Re: Invention of the Alphabet

In message <42F0DBB4.649@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
Richard Herring wrote:

In message <42F0C758.1AB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Peter T. Daniels
<grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
>Richard Herring wrote:
>>
>> In message <42F00C5A.25C6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Peter T. Daniels
>> <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
>> >Joachim Pense wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Peter T. Daniels:
>> >>
>> >> > Joachim Pense wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Peter T. Daniels:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Do you have any trouble reading Thai or Chinese? No word >> >> >> >
>> >> >> > either script.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> People are reported having trouble reading Chinese (classical in
>> >> >> particular) for exactly that reason.
>> >> >
>> >> > Where did you get such reports?
>> >>
>> >> Sorry, I messed it up. I was referring to the missing *sentence*
>> >>divisions,
>> >> and that is something different.
>> >
>> >Thai does use clause divisions
>>
>> For some suitably vague definition of "clause". It doesn't seem to
>> correspond to the notion of "sentence".
>
>"Sentence" isn't a technical term in linguistics.

But it prompted you to write about clause divisions as though they are
something related. So would you care to offer a definition of what the
"clauses" are, for which Thai marks divisions?

A clause has a subject and a predicate.

"Thai words are not written with spaces between them as is done in writing English and other European languages. All words within a phrase or clause (or within a sentence containing a single clause) are written together without any spacing, as is customary in writing Sanskrit and other languages using the Devanagari or one of its derivatives. Example: [...]"

"Spaces, on the other hand, set off the end of a phrase, clause or sentence and are therefore used in places where we normally use the comma and the period, e.g. [...]"

"Thai printed matter (as opposed to typewritten matter) is arranged so that the righthand margin is even, just as is dome in our own printed books. But in Thai this can mean that the end of a sentence is unmarked in any way. If the end of the sentence is flush with the righthand margin, there will be no special mark to set it off as the end of a sentence. Contrariwise, in order to adjust the righthand margin the printer will sometimes insert an extra space or two which is not meant to be interpreted as the end of a phrase or clause."

- Mary R. Haas, "The Thai System of Writing", pp 89-90.

--
Richard Herring
.

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