Let's revisit that post of April 7.
'Cows grass eat.'
The meaning of this sentence couldn't be less clear.
The import of that meaninglessness couldn't be more obvious.
In English, very simply,
Word Order Rules.
Let's take a look at the blog entry I wrote over a year ago.
It bears directly upon word order and the critical role it plays in English syntax.
"A New Word Order?
"'Done what you've looked,' angrily shouted one of the salesman. He meant to say 'Look what you've done,' but the words had gotten so hopelessly mixed up that no one could make any sense at all. 'Do going to what we are!'"
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
So begins a chapter from Norton Juster's fabulous book about a boy with nothing to do and his travels in the Lands Beyond.
The greatest difficulty that confronts the English speaker in the learning of Latin is the manner in which the two languages establish meaning. In the English sentence (as Juster's words demonstrate so poignantly), word order plays the crucial role, with endings of words filling in any informational gaps.
In the drama of the Latin sentence, meanwhile, word ending is the protagonist, with word order playing a secondary, nuanced role. Yes, the verb in Latin prose tends to come at the end of a sentence. But very frequently you will find the verb in first position (we're talking sentence structure here, not ballet).
Ask your typical speaker of English the question:
"How does the English sentence convey meaning?"
A shoulder shrug and "I don't know" will be the response.
Direct said speaker to a book store with words of the following sort:
"And up hurry Phantom the Tollbooth Juster buy Norton by."
They point the get might.'"