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Apophatic Theology

Theme: Theology & philosophy · 2 sentences.

← Theology & philosophy · ← Corpus

T-APO-001 · Apophatic Theology

S045 la-to-fe-li wi to-to-se-ma-ka The standards adjudicator operates through [???].

Notes

  • The ambiguity is real. Without X-X, to-to-se-ma-ka reads by pure right-branching as Attempt C. Once X-X = meta-concept is an established pattern (S040–S044), the first two tos draw the eye as a unit and Attempt B becomes an equally valid parse. Ungrouped Attempt A is genuinely ambiguous after S040.
  • B ≠ C in Tonesu formal register. B = a procedure being actively performed (a method). C = a doctrine being cited (a named framework). In institutional contexts where to-fe-li figures operate, this distinction determines how a claim is classified — method vs. authority.
  • ' directionality rule used here is consistent: ' marks the left boundary of a subcompound. A-B'C-D = plain chain [A-B] modifies pre-bound unit [C-D]. A'B-C-D = single modifier A attaches to pre-bound unit [B-C-D]. Both directions attested in one sentence set.
  • Phonological status of ' unresolved. See open-questions.md. Whether the two readings are also phonologically distinct depends on that resolution.
  • T-APO-001 verdict: ' earns its weight. The ungrouped form is genuinely ambiguous post-S040. The two grouped forms are unambiguous, non-equivalent in meaning, and compositionally transparent.

T-APO-002 · Apophatic Theology

S046 la-to-li ka to-to'ma-li'ne-se-to Parse: to-to modifies [ma-li modifies [ne-se-to]] Tonesu scholars engage in the meta-theory of how embodied persons build conceptual relations from perception.

Notes

  • Attempt A is grammatically legal under the current rule — two nested ' markers produce a well-formed tree. But the cognitive load of resolving two left-boundary operations in sequence is high, even for a formal register reader. The nesting is correct; the readability is strained.
  • Attempt B is the recommended form. ne as an explicit connective between two subcompound units costs one extra morpheme and gains full parse transparency. This is consistent with the ambiguity-resolution rule in word-formation.md: "shortest valid unambiguous form" — Attempt A is shorter but not unambiguous on first read; Attempt B is the shortest clearly unambiguous form.
  • Attempt C confirms the phrase-split option. The two-sentence form has zero parse complexity and fits the spec's contraction rule: "if a compound requires more than one apostrophe, restructure as a phrase." This is the pattern to recommend in the usage policy.
  • The ma-li / -li suffix collision appears here. ma-li is parsed as modifier + root (ma = matter, li = social agent = "embodied person"). But -li is also the derivational suffix meaning "one who does" (morphology.md). The forms are identical: ma-li (compound) vs ma-li (matter + doer-suffix = "one who works with matter / material agent"). The two readings are semantically close enough to be genuinely confusing in some contexts. Logged in open-questions.md.
  • T-APO-002 verdict: Two apostrophes produce nested structure that is legal but strains readability. Usage policy update: compounds requiring more than one ' should be restructured as phrases (Attempt B or C). Single ' confirmed as the practical limit. This closes the remaining prerequisite for adopting ' into word-formation.md.

Generated from registry/entries.yaml.