>> >What is a word?
>> >F. Leon
>>
>> A word is a representation of an object or an idea.
>>F. Colina
>
>What type of "representation?"
>Sound, written or other.
>Here is my "word" for the day:
>        wrtcrpt
>Are there requirements for "representation?"
>F. Leon
>
wrtcrpt is perfectly acceptable so long as it has meaning to (at least)
you.  If it serves to encompass an object or an idea, there's no reason
why you couldn't describe it as a word (think "gen-x":  what did it mean
before marketers imbibed it with meaning?).  A valid representation
should reconnect fairly directly (abstractly or otherwise) to the
original idea (e.g., cold doesn't always mean 15 degrees Celsius, but it
always means a relatively less warm state).

Since the question is about words (and not representation through the use
of signs and symbols), a word should (in whatever language or writing
system) be perceivable by the human brain (through the eye, ear, braille,
etc.).

Fernando Colina
Center for World Languages and Cultures
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA  02125-3393