<p>Well,</p>

<p>it is pretty clear that this is just relexified English, just look at the function words: <em>at, the, of, where, but, is, with, ...</em>. Also the syntax is 1:1 English syntax, and even the inflections (plural in -s, perfect participle in -ed, third person singular present tense in -s) are the original English one. All in all, it sounds like a strange kind of English slang.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T11:33:37.453Z
Sure, but I'm wondering if in a deeper part of the game there's evidence of grammatical differences. Probably this isn't a good question for the site though.
curiousdannii
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-08T10:02:14.770Z
2018-02-08T10:02:14.770Z
Sir Cornflakes
<blockquote>
<p>Finally, here you are. At the delcot of tondam, where doshes deave. But the doshery lutt is crenned with glauds.</p>
<p>Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes discren them.</p>
<p>But you are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. And no glaud will vorl them from you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So begins <a href="http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=w5s3sv43s3p98v45" rel="noreferrer"><em>The Gostak</em></a>, an Interactive Fiction game based on the classic phrase <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gostak" rel="noreferrer">&quot;the gostak distims the doshes&quot;</a>.</p>
<p>The game is filled with words with no meaning in English, but which are used consistently, such that the player can at least learn their functions and relationships, if not what they actually mean. The grammar of the text seems to just be normal English, but are there places in the game where it starts to transform its grammar as well?</p>

<relexification>
Is the language of The Gostak more than just relexified English?
# Is the language of The Gostak more than just relexified English?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-08)

> Finally, here you are. At the delcot of tondam, where doshes deave. But the doshery lutt is crenned with glauds.
>
> Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes discren them.
>
> But you are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. And no glaud will vorl them from you.

So begins [*The Gostak*](http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=w5s3sv43s3p98v45), an Interactive Fiction game based on the classic phrase ["the gostak distims the doshes"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gostak).

The game is filled with words with no meaning in English, but which are used consistently, such that the player can at least learn their functions and relationships, if not what they actually mean. The grammar of the text seems to just be normal English, but are there places in the game where it starts to transform its grammar as well?

**Tags:** relexification


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-08. Score: 4

Well,

it is pretty clear that this is just relexified English, just look at the function words: *at, the, of, where, but, is, with, ...*. Also the syntax is 1:1 English syntax, and even the inflections (plural in -s, perfect participle in -ed, third person singular present tense in -s) are the original English one. All in all, it sounds like a strange kind of English slang.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Sure, but I'm wondering if in a deeper part of the game there's evidence of grammatical differences. Probably this isn't a good question for the site though.  

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