altepetl

[ANTHONY APPLEYARD]

--- Juan Alvarez Cuauhtemoc <tonantzin at WI.RR.COM> wrote:
> What is a dvandva? Never heard of it? ...

It is one of the words that arose in traditional Hindu Indian grammar
and got into international use among linguists. "sandhi" and "vrddhi"
are other common examples. Sanskrit names of compounds include:-

Dvandva : a compound XY meaning X+Y, such as Sanskrit [hasty-ashva:H] =
"elephant-horses" meaning "elephants and horses". It does not seem to
occur in English. [a:ltepe:tl] is a Nahuatl example.

Tatpurusa : A compound XY where the object described is a Y, but is not
a X, but the X defines or restricts its meaning. Examples are
"air-cylinder", "weight-belt", "lifejacket", "fin-strap", "mask strap".

Bahuvrihi : A compound XY where the object described is not an X and is
not a Y, but it has a Y, and that Y has the characteristic X. Examples
are "redhead" for a woman with red hair, and (in Tolkien) "Hammerhand"
= "having a hand whose blow is like the blow of a hammer".

Karmadha:raya : a compound XY where the object is an X and it is also a
Y, e.g. "priest-king" for a king who is also a priest. Another type is
XY where Y is an adjective, meaning "as Y as an X", e.g. "cherry-red".