Date: 9 Apr 2000 16:38:54 +0200 From: naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de (Christian Weisgerber) To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: BSDCon East Message-ID: <8cq4lu$1o3a$1@bigeye.rhein-neckar.de> References: <3.0.6.32.20000407145548.008cf100@mail85.pair.com> <20000407120154.A9276@sofia.csl.sri.com> <3.0.6.32.20000407145548.008cf100@mail85.pair.com> <3.0.6.32.20000407163211.00872d00@mail85.pair.com>
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G. Adam Stanislav <adam@whizkidtech.net> wrote: > Italian grammar is fairly simple, I won't comment on Italian grammar, since I know hardly anything about it, but... > though not as simple as English (whose grammar is virtually > non-existent), ... this is a wide-spread belief and--excuse me--pure rubbish. I have _A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language_ by Quirk et al. sitting here, which explains the "non-existent" intricacies of English grammar on nearly 1800 pages. And it's probably not exhaustive. For many linguistically naive people, the simplicity of a language's grammar seems to hinge on the degree of inflection. Having a few noun cases, adjective/noun agreements, and a few verb conjugations does not make for an objectively(!) difficult grammar. English has the same complexity, it's just expressed differently. Once you get beyond the basic level of "me Tarzan, you Jane", English syntax becomes fiendishly difficult. -- Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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