[Histling-l] Deflexion query

[Cynthia Allen]

Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to supply me with comments and references on this query; they were very helpful. To summarize, deflexie has been used for a long time in Dutch, and 'deflexion'/'deflection' in reference to the loss of inflection appears to have come into English through Dutch linguists towards the end of the last century. This seems to have been done without any comment that it was a neologism-which, given the fact that deflexie was a well-established term in the Dutch historical linguistics tradition, is hardly surprising. 'Deflection' is also sometimes used in a very different meaning as a nominalization of the verb 'deflect' ('knock off course).

Best wishes to all,
Cindy/Cynthia

Dr Cynthia L. Allen FAHA
Emeritus Fellow, Australian National University
Baldessin Precinct Building Room W2.09

School of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics
Building 110
Australian National University
Acton ACT  2601

From: Cynthia Allen
Sent: Friday, 19 March 2021 6:48 PM
To: histling-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Deflexion query

Greetings,
I've been trying to nail down the earliest use of 'deflexion'/'deflection' in reference to loss of inflection/inflectional categories. It is not a widely used term, but has been prominently used in the early 2000s by Muriel Norde and then myself, for example. The earliest reference I have found is in Trask's (2000) The dictionary of historical and comparative linguistics. I would like to find out who first used this term, and would be grateful for any earlier references.

Dr Cynthia L. Allen FAHA
Emeritus Fellow, Australian National University
Baldessin Precinct Building Room W2.09

School of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics
Building 110
Australian National University
Acton ACT  2601

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