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Re: [humour] con-chemistry? (Was: Re: The pitfall of Chinese/Mandarin)

From:H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...>
Date:Tuesday, December 11, 2001, 22:24
On Mon, Dec 10, 2001 at 09:18:38PM +0100, Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> You wrote: > > > 1) ihudroj0'n hi0k3sig3'n KileroK0'romu. > > hydrogen oxygen white-liquid > > (org) (plur,cvy) (rcp) > > Why doesn't your language have a simple, mono-morphemic word for > "water"? I can hardly imagine a language that doesn't (except > perhaps languages of REALLY weird aliens who live in an environment > without liquid water).
Well, I wouldn't describe speakers of my conlang as "really weird aliens"; they are really quite human. But they live in a con-universe where physics is quite different. Different enough that the most common drinks are various *coloured* liquids that occur naturally. "White liquid" is in fact quite rare, but it is after all the closest description of the water in our universe.
> Or is it protected by some kind of taboo, > and circumscribed as "white liquid" in mundane contexts? > > And why is oxygen plural and hydrogen not?
Oh oops... it's supposed to be the other way round :-P It's TWO hydrogens to ONE oxygen, darn it :-) I must be getting old, and forgetting what water is made of. :-P T -- MACINTOSH: Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs