INTERFIX
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
|
1998
|
|
© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
Copyright
INTERFIX. An element used to unite words and bases: the
THEMATIC VOWELS -i- in
agriculture,
-o- in
biography, and
-a- in
Strip-a-gram are interfixed vowels; the middle words in
editor-in-chief,
writer-cum-publisher,
Rent-a-Car, and
Sun 'n Sand are interfixed words;
-ma- and
-ummy- in
thingamabob/thingummybob are interfixed syllables. Such elements generally fit into the
RHYTHM of the language as weak vowels and syllabic consonants. In late 20c English, thematic vowels proper sometimes overlap with such other interfixable elements as the indefinite article and the agentive suffix
-er, as in:
megalith,
aquaphobic,
Linguaphone,
Funarama,
SelectaVision,
Select-a-game,
Post-a-Book,
Porta-phone,
Rent-a-car,
Comutacar. Such coinages are often stunt words created as commercial names. In pronunciation, the
a-element in all of these items is a schwa, but in many cases the function of the
a is unclear: in
SelectaVision it could be thematic like the
-e- in
television, a reduction of
-or in
selector, an indefinite article (
Select a vision), or a mix of these. The range of such usages is large: (1) Like
-a- in
megalith:
Beat-A-Bug,
Cup-a-Soup,
gorillagram,
Prismaflex,
Relax-a-Dial,
Rent-a-tux. (2) Like
-e- in
telephone:
cineplex,
Procretech,
telecom. (3) Like
-i- in
carnivore:
agri-biz,
Chemi-Garded,
Digipulse,
flexitime,
Healthitone,
Multivite,
NutriTime,
VisiCalc. (4) Like
-o- in
cardiogram:
biotech,
Dento-Med,
Film-O-Sonic,
Fotopost,
Frig-O-Seal,
FructoFin,
Thermoshell,
Tomorrowvision. (5) Like
-u- in
acupuncture:
AccuVision,
CompuSex,
Execu-Travel,
Dentu Cream. (6) Like
-y- in
bathyscaphe:
polywater,
Skinnyvision. See
BLEND,
COMBINING FORM.
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
Meteors.
Magazine article from: Science Weekly; 2/1/2005; 700+ words
; ...stars." Lots of meteors shooting through the sky make up a meteor shower. If a meteor...is identified as a meteor. Bright, thunderous fiery meteors are called fireballs...Numerous falling meteors are identified as meteor showers or meteor...
|
|
Meteors fall in shower or storm
Newspaper article from: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; 1/21/2002; ; 698 words
; ...you'll see a meteor flash by. Such solitary meteors are called sporadic...brilliant. In a meteor shower, the number...dramatically. Sporadic meteors are bits of rock...spectacular show of 6,000 meteors an hour. A meteor shower can range...
|
|
Meteors' annual cosmic display near its summertime finest.(BAY AREA)
Newspaper article from: San Francisco Chronicle; 8/8/2002; ; 700+ words
; ...said. As a curtain-raiser for the meteor shower, astronomers at the Chabot...the constellations through which the meteors will appear to be flying, while the...detailed descriptions of every major meteor shower -- descriptions that add to...
|
|
Meteors star in bright celestial storm: Viewers get a treat in predawn shows.(A)
Newspaper article from: The Washington Times; 11/17/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...1966, the last major meteor storm. This year, anywhere from 200 to 5,000 meteors an hour may streak across...technique for tracking meteors, even in daylight...bounce radar beams off meteor tails, much as light...to count the number of meteors. Mr. Horack and his...
|
|
Meteors on course to set skies alight
Newspaper article from: The Scotsman; 10/8/1998; ; 700+ words
; A SPECTACULAR meteor shower could set...one a second. The meteors - dust and debris...going to happen with meteors. It depends whether...concentration of meteor particles. "But...another family of meteors, the Leonids, are...to produce a full meteor storm, creating...
|
 "Portland Press Herald (Maine)")
|
Meteors to star, but moon to steal much of the show ; The Perseids will peak tonight, but there's only a 90-minute viewing window.
Newspaper article from: Portland Press Herald (Maine); 8/12/2006; ; 700+ words
; ...of vision too much. Meteors are best viewed with...of the annual Perseid meteor showers. "The Perseids...able to catch 20 to 30 meteors an hour. Meteor showers come year...they're related to meteors. Meteor showers appear when...
|
|
Meteor shower to light up night sky
Newspaper article from: The Topeka Capital-Journal; 11/15/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...years of the Leonid meteor shower. Early...up to 4,000 meteors an hour will be...to observe the meteor shower. Although meteors will be visible...high number of meteors visible before...years, the Leonid meteor shower will produce...
|
|
Meteor Industries, Inc. Announces Its Third Quarter Results and Company Buy Back of Shares
PR Newswire; 11/13/1997; 700+ words
; ...Staal, Chief Financial Officer of Meteor Industries, Inc. (Amex: MTE) announced today the financial results of Meteor's third quarter for 1997. Revenues...comparison to the third quarter of 1996, Meteor's sales increased by 69% from...
|
|
|
Meteor Mobile Communications Standardizes on BEA to Capitalize on Convergence Opportunities in Irish Cellular Market.
PR Newswire; 8/28/2007; 700+ words
; ...term Customer Loyalty Core News Facts 1. Meteor Mobile Communications standardizes on...sustain long-term relationships with Meteor's 849,000-strong customer base...infrastructure software, today announced that Meteor Mobile Communications has standardized...
|
|
|
Meteor Announces Form 8-K Filing Regarding Nevada Manhattan Transaction.
PR Newswire; 1/8/1999; 700+ words
; ...DENVER, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Meteor Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: METR...announced today that on January 8, 1999 Meteor filed a Form 8-K with the Securities...purchased 1,212,000 shares of Meteor common stock from Capco Aquisub...
|
|
Meteors and Meteorites
Encyclopedia entry from: The Gale Encyclopedia of Science
Meteors and Meteorites The word meteor is derived from...atmosphere every day. Meteor activity is often...of the number of meteors observed per hour...will reduce the meteor count and hence...describes the number of meteors that an observer...
|
|
Meteor and Meteorite
Encyclopedia entry from: UXL Encyclopedia of Science
Meteor and meteorite Meteors, also known as...large swarms of meteors, all coming from...These are called meteor showers. Meteorites...observers concluded that meteors move at speeds of...the "flash" of a meteor is a result of its...
|
|
Barringer Meteor Crater
Book article from: World of Earth Science
...of time. Assuming the meteor to be like other known...composition to the smaller meteors found around the crater...effort to find the elusive meteor. Gilbert's repeated...discovering that small meteors made of iron had been...that only a large iron meteor could be the cause of...
|
|
meteor
Book article from: A Dictionary of Astronomy
...may be produced by particles sharing an orbit around the Sun (a meteor stream), or by solitary, random particles ( sporadic meteors ). During a meteor shower , more meteors will be seen. Most meteors are faint. The naked eye can detect...
|
|
meteor shower
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
meteor shower increase in the number of meteors observed in a particular...The trails of the meteors of a meteor shower all appear to...Orionids from Orion. Meteor showers usually occur...average counting rate of meteors for the entire sky...
|
