LIFO languages (was Re: "Theory informs practice" - OK?)

Hallo!

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:16:04 +0100, Lars Finsen wrote:

> Den 11. nov. 2008 kl. 23.19 skrev David J. Peterson:
> [...]
> > One of the best examples I've seen of this type
> > of language is Fith: a language built use LIFO grammar,
> > which, in real time, I think is impossible for a human to use.
>
> I don't see why it's so unusable. Wouldn't most statements be like a
> usual SOV language? There's just some curious argument stacking in
> some of the more involved cases, but nothing much more unmanageable
> than the verbal stacking that you find in German sometimes, I think.
In a LIFO language like Fith ( http://www.langmaker.com/fith.htm ),
a simple clause looks indeed quite much like one on an SOV language,
but that is only a superficial resemblance because the language is
processed in a way completely different from human languages.

The Fith grammar allows for really bizarre manipulations of word
order which are indeed at least very hard to follow for humans.
The language has "stack conjunctions" which duplicate, swap and
do other things with objects on the stack. By these means, words
can be pushed on the stack long before they are used, sentences
can be intermeshed, uttered in reverse order and so on.

... brought to you by the Weeping Elf

Replies