What do I call a word with roots from multiple languages?

Question

As best as I can tell, a good example is sociopath:

sociopath — from socio- on model of psychopath

socio- — combining form of [Latin] socius

pathos — from [Greek] pathos

Hence, sociopath is a word coined from roots found in two different languages. Is there a good term that describes this?

The most common example is "television". The inventor, John Baird, coined the name by combining the Greek "tele"(distant), with the Latin "vision"(seeing). — Urbycoz, Jun 08 '11 at 13:32
Another amusing example: http://www.joeydevilla.com/2011/06/01/why-polyamory-is-wrong/ — Eric Lippert, Jun 08 '11 at 19:59

Kit Z. Fox · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-09T02:13:55.743

11

I came across the term "hybrid word" when I was researching quadraphonic (which is one). This phrase would work for your situation.

Plus, "sociopath" is listed as an example of a hybrid word in the linked page.

edited Sep 09 '11 at 02:13

answered Jun 08 '11 at 13:42

Kit Z. Fox

27,819

Although accurate, this term is not particularly useful, since it relies on context to clarify its meaning. – Urbycoz Jun 08 '11 at 13:45
@Urbycoz What other meanings would "hybrid word" have? I can't think of any. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 08 '11 at 13:47
@Kit I'm not saying it doesn't make sense. It just doesn't seem to be immediately obvious what it would mean. – Urbycoz Jun 08 '11 at 14:15
@Urbycoz You mean it's not really common usage, not that it means different things? I guess I agree with that. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 08 '11 at 14:17
@Kit, I like the article, but one of the issues with it is that it lists a single source http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf ; in which the term "hybrid word" is actually not mentioned (I could not find it). – Unreason Jun 08 '11 at 14:38
+1 Hybrid is frequently used to describe words with mixed backgrounds. It is as far as I know the only current word. Look no further. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jun 08 '11 at 17:38

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '11 at 13:30

8

I don't know that there is an accepted single term for words of this sort. I suggest that we coin the self-describing term heteroradical.

answered Jun 08 '11 at 13:30

JSBձոգչ

54,843

3

+1 for a bold proposition. But does that make the rest of our words homoradical? Just curious. – Robusto Jun 08 '11 at 13:31
I reject this new term on the grounds that it is too-clever-by-half. – Urbycoz Jun 08 '11 at 13:36
3

@Robusto, naturally words from a single source are homoradical, or if you prefer, unirhizoid. – JSBձոգչ Jun 08 '11 at 13:38
Maybe heterolingual compound is better? Polylingual? – Unreason Jun 08 '11 at 14:51
I would +1 you for the pun, but I must confine my support to Kit for hybrid. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jun 08 '11 at 17:39

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 08 '11 at 22:25

1

'Multilingually derived' though two separate words, avoids neologisms and says what it means.

answered Jun 08 '11 at 22:25

Mitch

71,423

That's ambiguous; it could refer to a word that has been borrowed under the influence of multiple languages. Consider the several English words influenced by both Spanish and Portuguese. – Mechanical snail Oct 11 '11 at 03:29
@Mechanical snail: can you give some examples? A couple which are so influenced and explain how? – Mitch Oct 11 '11 at 11:51
A class of examples are from artificial languages like Esperanto, where morphemes are often intentionally chosen to be cognate to words in many languages. Examples in English: the morpheme -ado, from Spanish and Portuguese; incommunicado, word from Spanish but spelling from English (ultimately from Latin). – Mechanical snail Oct 11 '11 at 18:16
@Mechanical snail: oh, that sounds exactly like what the OP is talking about, any kind of word with roots or influences from distinct parent languages. Anyway, 'hybrid' is a succinct word for the situation (i.e. it's better than mine). – Mitch Oct 11 '11 at 20:17
I think he was talking about words containing one morpheme from one language and another morpheme from another. – Mechanical snail Oct 11 '11 at 22:50
@Mechanical snail: I think pedantically speaking both 'incommunic-' and '-ado' are considered morphemes. – Mitch Oct 12 '11 at 02:20
The etymology is the complete word incomunicado from Spanish, whose spelling was fused with the English morpheme communic. – Mechanical snail Oct 12 '11 at 02:20
@Mechanical snail: OK then. but then I really don't understand your objection in your first comment. Are you saying my suggestion is ambiguous? The OPs desire, and your example fit under it just fine; if that is an ambiguity, I still think it works (just not as good as 'hybrid'). – Mitch Oct 12 '11 at 02:25

What do I call a word with roots from multiple languages?

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