From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID
	autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: 1014db,4873305131bf4d94
X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public
X-Google-Thread: 103376,4873305131bf4d94
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
X-Google-Thread: 109fba,4873305131bf4d94
X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public
From: kaz@helios.crest.nt.com (Kaz Kylheku)
Subject: Re: English SUCKS, Chinese is the only language you need!!
Date: 1997/11/19
Message-ID: <64vc2j$bbt$1@helios.crest.nt.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 290946869
References: <34557f2b.1934172@news.mindspring.com>
 <3471428A.6193@erdw.ethz.ch> <64sql2$k0@mtinsc04.worldnet.att.net>
 <3471F184.7924@mWilden.com>
Organization: A poorly-installed InterNetNews site
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++
Date: 1997-11-19T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


In article <3471F184.7924@mWilden.com>, Mark Wilden  <Mark@mWilden.com> wrote:
>John Rickard wrote:
>> 
>> why should I waste my time RE learning a language I have understood
>> and spoke since around 1-3 years of age?
>
>Three reasons:
>
>1) "RE learning" requires a hyphen.

Hyphens are not part of the language, they are just an orthographic convention. 

If you disagree, then tell me what sound the hyphen makes in the pronounciation
of ``re-learning''? ;)

Incidentally, re-learning would actually be written relearning. Hyphenation is
only used when words are combined in an unusual way, particularly two nouns.
When a certain combination becomes commonplace, the hyphen disappears.
A hyphen need not be used to separate a prefix from a word.  Do you write
``re-generate'', ``un-happy'', or ``black-board'' instead of ``regenerate'',
``unhappy'' or ``blackboard''?

Of course, hackers are divided on this issue. You have the BlackBoard camp, and
the black_board camp. :)))

In English, nouns can be combined simply by juxtaposition to form compound
nouns. For example:

    ``law school entrance requirement examination result''

This combination could serve, in a sentence, in the place of a simple noun.

Since this combination is arbitrary, rather than an idiom that often appears in
the language, we do not write it using hyphens between the nouns. (But contrast
this to German, in whose writing system strings of nouns are commonly pasted
together without whitespace).

In the English, when two nouns tend to be commonly associated, people start
writing the hyphen. Eventually, when two words meld to the point that the
meaning of the sum is more than the combination of the meanings of the two
parts, the words are simply written together. In effect, a new word results. A
blackboard is more than just a board that is black. 

>2) "spoke" should be "spoken."

Touche. That could be a typo. No native speaker of English would say ``I have
understood and (I have) spoke'' unless he or she happened to blunder. It's
awfully faulty parallelism. :) 

- Kaz (an English speaker since the age of twelve).