támaszwhether

Támaszwhether is a fictional linguistic term used in speculative linguistics and conlang communities to describe a hypothetical morpheme that combines the functions of a noun meaning 'support' with that of a marker for embedded questions or conditional content. It does not appear in natural languages and is primarily used as a thought experiment in typology and world-building.

Etymology: The term appears to be a portmanteau, formed by the Hungarian-derived noun támasz, meaning 'support' or 'anchor', and the English word 'whether'. In scholarly writing, the blend is used to illustrate how a single morpheme could carry multiple, cross-cutting functions.

Grammatical concept: In the imagined grammar, támaszwhether functions as a bifunctional morpheme that can head a noun phrase while also introducing an embedded interrogative or conditional clause. Analyses often treat it as a unit that merges nominal meaning with a clause-type marker, highlighting possible routes for cross-class borrowing and polyfunctional morphology.

Usage and examples: A constructed-sentence might be rendered as 'I asked támaszwhether you would attend', where the morpheme marks the embedded question and contributes a sense of support for the clause’s outcome. In another variant, támaszwhether could precede a conditional clause to signal both contingency and inquiry.

Significance and reception: Támaszwhether is primarily of interest to conlang designers and linguistic theorists as a case study in morpheme multifunctionality and language contact. It is not a recognized feature of any natural language.

See also: conlang, linguistic typology, morphology, polysynthesis.