declinson
Middle English
Alternative forms
- declynson
- clensone, clenzon, declenson (East Anglia); declunson (Staffordshire); clensoune (West Riding)
Etymology
Likely from earlier *declinisoun (/dɛˌkliniˈzuːn/) with late Middle English stress retraction and syncope, from Middle French or Anglo-Norman declinaison (itself from Latin dēclīnātiō),[1][2][3] with forms with /ɛ/ and /y/ possibly reflecting analogical modification after words with Old English /y/ (West Riding clensoune may instead be from earlier open-syllable lengthening; compare forms such as Scots ceety). Thus by surface analysis, declinen + -isoun and a doublet of declinacioun.
Hall instead suggests borrowing from a Medieval Latin *dēclēnsiō, a blend of dēclīnātiō and dēscēnsiō (both "declension");[4] presumably the final syllable in /-zun/ rather than /-zjun/, /-zi.un/ would be due to the syncope of /i/ or modification after -isoun seen in forms such as decepcoun, savacoun (conversely, if derivation from declinaison is accepted, modern English declension reflects either hypercorrection or the reverse analogy).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɛˈklinzun/
- IPA(key): /(dɛ)ˈklɛnzun/ (especially East Anglia)
- IPA(key): /dɛˈklynzun/ (West Midland)
Noun
declinson (plural declinsons)
- (Late Middle English) An inflectional class; a nominal declension or verbal conjugation.
Descendants
- English: declension
- → Scots: declension
References
- ^ “clensǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “dēclinson, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Declension”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume III (D–E), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 100, column 3.
- ^ Hall, Robert A. Jr. (April 1947), “Anglo-Romance Etymologies”, in American Speech, volume 22, number 2, Duke University Press, , →ISSN, →OCLC, page 101.