Derek,
Yes, I think it is fair to call the rope yarn knot a hybrid knot/splice,b ...
As for the marline bend I believe that this is still a knot because the yarns that comprise ... [<="compose"]
In
ABOK numbers, I'm looking at #1480 & 1482; and given Ashley's
remark about the optional status of one half-knot, the two are equal!
In any case, with the extra half-knot, they are yet quite similar, for the point
of this discussion. And to add an extreme case, just consider any ol' 3-strand
rope in which its separate strands are joined from one end to the other with,
say, Double Harness bends. Clearly one is not looking at a "knot" or a "splice"
in the usual sense; how best to describe such cases? In the former cases,
though, there is some aspect of the joint that is
splicesque, the way
that the u-turned strands' half-knot compresses upon other parts (whether
those are themselves half-knotted or not). And the mere half-knotting is
not unlike the start to a standard Short Splice, anyway. Perhaps we might
coin the term "knot splices" for such things. What use is it to talk about
them in one way vs. another. (Don't think that there is some fundamental
Trvth waiting to be discovered -- this is a matter of conception with us,
not perception of some Reality.)
["comprise" / "compose" / "constitute" / "include" / ... are better defined,
and "comprised of" should be actively resisted as invalid grammar! (and
usually best replaced by "comprises" vs "compose of" to affirm "comprise"'s
definition!) "The whole
comprises (all of) the parts; the parts
compose or
constitute the whole.
Some part is
included in the whole;
allparts (i.e., full set together) are
comprised in the whole. ... and so on,
damn the
descriptive dictionaries who fancy look-&-see over good sense.]-:
Of course, we have no real definition of a knot and we may never get one,
because we can always find an exception to the rule, ...
Let not
Perfection be the bane of
Good. Again, we need to take stock
of how best to conceive/categorize things, in developing a nomenclature,
and not fear fuzzy boundaries entirely.
And we should put forward what definitions we can find,
for critique and a launching point (or point of information) to our
effort to develop a nomenclature. --this, a Topic for another (sub-)forum.
--dl*
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