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The more common approach to noun phrase words in English is not to leave the
spaces out, but leave everything except the first letter out - that is, we
still have incredibly long words, but reduce them to acronyms. Eventually the
acronym takes a life of its own - BAE is not an acronym for British Aerospace. (02)
Sean Barker
BAE SYSTEMS - Advanced Technology Centre
Bristol, UK
+44(0) 117 302 8184 (03)
BAE Systems (Operations) Limited
Registered Office: Warwick House, PO Box 87, Farnborough Aerospace Centre,
Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6YU, UK
Registered in England & Wales No: 1996687 (04)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Ed Barkmeyer
> Sent: 14 January 2008 18:21
> To: [ontolog-forum]
> Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] (OT) German
>
>
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> Duane Nickull wrote:
> > Perhaps not illogical, however the Germans have pushed the
> limit with
> >
> > Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
> >
> > Which is the word for "Beef labeling oversight transfer law"
>
> Depending on your point-of-view, you could actually parse the
> German into its individual bits:
> "Cattle meat labeling oversight duties transference law"
> Note also that Duane uses "oversight" in a now typical
> extended meaning
> -- not "the process of overseeing" but rather "the
> responsibilty for overseeing". And the German distinguishes them.
>
> But this is merely a demonstration of a difference in
> linguistic styles:
> English has "noun phrases" -- that string of 5 words is 5
> consecutive nouns (most of which are nominalized verbs)
> without a single preposition. German has no "noun phrases"
> per se; it just has Marathonwörter (Marathon words), which
> are "noun phrases with the spaces removed". Russian has the
> same practice, and Russian words are typically even longer.
> French has neither "noun phrases" nor "Marathonwörter"; in
> French one has to use the prepositions. A paraphrase of the
> French would be "The law for transfer of responsibility for
> oversight of the labeling of beef". So it is just a matter
> of the conventions of your language for dealing with the
> problem of specificity -- there is no high ground here.
>
> German speakers would doubtless agree that a 64-character
> word is too long to parse on first glance, and they also make
> jokes about outrageous Marathonwörter. OTOH, Brits and
> Americans are often amused by outrageously long noun phrases,
> too. (And the one above is right up there with the worst
> offenders.) There is such a thing as bad practice, and most
> bad examples of language use can be traced to government-ese.
>
> -Ed
>
> --
> Edward J. Barkmeyer Email: edbark@xxxxxxxx
> National Institute of Standards & Technology Manufacturing
> Systems Integration Division
> 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8263 Tel: +1 301-975-3528
> Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8263 FAX: +1 301-975-4694
>
> "The opinions expressed above do not reflect consensus of NIST,
> and have not been reviewed by any Government authority."
>
>
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