Re: polysynthetic conlangs
| From: | Ray Brown <ray.brown@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, January 7, 2004, 18:49 |
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On Wednesday, January 7, 2004, at 07:08 AM, Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> From: Robert Jung <RobertMJung@...>
[snip]
>> cool. :))) But I don't know where to start. I don't know much about West
>> Greenlandic and other polysynthetic languages, so could someone please
>> enlighten me?
>
> Well, polysynthesis is not a particularly uniform category, so
> it's not possible to give a characterization of it that does
> justice to the diversity of languages so-called.
Yes, indeed. I recall a debate on the meaning of 'polysynthesis' on
another list a year or so back. It became obvious that different people
attached different meanings to the term. Indeed, it seems some people
use the term as a synonym for 'incorporating', which IMO is pointless
(Why two terms for the same thing?).
Of course, we then find some linguists who apparently treat 'analytic'
and 'isolating' as synonyms - which muddies the waters further.
> Here are some
> off-the-cuff characteristics frequently cited in polysynthetic
> languages:
An interesting list - and certainly challenging to any conlanger!
Ray
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