Understanding Spurious Words and Textual Errors

The question asks for the specific term used to describe words that appear in texts or dictionaries but are not genuine, instead being the result of mistakes made by those who copied, printed, or edited manuscripts and books. These mistakes are often inadvertent, leading to the creation of words that have no basis in actual language usage.

Let's examine the options provided:

• dudwords: This term is not a standard or recognized term in linguistics or textual criticism to describe words created by errors in transmission.
• ghostwords: This is the established term used in lexicography and textual scholarship for words that exist only due to errors (such as misreadings, misspellings, or typographical errors) in manuscripts or printed texts, and which are subsequently treated as real words in dictionaries or later texts. They are 'ghosts' because they lack genuine linguistic substance or historical usage.
• protowords: This term is typically used in developmental linguistics to refer to an infant's first attempts at words that have a consistent meaning and form but are not conventional words (e.g., a child saying "baba" consistently for bottle). It is also used in historical linguistics for reconstructed hypothetical words of a proto-language. Neither meaning fits the context of errors in copying or printing.
• pseudowords: These are pronounceable strings of letters that do not form real words in a particular language (e.g., 'flum', 'blick'). They are often created deliberately for psychological experiments (like reading speed tests) rather than arising accidentally from textual transmission errors.

Based on the definitions and common usage in the fields of lexicography and textual criticism, the term that accurately describes spurious words resulting from inadvertent errors by copyists, printers, and editors is ghostwords.

Revision Table: Key Terms Explained

Additional Information on Ghostwords and Textual Errors

The study of ghostwords is important in lexicography and textual criticism. Lexicographers must be careful not to include ghostwords in dictionaries, or if they do, they should label them as such. Textual critics analyzing old manuscripts or printed books often identify ghostwords as evidence of errors in the transmission process.

Examples of potential sources of ghostwords include:

• Misreading handwriting (e.g., 'rn' read as 'm').
• Typographical errors (e.g., hitting an adjacent key).
• Misinterpreting abbreviations.
• Combining parts of two different words.

Identifying a ghostword often requires comparing different versions (manuscripts or editions) of a text and understanding the common types of errors made by scribes or printers of a particular period.