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PN = proper noun
N = noun
V = verb
NP = noun phrase
RC = relative clause
VP = verb phrase
S = sentence
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is a grammatically correct sentence used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated constructs. It has been discussed in literature since 1972 when the sentence was used by William J. Rapaport, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo. It was posted to Linguist List by Rapaport in 1992. It was also featured in Steven Pinker's 1994 book The Language Instinct.
Also known as, really weird buffalo that buffalo.
Other words
Other English words can be used to make grammatical sentences of this form, containing many consecutive repetitions. Any word that is both an animate plural noun and a transitive verb will work. One un-punctuated example is "James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher". This could concern a situation in an English class regarding the usage of the word had, and might be punctuated as, "James, while John had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had a better effect on the teacher."
Other words which can be used in this manner include police, fish, people, and smelt.
See also
- James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher
- That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is
- Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den
- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
- Malo malo malo malo
- List of linguistic example sentences
- Semantic satiation
Notes
- Rapaport, William J. 22 September 2006. "A History of the Sentence "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."". Accessed 23 September 2006. (archived copy)
- Rapaport, William J. 19 February 1992. "Message 1: Re: 3.154 Parsing Challenges". Accessed 14 September 2006.
- Pinker, Steven. The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1994. p. 210
External links
Listen to this article(2 parts, 5 minutes)
These audio files were created from a revision of this article dated Error: no date provided, and do not reflect subsequent edits.(Audio help · More spoken articles)
- "Buffaloing buffalo" at Language Log, 20 January 2005
- Easdown, David. Template:PDF
- The Emory Wheel, Andrew Swerlick What a Herd of Confused Bison from Upstate New York Can Teach Us About Our Difficulties With the English Language