Optimum number of symbols,

Kendra scripsit:

> How is english more isolating than chinese? (just curious :)
It has more inflectional morphemes than English does (though in both
cases we are talking less than twenty).

I agree that it's impossible to count vocabulary in a cross-linguistic
way, but I do think that English has a large vocabulary as languages go,
because of its mixed Germanic and Romance lexicon, and its incredibly
subtle if rather pointless lexical distinctions.  A member of this list,
whose English is normally very good, used "grab" a while back where
"grasp" would have been the Right Thing.  I wrote privately pointing
this out, and got a reply to the effect of, I do appreciate the help,
but I will never be able to remember this distinction: it is too subtle
(and pointless)!  (Another example: "I do appreciate" sounds sincere,
whereas a simple "I appreciate" might be sincere or sarcastic.  Who's to
know these things outside the L1 community?)

--
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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