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

2008/11/16 Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...>:
>
> On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:57:46 +0100, Andreas Johansson wrote:
>
>> Quoting Lars Finsen <lars.finsen@...>:
>> >
>> > Well, so does German, for example. German legal or technical text can
>> > be really hard to figure out sometimes. Sentences often end with two
>> > verbs belonging to different clauses, and I think I have seen three.
>>
>> Does anyone ever use those registers of German in real-time conversation,
>> however?
>
> Not much at least. Complicated nested sentences are a matter of
> written language almost exclusively, and spoken German avoids
> such hairy constructions. Nobody ever *speaks* sentences like:
>
> Wer denjenigen, der den Wegweiser, der an der Brücke, die über
> den Bach, der von Ahausen nach Bettelheim fließt, führt, steht,
> umgeworfen hat, anzeigt, erhält 500 Mark Belohnung.
Awesome! :) And it's amazing how I got that after just two readings...
But that might be due to the fact that the parsing is aided by the
semantics... and that my L1 (Dutch) allows for much the same
constructions:

Wie degene, die de wegwijzer, die bij de brug, die over de beek
die van Ahuizen naar Bettelheim stroomt, leidt, staat,
omgegooid heeft, aangeeft, krijgt 500 euro beloning.

... not a clear sentence at all.

René