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From: stevemac@bud.indirect.com (Stefano MacGregor)
Subject: Nit-picking
Message-ID: <D51Hx7.I0I@indirect.com>
Sender: usenet@indirect.com (Internet Direct Admin)
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Organization: Homa Raso
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 22:17:30 GMT
Lines: 22

 
me> In short, there is no list of all features possessed by all languages,
me> in which every item can be unarguably marked either "mmandatory" or 
me> "forbidden" for inclusion in an ideal constructed language.  Virtually
me> =every= feature is superfluous.  Example:  Japanese has no articles, 
me> pronouns, or future tense, and yet it can actually be spoken and
me> understood. 

Lastatempe skribis philip@storcomp.demon.co.uk jene:
>Japanese does have pronouns. Eg "watashi" = 'I'.

  Japanese does =not= have pronouns.  E.g., "watashi" (n) = 'selfishness',
used where English would use the first-person pronoun 'I'.
  The fact that it is the most common translation of the English pronoun 
does not make it a pronoun.  Just as statements in the future tense in 
English can be translated into Japanese, but that does not create a 
future tense in Japanese.

-- 
 --        __0       Stefano MAC:GREGOR      Mi dankas al miaj bons`ancigaj
  --     -`\<,      (s-ro)   \ma-GREG-r\         steloj, ke mi ne estas
   --   (*)/ (*)   Fenikso, Arizono, Usono           superstic`ulo.
