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Re: Esperanto question (A different one! :)

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Sunday, September 20, 1998, 20:12
Arek Bellagio wrote:

> Do you abbreviate/combine, as how Spanish, Italian, and French does? > > Like for example.. > > de + la = da? > en + la = aun?
My guess is that at least some Esperantists would tend to contract de la --> del.
> Also, for words that begin in vowels, do you remove the vowel? Example: > > (I'm making up this word.. I don't really know Esperanto that well) > > la + akron > l'akron
If I remember correctly, Zamenhof (sp?) specifically stated that la can be abreviated as l' before a word beginning with a vowel, altho I don't know if it would be written l'akron or l' akron Also, I think he allowed the final -o to be dropped in "poetry". I wonder, if Esperanto were to be used for a long enough period of time, if that would become common, and the rules for stress would have to be changed.
> Does anyone to anything similar in their respective languages?
Ooh, boy! Do I! Practically ever gramatical morpheme has at least two forms depending on what surrounds it. For example, the past tense is qa-, however before a vowel, or after a vowel, it becomes q-, thus: Qasaga'u = I spoke (qa-saga'-u) Saqsaga'u = I spoke [to someone] (sa-q-saga'-u) And some have three forms, for example the gender 6 singular marker is l- before vowels, il- before a glide (l, w, y), and * (my convention for gemination) before a consonant, thus: luppa' = love (l-uppa') ilyaunna' = death (il-yaunna') nni^pa = water (*-ni^pa)
> "The pessimist stomps and curses the wind. The optimist whines, but keeps > saying how everything can be better. The realist adjusts the sails and > doesn't complain." > - Kyle Voiles
Great quote! -- "God is dead" -- Nietzsche "Nietzsche is dead" -- God ICQ #: 18656696 AOL screen-name: NikTailor