Re: Lojban compounds (was: Limited vocabulary)

[cbogart@csn.org (Chris Bogart)]

Timothy Miller:
>> > I like the semitic way since, well, I'm used to it.  In Hebrew, a little 
>> > fiddling with vowels and a prefix or two will give you "he counted", 
>> > "counter/counting", "number", "he told", "teller/telling", "book", 
>> > "story", "he cut hair", "hair cutter/cutting", and WHOLE BUNCH more, but  
>> > this gives you an idea of what you can get out of one root /spr/.

John Cowan:
>> Forgive me if I find the alleged connection between "count", "story", and
>> "haircut" a little obscure.  Could you elucidate, especially about the last?

>The only connection is the root /spr/, although you can see the 
>connection between 'count' and 'tell' in English and German.  Count, 
>REcount.  Zahl (digit), erza"hlen (to tell).

Well, that's not a very useful rule then; if adding a certain vowel to 
"count" yields "haircut", what would adding the same vowel to "duck" yield?

Sorry; just being silly, I do understand your point.  The "he counted" ==> 
"counter/counting" is a good example of it, but the bit about the haircuts 
is probably chance -- is it possible the /spr/ root for haircut has a 
different etymology altogether?
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