Monday, December 17, 2007

December 17, 2007 - Linquist*, etc. (for Linguist)

Linquist* is a "high probability" typo on the Ballard list, with 56 hits in OhioLINK, followed by the less likely variants Lingusti*, Lingusi*, and Linguistc*. This misspelling of linguist, linguistics, etc. appears in English, French, and Spanish. But, as linguists around the world can tell you, it isn't spelled with a q in any language. Linquist, however, does appear to be a proper name (around a quarter of the hits in OhioLINK were for the name, although some of them might have also been misspelled). The Swedish surname is spelled both with and without a d, although the former is far more common. Speaking of names, The Golden Name Day by Jennie D. Lindquist was named a Newbery Honor Book in 1956. Lindquist also edited The Horn Book from 1951 to 1958, worked at the erstwhile John Mistletoe Bookshop in Albany, N.Y., and was head of the children's department at Albany Public Library.

Carol Reid

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