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Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus introduces a way to constrain language, and I'd like to take an approach inspired by the concepts defined in that work.

What is the correct way to label such an approach? Are there best-practice guidelines for creating adjectives from nouns? These are some that seem legit:

  • a Tractatian approach
  • a tractatian approach
  • a Tractalian approach
  • a Tractatusian approach
  • a Tractacus approach
  • a TLP approach
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  • Unless you can find find evidence of such usage elsewhere, you would commonly write a construction like a Tractatus-inspired approach rather than just making up your own word. (Incidentally, none of your suggestions look legitimate to me.) May 7, 2020 at 14:32
  • Further to Jason's Comment, even if English was Latin how would it not be clear that Tractatus was the least part of that title? Your Question seems to suggest Book about Logico-Philosophicus should lead to Bookian… approach, etc. That Tractatus Theologico‑Politicus and Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione were the only other examples Google threw at me doesn't change that. May 7, 2020 at 22:19
  • @RobbieGoodwin Even to someone who doesn't speak Latin, how would it not be clear that Logico-Philosophicus is a qualifier of the noun Tractatus? One refers by using the noun, not its adjectives.
    – MrMartin
    May 9, 2020 at 21:24
  • @JasonBassford You are right, and the commonly used approach is to use TLP as a noun. I will consider my question as ill-posed in the absence of further evidence.
    – MrMartin
    May 9, 2020 at 21:28
  • MrMartin, in no language is Logico-Philosophicus a qualifier. You might get away with insisting the three words together formed a compound noun but that's the only real point. When speaking of Book of Subject in any language, how could "Book" be the point? To me it seems asking about “of the Tractatus… ” is either asking about the title of the work - which is not "Tractatus" - or its meaningless. How could an adjective for “of the Tractatus” as opposed to one for "of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" have any use outside theoretical grammar with no application? May 11, 2020 at 21:31

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