery bl・tchy inky
91・wy m皿ky
き1＆ry shady
gl・ssy shad・wy
gleamy sooty
glittery smudgy
91immery
sp＆rkly
shimmery
shiny
sheeny
twinkly
2．TEXTUREITOUCH
bristly lumpy tissuey
c翫nvasy gnarly tufty
cindery napPy tweedy
crumby ・・zy velvety
crispy Pasty w・・lly
c「usty Powdery waxy
c「epey papery
downy pillowy
fuzzy ropey
Habby runny
feathery rubbery
mmy shaggy
9τainy shingly
gauzy satiny
gritty spongy
grimy squashy
gummy squishy
gunky slimy
gloppy sticky
goopy shppery
gooey
3．SENSATIONS
achy stingy
crawly shivery
creepy shuddery
（1izzy scratchy
goose且eshy t・ckly
headachy tingly
itchy
prickly
91
4．SOUND
clangy
boomy
clattery
「aspy
rattly
bangy
chirpy
clickety−click
rackety
sputtery
spluttery
spattery
clackety−clack
clipPety−cloP
rustly
splattery
rumbly
cloPPety−cloP
snlppy
tinny
twittery
丘zzy
gurgly
snappy
jingly
squeaky
jangly
nolsy
screeky
screechy
wheezy
yappy
SC「aggy
Ha1【y
scrubby
wreathy
stringy
dumpy
buzzy
chinupy
croaky
creaky
clucky
clunky
clanky
clinky
swishy
twangy
thrummy
whirry
5．APPEARANCEISHAPE
tangly
twisty
snarly
cτinkly
snaggy
knotty
jumbly
fluffy
topsy−turvy
flouncy
billowy
balloony
puffy
wavy
ripply
ruHly
curly
CU「vy
6．MOTION
wig91y
waggly
wrig91y
s（luig91y
S旦U1「my
swirly
twirly
twisty
tumy
whirly
windy
bendy
jerky
snappy
chQppy
quaky
fdzzy
puckery
frothy
foamy
raggedy
jaggedy
shvery
splny
thomy
boxy
bunchy
baggy
spi】｛y
saggy
pointy
rumply
crumply
patchy
wlspy
lacy
cranky
crusty
crotchety
cratchety
knobby
spotty
bumpy
1urchy
twitchy
nickery
slinky
drippy
qulve「y
且uttery
quave「y
shivery
flitty
shuddery
trembly
throbby
shaky
wobbly
teetery
tottery
slithery
bouncy
swishy
】ouncy
fhttery
noppy
springy
lumbery
waddly
shuffしy
flappy
limpy
draggy
chumy
（lrag91y
droopy
dangly
drifty
SWlngy
tumbly
zlppy
ZOQmy
doddery
flowy
spee（1y
jig91y
trickly
lickety一（split）
wave「y
dribbly
UNATTRACTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS
1．BAD−TEMPERED RRITABLEIPEEvISH
crabby
wrinkly
tetchy
waspy
nasty
touchy
prickly
bitchy
peppe「y
vinegary
huffy
stormy
9「umpy
surly
且ery
gnlmbly
grouchy
Ome「y
testy
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2，RESENTFUL／COMPLAINING
sulky snivelly
gmmbly
pouty teary
tattly
wimpy blubbery
kvetchy
whiney gripey
whimpery grousy
3．ODD／DISAGREEABLEISOCIALLY AWKWARD
driPPy finky
shnooky
twerpy lerky
schleppy
creepy nerdy
schmucky
cloddy nebbishy
simpy pilly
4．HATEFUL
icky rummy
pukey
ishy bloody
farty
pissy
uggy slimy
c「aPPy
yucky ruddy
lousy sucky
crummy barfy
5．DECEITFULICUNNINGIMEAN
shitty
turdy
wily stealthy
weaselly
crafty slipPery
foxy
tricky scoundrelly
fishy
sneaky roguey
五nky
shifty rascally
skulky ratty
rat一丘nky
do（igy
sha（1y skunky
6．SELFISH／TIGHT
grabby piggy
graspy hoggy
greedy stingy
7．UNCLEAN／UNTIDY
cruddy messy
dirty mussy
funky mungy
filthy scummy
grimy Scuzzy
grubby scabby
8．PHYSICALLY AWKWARD
clumsy
1unky
cloddy
clunky
gawky
9。DRABIRUN−DOWN／INFERIOR
thrifty
scrimpy
squi皿elly
scuffy
scruffy
scur蛋y
slobby
sloppy
dingy
gimpy
klutzy
gangly
tousy
sleazy
shaggy
scrubby
mottly
schlocky
tatty
frowsy
blowsy
wecdy
ticky−tacky
bowsy
shabby
mousy
dreary
dowdy
frumpy
10．DEPRESSED／DEPRESSING
seedy
tacky
wimpy
9100my
broody
mopey
teary
droopy
moO（iy
weepy
dreary
93
11．STUBBORN
balky flinty
Omew
12．SLOW
pokey draggly
dawdly di（1dly
draggy tardy
13．INSANEIWILD
batty nutty
buggy potty
balmy screwy
barmy funny
crazy scatty
looney dotty
loopy daHy
14．sTuPIDIFooLlsH
stony
putzy
futzy
strag91y
dizzy
dippy
kooky
wacky
Wlggy
wlngy
zany
dopey goofy
1umpy
dizzy louty
slmpy
dolty goony
dippy lunky
15．OFFICIOUS／OVERBEARING
bossy preachy
silly
foo1−hardy
blustcry
naggy shovey
pushy bustly
16．SMUG／RIGID
priggy starchy
stuHy churchy
17．ARROGANTICONCEITEDISTAND・OFFISH
cocky biggity
haughty hu鉦y
uppity Snobby
biggety snotty
18．HYPOCRITICALIAFFECTED
WASPy
snooty
hoity−toity
muckety一（muck）
clubby
fakey hokey
arty−farty
phoney arty
artsy−fartsy
19．OLD／OLD・FASHIONED
creaky moldy
fusty hoary
musty stodgy
20．UNsTABLEINERvOUs11MPATIENT
antsy nuttery
edgy 且ustery
jumpy flummoxy
twitchy S1【ittery
flighty panicky
丘dgety giddy
21．SENTIMENTAL／MAWKISH
comy touchy−feely
dripPy treacly
gushy sappy
stuffy
doddery
fuddy−dud（iy
punchy
leew
chary
queasy
uneasy
soapy
slushy
schmaltzy
mushy soupy
22，INSIPIDIINDECISIVE
mealy wishy−washy
dithery
shilly−shally（verb）
94
23 1NGRATIATING／SERVILE
suga「y
sympy
sma「my
treacly
silllpery
slimy
且irty
snivelly
oily
grovelly
gre乱sy
sucky
丘nicky
pernickety
persnickety
24 PARTICULAR
busy
choOSy
dainty
fussy
25 TALKATIVE
blabby
blabbery
chatty
gabby
fettishy
petty
picky
gossipy
yammery
prissy
P「osy
jabbery
newsy
wordy
26．SPITEFUL
catty
snipey
nasty
27。INQulsITIvE
nQsey
28．SLOTHFUL
snoopy
slouchy
poopy
dreamy
fuzzy
foggy
hazy
muzzy
muddly
fraidy一（cat）
scaredy一（cat）
pesty
peskery
leachy
wimpy
lazy
29。VAGUE／REMQTE
30，COWARDLY！BABYISH
sissy
namby−pamby
31。IRRITATINGIBOTHERSOME
pesky
32．DEPENDENT
clingy
sticky
33。IMPuDENTIBRAsH
bratty
cheeky
sassy
gutsy
lippy
saucy
snippy
ne「vy
34，ROUGH／TOUGH
cuffy
feisty
35，LOUD／AGGRESSIVE
brassy
flashy
且ossy
910ssy
gaudy
showy
gangly
lanky
stringy
「angy
SC「aggy
reedy
hoody
swanky
tawdry
鴨．鴨
skinny
SC「＆wny
punky
磁W
36．TOO THIN
sc「aPPy
rowdy
smart−alecky
smarty一（pants）
y
95
37，ToO FATIBIGIHEAvY
fatty dumpy
burly
hefty
tubby blubbcry
chubby roly−poly
chunky paunchy
pudgy beefy
heavy
husky
porky blocky
stumpy
36．DRUNKlovER−TIRED
stocky
beery muzzy
squiffy
tipsy
fuzzy punchy
woozy
groggy sotty
39，LEWD10BSCENE
slap−happy
boozy happy
sexy trashy
slutty
lusty smutty
bawdy juicy
funky oo91y
easy
raunchy goo91y
naughty bitchy
racy witchy
steamy minxy
randy
gandy
horny
rutty
kinky
quirky
earthy foxy
dirty goosy
40．EFFEMINATE
sissy fruity
faggy 趾ty
ATTRACTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONS
1．GOOD／GREAT／STYLISH
d＆ndy freaky
nifty wiggy
groovy peachy
hunky−dory ducky
marvy tOney（tOny）
lazzy trendy
funky fancy
twitty
airy−fairy
swanky
snappy
snazzy
classy
ritzy
zippy
kicky llatty
2。CHEERFUL／UVELY
happy bubbly
jolly twinkly
merry sparkly
hearty launty
sunny bouncy
cheery springy
chirpy frisky
chirrupy frollcky
rollicky
peppy
perky
zesty
smily
jokey