Re: Invention of the Alphabet

Lee Sau Dan wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Peter" == Peter T Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> >> >> You're simply evading to answer my question: Is "word list"
> >> >> one word?
> >>
> Peter> I don't know "word list." "Wordlist" is one word.
> >> And "name list"? "Shopping list"? "mailing list"?
>
> Peter> I don't know "name list." The other two are two-word
> Peter> phrases.
>
> Why aren't they "one word"?

Because there's a space inside them.

I can anticipate your next question:

"Why is there a space inside them?"

Stress patterns, for one thing.
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Invention of the Alphabet
    ... Peter> phrases. ... Peter> Because there's a space inside them. ... Peter> I can anticipate your next question: ... A chinese sentence is written without spacing. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: counting sentences
    ... the same bunch of phrases. ... So now I'll set about getting the overall count, and Peter, ... There's no way that doesn't involve the semantics of the language to ... as small as a desktop) to accurately parse and interpret a human ...
    (microsoft.public.word.docmanagement)
  • Re: Speaking without a foreign accent
    ... LEE Sau Dan writes: ... > Peter> But there's only so many hours in a day. ... I allegedly did the first time, but I cannot find a universe in which ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Illiteracy in America
    ... LEE Sau Dan wrote in message ... > Peter> Because TRAIN is wider than TRN, ... decipher TRN XING, RR XING, RW XING ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: chinese question
    ... Peter> Lee Sau Dan wrote: ... >> If Finnish, which has around 6 million speakers, is treated as ... Peter> Because Canton isn't a nation. ...
    (sci.lang)