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>(No kidding. I really want to
>know if there is a linguistic
>difference
>between Num_Eval_Reg() and
>Num_Eval_Text().)
Christian:
(this is getting *very* OT!)
From a linguistic viewpoint there is a clear difference.
Let me begin by mentioning that a programing language, even if being a quite
reduced language (it has only commands and lacks assertions and
questions), it shares with a natural language a crucial feature, viz.
the distinction between the uttered and the presupposed parts of a
sentence.
Every command has certain presuppositions, e.g. that the addressee is
able to perform the command (you cannot command a giant to `shrink'),
and that the uttered part is confined to salient information, since
we don't need / want to say what we and the addressee presuppose (you
wont say, e.g., "look at the plain with your eyes")
Now,
* Num_eval() tells Vedit "evaluate Number" and presupposes (besides
Vedit's being able to evaluate numbers :)) "that one at cursor
position": we get a simple argument - predicate structure
* Num_eval_register is a special case: the normal presupposition "at
cursor position" is cancelled. The cancellation has to be made
explicit by additional information, i.e. "_register" is a modifier
(or specifier) of "NUM", and we get a structure "complex argument
[i.e. Head + modifier] + predicate"
* It should be clear now, that "Num_Eval_Text" is somewhat
tautological, since "_Text" turns into a part of the utterance what we
presuppose anyway. In syntactical terms we have an apposition-like
structure of the type "i had lunch yesterday with the Pope, Mr.
Woityla".
OK, end of the excursus - I'm afraid Ted will exclude me from the
forum.
Fritz
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