Re: way-OT: regularity of german v. english [was: Re: OT - Programming Languages w/o English Syntax]

[Tom <tb.31020.nospam@comcast.net>]

On Fri, Oct 24, 2003 at 10:54:26PM +0200, David Jardine wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 24, 2003 at 12:11:49PM -0700, Erik Steffl wrote:
> >
> >   english is like lego, yes there are some pieces that change shape 
> > etc. but it consists mostly of bricks and brick like pieces. german (and 
> > lot of other languages) is more like putty - you mold things together. 
> > the lego-like structure of english makes it easier to create a computer 
> > language...
> > 
> 
> But what the hell is English about the syntax of, for example,
> 
>    if(isRed(the_fork))  ?
> 
> It sounds more like Italian to me.
> 

I think the "the" is throwing you:

I would say isRed(fork) contains an implied [it] and [a]:

[it] | is |      fork
-----|----|----------
     |    | \   \
             \a  \red

fork is a "predicate noun", red is an adjective

But fork.isRed would be:

fork | is \ red
-----|-----\----
     |    

fork is the subject, red is "a predicate adjective"

i'm just guessing, haven't diagrammed sentences since 6th grade

I don't even think they teach this anymore