Re: OT: Justifying a stress pattern (plus OT: joke last name templates)

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:29:08 +1100, T. A. McLeay <conlang@...> wrote:

>Mark J. Reed wrote:
>> Yes, but "Mac Robertson" where "Mac" is someone's given (nick)name is
>> not at all the same as some alleged surname "MacRobertson", even when
>> spelled in a similarly spaceless manner.
>
>Well yes, I wasn't saying it is. But if you don't know where it comes
>from, given it's always spelt as a single word, it just looks like a
>single surname, "MacRobertson". It's somewhat like your not-counting
>"McPherson" example, except because "Robert" is a common name it's more
>tempting to misinterpret it.

I believe that the name McPherson is not a double patronymic, but derives
from the clerical term Parson.

-Bfowol