posted April 26, 2004 01:45 PM         

I understand that Linda expressed the belief that lexigrams are only valid in English for X number of reasons and I can accept that. However ...

• What is one to do when they encounter words of a foreign language in the word being lexigrammed?

  
  

• How about if a foreign word is the name of a person? For example, let's say there is a lady whose first name is Luz. In Spanish, that translates as light. If there is no "light" to be found in the letters of the name, is the meaning attributed to that name still valid? If it is valid, then is it also valid if that name is contained within another word or name being lexigrammed, for example, finding the word Luz in the name Lucy Zimmerman?

  
  

• Also, is there any significance, in anyone's opinion, in regards to commonly accepted names (like John and Mary and such) if they appear in the word being lexigrammed, regardless of whether or not it refers to a person, place, thing, or idea?
  

Any insight is appreciated because I find myself a little about this matter. Thanks in advance!

Edit
I just re-membered another few questions that have also nagged at me at times ... do abbreviations also count when discovered in a lexigram, like DR or MS? What about acronyms ... like CIA or MSG? And how about suffixes and prefixes if separated by a - in the lexigram ... like if you had the word *"retard" would you be able to legitimately come up with "re-read"?

*I refer to the verb form which is defined as "To cause to move or proceed slowly; delay or impede."

posted May 12, 2004 09:07 AM         

Does anyone out there have any thoughts on that matter?

posted May 12, 2004 11:51 AM         

hi, eleanore!

i don't know about you guys, but i usually feel 'drawn' to certain words or phrases......through dreams during sleep.....or more often, through 'daydreams'.....and when this happens, i take it to mean that i should sit down and lexigram the word or phrase that has 'drawn' my attention.....so i suppose that if the word druids drew my attention to a foreign name, i'd try to lexigram it- using english words, for reasons already expressed by linda. as for words of a foreign language one might find in a word or phrase being lexigrammed......i feel that it's best- and that it 'works'- to allow my intuition to decide whether the foreign word has a place in the lexi or not. the same goes for common 'american' names.....or 'english' names.....i just let the lexigram tell me if the name belongs within it somehow.....and if it does, i believe its signifigance is implied by the fact that i feel compelled by the word druids to include it.

with regards to your 'edit', i believe that abbreviations and acronyms do 'count'.....in that it doesn't seem to be against the 'rules' to use them.....again, the word druids have proven to be a most reliable guide.....i have done only a smallish number of lexigrams, but i have used the 'hyphen technique' of which you write quite often- at the prompting of, you guessed it, ......the word druids! and i have found it to be most helpful and enlightening. i have also seen other lexigrammers on this site use the 'method' with interesting results. (i think that it is worth noting, however, that linda does not seem to have provided a precedent for the above-mentioned use of hyphens.)

.....and yin, i certainly understand 'where you are coming from' in terms of people mis-spelling and mis-pronouncing your name. although i was born in the USA, my whole name is 'foreign', and people often have trouble pronouncing and spelling it correctly.....even with the benefit of being able to see the name written down while attempting a pronunciation or spelling! ha! anyway, it seems like the best thing to do would be to continue gently repeating the CORRECT pronunciation and spelling until everyone (or nearly everyone) has it mastered.....this could take a while! but if you've read chapter nine of 'star signs', you already know that we've got all the 'time' in the universe!

i do not know if any of this has been helpful to y'all.....perhaps it was not really appropriate for someone with such limited lexigramming experience to respond to your post.....it's just that i always appreciate it when someone takes the time to respond to one of my posts even though it may not charm or captivate or be.....'sexy' ha! .....i've seen soooo many posts with little, or in some instances no, response.....

anyway, i certainly hope this helps to illuminate some of the answers to your questions!

love and light to you, eleanore and yin!