[OT] fortran lib which provide python like data type

[Steven D'Aprano]

Marko Rauhamaa wrote:

> Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info>:
> 
>> Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
>>
>>> The natural language has a rigorous grammar plus a lexicon that includes
>>> a number of idioms. Nobody has so far been able to codify a natural
>>> language completely because the rigorous grammar consists of maybe
>>> 10,000 rules.
>>
>> If nobody has codified the rigorous grammar, how do they know it is
>> rigorous?
> 
> Even a five-year-old will immediately spot grammar mistakes (and let you
> know about them!).

That doesn't make it rigorous. That just means that there are rules, and
five-years olds know some of the rules. There may be ambiguities in the
rules. There could be sentences where no rule applies, or multiple
contradictory rules.

Children go through a period of language acquisition where they
over-generalise rules, saying things like "I eated the biscuit". Amusingly,
there are at least some reports of children getting angry when their
parents copy those over-generalisations, saying words to the effect of "No
Daddy, I say eated, you don't!" This suggests that they know that the rule
is wrong even when they say it, yet they continue to say it. This in turn
suggests that there are multiple parts of the brain involved in grammar,
and they aren't always in sync.

Adults also commit hyper-correction. Anyone who has said a sentence
like "The dog barked at my daughter and I" is being ungrammatical. Cross
out the second party, and you are left with: "The dog barked at I" which is
clearly wrong.

And there are underspecified rules too. What is the plural of octopus? No
fair looking it up in the dictionary.



[...]
> Whatever it is, your brain will recognize its native language. You never
> make a grammar mistake that you don't spot yourself right away.

Of course people make grammar mistakes that they don't spot.

If you're interested in this topic, I can strongly recommend Steven Pinker's
book "Words And Rules".


-- 
Steven