bahuvrihi

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uncronopio
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bahuvrihi

Postby uncronopio » Thu Sep 22, 2005 12:44 am

From Bartleby and Encarta:
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. ba·hu·vri·his

A compound word functioning as an adjective whose last element is in origin a noun. For example, in the phrase high-fiber diet, the compound high-fiber is a bahuvrihi modifying diet that ends in the noun fiber.

A compound word in which the first part describes the second or governs it grammatically, and the second element cannot be substituted for the whole, e.g. "yellowhammer" or "afternoon"

Mid-19th century. < Sanskrit bahuvrīhi "possessing much rice," a typical example of this class.
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Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:35 am

Great word. I'll be using it a lot to explain English compound nouns.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

tcward
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Postby tcward » Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:52 am

Excellent word! But I'm afraid I will probably never remember it... :lol:

Unless I really freak people out and start verbally declaring the use of such words whenever those around me do so...

-Tim

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Sep 24, 2005 10:09 am

I think this is a wonderful word and I really hope that our good doctor falls for uncronopio's suggestion - not least as it would then be, unless memory fails, the only Sanskrit word to be awarded GWotD status. It would be fitting to have a word that, however indirectly, commemorates the outstanding work of Sanskrit grammarians like Pāņini....

Henri
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