Discrete Infinity

[A. Katz]

But surely new words can very easily be derived in these languages. Isn't
that so?

   --Aya


On Wed, 11 Jun 2008, jess tauber wrote:

> Are all languages equal, though, in their ability to say new things?
>
> For example, where languages have reduced numbers of morphemes (as in polysynthetic types, according to Fortescue), it might be harder to get at a particular concept unless you either compare it to something else not quite identical, or coin a new lexical root, etc. In extreme cases what we normally think of as open classes can be closed.
>
> Not directly related to DI, perhaps, but part of the overall system.
>
> Jess Tauber
> phonosemantics at earthlink.net
>
>