Re: CHAT: geographical nomenclature [was Re: Language of Tetril]

Quoting Padraic Brown <agricola@...>:

> Am 13.12.01, Jim Hopkins yscrifef:
>
> > Since there are several towns in the USA by the name of Paris, Athens,
> > London etc., it's good to know which one you are talking about... the
> > European one or the American one.
>
> On the other hand, _noone_'s ever heard of any of those other towns!
Ahem.  Apparently you live in a state without one.  If the town
is big enough, or is situated near a metropolitan area, probably
several million people will have heard of it and make reference
to it.

But at any rate, it's not like people will usually be confused
when you refer to the bare city name.  Context, usually, is enough
to distinguish which city is meant.  It's just that it's sometimes
helpful to make a distinction, and so the distinction is made.

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier <trwier@...> <http://home.uchicago.edu/~trwier>

             "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
Chicago, IL 60637     Empedocles, _On Nature_, on speculative thinkers

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