comprehend

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Cyrus the Great, Jul 1, 2014.

  1. Cyrus the Great Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    185
    I appreciate it very much, if you, as a native speaker, tell me the reason why you can not understand the following:



    In the security of the country system

    In the system of the country security


    Why do not they make sense?





    Thanks in adavnce
     
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  3. mathman Valued Senior Member

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    2,002
    The combination "country system" needs to be defined. In the second phrase "system of" also has definition problem.
     
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  5. Cyrus the Great Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    185
    I am willing to take this opportunity to thank you for your best support.

    Furthermore and at all, could you let me know all of the possible explanations that you can guest the followings mean?

    In addition, would you tell me what is your replacement(substitution) for each one?


    In the security of the country system

    In the system of the country security
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2014
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  7. mathman Valued Senior Member

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    2,002
    I have no idea. I am not able to read your mind.
     
  8. krash661 [MK6] transitioning scifi to reality Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,973
    context..

    security,
    something giving assurance
    country,
    homeland
    system,
    set of principles

    either way makes sense to me.
     
  9. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,057
    If I had to guess I'd say, "In the country's security system...."

    (In the security-of-the-country system

    In the system of the country-security)
     
  10. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    Because English is not a highly inflected language like Latin, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, Polish, and many other languages. In these languages, many words are required to have an inflection added, usually at the end, which identifies their relationship to each other. Either that, or they make generous use of prepositions to define relationships.

    English is not like this. We have a few inflections, like -s for plural nouns and -ed and -ing for verbs. But most of the time, the relationship between two adjacent words can only be determined by context. We can cram several nouns together with no inflections, and still understand the relationships between them and the meaning of the phrase. For example:

    paper cell phone user manual shortage

    In Czech or Italian, those words would be loaded down with grammatical endings, or else separated by myriad prepositions. In English we just shove them together and everyone understands them: a shortage of the manuals for users of telephones which exploit cellular technology that were printed on paper.

    In your example, the words don't seem to relate to each other. What is "country security?" How does it differ from "city security" or "suburban security"?

    What is a "country system," the amplifiers, microphones, sound boards and special-effects pedals used by bands who play country-and-western music?

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    You can't just push two words together and expect people to figure out what you probably mean. They have to make sense!
     
  11. Cyrus the Great Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    185
    In the security of the country system:

    The security that is about a country system.

    And, what is a country system? it is a system or a general organization that is belongs to a country.
     
  12. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    We don't use this phrase. You are not allowed to make up your own terminology because people won't understand it!

    What, exactly, do you mean by a "system or general organization that belongs to a country?" What is the "system or general organization" that belongs to the USA? Or to your native country? I don't understand this concept.

    We have many "systems": representative democracy; capitalism; mandatory education; secularism with strong influence from Protestant Christianity; rule of law with trial by jury; all-volunteer military forces; the goal of equality for all races and cultures; etc. There is no single "system or general organization."

    This makes absolutely no sense. Do you mean the security that protects or supports a country system? That makes a little more sense. Or it would if the phrase "country system" made sense, which it doesn't!

    Be very careful when using English prepositions. Most of them have almost no intrinsic meaning. They just tell us which words are supposed to be taken as a group with a special meaning.
     
  13. Cyrus the Great Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    185
    First, thanks.

    Yes. I mean the following:

    the security that protects or supports a country system
     
  14. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    You're still using the phrase "country system." There is no such compound phrase in English, so no one can understand it--except the handful of us who read your post.

    People may be able to guess what you mean, but you can't carry on a conversation with phrases like this. They will be so preoccupied wondering what you mean, that they won't hear your next five sentences.

    And you certainly can't write like that. Your editor will send it back to you with a very angry comment about inventing your own idioms and expecting people to guess what you mean.
     

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