New research has shown that all languages evolve to be as efficient as possible. That is both trivial and wrong. And right, as well, of course. When we're in a hurry to convey an important message, we try to apply as many shortcuts we can without losing meaning, thereby making language efficient.
However, sometimes languages do not communicate efficiently but beautifully.
For example, the Roman poet Horace (65 BC - 8 BC) ends a poem thus:
... Me tabula sacer
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
A word for word translation would be something like this:
"My tablet sacred votive wall shows wet (I) hang dominating clothes sea god."
However, applying some knowledge of Latin word forms, it is clear that the actual meaning could be conveyed with a word order that is easier to grasp in English:
"The votive tablet on the sacred wall shows that I hang up my wet clothes to the god who dominates the sea."
Added colours may hint which parts of the poem belong together:
... Me tabula sacer
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
No efficiency in the poem, but beauty nevertheless.
Another writer with a sense for unexpected word order is the Icelander Sigvatr Þórðarson (995 - 1045), who has the following verse in his Austrfararvísur:
Oss hafa augu þessi
íslenzk, kona, vísat
brattan stíg at baugi
björtum langt en svörtu.
However, sometimes languages do not communicate efficiently but beautifully.
For example, the Roman poet Horace (65 BC - 8 BC) ends a poem thus:
... Me tabula sacer
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
A word for word translation would be something like this:
"My tablet sacred votive wall shows wet (I) hang dominating clothes sea god."
However, applying some knowledge of Latin word forms, it is clear that the actual meaning could be conveyed with a word order that is easier to grasp in English:
"The votive tablet on the sacred wall shows that I hang up my wet clothes to the god who dominates the sea."
Added colours may hint which parts of the poem belong together:
... Me tabula sacer
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
No efficiency in the poem, but beauty nevertheless.
Another writer with a sense for unexpected word order is the Icelander Sigvatr Þórðarson (995 - 1045), who has the following verse in his Austrfararvísur:
Oss hafa augu þessi
íslenzk, kona, vísat
brattan stíg at baugi
björtum langt en svörtu.
The original word order:
"Us have eyes these Icelandic, woman, shown uphill road to the ring bright long and black."
Again, one first has to study Old Icelandic grammar for a few months to figure it out:
"These black, Icelandic eyes, have shown us, woman, the long uphill road to the bright ring."
I love the way he throws in "svörtu", black, at the end, as if he had forgotten about it until then. These Icelandic eyes have.... oh, they were black, by the way. Another nifty thing is the assonance between "svörtu" and "björtum", bright. And the contrast between black and bright. And the alliteration between "brattan", "baugi" and "björtum".
All in all both Horace and Sigvatr knew what they were doing in their inefficient writing.
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