LANGEVELD@HROEUR5.BITNET (07/24/89)
To add another trivial observation: As a Dutchman myself, it strikes me how many names of you people are of Dutch origin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Koopman, Bouma and de Groot are definitely Dutch names! Perhaps it has got something to do with being stubborn. :-) Henk Langeveld (langeveld@hroeur5.bitnet, henk@cs.eur.nl)
marc@noe.UUCP (Marc de Groot) (08/03/89)
In article <8907241624.AA04114@jade.berkeley.edu> Forth Interest Group International List <FIGI-L%SCFVM.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu> writes: >As a Dutchman myself, it strikes me how many names of you people >are of Dutch origin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Koopman, Bouma >and de Groot are definitely Dutch names! My name is indeed Dutch. I have noticed this myself. I heard that Dutch (like German) has a sort of "reverse Polish" syntax, with the verb often placed at the end of a sentence. Is it true that Forth code can be written which reads pretty close to "natural language" Dutch? -- Marc de Groot (KG6KF) These ARE my employer's opinions! Noe Systems, San Francisco UUCP: uunet!hoptoad!noe!marc Internet: marc@kg6kf.AMPR.ORG
RAYBRO%UTRC@utrcgw.utc.COM ("William R Brohinsky", ay) (08/07/89)
Marc- I am not Dutch, nor German. My heritage is 50% Ukrainian. However, if the matter of language tendencies is merited, the time I spent learning Latin in High School (sadly, that school and many others in this country do not teach it at all, any longer) certainly left its mark. Latin also desires its verb at the end of the phrase or sentence. It also requires that the "programmer" match the "type" of adjective or adverb to the noun or verb. There is no compiler between the programmer and user to catch syntax errors, and (if you've ever had a conversation with someone from another country with a third party who knows both languages and interrupts constantly to correct errors, you know what I'm about to say) the presence of one would be a real nuisance. "Natural Language" Dutch is intriguing, but the syntax of Latin was relatively more double-entendre free (no human language will stay that way for long) in its classical form. Maybe that would make a good starting place, or a dreadful and bothersome redirection. Either way, I lack the linguistic skill to see. -raybro If I have an opinion, I am very careful with it. Usually...
gary@softway.oz (Friend of Elvenkind) (08/10/89)
In article <663@noe.UUCP> marc@noe.UUCP (Marc de Groot) writes: > >My name is indeed Dutch. I have noticed this myself. > >I heard that Dutch (like German) has a sort of "reverse Polish" syntax, >with the verb often placed at the end of a sentence. > Not quite. I don't know about Dutch, but in German the main verb should be the second idea in the clause. All auxiliary verbs however go to the end. If the sentence is moderately complex you can end up with three, four, or sometimes five auxiliary verbs at the end. What strikes me as an even closer resemblence is the way German builds long (huge!) words out of many small ones. -- Gary Corby (Friend of Elvenkind) Softway Pty Ltd ACSnet: gary@softway.oz UUCP: ...!uunet!softway.oz!gary