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<main role="main">
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<!--Weave of 'What This Module Does' generated by Inweb-->
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<div class="breadcrumbs">
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<ul class="crumbs"><li><a href="../index.html">Home</a></li><li><a href="../services.html">Services</a></li><li><a href="index.html">inflections</a></li><li><a href="index.html#P">Preliminaries</a></li><li><b>What This Module Does</b></li></ul></div>
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<p class="purpose">An overview of the inflections module's role and abilities.</p>
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<ul class="toc"><li><a href="P-wtmd.html#SP1">§1. Prerequisites</a></li><li><a href="P-wtmd.html#SP2">§2. Inflections</a></li><li><a href="P-wtmd.html#SP7">§7. Declensions</a></li><li><a href="P-wtmd.html#SP11">§11. Verb conjugations</a></li><li><a href="P-wtmd.html#SP12">§12. Naming conventions</a></li></ul><hr class="tocbar">
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP1" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§1. Prerequisites. </b>The inflections module is a part of the Inform compiler toolset. It is
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presented as a literate program or "web". Before diving in:
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</p>
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<ul class="items"><li>(a) It helps to have some experience of reading webs: see <a href="../../../inweb/index.html" class="internal">inweb</a> for more.
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</li><li>(b) The module is written in C, in fact ANSI C99, but this is disguised by the
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fact that it uses some extension syntaxes provided by the <a href="../../../inweb/index.html" class="internal">inweb</a> literate
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programming tool, making it a dialect of C called InC. See <a href="../../../inweb/index.html" class="internal">inweb</a> for
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full details, but essentially: it's C without predeclarations or header files,
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and where functions have names like <span class="extract"><span class="extract-syntax">Tags::add_by_name</span></span> rather than <span class="extract"><span class="extract-syntax">add_by_name</span></span>.
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</li><li>(c) This module uses other modules drawn from the compiler (see <a href="../structure.html" class="internal">structure</a>), and also
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uses a module of utility functions called <a href="../../../inweb/foundation-module/index.html" class="internal">foundation</a>.
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For more, see <a href="../../../inweb/foundation-module/P-abgtf.html" class="internal">A Brief Guide to Foundation (in foundation)</a>.
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</li></ul>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP2" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§2. Inflections. </b>Inflections are modifications of words — usually word endings or beginnings —
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for different circumstances. English is often called an uninflected language,
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but this is an exaggeration. For example, we spell the word "tree" as
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"trees" when we refer to more than one of them. Inform sometimes needs
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to take text in one form and change it to another — for example, to turn
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a singular noun into a plural one — and ordinary Preform parsing isn't good
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enough to express this.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">Inform uses a data structure called a "trie" as an efficient way to match
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prefix and/or suffix patterns in words, and then to modify them.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">Tries are provided as basic data structures by <a href="../../../inweb/foundation-module/4-taa.html" class="internal">Tries and Avinues (in foundation)</a>,
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and the code for initialising them from Preform grammar is provided by
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<a href="../words-module/4-pu.html" class="internal">Preform Utilities (in words)</a>.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP3" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§3. </b>Though tries are, as just mentioned, created from Preform grammar, they are
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parsed quite differently.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">In trie grammar, a NT must be either a list of other tries, which are tested
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in sequence until one matches, or must be a list of inflection rules. These
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cannot be mixed within the same NT.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP4" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§4. </b>In a list of tries, each production consists only of a single nonterminal
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identifying the trie to make use of. One exception: the token <span class="extract"><span class="extract-syntax">...</span></span> before the
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trie's name makes it work on the end of a word instead of the beginning.
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For example:
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</p>
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<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fiddle-with-words></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fiddle-with-exceptions></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">...</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fiddle-with-irregular-endings></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">...</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fiddle-with-regular-endings></span>
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</pre>
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<p class="commentary">means try <fiddle-with-exceptions> first (on the whole text), then
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<fiddle-with-irregular-endings> (on the tail), and finally <fiddle-with-regular-endings>
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(also on the tail).
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP5" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§5. </b>In a list of inflection rules, each production consists of two tokens. The
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first token is what to match; the second gives instructions on what to turn
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it into. An asterisk is used to mean "any string of 0 or more letters";
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a digit at the start of the replacement text means "truncate by this many
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letters and add...". The simplest possible instruction is <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">0</span></span> alone, which
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means "truncate 0 letters and add nothing", and therefore leaves the text
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unchanged.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">Some examples:
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</p>
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<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><pluralise></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">lead</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">0</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">codex</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">codices</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">*mouse</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">5mice</span>
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</pre>
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<p class="commentary">This would pluralise "lead" as "lead", "codex" as "codices", "mouse" as "mice",
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and "fieldmouse" as "fieldmice".
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">The special character <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">+</span></span> after a digit means "double the last letter", so
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that, for example, <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">0+er</span></span> turns "big" to "bigger". In other positions, <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">+</span></span>
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means "add another word", so for example <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">0+er+still</span></span> turns "big" to "bigger
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still".
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">Designing a list of inflection rules is not quite as easy as it looks, because
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these rules are not applied in succession: it's better to think of the rules
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as all being performed at once. In general, if you need one inflection
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rule to take precedence over another, put it in an earlier trie (in the list
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of tries which includes this one), rather than putting it earlier in the same trie.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">For the implementation of these rules, see <a href="2-tai.html" class="internal">Tries and Inflections</a>.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP6" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§6. </b>Once we have that general inflection machinery, most of what we need to
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do becomes a simple matter of writing wrapper functions for tries, and these
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occupy the rest of <a href="2-tai.html" class="internal">Chapter 2: Simple Inflections</a>.
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</p>
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<ul class="items"><li>● <a href="2-ai.html#SP1" class="internal">ArticleInflection::preface_by_article</a> handles the variation of articles:
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for example, mutating "a" to "an" when it comes before "orange", thus making
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"an orange" rather than "a orange".
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</li><li>● <a href="2-ga.html#SP2" class="internal">Grading::make_comparative</a> turns "tall" into "taller".
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</li><li>● <a href="2-ga.html#SP3" class="internal">Grading::make_superlative</a> turns "tall" into "tallest".
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</li><li>● <a href="2-ga.html#SP4" class="internal">Grading::make_quiddity</a> turns "tall" into "tallness".
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</li><li>● <a href="2-pp.html#SP1" class="internal">PastParticiples::pasturise_wording</a> turns "looking away" to "looked away".
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</li><li>● <a href="2-plr.html#SP3" class="internal">Pluralisation::make</a> produces a series of allowable plurals for a
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word, using a combination of a trie to handle regular pluralisation (for
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English, we use Conway's algorithm) and a dictionary of user-supplied
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exceptions.
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</li></ul>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP7" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§7. Declensions. </b><a href="3-dcl.html" class="internal">Declensions</a> are sets of inflected forms of a noun or adjective according
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to their grammatical case. A language should list its cases in a special
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nonterminal called <grammatical-case-names>, in which "nominative" or its
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equivalent should always come first. For example:
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</p>
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<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><grammatical-case-names></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">nominative</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">vocative</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">accusative</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">dative</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">genetive</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">ablative</span>
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</pre>
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<p class="commentary">The function <a href="3-dcl.html#SP2" class="internal">Declensions::no_cases</a> returns a count of these for a given
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natural language. The actual names of cases are only needed by the function
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<a href="3-dcl.html#SP3" class="internal">Declensions::writer</a>, which prints out tables of declensions for debugging
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purposes.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP8" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§8. </b><a href="3-dcl.html#SP5" class="internal">Declensions::of_noun</a> and <a href="3-dcl.html#SP5" class="internal">Declensions::of_article</a> are functions to
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generate declensions, with one form for each case, from a given stem word.
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These are done with Preform NTs called <noun-declension> and <article-declension>
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respectively; these are currently the only two "declension NTs".
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</p>
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<p class="commentary">The rule for a "declension NT" is that it must provide a list of possibilities
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in the form either <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">gender table</span></span> or <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">gender grouper table</span></span>, where <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">gender</span></span> is:
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</p>
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<ul class="items"><li>● the letter <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">m</span></span> for masculine,
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</li><li>● the letter <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">f</span></span> for feminine,
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</li><li>● the letter <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">n</span></span> for neuter/common,
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</li><li>● the asterisk <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">*</span></span> for "any gender".
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</li></ul>
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<p class="commentary">In the two-token form <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">gender table</span></span>, the <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">table</span></span> is a nonterminal for
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irregular forms; if the three-token form <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">gender grouper table</span></span>, the <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">grouper</span></span>
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is a nonterminal which works out which "group" the word falls into — groups
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are numbered, so perhaps, e.g., the word "device" falls into group 1 — and
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then the <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">table</span></span> provides declensions for the different groups needed.
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</p>
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<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP9" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§9. </b>A simple example of using the irregular forms table is provided by the
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English language definition of <article-declension>:
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</p>
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<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">*</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><en-article-declension></span>
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><en-article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">a</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">a</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">a</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">some</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">some</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">the</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">the</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">the</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">the</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">the</span>
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</pre>
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<p class="commentary">Here the declension NT is <article-declension> and contains only one possibility,
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applying to all genders (hence the <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">*</span></span>). The <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">table</span></span> of irregular forms is then
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<en-article-declension>. Each production begins with the possibility against
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which the stem is matched — here, it's going to have to be "a" or "the". There
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are then one possibility for each case (nominative and accusative) in each of
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the two numbers (singular and plural), making four forms in all. English, of
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course, is not very inflected: this would be more interesting for French:
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</p>
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<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">m</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fr-masculine-article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">f</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fr-feminine-article-declension></span>
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fr-masculine-article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">un</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">un</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">un</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">des</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">des</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">le</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">le</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">le</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">les</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">les</span>
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<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><fr-feminine-article-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">un</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">une</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">une</span>
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<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">des</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">des</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">le</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">la</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">la</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">les</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">les</span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP10" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§10. </b>So much for irregular forms. Grouped forms are useful for languages like
|
|
German, which has about 12 groups of nouns, each with its own way of declining.
|
|
For example, there's one group which goes something like:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kraft</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kraft</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kraft</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kraft</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kräfte</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kräfte</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kräften</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kräfte</span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary">and another which goes like:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kamera</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kamera</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kamera</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kamera</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kameras</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kameras</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kameras</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">Kameras</span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary">For German, we might then have
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
|
|
<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><noun-declension></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">*</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-grouper></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-tables></span>
|
|
|
|
<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-grouper></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">kraft</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">1</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">kamera</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">2</span>
|
|
|
|
<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-tables></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-group1-table></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-group2-table></span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary">where for example:
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
|
|
<span class="Preform-function-syntax"><de-noun-group1-table></span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">::=</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">0</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">0</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">0</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">0</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span>
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">3äfte</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">3äfte</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">3äften</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-reserved-syntax">|</span><span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-constant-syntax">3äfte</span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary">giving inflection rules for the four cases of German in singular and then
|
|
in plural. In practice, of course, <de-noun-grouper> will need to sort out
|
|
nouns rather better than this, and there are about 12 groups. Groups are
|
|
numbered upwards from 1 to, in principle, 99. See <a href="3-dcl.html#SP8" class="internal">Declensions::decline_from_groups</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP11" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§11. Verb conjugations. </b>This module supplies an extensive system for conjugating verbs. A full set
|
|
of inflected forms for a verb, in all its tenses, voices and so on, is stored
|
|
in a <a href="3-vc.html#SP1" class="internal">verb_conjugation</a> object. Making these objects is a nontrivial task:
|
|
see the function <a href="3-vc.html#SP6" class="internal">Conjugation::conjugate</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="commentary">Like declensions, verb conjugations rely on a set of tables in special formats,
|
|
but which are stored in nonterminals of Preform grammar. There is a full
|
|
description of the syntax used in these tables in the section <a href="4-ei.html" class="internal">English Inflections</a>,
|
|
which demonstrates a complete conjugation of English verbs.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="commentary firstcommentary"><a id="SP12" class="paragraph-anchor"></a><b>§12. Naming conventions. </b>Tries are highly language specific, and would need rewriting for every language.
|
|
The tries for English are supplied in <a href="4-ei.html" class="internal">English Inflections</a>, but that's just
|
|
for convenience; other languages should supply them in the Inform source text of
|
|
the relevant language extension, or in <span class="extract"><span class="Preform-extract-syntax">Syntax.preform</span></span> files.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="commentary">Except at the very top level, translators are free to created new tries
|
|
and name them as they please, but the top-level tries must have the same
|
|
names that they have here. For example, the Spanish implementation of
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="Preform-displayed-code all-displayed-code code-font">
|
|
<span class="Preform-plain-syntax"> </span><span class="Preform-function-syntax"><singular-noun-to-its-indefinite-article></span>
|
|
</pre>
|
|
<p class="commentary">may look entirely unlike its English version, but at the top level it still
|
|
has to have that name.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="commentary">All lower-level tries used in the implementation should have names beginning
|
|
with a language code: hence the names "en-" used in <a href="4-ei.html" class="internal">English Inflections</a>.
|
|
There doesn't need to be any direct Spanish equivalent to
|
|
<en-trie-plural-assimilated-classical-inflections>, for example.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
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