Hallo conlangers!

On Tuesday 21 August 2012 20:18:55 George Corley wrote:

> On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 1:12 PM, John H. Chalmers 
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> > I suppose xenolinguistics is more transparent than the better-formed
> > xenoglossology or xenoglottology.

It is.  Everybody familiar with Greek and Latin neologisms will
instantly recognize _xenolinguistics_ as 'the study of languages
of alien beings'.  It is a bastard word, yes, but transparent.

> >     In general, I prefer xen(o)- to exo- as
> > a prefix denoting extraterrestrial matters

_Xeno-_ is a well-attested Greek root meaning 'strange', while
_exo-_ is neither Greek nor Latin, but AFAIK an artificial prefix
based on a Latin preposition!

> > with the exception of
> > "Xenharmonics," which refers to extant, terrestrial music that uses
> > melodies, scales and harmonies outside of the familiar 12-tone equal
> > temperament, though I would hope and expect that authentic
> > extraterrestrial music would be xenharmonic as well.

Yes.
 
> Why are xenoglossology and xenoglottology better-formed?  Are you one of
> those don't-mix-the-roots people?

I guess because they are pure Greek, while _xenolinguistics_ is
a Greek/Latin bastard word.  I don't know about the whereabouts
of the prefix _exo-_, but I have a hunch that is neither good
Greek (would be _ekto-_, I think) nor good Latin (_ex_ is a
Latin preposition, but I think that _exo-_ doesn't actually
exist in that language).  At any rate, the scholars studying
hypothetical extraterrestrial life have, as John already said,
disposed of that spurious prefix in favour of _astro-_, which
is good Greek.

But there are so many Greek/Latin bastard words around (such
as _automobile_ and _television_) that it would be sophomoric
to forbid forming them in English.  I thus have little problems
with a colloquial term such as _xenolang_, even if it is a
bastard word (_lang_ is clipped French and not Latin, anyway!).

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