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Monsumo?

by Vestitor, August 8, 2012

Messages: 7

Language: English

Vestitor (User's profile) August 8, 2012, 11:32:58 PM

I've wondered about this word for a while, It's not in Lernu's dictionary (or in any other I have), I came across it on the video course La Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo. One of the characters is doing some addition and gets stuck and another fellow comes along and finishes it for him and then says "Kia granda monsumo!"

What is the exact meaning? He's totting up some debts, but the other fellow doesn't know this, so what is he saying when he says monsumo? Is it just a sum?

erinja (User's profile) August 8, 2012, 11:45:26 PM

Yes, a sum in the monetary sense, rather than a sum in the sense of one plus one.

A quantity of money - compound word, mon/sum/o, a "money sum"

Vestitor (User's profile) August 8, 2012, 11:52:08 PM

Ah...Thanks for that. I should have been able to work it out really. I feel a bit foolish now.

erinja (User's profile) August 9, 2012, 2:09:44 AM

When you achieve a certain level of proficiency, compound words jump out at you. But before you hit that level, they aren't obvious. I remember being a beginner and trying to break up words in different ways so I could figure out their component parts and look them up in a dictionary. It seems obvious now but it wasn't always obvious.

...and I still occasionally see a word and think "that doesn't make sense", until I realize that it's not a compound word, it's simply a root that I'm unfamiliar with, that simply has the look of a compound word.

My compound-seeking brain does have a fun time with some words like fekulo, though (fekul/o - starch).

Borgo (User's profile) August 9, 2012, 2:55:39 AM

erinja:My compound-seeking brain does have a fun time with some words like fekulo, though (fekul/o - starch).
LMAO.

Vespero_ (User's profile) August 9, 2012, 4:27:07 AM

erinja:
My compound-seeking brain does have a fun time with some words like fekulo, though (fekul/o - starch).
Kolego!

darkweasel (User's profile) August 9, 2012, 10:12:48 AM

Borgo:
erinja:My compound-seeking brain does have a fun time with some words like fekulo, though (fekul/o - starch).
LMAO.
And let’s not forget about forfikulo (earwig).

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