Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Mar 16
th, 2012 at 11:17pm:
Rubbish.
English has strict grammatical rules; requires subject, predicate (verb and its modifiers), and object; each must grammatically agree with the other.
I wouldn't call English rules of grammar strict. Firstly half of the Germanic features like case system, gender etc. have all but disappeared from the language. Also for each rule in English, there's usually about 30 odd exceptions to the rule. It's really a nightmare for non-native speakers to learn, for this very reason. Even as children in school we all had so much pain from all the different exceptions to rules. English simply doesn't follow the rules much of the time.
And the phonology of English is just atrocious, hence examples like "
ghoti".
The fact is, that English was forged in a land that was under constant waves of conquests, and that's why the language is so bastardised with each and every wave of conquerors adding and subtracting from the language. In fact only about 1/4 of the vocabulary of English is actually originally Germanic, and even much of that was probably re-borrowed from other Germanic languages rather than being directly inherited from older forms of English.
Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Mar 16
th, 2012 at 11:17pm:
It also accommodates analogy, metaphor, abstract reasoning, comparison, contrast, and exegesis etc. etc.
The nett effect of this sentence is: "English is a language". There's few languages that don't accommodate such concepts.
Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Mar 16
th, 2012 at 11:17pm:
Now let's unpack this. (Although I am not expecting an answer, not a detailed one anyway).
What is a "Harmonious system" and what is a "scientific system"?
Ok a few starting points.
All Arabic vocabulary is based on verbal roots, which usually consist of 3 radicals (sometimes more). Pretty much every other kind of word can be derived from these roots by applying systematic patterns to them. For example:
The root k-t-b which relates to the concept of writing can be configured into the following patterns to produce the following meanings:
kataba (3rd. person singular complete verb, simplest form of the root, 'he wrote')
maktab (location the action is carried out, ie an office, or place of writing)
kaatib (active participle, the one who writes, or author)
maktoub (passive participle, that which is written, or prescribed)
kitaab (a book)
maktabah (library)
and so on. Now I can use those patterns to apply to other roots and instantly determine their meaning. for example the root j-l-s which relates to the concept of sitting:
jalasa (same Ca-Ca-Ca pattern, 3rd. person singular complete verb, 'he sat')
majlis (location of sitting, ie. a gathering, a parliament, a sitting session or meeting)
jaalis (a sitter, the one who sits, active participle)
and so on.
In English you might find sporadic cases that such a systematic system of morphology exists, but it's nowhere near as consistent and reliable as in Arabic.
Arabic also has a case system, it has grammatical gender, 3 grammatical numbers and many other grammatical features English simply does not have anymore, because it lost them when it mixed with other languages.
Anyway, if you're truly interested in this, you should study the language for yourself and see. I'm not stating Arabic is the only language with such features, Latin & German from the European languages also share many of these traits, but English is like the "dogs' breakfast" of languages, it's all over the shop, and anyone who thinks other wise simply doesn't know much about languages.