into, inhere, within, herein

You have letters - now what do you do with them?
eberntson
Lexiterian
Posts: 457
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:48 am
Location: Cambridge, Mass
Contact:

into, inhere, within, herein

Postby eberntson » Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:39 pm

"Into, inhere, herein, and within" are all valid words, but why? Why not init, inthere, overthere, inwhere, inwhat (whatin), etc.
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: into, inhere, within, herein

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:03 pm

Therein lies a tale or tail for which I have no ability to relate. i suspect one could refine the search by asking why some words get jammed in like boxcars and others retain their independence. And within has its counterpart, without.
pl

User avatar
gailr
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1945
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:40 am
Contact:

Re: into, inhere, within, herein

Postby gailr » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:43 pm

Init was a common abbreviation in the early days of Macintosh computers. :wink:

Into, herein, and within are examples of words falling together in normal speech frequently enough to become words in their own right. Some that you questioned, such as inwhere or inwhat, do not. In there and over there are common but remain separate, perhaps because this combination isn't apt to be found in legal or court language?

Inhere is an odd man out in your list; it's a verb, not spoken shorthand for "It's in here."

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: into, inhere, within, herein

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:20 am

"Inhere," can mean, "Come in here and get a reprimand."
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

DerekB
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:48 am
Location: Lewes, UK

Re: into, inhere, within, herein

Postby DerekB » Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:07 am

There are parallels in our language's German roots: darin= in there, in that or just inside; darunter = underneath (it) and similar.

Other like the Scottish "outwith" serve to leave one wondering about the subtle distinction from "without".


Return to “Spelling”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests