> [mailto:CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Herman Miller
> > I have seen at least one taxonomic language scheme that
derived
> > place names from geographic coordinates!
That sounds like the kooky scheme of Ygyde. The idea isn't bad
for an artlang, but this is being promoted as an IAL. I just
can't see people walking around with GPS's to find out the names
of places.
> > Your 'saxophone' example illustrates the problem very well.
> > The compounds get very long and clumsy. Your compound
consists
> > of (at least) six morphemes, and in English, it is 12
syllables
> > long. (In a speetalk-type language, this is not a problem
though,
> > as the whole shebang will be just six phonemes. As long as
you
> > can pronounce it, of course.)
>
> "Metal reed instrument" might suffice, if you can distinguish
"metal
> (reed instrument)" from "(metal reed) instrument". I can't
think of any
> other common reed instrument that's typically made of metal
these days.
The saxophone is classified as a woodwind because of the reed.
You could taxonomically place it somewhere in a "woodwind"
category. Then realize there are several type of the sax:
baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano.
> But "reed" and "instrument" are unlikely to be single
morphemes in a
> limited-vocabulary language. But "hamburger" could be worse,
if you have
> to come up with a word for "cow" and a word for "bread" from
a limited
> vocabulary ("cooked cow meat between round bread slices"?).
You could
> paraphrase it as "cow bread".
"grind-meat sandwich"