I'm working through this exercise. It has labortablo and skribotablo as two of the words. Why isn't the former laborotablo instead? Furthermore, would labora tablo and skriba tablo be equivalent, respectively?
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I think, its euphony: When the emerging consonant cluster is easy to pronounce, the o is dropped, but it is left when a hard-to-pronounce consonant cluster like -bk- emerges.– Sir CornflakesCommented Jun 6, 2017 at 10:30
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1Duplicate of esperanto.stackexchange.com/questions/2465/…, as already mentioned in the first answer.– Cyril Robert BroschCommented Jun 7, 2017 at 7:22
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3Possible duplicate of When is -o- added between roots in kunmetaĵoj?– Oliver MasonCommented Jun 11, 2017 at 18:02
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3 Answers
I can't say I know for sure. In this particular case I imagine skribotablo is preferred because skribo conveys the act of writing while skrib- is for the broader concept of write, but I have seen skribtablo accepted as an alternative form. Skriba tablo on the other hand would imply that it is a 'written table' instead of a 'writing table', which sounds much less like a desk than it does some kind of sketch. I imagine difficulty/simplicity of pronunciation also play a role in which one should be used.
Edit: You can probably find out more here.
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4The omission of -o-, with an exception not of interest here, has no relation to the structural semantics of the compound word, so this part of the answer is wrong. Unfortunately the person asking has accepted it as best answer. The two other answers are correct. Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 7:24
I would assume it's simply a phonological matter: you cannot easily pronounce *skribtablo because of the two successive plosives. It is of course perfectly possible, but skribotablo is somewhat easier to say.
With labortablo that's not the case, and laborotablo adds an extra syllable which is not necessary to ease pronunciation.
So, it's the principle of least effort that is at play here.
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It might just be my native language at play here, but I can say skribtablo with no effort required. Labortablo however ... Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 11:52
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1Yes, true -- these things very much depend on what you are used to from your native language. My perspective is from a Germanic language background, and I also don't find it that hard. But it's all relative: with the 'o' it is a bit easier. And that is probably all that it takes. Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 12:29
The -o is usually omitted unless its presence eases pronunciation...
- minejo de oro = gold mine
- or(o)minejo = gold mine
- forko por fojno = fork for hay
- fojn(o)forko = hay fork
- leviĝo de la suno = rising of the sun
- sun(o)leviĝo = sunrise
http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/eo/colloq/colloq040.html#sec4-1-2
