Provided by: libromana-perligata-perl_0.55-1_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)