Rules vs. Lists

[Rob Freeman]

On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 10:42 AM, A. Katz <amnfn at well.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 4 Jul 2008, Rob Freeman wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jul 3, 2008 at 9:32 PM, A. Katz <amnfn at well.com> wrote:
>> > ...When
>> > we speak of list-based system, we speak of a system where there are more
>> > rules than instances where they are applied.
>>
>> Can you give me even one example of such a system, Aya?
>
> ... English spelling ... it's almost as if there is a different rule for every word. Not
> quite, but almost.

I'm grateful you are thinking about this Aya, and it is indeed what I
am suggesting that natural language is of this form, but English
spelling, as you say, is probably only almost this way, but not quite.

I'm still not sure you see what I mean by a system which has more
rules implicit in the examples than there are examples themselves.

Can you show me a system where there are more rules implicit in the
examples than there are examples themselves, and explain why it must
be so?

-Rob