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Most English speakers can parse the sentence just fine when they hear it spoken.
by WildUtah 10y ago
Most English speakers can parse the sentence just fine when they hear it spoken.
- utopcell 10y agothe argument is nevertheless valid: the parser does not process any additional audible signal
- eriknstr 10y agoI would not have been able to tell which buffalos were verbs, which were nouns and which were proper nouns without the rephrasing of the sentence on Wikipedia. In fact even with that rephrasing I still find it difficult to tell which buffalo in the original sentence is what.
- jholman 10y agoNot so. I've tried this on a few dozen students (post-secondary, many of them post-baccalaureate, perhaps 50% ESL) over the years; of those who have not heard it previously, all others say "what? that's not a sentence". I don't recall a single counter-example.
- khedoros1 10y agoThat's surprising to hear. I don't think I've ever found someone that understood it without an explanation. I like using it as an example of how confusing English can be to parse.
- WildUtah 10y agoEnglish is tough, though through thorough thought it can be understood.
- YeGoblynQueenne 10y agoShouldn't that be "English is tough, though through thorough thought it can be taught"?