Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

RPN as a grammar?

From:Paul Bennett <paul.bennett@...>
Date:Thursday, December 2, 1999, 13:08
About ... erm ... mumblemuble ago, I accidentally stumbled on the idea of
Reverse Polish Notation as a possible basis for a conlang grammar.  It was
decided at the time that it would be difficult to model all the features of a
language in this way.

I've returned to the idea recently, and I've had a few thoughts.

For all you non-programmers, the basic idea of RPN is that instead of writing "2
+ 3", you write "2 3 +", and instead of "2 + (3 / 5)" you write "3 5 / 2 +".
The wonderful thing about RPN is that any sequence of operatations can be show
in a completely unambiguous manner.

To help me find out whether I'm heading down the right road, please try to see
if you can parse (and translate into english) this familiar sentance, given the
details below:

foks kwik brun and li su dog slu li bov ta du ah yump en

Phonology

p,b  t,d  k,g     ==C
m    n    q(=/N/) ==N
f,v  s,z  h,x     ==F

i   u             ==V
  a

w,y,r,l           ==L


Syllable structure

((C(F)(L))|(F)N)V(N|((N)C(F)))

Words (some of which I've used above!)
qo - past
qa - future
en - perfective
iq - imperfective
di - nominative
ta - accusative
tu - dative
as - genetive
su - subject complex
du - direct object
yu - indirect object
rik - object complex
ah - noun complex
li - attributive
and - combining forms
foks - fox
kwik - quick
brun - brown
dog - dog
slu - lazy
bov - above, over
yump - jump




*************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential
and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the
sender. This footnote also confirms that this email message
has been scanned for the presence of computer viruses.
*************************************************************