Posted by Nina on November 09, 2000 at 05:03:36 from 155.205.65.187:
In Reply to: Re: Eskimo vocabulary posted by Robert Dilley on November 08, 2000 at 18:01:34:
Robert, not a problem about jumping in with that explanation - I've been without the internet for a few days due to a change in isp.
I used the term 'Eskimo' only in terms of the Great Snow Vocabulary Hoax - in every other sense I do use the term Inuit.
To add more information
The error arises because indigenous North American languages are of a type that glues bits of meaning together to make very very long "words" - Terms that (might be loosely) the equivalent of English "sentences" or "phrases" were read as words. Such as something that might have the meaning "snow-that-is-very-brittle-on-top-but-treacherlously-soft-underneath" or some such, that English would express using several "words" but which comes out in Inuit, and other similar languages, as one "word".
Hope not too confusing.
Oh, btw, this type of language called agglutinating.
Nina