Re: RELAY INSTRUCTIONS!!! was Re: new relay

On Fri, Jun 01, 2001 at 10:54:29AM -0400, bjm10@CORNELL.EDU wrote:
> What would break the rules?
>
> For example, consider a langauge that makes a lot of compound words and
> gives them different meanings according to gender.  First consider the
> compound word situation:
[snip]
> And what if the language is even stranger than English.  Suppose there is
> a language that says that /bav@n&nT/ is "fool" or "trickster" in one
> gender "foreigner" in another, and "someone who worships the Evil Gods
> that arrived here but a generation ago" in yet another?  Am I supposed to
> give all meanings without noting which belongs to which gender?  If I
> noted which meaning went with which gender, would that break the rules?
I think these examples fall under idiomatic meanings. And since idioms are
rarely "guessible", I would think it's unfair to leave it up to the reader
to figure it out; I would either put each meaning under a separate entry,
or at least mention the non-obvious meanings under the word in question.


T

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