[Lexicog] rules when it comes to latin word roots

[Peter Kirk]

On 28/02/2005 15:49, arun wrote:

>...
>For example, here is a word I've created, which is supposed to
>mean 'a sad or 'heavy'(?) feeling'- (it might sound stupid!):-
> "Gravipathy". It is supposed to be a gloomy feeling you get after
>one has written his exam paper rather badly. I checked it up google;
>it does not exist. I've concoted this word after looking up the
>etymologies of wds like gravity, grieve, sentiment, sad, sorrow,
>gloomy, depress... just abt everything I knew and could find in the
>dictionary. Can you say why it does not exist?
>
>
>
One good reason why this does not exist is that it is a mixture of Latin
and Greek roots. Such mixtures are usually avoided in English, although
there are exceptions like "television".

I would think that a prerequisite for building good new words from Latin
and Greek roots is a reasonable knowledge of Latin and Greek. That may
sound elitist, but there are enough people still who do have that
knowledge that words which don't follow the proper rules of these
languages are unlikely to be widely accepted.

--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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