2 ms·

> straightforward usage of language that most educated readers will simply understand and find unremarkable, not a trick Do you think those readers would recog

by schoen 7y ago

> straightforward usage of language that most educated readers will simply understand and find unremarkable, not a trick Do you think those readers would recognize the specific words, or that they would successfully parse the words in context at first glance using their language ability? > There's even a verse that consists of the syllable yā repeated 32 times Wow! It seems like this tradition or at least possibility is shared between Sanskrit and Chinese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_Den https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-Eating_Poet_in_the_Stone_... In general, a lot of the wordplay techniques and genres that are mentioned in the Extreme Poetry book you linked to are also practiced in similar forms in modern English (and to some extent French due to the Oulipo), but many of them were only invented or popularized during the 20th century, so I imagine some of these Sanskrit wordplay traditions are dramatically older. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_writing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrained_writing

svat 7y ago
I meant that they would successfully parse the words in context (and recognize the specific words and meanings), using their language ability. To use an example from an interview with a modern master of Sanskrit constrained writing (http://www.indictoday.com/interviews/citrakavya-the-wonder-poetry-an-interview-with-dr-shankar-rajaraman/ http://www.indictoday.com/interviews/citrakavya-the-wonder-p...), in an English sentence like “She is his panicky Hispanic friend”, the sound “hispanic” may recur when spoken (depending on the speaker's accent I guess) but most listeners would successfully parse it anyway. (I think there is some “lookahead” in the way we parse things... even if “She is Hispanic” and “She is his panicky…” begin with the same set of sounds, when listening to the latter sentence the listener would quickly backtrack and latch on to the correct understanding, which includes unconsciously re-analyzing the earlier words.) The difference I was suggesting is that such instances are either rare or awkward in English. But in Sanskrit they are common (helped by poets' enormous skill over centuries, honed in a highly language-focused tradition) even in popular works, and feel natural/elegant.

by schoen 7y ago

svat 7y ago

I meant that they would successfully parse the words in context (and recognize the specific words and meanings), using their language ability. To use an example from an interview with a modern master of Sanskrit constrained writing (http://www.indictoday.com/interviews/citrakavya-the-wonder-poetry-an-interview-with-dr-shankar-rajaraman/ http://www.indictoday.com/interviews/citrakavya-the-wonder-p...), in an English sentence like “She is his panicky Hispanic friend”, the sound “hispanic” may recur when spoken (depending on the speaker's accent I guess) but most listeners would successfully parse it anyway. (I think there is some “lookahead” in the way we parse things... even if “She is Hispanic” and “She is his panicky…” begin with the same set of sounds, when listening to the latter sentence the listener would quickly backtrack and latch on to the correct understanding, which includes unconsciously re-analyzing the earlier words.) The difference I was suggesting is that such instances are either rare or awkward in English. But in Sanskrit they are common (helped by poets' enormous skill over centuries, honed in a highly language-focused tradition) even in popular works, and feel natural/elegant.