A large number of compounds in English and other European languages are composed of Greek and/or Latin roots (e.g., 'herpeto (serpent)+logy (science)'--'scientific study of serpents or snakes'), while possibly as many in Thai and Burmese are made up of Pali and/or Sanskrit roots (e.g., (true)+(righteousness)--'true righteousness'). These words are called 'neo-classical formations' because elements from a classical language are put together to make a new word in a modern language (Bauer 1993:216).