Language/Spanish/Grammar/The-word-that-cannot-be-written
THE WORD THAT CANNOT BE WRITTEN
In response to the title, it is not a damn or taboo word, It's about an orthographic error of the Castilian/Spanish language
There's a word that grammatically exists and can be pronounced, but nevertheless cannot be written. It's the imperative form of the verb "salir" with the enclitic pronoun "le". I'm referring the singular imperative of "salirle".
The imperative form of the verb "salir" is "sal" and if we add the clitic pronoun "le" we'll get an unexpected digraph "ll" (elle, in the spanish alphabet), perforce. This happens because the enclitic pronouns postponed to the verb are to be written united. Consequently, "Sal + le = Salle", whose reading would be “Sá-lle” and according to the orthographic
representation it should be pronounced like / 'saye /.
"Salle" means many things, but it is not the result that is intended to achieve.
The word “salle” is accepted by the Dictionary of the RAE as a verb form of the verb “sallar”. As a proper noun “Salle” designates an Italian municipality. We can find more references on "La Salle", "LaSalle" and "de La Salle" but none of the definitions about "salle" refer to our objective (the imperative of “salirle”).
However orally, it's possible to mention this word. For example (Phonological Transcription)
- / saL_le aL eN'kueNtro / = Go ye out to meet him/her.
- / saL_le koN es'kusas / = Tell him/her with excuses.
About this orthographic bug, I ignore if the RAE has given any solution, but there were some proposals. For example:
1. Use a point such as in the Catalan language the "l geminada". That is "Sal·le"
2. Use an apostrophe would be another solution. That is “Sal'le”
In summary, many signs have been mentioned to give a solution to this controversy. So! Try to write this word as clearly as possible or you can write this word as in Argentina "salile".
Now! You already know that Spanish is not perfect, but there are few things in the world that are perfect.
Note: My English is not perfect. I hope you understand the explanation and I'm sorry if I have some grammatical error.