Re: VMs: Blanks: trying to summarize...

["Maurizio M. Gavioli" <mmg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 20:35 05/03/2004 +0000, Nick Pelling wrote:
> > 1) if the language is flected, each form of each word has a lower 
> > instance count than the word globally taken. I mean: for instance, in a 
> > Latin text about Caesar, you would find _Ceasar_, _Caesaris_, _Caesari_, 
> > etc. each with a lower count than the word "Caesar" in the English 
> > equivalent. And some languages even change the initial part of the word 
> > (not necessarily exotic languages: Welsh is one and, if I am not 
> > mistaken, Polish is another).
>
> The apparently boundless ability of natural languages to corroborate even 
> the unlikeliest of theories has made it hard to rule anything out here.

;-) / :-(

>  However, the key problem with seeing the VMs as a possibly natural 
> language is that its words often seems more (for want of a better word) 
> 'combinatorial' - more akin to an exotic numbering system (like 
> "turbo-charged Roman numerals") than to an actual language per se.

Not to mention the 'unrealistic' repetitions of words!

> > Are you hinting as half-spaces as distinct from spaces? Two kinds of 
> > spaces with potentially different meanings? I think we have enough 
> > problems with a single kind of spaces!!
>
> Hoping that they're both the same thing doesn't halve the number of 
> problems. :-o

No, but assuming they are different double them!

Ciao,
        Maurizio


 Maurizio M. Gavioli -  VistaMare  Software
 via San Bernardo 5, I-16030 Pieve Ligure, ITALY
 http://www.vistamaresoft.com/

______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx with a body saying:
unsubscribe vms-list