Non-self-segregating morphology

[pne]

The other day, while practising my Esperanto flashcards on Anki, I got a new word: bankalsono.

I didn’t recognise it, so I tried to parse it: bank'al'sono? Something about making a call to a bank? bankal'sono? A “Bankal sound”, whatever that might be?

Then I asked it to show me the answer: “Badehose” (swimming trunks).

Oh! It’s ban'kalsono!

Perhaps one should start using the apostrophes more often to separate the morphemes :)

Famous mis-segregations in German include Wach'stube vs. Wachs'tube; Blumento'pferde vs. Blumen'topf'erde; and be'in'halt'en vs. bein'halt'en. (Though in most cases, the alternate parse is merely humorous, or the entire pair might be a bit constructed.)

Comments

[steorra]

This reminds me of my English misreading of 'planerides' as /plæ'nerɪdiz/ rather than /pleinraidz/.

[pne]

…that’s how I misread your word at first, too, before reading the second half of the sentence.

[steorra]

And not for the first time.

[pne]

Huh! How about that.