lateralus's Journal: Atoms and Words Part II

The simplest and most rigidly unchanging of atoms are punctuation marks. Punctuation serve more in the proper interpretation of the data than in carrying the data itself. A punctuation mark at the end of a sentence allows us to partition our writing but does not convey an additional message. A semicolon at the end of a line of computer code serves the computer compiler in interpreting the code but does not carry information about the program.

Punctuation marks have different flavors even though they are so rigid and limited in scope. Different languages use different methods in employing them. Thus they are given specific flavors. Anyone who has never read Spanish will be surprised to find upside-down exclamation and question marks in the text. Any C programmer that moves to LISP will become dazzled by the ubiquitous parenthesis es in the language.

Once a person decides to invent a new language he/she will use all the basic atomic elements in their repertoire but will choose specific flavors of them. An exclamation mark will still carry the same meaning but in different form.

By stating that punctuation is the most rigid type of language atoms and that even they have distinct flavors I hope to lay the groundwork to the idea that all atoms have flavors. Especially those atoms that are words and phrases.

Phrases are by far the most flexible of language atoms. Phrases have the highest potential in carrying flavor inside them and transmitting a sense of flavor to their readers or interpreters. The grammatical methods used by a person can make his/her writing robust, superfluous or austere. The method in which a programmer decides to implement a simple construct such as a FOR-loop in software can vary greatly within a given language and can serve a powerful, sometimes even political statement far beyonds its primary purpose.