In contemporary (media) speech, increasingly one hears the word “hesitancy” instead of the traditional “hesitation,” to the point where one almost never hears the latter. The question why has an answer rooted in the derivational history of the two items though their meaning is identical.
“Hesitation” is a deverbal substantive derived from the verb “hesitate” by adding the suffix {-ion} to the verbal root {hesitate-}. “Hesitancy,” on the other hand is deadjectival substantive derived from the adjectival root {hesitant-}. Since both adjectives and substantives are part of the category of nominals, a deadjectival substantive like “hesitancy” has a more immediate semantic force owing to its derivational history––a force missing from a substantive like “hesitation” that is deverbal. In short, the ascendancy of “hesitancy” vs. “hesitation” is to be accounted for by its greater derivational proximity in comparison to its deverbal counterpart.
This is an example that bears out the general analysis of semantic force in language as being invariably rooted in the language’s grammatical structure.
MICHAEL SHAPIRO
Excellent explanation! However, would you mind repeating it in plain & simple English, for us basic laymen? A few examples might also be helpful.
The adjective “hesitant” is the base from which “hesitancy” is derived, hence it is more immediate in meaning than the verb “to hesitate,” from which “hesitation” is derived. This difference in bases is what accounts for the rise in frequency of “hesitancy.”
I recently read a journalism student’s blog post where he used the word hesitance rather than hesitancy. This usage doesn’t seem correct. Can you confirm my discomfort or educate me about this word usage? Thank you!
Both forms are acceptable, but “hesitancy” is more frequent.
Perfectly cogent — thank you! I expected the AHDictionary and MWDictionary to have a “usage note” on one or the other of these words, but neither dictionary has one. Personally, deverbal substantives strike me as having greater semantic force than deadjectivals since to be “hesitant” describes someone who is likely to hesitate or is, in fact, hesitating. In every example of acceptable use of ‘hesitancy,’ I cannot see how ‘hesitation’ wld be insufficient. 🙂
Point well taken!