Re: Invention of the Alphabet

Lee Sau Dan wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Des" == Des Small <des.small@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> Des> LSD! Your point is not a point, since it is false.
>
> Des> PTD's yardstick was that one criterion for Chinese wordiness
> Des> would be the headwords in the CHINESE TO ENGLISH side of a
> Des> Chinese-English dictionary.
>
> Des> For your comparison with English words to make sense, the
> Des> only honest thing to do would be to consider the ENGLISH TO
> Des> SOMETHING side of an English-Something dictionary.
>
> Easy. Take English-French. What's "railway" in French? "Chemin de
> fer". So, "chemin de fer" must be _one single word_, right? Even
> though "chemin" means "road" and "fer" means "iron"?

I believe most Gallicists would agree that "chemin de fer" is one word,
but not for the reason you state. Perhaps you define "word" as 'thing
with spaces around it'. But, back in my first posting that aroused your
ire, did I use the term "word," or did I say "lexical item" or some
such? (I know I didn't say "lexeme.")

> Des> Of the dictionaries to hand (Collins Gem French-English,
> Des> Langenscheidts Universal Wörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch, Berlitz
> Des> Dutch-English, Norsted's Engelska Fickordbok), none - not a
> Des> single one! - has an entry for "train station" under "train"
> Des> in the English to Foreign side.
>
> English German? Then "remember (inf.)" maps to "sich erinnern
> (inf.)". So, the Germans lexicographers are all wrong to write "sich
> erinnern" with a space in between. Since it's one word in English, it
> must be also 1 word in German, right?
--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

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