Juerd writes:
> (While typing this, I realised that there may be, in English, a
> difference between subject and topic. If that's true, please educate
> me.)
Well, from a non-linguist's point of view, they are two very different
things.
My brother asked me to take out the trash. I asked him to do it.
I believe that the subject there is "my brother" in the first sentence
and "I" in the second. The topic is either "to take out the trash" or
just "the trash" throughout (English speakers wouldn't have any trouble
allowing it to be both).
Interesting, this is the same kind of reasoning (and backwards naming)
that I used when I proposed ` as the "subjective" dot.
Speaking of such a dot, there are things I like about ^ and things I
don't. It is fairly visually intrusive on the one hand. On the other,
it's on the top of the line rather than the bottom, which makes a nice
contrast from the regular dot.
As alternatives, Damian has suggested Âmeth(), and I've suggested
Âmeth(). They both look wrong. I'm not even sure we're on the right
track, changing the dot (changing the dot also includes Thomas's
proposal: his dot is just postfix). I do think that considering the
distinction between "subject" and "topic" is important to getting it
right, however.
Luke
