Robert Luk
Dept. of Computing
Hong Kong PolyU
> This is the rat that the cat chased.
> This is the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat.
> This is the cow that tossed the dog that bit the cat that chased the rat.
> These sentences are the basis of the truncated version of "The
> House that Jack built" that has been under discussion these few days. The
> last one relativizes to, I think: The rat the cat the dog the cow tossed
> worried killed ate (NOT "the rat the cat the dog tossed bit chased",
> which is gibberish). So this is a grammatical sentence. It does not
> follow that it is easy to understand, or even understandable. Grammatical
> sentences which cannot be understood are legion, as I believe has been
> an established principle for forty years at least.
>
> As for whether this sentence "ever occurs", I am a native speaker
> of English and I just wrote it above, so it has indubitably occurred. As
> for the "BNC sampler" I don't know what it is, but give me a live speaker
> any day. Thanks. KVT
>
> If there is something else we are talking about and I am not
> catching on, I stand ready for enlightenment.
>
> Karl V. Teeter kvt@husc.harvard.edu
> Grammarian phone (617)495-8888
> Professor of Linguistics, Emeritus
> Harvard University
> Widener Library Room T
> Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. 02138
>