Compound Words Are Clearer (9)

From the linguistic law, we know that individual word is in fact for reduce the number of sounds SCAVs in speaking, while the compound word is easy for learning (memory). Their meaning is the same. But sometimes, individual word cause big trouble. The example is animal names. We know the male-pig is boar, male-sheep is ram, male horse is stallion, male-deer is stag, male-duck is drake etc. if every animal name is designed like that, then we have to learn four time names than the animal species. For we have to learn each animal’s young, male and female. If the world has ten thousand species of animal, then we have to learn forty thousand words for them. Finally the English word designer tired of such ‘invention’, they use some familiar name of male animal to present a group of animal species. And this design can make mistake. For instance there are at least 37 animals’ young, female and male are using calf, cow and bull. Just think about if they are compound words just like Chinese language, it will be no problem:

The most unreasonable words could be the male termite and rat, their bodies are far from bull. There are also heaps animal using boar for its male sow for female. It tell us that individual word is going to an end, only compound word can do good job. By this reason, we may say the English dictionary will be hard to edit, for how you explain the entry of ‘bull’, at least you have to put on these 37 animals. But in the Chinese language, there are no such entry, they don’t need them, when you want express the idea of a certain animal’s male, just put a character in front of this animal that is enough. You don’t need to remember animal’s male or female and you know them very well. Not only this, you may noticed in above table, that the different with alligator and crocodile the former is 短吻鳄 short-proboscis-crocodile, that is to say with an adjective one can distinguish them better than design two words. Other examples are giraffe 长颈鹿 long-neck-deer and hippopotamus 河马 river-horse.  That is what I have said: a good language has to enable its speaker learning less knowing more.