Re: A question and introduction

Wesley Parish scripsit:

> Of course, one of Tauranga's major features is Mount Maunganui.  "Mount" is
> redundant; "Maunga" is Te Reo Maori for Mountain; and furthermore the full
> Maori name is Mauao te maunga.  So what it is called is not its name, what
> its name is called is another thing altogether, etc (read the appropriate
> part of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" or "Alice Behind the
> Lookingglass" for the actual mind-fuck.)
Well, what it is called *is* one of its names.  Things don't come into
the world trailing names ready-made; a name demands a naming context.
BTW, the phenomenon you describe is common in the world's languages:
In "Missisippi River", the Fox morphemes are "big river", and in
"Gobi Desert" it's "great desert".

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

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