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Subclause Reform: Difference between revisions
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The '''Subclause Reform''' is a proposal that changes the grammar of subclauses to fix some ambiguities, and make them more naturalistic. | The '''Subclause Reform''' is a proposal that changes the grammar of subclauses to fix some ambiguities, and make them more naturalistic. | ||
== | == Motivation == | ||
In official Toaq, [[Content clause|content clauses]] have the exact same grammar as the main clause of a sentence, and can appear wherever a [[determiner phrase]] might appear. But this grammar actually turns out to be ambiguous! Consider the following sentence: | In official Toaq, [[Content clause|content clauses]] have the exact same grammar as the main clause of a sentence, and can appear wherever a [[determiner phrase]] might appear. But this grammar actually turns out to be ambiguous! Consider the following sentence: | ||
{{Example|Feq jí ꝡä za ruqshua râo ní nuaq.}} | {{Example|Feq jí ꝡä za ruqshua râo ní nuaq.}} | ||
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== Nullary verbs == | == Nullary verbs == | ||
As a final note, we need to change nullary verbs to take a dummy argument, or else | As a final note, we need to change nullary verbs to take a dummy argument, or else this kind of sentence would still be ambiguous: | ||
{{Example|Feq jí ꝡá za ruqshua râo ní nuaq.}} | {{Example|Feq jí ꝡá za ruqshua râo ní nuaq.}} | ||
This sentence now becomes: | This sentence now becomes: | ||
{{Example|Feq jí, ꝡá za ruqshua râo ní nuaq ía.|I sense that it's going to rain tonight.}} | {{Example|Feq jí, ꝡá za ruqshua râo ní nuaq ía.|I sense that it's going to rain tonight.}} | ||
This dummy argument {{T|ía}} corresponds to the 'it' in the English translation; it doesn't refer to anything, but is necessary for the sentence to be grammatical. | This dummy argument {{T|ía}} corresponds to the 'it' in the English translation; it doesn't refer to anything, but is necessary for the sentence to be grammatical. | ||