Word: syntax
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...dialogue for Star Trek III. He took his job more seriously than anyone expected, creating a substantial vocabulary and some kinky and sophisticated grammatical rules that are linguistically solid, albeit "kind of unnatural from a human point of view." (Klingon sentences, for instance, follow a bizarre object-verb-subject syntax.) In 1985 Okrand published the vocabulary and rules in The Klingon Dictionary, which now has 250,000 copies in print and is still going strong. Last fall he came out with an audiotape, Conversational Klingon (50,000 copies). On it, Okrand and Michael Dorn, who plays Klingon Lieutenant Worf...
...gear, the upturned smile is an adaptation that makes it easier for the animal to scoop up fish, and it is open to question for what purposes the animal uses its large brain. Herman and others working with animals have been criticized for using linguistic terms like word or syntax when some cruder system may describe what is occurring in a dolphin's head...
...part, Herman admits that his dolphins are a long way from humans in their use of language. But he vehemently insists that they do have a conceptual grasp of the words they learn. "If you accept that semantics and syntax are core attributes of human language," says Herman, "then we have shown that the dolphins also account for these two features within the limits of this language...
...Bush's fractured syntax, pronouns mysteriously vanished, words were slurred together and odd idioms like "Don't cry for me Argentina" inserted themselves awkwardly into attempts at solemn oratory. Bush never seemed in total control of his language; he was like a somewhat inexpert horseman on a bucking bronco, jerking around abruptly from clause to clause and sometimes falling off altogether mid-sentence...
...that Clinton's transition period rang with "the clatter of campaign promises being tossed out the window." Deficit reduction, a middle class tax cut, easier asylum for Haitian refugees--these promises were uttered clearly and eloquently, yet their meanings turned out to be as muddled as the worst Bushian syntax...