English words ending in -man are given in three columns. All have primary stress on the first syllable, but those in the first two columns have weak, unstressed final syllables (in my speech) with an obscure vowel, a schwa. Those in the second column are distinguished by having an s preceding the -man element. The plural forms of the words in both columns, although spelled with -men, also have an obscure vowel, which for some speakers may be a barred-i in contrast to the schwa of the singular forms, while for other speakers the singular and plural forms may not be distinguished at all in normal rapid speech. (Decreolized standard English in Hawai'i tends to give at least tertiary stress to both -man and -men and treat the words in the first two columns like those in the third.)
The words in the third column have primary stress on the first syllable, and tertiary on the second (pronounced with a low front lax vowel). The plurals are distinguished by a mid front lax vowel in the second syllable, also with tertiary stress.
Thus, a case can be made for the words in the first two columns being formed according to a word formation rule that adds the suffix -man, and for those in the third column being compounds. The identity of the -s in the second column is problematic; a possible plural base is given in italics for a few of the words. Most of the bases in the first two columns are nouns, as are the first elements in the compounds of the third column. Where another part of speech is involved, it is indicated following the word.
| brakeman V
| batsman
| boatman
| | ||
| busman
| craftsman
| business man
| | ||
| cattleman
| draftsman
| doorman
| | ||
| chairman
| groundsman
| handy man A
| | ||
| clergyman
| helmsman
| iceman
| | ||
| congressman
| herdsman
| leg man
| | ||
| corpsman
| linesman
| mailman
| | ||
| councilman
| marksman
| meatman
| | ||
| dairyman
| oars(wo)man
| medicine man
| | ||
| doorman
| outdoorsman
| middleman
| | ||
| fireman
| sales(wo)man
| milkman
| | ||
| first baseman
| spokes(wo)man
| minute man
| | ||
| fisherman
| sports(wo)man
| repairman V
| | ||
| gunman
| statesman
| straight man A
| | ||
| hangman V
| trades(wo)man
| stunt man
| | ||
| infantryman
| yachts(wo)man
| weatherman
| | ||
| lawman
| woodsman
| yard-man
| | ||
| layman
|
|
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| lineman
|
|
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| lumberman
|
|
| | ||
| patrolman
|
|
| | ||
| penman
|
|
| | ||
| policeman
|
|
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| postman
|
|
| | ||
| rifleman
|
|
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| seaman
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| showman
|
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| watchman
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| Chinaman
| backwoodsman
| cave-man
| | ||
| countryman
| clans(wo)man
| white man A
| | ||
| Dutchman
| kins(wo)man
|
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| Englishman
| plainsman
|
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| Frenchman
| townsman
|
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| gentleman A
| tribesman
|
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| Irishman
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| Scotchman
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| freshman A
| -------
| family man
| | ||
| bushman
| -------
| madman A
| | ||
|
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| snow man
| | ||
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| superman A
| |
* The terms 'solidarity circle' and 'natural habitat' are from Marchand. [back to top] [back to list of essays]