Verbs and Parameters

Let's have a look at what language is actually doing.

The most simple language, I believe, is based on verbs and their parameters. The verb describes an action and the parameters are all the persons and things that have a relationship with the action described. This applies to any language, human or machine.

I will use a phantasy language that I make up as I go along for examples.

First I need a verb.

Then I need a few people or things related to the action the verb describes.

Someone does something, perhaps to someone, likely with something, maybe at some location; possibly, if that someone is moving, from somewhere or to somewhere. That already gives me five parameters for the verb (if I assume that someone is not moving or not moving from somewhere to somewhere in the same action).

Perhaps someone is doing something that that doesn't require an object. But in any case if an action is performed, someone or something is performing the action, so I need at least one parameter for my verb, a subject. Or do I?

How can I construct a sentence around my verb that will make clear which of the people and things involved have which relationship with my verb? If a dog eats a fish, how can I make sure that the fish doesn't eat the dog? What if the dog eats the fish in a house? Will it be clear that the fish is not eating the house in a dog? Can I always rely on context?

I can now imagine several ways to specificy which parameter describes what relationship with the action. And those ways can be combined or several of them used at once or for different parameters.

This is my phantasy language I want to use. For the moment, I need one verb and three words for parameters.

Phantasy Language for Grammar Description
Phantasy word
English
kalab
dog
'akal
eat
dawag
fish
bayat
house
  1. Context: dawag bayat 'akal kalab (It's a bit obvious that the house is where eating happens, but it's not clear who is eating whom since a fish can eat a dog and a dog can eat a fish.)

  2. Word order: 'akal kalab dawag bayat  (If my language defines that the word order is "verb subject object location" the context problem is solved, but what happens if I want to describe an action that requires a fourth parameter?)

  3. Named parameters: 'akal ha kalab at dawag ba bayat (I just invented prepositions in my language. The new smaller word ha now precedes my subject, the dog, the new word at precedes my object, the fish, and the word ba precedes my location, the house. I can also identify which word is the verb, as it is the only one that doesn't have a preposition. But how can I be sure that I know the prepositions from word?)

  4. Declension: 'akal kalabum dawagam bayatim (Now each parameter is modified to show which role it is playing in the sentence. I can even see which word is the verb and do not need a specific word order. But what happens if I have to involve a word that looks like a modified version of another word?)

  5. Implied parameters: This method can work only in conjunction with one or more of the above. I could modify the verb to include a subject or an object (or both, or possibly a location or other parameters as well). But since there is an infinite number of parameters, an implied parameter will only work for very specific (and likely oft-needed) persons or things. I will come back to this later.

I am assuming that it is clear that while the context method allows for many funny word games, it is ultimately not the most efficient method to convey the message without error.

The word order method works well for a small number of parameters but fails exceedingly clearly when the number of parameters grows. While my dog can eat a fish based on word order, adding a location or a reason for him to eat the fish would already present a problem. If the location is the third parameter but there is no location but a reason, will the reason replace the location? Maybe I can use context to differentiate between these two possible meanings of the third parameter.

I need more words.

Phantasy Language for Grammar Description
Phantasy word
English
ha
preposition to identify a subject
at
preposition to identify an object
ba
preposition to identify a parameter than is neither a subject nor an object
ra`ab
hunger

This time the little dog will eat the fish in the house because of hunger. But reason and location are treated the same and will rely on context to be identified since the dog cannot it in a reason and likely won't eat because of a location. If both a reason and a location are present, context can work.

  1. dawag bayat 'akal ra`ar kalab

  2. 'akal kalab dawag bayat ra`ar

  3. 'akal ha kalab at dawag ba bayat ba ra`ar

  4. 'akal kalabum dawagam bayatim ra`abim

Which one is the easiest to understand? I think I can definitely forget about using the context method. And the word order method simply becomes confusing.

The named parameter and declension methods work well but perhaps require modification to allow for more clarity. No-one forces me to use but one preposition for both a location and a reason. And I could easily add another noun case to differentiate between a word that is a location and a word that is a reason. (But I don't want to add more cases to my language.)

More words.

Phantasy Language for Grammar Description
Phantasy word
English
ba
in
asam
because of
zikar
man
bit
new improved form of "house"
dag
new improved form of "fish"
kalb
new improved form of "dog"
-um
case ending for subject
-am
case ending for object
-im
case ending for owner
ra`eb
new improved form of "hunger"

Now my language will probably look a bit more real (not every vowel is an "a" all the time) and I made a decision as to which parameters will be marked by case and which will be identified by a preposition. The general word order remains "verb subject object rest".

A few sentences.

  • 'akal kalbum zikarim dagam ba bit asam ra`eb. (The man's dog eats a fish in the house because of hunger.)
  • 'akal kalbum bitim dagam ba bit. (The dog of the house eats a fish in the house.)
  • 'akal zikarum kalbam. (The man eats the dog.)

Since all parameters are now either identified by case or preposition, I can re-use appropriate words as verbs and it will be clear that they are verbs:

  • kalb kalbum. (The dog barks.)
  • ra'eb kalbum. (The dog is hungry.)
  • dag zikarum. (The man fishes.)

Lots of fun!

Turns out a general rule visible in real languages is that word order is used to give a first hint, case endings are used for the most oft-used parameters like subject and object and named parameters (prepositions) are used for more rare parameters. The definition of "oft-used" is hereby subject to disagreement between the different languages. Some languages use lots of cases, others use lots of prepositions. And what is most annoying is that most languages use cases and prepositions for the same parameter type with each preposition requiring a case.

Windows Powershell uses a grammar based on implied objects (where the object is attached to the verb), one number (objects are always singular), one single and ever-present implied subject (verbs are always commands to the machine) and a mixture of named and positional parameters. (In fact all parameters are named, but some oft-used parameters are optionally positional.)

English uses a grammar based on word order, some cases (mostly pronouns and owners) and lots of prepositions.

Hebrew uses a grammar based on two word orders (old and new) and lots of prepositions with one surviving but rarely-used case ending (for movements towards something). Hebrew also uses implied subjects and objects when those subjects and objects can be described by pronouns.

Latin uses a grammar based on cases for subjects, owners, direct objects, indirect objects, people addressed, locations and prepositions. Latin subjects can also be implied if they can be represented by pronouns.

What method does your language use?

 © Andrew Brehm 2016