Re: my proposals for a philosophical language

From: "Andrew Nowicki" <andrew@...>
> Andrew Nowicki wrote:
> AN> It is easy to change pronunciation and add more
> AN> root words, but it seems impossible to change the
> AN> meaning of existing root words or to change Ygyde's
> AN> prefix table.
>
> Garth Wallace wrote:
> GW> It's hardly impossible. The meanings of words
> GW> drift over time. "Hussy" used to mean housewife,
> GW> now it means a rudely-behaved woman. It's not
> GW> something you can really control.
>
> We are talking about *root* words. If you change
> meaning of a root word, all the compound words
> that use it will change their meaning as well.
> For example, if "man" means "dog," "crafts-man"
> means "crafts-dog."
"man" to "dog" is rather unlikely--at least directly :x)

However a word meaning "crafts-man" could easily change its meaning.  It could
become "artist", for example (as indeed 'art' did used to have a meaning closer
to 'craft').  Then, perhaps, it might shift to a specific kind of artist (say,
"painter").

Then it might be applied to a particular kind of bird...or die out everywhere
except among painters of rebuses...or phonologically merge with a very rude word
and become taboo by association...anything, really.

    *Muke!
--
http://www.frath.net/