holophrase

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“
Well, American languages of the ruder sort, by running a great number of sounds or syllables together, manage to utter a portmanteau word--"holophrase" is the technical name for it--into which is packed away enough suggestions to reproduce the situation in all its detail, the cutting, the fact that I did it, the object, the instrument, the time of the cutting, and who knows what besides.

Examples (3)

  • Well, American languages of the ruder sort, by running a great number of sounds or syllables together, manage to utter a portmanteau word--"holophrase" is the technical name for it--into which is packed away enough suggestions to reproduce the situation in all its detail, the cutting, the fact that I did it, the object, the instrument, the time of the cutting, and who knows what besides. —  Anthropology
  • Possibly he does not differentiate sufficiently between the rude language of the holophrase and the much later growth of formed and grammatical speech. —  Pagan and Christian creeds: their origin and meaning
  • America, vol. ii, pp. 115 sq., where the beginning of self-consciousness is associated with the break-up of the holophrase. —  Pagan and Christian creeds: their origin and meaning
 

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