Re: Invention of the Alphabet

Lee Sau Dan wrote:
>>>>>>"Harlan" == Harlan Messinger <hmessinger.removethis@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
>
> >>> Do you have any trouble reading Thai or Chinese? No word
> >>> divisions in either script. -- Peter T. Daniels
> >>> grammatim@xxxxxxx
> >> Am I misunderstanding you? Thai "script" may very well have no
> >> word divisions, but how can you say the same for Chinese? Every
> >> word has its own character
>
> Harlan> That's a misconception. Many words in Chinese consist of
> Harlan> multiple syllables/characters, such as Chong1guo2, the
> Harlan> name for China,
>
> Aren't Chong1 and guo2 themselves root-words?

Yes.

It's comparable to
> "United Kingdom". Two words used together to refer to something
> specific. Is "United Kingdom" one word? 2 words?

Which proves that not every pair of words in English collapses into a
single word. Which isn't saying much.

>
>
> Harlan> or ci2dian3, a word for "dictionary",
>
> Isn't <ci2> a word? Isn't <dian3> a word? <ci2dian3> is just a
> compound. Comparable to English "word list". Is "word list" one
> word, or two?

Your English is good enough that your oversight of terms like
"vineyard", "cupboard", etc., must be intentional.

[snip]
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Invention of the Alphabet
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