Provided by: libromana-perligata-perl_0.55-1.4_all 
NOMEN
Lingua::Romana::Perligata -- Perl in Latin
EDITIO
This document describes version 0.55 of Lingua::Romana::Perligata, released February 20, 2003.
SUMMARIUM
#! /usr/local/bin/perl -w
use Lingua::Romana::Perligata;
adnota Illud Cribrum Eratothenis
maximum tum val inquementum tum biguttam tum stadium egresso scribe.
vestibulo perlegementum da meo maximo .
maximum tum novumversum egresso scribe.
da II tum maximum conscribementa meis listis.
dum damentum nexto listis decapitamentum fac sic
lista sic hoc tum nextum recidementum cis vannementa da listis.
next tum biguttam tum stadium tum nextum tum novumversum
scribe egresso.
cis
DESCRIPTIO
The Lingua::Romana::Perligata makes it makes it possible to write Perl programs in Latin. (If you have to
ask "Why?", then the answer probably won't make any sense to you either.)
The linguistic principles behind Perligata are described in:
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~damian/papers/HTML/Perligata.html
The module is "use"d at the start of the program, and installs a filter which allows the rest of the
program to be written in (modified) Latin, as described in the following sections.
GRAMMATICA PERLIGATA
Variables
To simplify the mind-numbingly complex rules of declension and conjugation that govern inflexions in
Latin, Perligata treats all user-defined scalar and array variables as neuter nouns of the second
declension -- singular for scalars, plural for arrays.
Hashes represent something of a difficulty in Perligata, as Latin lacks an obvious way of distinguishing
these "plural" variables from arrays. The solution that has been adopted is to depart from the second
declension and represent hashes as masculine plural nouns of the fourth declension.
Hence, the type and role of all types variables are specified by their number and case.
When elements of arrays and hashes are referred to directly in Perl, the prefix of the container changes
from "@" or "%" to "$". So it should not be surprising that Perligata also makes use of a different
inflexion to distinguish these cases.
Indexing operations such as $array[$elem] or $hash{$key} might be translated as "elem of array" or "key
of hash". This suggests that when arrays or hashes are indexed, their names should be rendered in the
genitive (or possessive) case. Multi-level indexing operations ($array[$row][$column]) mean "column of
row of array", and hence the first indexing variable must also be rendered in the genitive.
Note that the current release of Perligata only supports homogeneous multi-level indexing. That is:
$lol[$row][$column] or $hoh{key}{subkey}{subsubkey}, but not $lohol[$index1]{key}[$index2].
The rules for specifying variables may be summarized as follows:
Perligata Number, Case, and Declension Perl Role
========= ============================ ==== ====
nextum accusative singular 2nd $next scalar rvalue
nexta accusative plural 2nd @next array rvalue
nextus accusative plural 4th %next hash rvalue
nexto dative singular 2nd $next scalar lvalue
nextis dative plural 2nd @next array lvalue
nextibus dative plural 4th %next hash lvalue
nexti genitive singular 2nd [$next]... scalar index
nextorum genitive plural 2nd $next[...] array element
nextuum genitive plural 4th $next{...} hash entry
In other words, scalars are always singular nouns, arrays and hashes are always plural (but of different
declensions), and the case of the noun specifies its syntactic role in a statement : accusative for an
rvalue, dative for an lvalue, genitive when being index. Of course, because the inflection determines the
syntactic role, the various components of a statement can be given in any order. For example, the Perl
statement:
$last = $next;
could be expressed in Perligata as any of the following ("da" is the Perligata assignment operator -- see
"Built-in functions and operators"):
lasto da nextum.
lasto nextum da.
nextum da lasto.
nextum lasto da.
da lasto nextum.
da nextum lasto.
The special form $#array is rendered via the Perligata verb admeta ("measure out"). See "Subroutines,
operators, and functions".
The common punctuation variables $_ and @_ are special cases. $_ is often the value under implicit
consideration (e.g. in pattern matches, or "for" loops) and so it is rendered as "this thing": hoc as an
rvalue, huic as an lvalue, huius used as an intermediate index.
Similarly, @_ is implicitly the list of things passed into a subroutine, and so is rendered as "these
things": haec as an rvalue, his as an lvalue, horum when indexed.
Other punctuation variables take the Latin forms of their English.pm equivalents (see "THESAURUS
PERLIGATUS"), often with a large measure of poetic licence. For example, in Perligata, $/ is rendered as
ianitorem or "gatekeeper".
The "numeral" variables -- $1, $2, etc. -- are rendered as synthetic compounds: parprimum ("the equal of
the first"), parsecundum ("the equal of the second"), etc. When used as interim indices, they take their
genitive forms: parprimi, parsecundi, etc. Since they cannot be used as an lvalue, they have no dative
forms.
"my", "our", and "local"
In Perligata, the "my" modifier is rendered -- not surprisingly -- by the first person possessive
pronouns: meo (conferring a scalar context) and meis (for a list context). Note that the modifier is
always applied to a dative (lvalue), and hence is itself declined in that case. Thus:
meo varo haec da. # my $var = @_;
meis varo haec da. # my ($var) = @_
meis varis haec da. # my @var = @_;
Similarly the "our" modifier is rendered as nostro or nostris, depending on the desired context.
The Perl "local" modifier is loco or locis in Perligata:
loco varo haec da. # local $var = @_;
locis varo haec da. # local ($var) = @_
locis varis haec da. # local @var = @_;
This is particularly felicitous: not only is loco the Latin term from which the word "local" derives, it
also means "in place of" (as in: in loco parentis). This meaning is much closer to the actual behaviour
of the "local" modifier, namely to temporarily install a new symbol table entry in place of the current
one.
Subroutines, operators, and functions
Functions, operators, and user-defined subroutines are represented as verbs or, in some situations,
verbal nouns. The inflexion of the verb determines not only its syntactic role, but also its call
context.
User-defined subroutines are the simplest group. To avoid ambiguities, they are all treated as verbs of
the third conjugation. For example, here are the various conjugations for different usages for a user-
defined subroutine "count()":
Perligata Number, Mood, etc Perl Role Context
========= ================= ==== ==== =======
countere infinitive sub count defn -
counte imperative sing. count() call void
countementum acc. sing. resultant count() call scalar
countementa acc. plur. resultant count() call list
countemento dat. sing. resultant count() call scalar lvalue
countementis dat. plur. resultant count() call list lvalue
The use of the infinitive as a subroutine definition is obvious: accipere would tell Perligata how "to
accept"; spernere, how "to reject". So countere specifies how "to count".
The use of the imperative for void context is also straightforward: accipe commands Perligata to
"accept!", sperne tells it to "reject!", and counte bids it "count!". In each case, an instruction is
being given (and in a void context too, so no backchat is expected).
Handling scalar and list contexts is a little more challenging. The corresponding Latin must still have
verbal properties, since an action is being performed upon objects. But it must also have the
characteristics of a noun, since the result of the call will itself be used as the object (i.e. target or
data) of some other verb. Fortunately, Latin has a rich assortment of verbal nouns -- far more than
English -- that could fill this role.
Since it is the result of the subroutine call that is of interest here, the chosen solution was to use
the -ementum suffix, which specifies the (singular, accusative) outcome of an action. This corresponds to
the result of a subroutine called in a scalar context and used as data. For a list data context, the
plural suffix -ementa is used, and for targets, the dative forms are used: -emento and -ementis. Of
course, Perl does not (yet) support lvalue subroutines that return a list/array, so the -mentis suffix
currently triggers an error.
Note that these resultative endings are completely consistent with those for variables.
Built-in functions and operators
Built-in operators and functions could have followed the same "dog-latin" pattern as subroutines. For
example "shift" might have been shifte in a void context, shiftementa when used as data in an array
context, shiftemento when used as a target in a scalar context, etc.
However, Latin already has a perfectly good verb with the same meaning as "shift": decapitare ("to
behead"). Unfortunately, this verb is of the first conjugation, not the second, and hence has the
imperative form decapita, which makes it look like a Perligata array in a data role.
Orthogonality has never been Perl's highest design criterion, so Perligata follows suit by eschewing
bland consistency in favour of aesthetics. All Perligata keywords -- including function and operator
names -- are therefore specified as correct Latin verbs, of whatever conjugation is required. For
example:
Operator/ Literal In void When used as When used as
function meaning context scalar rvalue list rvalue
======== ======= ======= ============= ============
+ "add" adde addementum addementa
= "give" da damentum damenta
. "conjoin" sere serementum serementa
.. "enlist" conscribe conscribementum conscribementa
shift "behead" decapita decapitamentum decapitamenta
push "stack" cumula cumulamentum cumulamenta
pop "unstack" decumula decumulamentum decumulamenta
grep "winnow" vanne vannementum vannementa
print "write" scribe scribementum scribementa
write "write below" subscribe subscribementum subscribementa
die "die" mori morimentum morimenta
The full list of Perligata keywords is provided in "THESAURUS PERLIGATUS".
Note, however, that consistency has not been entirely forsaken. The back-formations of inflexions for
scalar and list context are entirely regular, and consistent with those for user-defined subroutines
(described above).
A few Perl built-in functions -- "pos", "substr", "keys" -- can be used as lvalues. That is, they can be
the target of some other action (typically of an assignment). In Perligata such cases are written in the
dative singular (since the lvalues are always scalar). Note too that, because an assignment to an lvalue
function modifies its first argument, that argument must be a target too, and hence must be written in
the dative as well.
Thus:
nexto stringum reperimentum da. # $next = pos $string;
nextum stringo reperimento da. # pos $string = $next;
inserto stringum tum unum tum duo excerpementum da.
# $insert = substr($string,1,2);
insertum stringo unum tum duo excerpemento da.
# substr($string,1,2) = $insert;
clavis hashus nominamentum da. # @keys = keys %hash;
clava hashibus nominamento da. # keys %hash = @keys;
An interesting special case is the $#array construction, which in Perligata is rendered via the verb
admeta:
counto da arraya admetamentum. # $count = $#array;
Comments
In Perligata, comments are rendered by the verb adnota ("annotate") and extend until the end of the line.
For example:
nexto da prevum. adnota mensuram antiquam reserva
means:
$next = $prev; # remember old amount
Imposing precedence on argument lists
The order-independence of argument lists and subroutine calls largely makes up for the lack of bracketing
in Perligata. For example, the Perl statement:
$res = foo(bar($xray,$yell),$zip);
can be written:
reso da xrayum tum yellum barmentum tum zipum foomentum.
Note that the lack of argument list brackets in Perligata means that if it were written:
reso da foomentum barmentum xrayum tum yellum tum zipum.
it would be equivalent to:
$res = foo(bar($xray,$yell,$zip));
instead.
Likewise, it is possible to translate:
$res = foo($xray,bar($yell,$zip));
like so:
reso da xrayum tum barmentum yellum tum zipum foomentum.
But translating:
$res = foo($weld,bar($xray,$yell),$zip);
presents a difficulty.
In the first example above (xrayum tum yellum barmentum tum zipum foomentum), the verb barmentum was used
as a suffix on xrayum tum yellum -- to keep the variable zipum out of the argument list of the call to
"bar". In the second example (xrayum tum barmentum yellum tum zipum foomentum), the verb barmentum was
used as a prefix on yellum tum zipum -- to keep the variable xrayum out of the argument list.
But in this third example, it's necessary to keep both weldum and zipum out of "bar"'s argument list.
Unfortunately, barmentum can't be both a prefix (to isolate weldum) and a suffix (to isolate zipum)
simultaneously.
The solution is to use the preposition cum (meaning "with...") at the start of "bar"'s argument list,
with barmentum as a suffix at the end of the list:
reso da foomentum weldum tum cum xrayum tum yellum barmentum tum zipum.
It is always permissible to specify the start of a nested argument list with a cum, so long as the
governing verb is used as a suffix.
Blocks and control structures
Natural languages generally use some parenthetical device -- such as parentheses, commas, or (as here)
dashes -- to group and separate collections of phrases or statements.
Some such mechanism would be an obvious choice for denoting Perligata code blocks, but there is a more
aesthetically pleasing solution. Perl's block delimiters ("{".."}") have two particularly desirable
properties: they are individually short, and collectively symmetrical. It was considered important to
retain those characteristics in Perligata.
In Latin, the word sic has a sense that means "as follows". Happily, its contranym, cis, has the meaning
(among others) "to here". The allure of this kind of wordplay being impossible to resist, Perligata
delimits blocks of statements with these two words. For example:
sic # {
loco ianitori. # local $/;
dato nuntio perlegementum da. # $data = <DATA>;
cis # }
Control structures in Perligata are rendered as conditional clauses, as they are in Latin, English, and
Perl. And as in those other languages, they may precede or follow the code blocks they control.
Perligata provides the following control structures:
Perligata Perl
========= ====
si ... fac if ...
nisi ... fac unless ...
dum ... fac while ...
donec ... fac until ...
per (quisque) ... in ... fac for(each) ...
posterus next
ultimus last
reconatus redo
confectus continue
The trailing fac is the imperative form of facere ("to do") and is used as a delimiter on the control
statement's condition. It is required, regardless of whether the control statement precedes or follows
its block.
The choice of dum and donec is completely arbitrary, since Latin does not distinguish "while" and "until"
as abstractions in the way English does. Dum and donec each mean both "while" and "until", and Latin
relies on context (i.e. semantics) to distinguish them. This is impractical for Perligata, so it always
treats dum as "while" and donec as "until". This choice was made in order to favour the shorter term for
the more common type of loop.
The choice of confectus for "continue" seeks to convey the function of the control structure, not the
literal meaning of the English word. That is, a "continue" block specifies how to complete (conficere)
an iteration.
Perligata only supports the pure iterative form of "for(each)", not the C-like three-part syntax.
Because:
foreach $var (@list) {...}
means "for each variable in the list...", the scalar variable must be in the accusative (as it is
governed by the preposition "for"), and the list must be in the ablative (denoting inclusion).
Fortunately, in the second declension, the inflexion for ablatives is exactly the same as for datives,
giving:
per quisque varum in listis sic ... cis
This means that no extra inflexions have to be learned just to use the per loop. Better still, the list
(listis) looks like a Perligata array variable in a target role, which it clearly is, since its contents
may be modified within the loop.
Note that you can also omit the accusative variable completely:
per quisque in listis sic ... cis
and leave hoc ($_) implied, as in regular Perl.
Data
The "__END__" and "__DATA__" markers in Perligata are finis ("boundary") and nuntius ("information")
respectively. Data specified after either of these markers is available via the input stream nuntio. For
example:
dum perlege nuntio fac sic # while (<DATA>) {
scribe egresso hoc. # print $_;
cis # }
#
finis # __END__
post # post
hoc # hoc
ergo # ergo
propter # propter
hoc # hoc
Numbers
Numeric literals in Perligata are rendered by Roman numerals -- I, II, III, IV...XV...XLII, etc, up to
(((((((I)))))))((((((((I))))))))((((((I))))))(((((((I)))))))(((((I)))))((((((I))))))((((I))))(((((I)))))(((I)))((((I))))((I))(((I)))M((I))CMXCIX
(that is: 9,999,999,999)
The digits are:
Roman Arabic
===== ======
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1,000
I)) 5,000
((I)) 10,000
I))) 50,000
(((I))) 100,000
I)))) 500,000
((((I)))) 1,000,000
I))))) 5,000,000
(((((I))))) 10,000,000
I)))))) 500,000,000
((((((I)))))) 1,000,000,000
I))))))) 5,000,000,000
(((((((I))))))) 10,000,000,000
The value ((I)) is 10,000 and every additional pair of apostrophi (rendered as parentheses in ASCII)
multiply that value by 10.
Notice that those wacky Romans literally used "half" of each big number (e.g. I)), I))), etc.) to
represent half of each big numbers (i.e. 5000, 50000, etc.)
The first 10 numbers may also be referred to by name: unum/unam, duo/duas, tres, quattuor, quinque, sex,
septem, octo, novem, decem. Zero, for which there is no Latin numeral, is rendered by nullum ("no-one").
Nihil ("nothing") might have been a closer rendering, but it is indeclinable and hence indistinguishable
in the accusative and genitive.
When a numeric literal is used in an indexing operation, it must be an ordinal: "zeroth (element)",
"first (element)", "second (element)", etc.
The first ten ordinals are named (in the accusative): primum/primam, secundum/secundam, tertium/tertiam,
quartum/quartam, quintum/quintam, sextum/sextam, septimum/septimam, octavum/octavam, nonum/nonam,
decimum/decimam. Ordinals greater than ten are represented by their corresponding numeral with the
suffix -imum: XVimum ("15th"), XLIIimum ("42nd"), etc. By analogy, ordinal zero is rendered by the
invented form nullimum.
If the element being indexed is used as an lvalue, then the ordinal must of course be in the dative
instead: nullimo, primo, secundo, tertio, quarto, quinto, sexto, septimo, octavo, nono, decimo, XIimo,
etc. Note that the feminine dative forms are not available in Perligata, as they are ambiguous with the
feminine genitive singular forms.
In a multi-level indexing operation, ordinals may need to be specified in the genitive: nulli/nullae,
primi/primae, secundi/secundae, tertii/tertiae...XVimi/XVimae, etc.
For example:
$unimatrix[1][3][9][7];
would be:
septimum noni tertii primi unimatrixorum
which is literally:
seventh of ninth of third of first of unimatrix
Note that the order of the genitives is significant here, and is the reverse of that required in Perl.
As mentioned in "Variables", Perligata currently only supports homogeneous multi-level indexing. If the
final genitive indicates an array (e.g. unimatrixorum in the previous example), then preceding index is
assumed to be an array index. If the final genitive indicates a hash, every preceding genitive, and the
original ordinal are presumed to be keys. For example:
septimum noni tertii primi unimatrixorum # $unimatrix[1][3][9][7];
septimum noni tertii primi unimatrixuum # $unimatrix{1}{3}{9}{7};
Floating point numbers are expressed in Perligata as Latin fractions:
unum quartum # 0.25
MMMCXLI Mimos # 3.141
Note that the numerator is always a cardinal and the denominator a (singular or plural) ordinal ("one
fourth", "3141 1000ths"). The plural of a Latin accusative ordinal is formed by replacing the -um suffix
by -os. This nicety can be ignored, as Perligata will accept fractions in the form MMMCXLI Mimum ("3141
1000th")
Technically, both numerator and denominator should also be in the feminine gender -- una quartam, MMMCXLI
Mimas. This Latin rule is not enforced in Perligata (to help minimize the number of suffixes that must be
remembered), but Perligata does accept the feminine forms.
Perligata outputs numbers in Arabic, but the verb come ("beautify") may be used to convert numbers to
proper Roman numerals:
per quisque in I tum C conscribementum sic
hoc tum duos multiplicamentum comementum egresso scribe.
cis
Strings
Classical Latin does not use punctuation to denote direct quotation. Instead the verb inquit ("said") is
used to report a direct utterance. Hence in Perligata, a literal character string is constructed, not
with quotation marks, but by invoking the verbal noun inquementum ("the result of saying"), with a data
list of literals to be interpolated. For example:
print STDOUT 'Enter next word:';
becomes:
Enter tum next tum word inquementum tum biguttam egresso scribe.
Note that the arguments to inquementum are special, in that they are treated as literals. Punctuation
strings have special names, such as lacunam ("a hole") for space, stadium ("a stride") for tabspace,
novumversum ("new verse") for newline, or biguttam ("two spots") for colon.
It is also possible to directly quote a series of characters (as if they were inside a "q{...}". The
Perligata equivalent is a dictum sic...cis:
sic Enter next word : cis dictum egresso scribe.
or:
dictum sic Enter next word : cis egresso scribe.
"dictum" is, of course, a contraction of "dicementum" ("the result of saying"), and Perligata allows this
older form as well.
Perligata does not provide an interpolated quotation mechanism. Instead, variables must be concatenated
into a string. So:
print STDERR "You entered $word\n";
$mesg = "You entered $word";
becomes:
You tum entered inquementum tum wordum tum novumversum oraculo scribe.
mesgo da You tum entered inquementum tum wordum serementum.
Regular expressions
[Perligata's regular expression mechanism is not yet implemented. This section outlines how it will work
in a future release.]
In Perligata, patterns will be specified in a constructive syntax (as opposed to Perl's declarative
approach). Literals will regular strings and other components of a pattern will be adjectives, verbs,
nouns, or a connective:
Perl Perligata Meaning
==== ========= =======
...+? multum "many"
...+ plurissimum "most"
...?? potis "possible"
...? potissimum "most possible"
(...) captivum "captured"
(?=...) excuba "keep watch"
[...] opta "choose between"
. quidlibet "anything"
\d digitum "a finger"
\s lacunam albam "a white space"
\w litteram "a character"
| an interrogative "or"
The final pattern will be produced using the supine desideratum. For example:
pato da desideratum # $pat = qr/(?x)
C tum plurissimum A tum O opta tum T # C[AO]+T
an DOG tum potissimum GY. # |DOG(?:GY)?/;
Actual matching against a pattern will be done via the compara ("match") and substitue ("substitute")
verbs:
si stringum patum comparamentum fac sic # if ($string =~ /$pat/) {
scribe egresso par inquementum # print "match"
cis #
huic substitue patum tum valum # s/$pat/$val/
per quisque in listis. # foreach @list;
Note that the string being modified by substitue will have to be dative.
References
To create a reference to a variable, the variable is written in the ablative (which looks exactly like
the dative in Perligata's restricted Latin syntax) and prefaced with the preposition ad ("to"). To create
a reference to a subroutine, the associated verb is inflected with the accusative suffix -torem ("one
who...") to produce the corresponding noun-of-agency.
For example:
val inquemento hashuum ad dato da. # $hash{'val'} = \$dat;
arg inquemento hashuum ad argis da. # $hash{'arg'} = \@arg;
act inquemento hashuum functorem da. # $hash{'act'} = \&func;
ad val inquemento hashuum dato da. # $dat = \$hash{'val'};
ad inquemento arg hashuum argis da. # @arg = \$hash{'arg'};
funcemento da ad inquemento act hashuum. # func() = \$hash{'act'};
A special case of this construction is the anonymous subroutine constructor factorem ("one who does..."),
which is the equivalent of "sub {...}" in Perl:
anonymo da factorem sic haec mori cis. # $anon = sub { die @_ };
As in Perl, such subroutines may be invoked by concatenating a call specifier to the name of the variable
holding the reference:
anonymume nos tum morituri inquementum. # &$anon('Nos morituri');
Note that the variable holding the reference (anonymum) is being used as data, so it is named in the
accusative.
In the few cases where a subroutine reference can be the target of an action, the dative suffix (-tori)
is used instead:
benedictum functori classum. # bless \&func, $class;
benedictum factori sic mori cis classum. # bless sub{die}, $class;
To dereference other types of references, a resultative of the verb arcesse ("fetch") is used:
Ref type Perligata Perl Context
======== ========= ==== =======
scalar arcessementum varum $$var rvalue
scalar arcessemento varum $$var lvalue
array arcessementi varum ...[$$var] rvalue
array arcessementa varum @$var rvalue
array arcessementis varum @$var lvalue
array arcessementorum varum $var->[...] either
hash arcessementus varum %$var rvalue
hash arcessementibus varum %$var lvalue
array arcessementuum varum $var->{...} either
Note that the first six forms are just the standard resultatives (in accusative, dative, and genitive)
for the regular Perligata verb arcesse. The last three forms are ungrammatical inflections (-mentum is
2nd declension, not 4th), but are plausible extensions of the resultative to denote a hash return value.
Multiple levels of dereferencing are also possible:
valo da arcessementa arcessementum varum # $val = @$$var;
as is appropriate indexing (using the genitive forms):
valo da primum varum arcessementorum # $val = $var->[1];
valo da primum varum arcessementuum # $val = $var->{1};
valo da primum varum arcessementi arrorum # $val = $arr[$$var][1];
Boolean logic
Perl's logical conjunctive and disjunctive operators come in two precedences, and curiously, so do those
of Latin. The higher precedence Perl operators -- "&&" and "||" -- are represented in Perligata by the
emphatic Latin conjunctions atque and vel respectively. The lower precedence operators -- "and" and "or"
-- are represented by the unemphatic conjunctive suffixes -que and -ve. Hence:
reso damentum foundum atque runementum. # $res = $found && run();
reso damentum foundum runementumque. # $res = $found and run();
reso damentum foundum vel runementum. # $res = $found || run();
reso damentum foundum runementumve. # $res = $found or run();
Note that, as in Latin, the suffix of the unemphatic conjunction is always appended to the first word
after the point at which the conjunction would appear in English. Thus:
$result = $val or max($1,$2);
is rendered as:
resulto damentum valum parprimumve tum parsecundum maxementum.
or:
resulto damentum valum maxementumve parprimum tum parsecundum.
Proper Latinate comparisons would be odious in Perligata, because they require their first argument to be
expressed in the nominative and would themselves have to be indicative. This would, of course, improve
the positional independence of the language even further, allowing:
si valus praecedit datum... # if $val < $dat...
si praecedit datum valus... # if $val < $dat...
si datum valus praecedit... # if $val < $dat...
Unfortunately, it also introduces another set of case inflexions and another verbal suffix. Worse, it
would mean that noun suffixes are no longer unambiguous. In the 2nd declension, the nominative plural
ends in the same -i as the genitive singular, and the nominative singular ending (-us) is the same as the
accusative plural suffix for the fourth declension. So if nominatives were used, scalars could no longer
always be distinguished from arrays or from hashes, except by context.
To avoid these problems, Perligata represents the equality and simple inequality operators by three pairs
of verbal nouns:
Perligata Meaning Perl
========= ======= ====
aequalitam "equality (of...)" ==
aequalitas "equalities (of...)" eq
praestantiam "precedence (of...)" <
praestantias "precedences (of...)" lt
comparitiam "comparison (of...)" <=>
comparitias "comparisons (of...)" cmp
Each operator takes two data arguments, which it compares:
si valum tum datum aequalitam # si $val == $dat
si valum tum datum praestantias # si $val lt $dat
si aum tum bum comparitiam # si $a <=> $b
The effects of the other comparison operators -- ">", "<=", "!=", "ne", "ge", etc. -- are all achieved by
appropriate ordering of the two arguments and combination with the the logical negation operator non:
si valum tum datum non aequalitam # if $val != $dat
si datum tum valum praestantiam # if $val > $dat
si valum non praestantias datum # if $val ge $dat
Packages and classes
The Perligata keyword to declare a package is domus, literally "the house of". In this context, the name
of the class follows the keyword and is treated as a literal; as if it were the data argument of an
inquementum.
To explicitly specify a variable or subroutine as belonging to a package, the preposition intra
("within") is used. To call a subroutine as a method of a particular package (or of an object), the
preposition apud ("of the house of") is used. Thus intra is Perligata's "::" and apud is it's "->".
The Perl "bless" function is benedice in Perligata, but almost invariably used in the scalar accusative
form benedicementum. Perligata also understands the correct (contracted) Latin form of this verb:
benedictum.
Thus:
domus Specimen. # package Specimen;
newere # sub new
sic # {
meis datibus. # my %data;
counto intra Specimen
postincresce. # $Specimen::count++;
datibus primum horum benedictum. # bless \%data, $_[0];
cis # }
printere # sub print
sic # {
modus tum indefinitus inquementum mori. # die 'method undefined';
cis # }
domus princeps. # package main;
meo objecto da # my $object =
newementum apud Specimen. # Specimen->new;
printe apud objectum; # $object->print;
THESAURUS PERLIGATUS
This section lists the complete Perligata vocabulary, except for Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.)
In each of the following tables, the three columns are always the same: "Perl construct", "Perligata
equivalent", "Literal meaning of Perligata equivalent".
Generally, only the accusative form is shown for nouns and adjectives, and only the imperative for verbs.
Values and variables
0 nullum "no-one"
1 unum "one"
2 duo "two"
3 tres "three"
4 quattuor "four"
5 quinque "five"
6 sex "six"
7 septem "seven"
8 octo "eight"
9 novem "nine"
10 decem "ten"
[0] nullimum "zeroth"
[1] primum "first"
[2] secundum "second"
[3] tertium "third"
[4] quartum "fourth"
[5] quintum "fifth"
[6] sextum "sixth"
[7] septimum "seventh"
[8] octavum "eighth"
[9] nonum "ninth"
[10] decimum "tenth"
$1 parprimum "equal of the first"
$2 parsecundum "equal of the first"
$3 partertium "equal of the third"
$4 parquartum "equal of the fourth"
$5 parquintum "equal of the fifth"
$6 parsextum "equal of the sixth"
$7 parseptimum "equal of the seventh"
$8 paroctavum "equal of the eighth"
$9 parnonum "equal of the ninth"
$10 pardecimum "equal of the tenth"
$/ ianitorem "gatekeeper"
$#var admeta varum "measure out"
$_ hoc/huic "this thing"
@_ his/horum "these things"
":" biguttam "two spots"
" " lacunam "a gap"
"\t" stadium "a stride"
"\n" novumversum "new line"
local loco "in place of"
my meo "my"
our nostro "our"
main princeps "principal"
Quotelike operators
'...' inque "say"
q// inque "say"
m// compara "match"
s/// substitue "substitute"
tr/// converte "translate"
Mathematical operators and functions
+ adde "add"
- deme "subtract"
- nega "negate"
* multiplica "multiply"
/ divide "divide"
% recide "lop off"
** eleva "raise"
& consocia "unite"
| interseca "intersect"
^ discerne "differentiate (between)"
++ preincresce "increase beforehand"
++ postincresce "increase afterwards"
-- predecresce "decrease beforehand"
-- postdecresce "decrease afterwards"
abs priva "strip from"
atan2 angula "create an angle"
sin oppone "oppose"
cos accuba "lie beside"
int decolla "behead"
log succide "log a tree"
sqrt fode "root into"
rand conice "guess, cast lots"
srand prosemina "to scatter seed"
Logical and comparison operators
! non "general negation"
&& atque "empathic and"
|| vel "emphatic or"
and -que "and"
or -ve "or"
< praestantiam "precedence of"
lt praestantias "precedences of"
<=> comparitiam "comparison of"
cmp comparitias "comparisons of"
== aequalitam "equality of"
eq aequalitas "equalities of"
Strings
chomp morde "bite"
chop praecide "cut short"
chr inde "give a name to"
hex senidemi "sixteen at a time"
oct octoni "eight at a time"
ord numera "number"
lc deminue "diminish"
lcfirst minue "diminish"
uc amplifica "increase"
ucfirst amplia "increase"
quotemeta excipe "make an exception"
crypt huma "inter"
length meta "measure"
pos reperi "locate"
pack convasa "pack baggage"
unpack deconvasa "unpack"
split scinde "split"
study stude "study"
index scruta "search"
join coniunge "join"
substr excerpe "extract"
Scalars, arrays, and hashes
defined confirma "verify"
undef iani "empty, make void"
scalar secerna "to distinguish, isolate"
reset lusta "cleanse"
pop decumula "unstack"
push cumula "stack"
shift decapita "behead"
unshift capita "crown"
splice iunge "splice"
grep vanne "winnow"
map applica "apply to"
sort digere "sort"
reverse retexe "reverse"
delete dele "delete"
each quisque "each"
exists adfirma "confirm"
keys nomina "name"
values argue "to disclose the contents"
I/O
open evolute "open a book"
close claude "close a book"
eof extremus "end of"
read lege "read"
getc sublege "pick up something"
readline perlege "read through"
print scribe "write"
printf describe "describe"
sprintf rescribe "rewrite"
write subscribe "write under"
pipe inriga "irrigate"
tell enunta "tell"
seek conquire "to seek out"
STDIN vestibulo "an entrance"
STDOUT egresso "an exit"
STDERR oraculo "a place were doom is pronounced"
DATA nuntio "information"
Control structures
{...} sic...cis "as follows...to here"
do fac "do"
sub {...} factorem sic...cis "one who does ...
eval aestima "evaluate"
exit exi "exit"
for per...in...fac "for...in...do"
foreach per quisque...in...fac "for each...in...do"
goto adi "go to"
<label>: inscribe <label> "make a mark"
return redde "return"
if si...fac "if"
unless nisi...fac "if not"
until donec...fac "until"
while dum...fac "while"
wantarray deside "want"
last ultimus "final"
next posterus "following"
redo reconatus "trying again"
continue confectus "complete"
die mori "die"
warn mone "warn"
croak coaxa "croak (like a frog)"
carp carpe "carp at"
__DATA__ nuntius "information"
__END__ finis "a boundary"
Packages, classes, and modules
-> apud "of the house of"
:: intra "within"
bless benedice "bless"
caller memora "recount a history"
package domus "house of "
ref agnosce "identify"
tie liga "tie"
tied exhibe "display something"
untie solve "to untie"
require require "require"
use ute "use"
System and filesystem interaction
chdir demigrare "migrate"
chmod permitte "permit"
chown vende "sell"
fcntl modera "control"
flock confluee "flock together"
glob inveni "search"
ioctl impera "command"
link copula "link"
unlink decopula "unlink"
mkdir aedifica "build"
rename renomina "rename"
rmdir excide "raze"
stat exprime "describe"
truncate trunca "shorten"
alarm terre "frighten"
dump mitte "drop"
exec commuta "transform"
fork furca "fork"
kill interfice "kill"
sleep dormi "sleep"
system obsecra "entreat a higher power"
umask dissimula "mask"
wait manta "wait for"
Miscellaneous
, tum "and then"
. sere "conjoin"
.. conscribe "enlist"
\ ad "towards"
= da "give"
#... adnota "annotate"
(... cum "with"
to_roman come "beautify"
DIIUDICATORES
The Lingua::Romana::Perligata module may issue the following diagnostic messages:
Aliquod barbarum inveni: '%s'
Some foreign (non-Perligata) symbol was encountered. Commonly this is a semi-colon where a period
should have been used, but any other non-alphanumeric will trigger the same error.
'-mentis' illicitum: '%s'
Perl does not (yet) support lvalue subroutines that return arrays. Hence Perligata does not allow
the -mentis suffix to be used on user-defined verbs.
Index '%s' ordinalis non est
An index or key was specified as a numeral (e.g. unum), rather than an ordinal (e.g. primum).
'%s' immaturum est
The symbol indicated (typically tum) appeared too early in the command (e.g. before any accusative).
Iussum nefastum: '%s'
The indicated imperative verb was encountered where a resultative was expected (e.g. the imperative
was incorrectly used as an argument to another subroutine or a conjunction).
Accusativum non junctum: '%s'
The indicated accusative noun or clause appears in a command, but does not belong to any verb in the
command.
Dativum non junctum: '%s'
The indicated dative noun or clause appears in a command, but does not belong to any verb in the
command.
Genitivum non junctum: '%s'
The indicated genitive noun or clause appears in a command, but does not belong to any verb in the
command.
Sententia imperfecta prope '%s'
The command or clause is missing an imperative verb.
Exspectavi 'sic' sed inveni '%s'
The beginning of a code block was expected at the point where the indicated word was found.
Exspectavi 'cis' sed inveni '%s'
The end of a code block was expected at the point where the indicated word was found.
Exspectavi accusativum post 'per' sed inveni '%s'
The per control structure takes an accusative noun after it. The indicated symbol was found instead.
'in' pro 'per' afuit
The in in a per statement was missing.
'%s' dativus non est in 'per'
After the in of a per statement a dative noun or clause is required. It was not found.
Iussa absentia per '%s'
The block of the indicated control statement was missing.
Non intellexi: '%s'
A general error message indicating the symbol was not understood in the context it appeared.
In addition to these diagnostics, additional debugging support is provided in the form of three arguments
that may be passed to the call to "use Lingua::Romana::Perligata".
The first of these -- 'converte' ("translate") -- causes the module to translate the Perligata code into
Perl and write it to STDOUT instead of executing it. This is useful when your Perligata compiles and
runs, but does not execute as you expected.
The second argument that may be passed when loading the module is 'discribe' ("classify"), which causes
the module to print a lexical analysis of the original Latin program. This is very handy for identifying
incorrect inflections, etc.
The final argument -- 'investiga', ("trace") -- provides a blow-by-blow trace of the translation process,
tracking eack of the internal stacks (the verb stack, the accusative stack, the dative stack, the block
stack), and showing where each reduction is performed. This wealth of information tends to be useful only
to those familiar with the internals of the module.
GRATIAE
Special thanks to Marc Moskowitz, John Crossley, Tom Christiansen, and Bennett Todd, for their invaluable
feedback and suggestions. And my enduring gratitude to David Secomb and Deane Blackman for their heroic
patience in helping me struggle with the perplexities of the lingua Romana.
SCRIPTOR
Damian Conway (damian@conway.org)
CIMICES
There are undoubtedly some very serious bugs lurking somewhere in code this funky :-) Bug reports and
other feedback are most welcome.
Corrections to my very poor Latin are doubly welcome.
IUS TRANSCRIBENDI
Copyright (c) 2000-2001, Damian Conway. All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be
used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License
(see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)