21 March 2006

Writing affects language

'blog' from 'web log' ...

... is another example of how written script affects the (spoken) language. This kind of word creation is not possible with languages written in non-alphabetic script, e.g. Chinese.

The archetypal example is the use of acronyms to abbreviate phrases and create new words in languages with alphabetic scripts, e.g. 'scuba' from 'self-contained underwater breathing apparatus'.

2006-03-20 05:52:31pm (GMT+10 -1) kyy

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