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From: vacco@alpha.acast.nova.edu (Vacuum Cleaner)
Subject: Re: Borrowed Words
Message-ID: <D8LxJx.I74@draco.nova.edu>
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Organization: Nova University, FL
References: <3osq1s$f7c@cd4680fs.rrze.uni-erlangen.de> <D8Gv7I.Axy@hpqmoea.sqf.hp.com>
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 06:47:57 GMT
Lines: 33

In article <D8Gv7I.Axy@hpqmoea.sqf.hp.com> dkaulf@hpqt0147.sqf.hp.com (Dick Kaulfuss) writes:
>Markus Nickl (msnickl@linguistik.uni-erlangen.de) wrote:
>
>: By the way - German is typologically not an additive language like
>: Inuit but a synthetic language like most Indo-Europaean languages
>: (excluding English). And another apropos: That German allows large
>: compound words, while English doesn't is partly a trick of
>: orthography: consider
>
>: Engl.: gold fish         to German: Goldfisch
>
>: Both examples behave as entities, but English doesn't mark this
>: orthographically.
>
>  Interesting point, but probably not a good example. "Gold fish" and
>  "goldfish" are two distinct concepts in English, as are, I am sure,
>  "goldener Fisch" and "Goldfisch" in German.  The OED lists the word as
>  "gold-fish", but "goldfish" is in widespread use and will no doubt become
>  the standard in time.  There is an abundance of English words formed by
>  fusing two elements together "deutscher Art", e.g. goldsmith, rainbow,
>  watermark, yuletide, screwdriver etc., often yielding a subtly different 
>  or more specific meaning.  For instance, a water mark is any mark left by
>  the presence of water, but a watermark refers specifically to the result
>  of a papermaking (paper-making:-)) process.
>
>  Many (most?) were originally hyphenated, but the practice is falling out
>  of favour and is sometimes regarded as pedantry.  Offhand, I can't think
>  of any words comprised of three or more elements, but they might well exist.
>
>  Dick   

Three elements..."well-to-do"? Merry-go-round? Happy-go-lucky?
Maybe I missed the point.
