polysynthetismn.
/ˌpɒlɪˈsɪnθətɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈˌpɑliˈsɪnθəˌtɪz(ə)m/ Linguistics. Now rare.
= polysynthesism n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > word-formation > [noun] > compounding > polysynthesis
polysynthesis1837
polysynthetism1860
polysyntheticism1862
polysynthesism1866
1860 F. W. Farrar Ess. Origin Lang. 172 Agglutination or Polysynthetism is the name which has been invented for the complex condition of early language, when words follow each other in a sort of idyllic and laissez-aller carelessness, and the whole sentence, or even the whole discourse, is conjugated or declined as though it were a single word, every subordinate clause being inserted in the main one by a species of incapsulation.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. xii. 262 All sign of polysynthetism has been denied to the great Tupi-Guarani stock.
1901 Amer. Anthropologist 3 766/1 The process of development from polysynthetism through agglutination and inflection to isolation is harmonious and corresponds to a species of psychological development.
1954 M. A. Pei & F. Gaynor Dict. Linguistics 77 One of the main characteristics of these languages [sc. Eskimo-Aleut] is their extreme degree of incorporation (polysynthetism).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1860