Re: THEORY: Natural language change (was Re: Charlie and I)
From: | Charles <catty@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, September 21, 1999, 19:01 |
OK, i finally figured out the problem here,
and it *does* have relevance to conlang:
> Li prega de Beb=E9:
> Bon Deo, benedi papa, benedi mama, benedi mi nurse,
> fe me sempre plu sagi e precipue effortia memorar it,
> por que yo ne es fortiat repetir it omni vesperes.
Even changing "precipue" (meaning "especially" or "above all")
to a more regular and colorless "principalmen", I didn't get
the joke; the real problem is in the misleading punctuation.
I can't see how the Romans lived without punctuation, or
the Japanese today, even putting verbs strictly last ...
but maybe that is really a major advantage of SOV typology.
Anyway, changing the punctuation the joke becomes obvious:
Oh no! a lightning storm suddenly appeared here in L.A.!!!
Li prega de Beb=E9:
Bon Deo, benedi papa, benedi mama, benedi mi nurse,
fe me sempre plu sagi. E precipue, effortia memorar it
por que yo ne es fortiat repetir it omni vesperes.
"And above all, (You, imperative) try to remember it, ..."