Translation Test: Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals (1971) — The Thirteen Tactical Rules
Source: Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, 1971
Original language: English
Reference: Chapter 7, "Tactics" (Rules 1–13 as listed in the canonical edition)
Status: Draft — ALI-001 first pass (S777–S788)
Purpose
Alinsky's 13 tactical rules are a power-vocabulary stress test in a domain adjacent to but distinct from the SLZ batches. Where Solzhenitsyn was concerned with the epistemic structure of lying under coercion, Alinsky is concerned with the mechanics of force, leverage, and psychological terrain. The vocabulary pressure falls on:
wi-raas both noun and verb — Rule 1 defines power structurally; Rule 8 uses it as a sustained action. Doeswi-rahold across both uses?to-suas competence-domain — Rules 2–3 are symmetric observations about organized knowledge as the proper zone of action. Tonesu enforces the symmetry explicitly (the two sentences are mirrors).fa-ragradability — Rule 9 asserts a comparison betweenfe-si(threat signal) andka-ra(actual force) along thefa-ra(fear/awe) dimension. First explicitfa-ragrading across two paired predicates.- Dialectical transmutation — Rule 10 is the first claim in the corpus that a negatively-valenced entity (
de-vo) transforms to its opposite (vo) under sufficient directed force. Thego/ducausal frame captures this cleanly. si-de-vo= ridicule — Rule 5 introduces ridicule as a weapon. It issi(signal/representation) +de-vo(W121, value-diminishment/evil-quality) = a signal that diminishes the target's standing. Registered as W232.- Four-operation sequential action — Rule 12 chains four
ka-[type] lo-pa-wioperations with;, the longest tactical sequence in the corpus.
Secondary test: la-ra pattern confirmation (S780). The depersonified force agent introduced in SLZ-001-B (S766) reappears. Cross-batch stability confirmed.
Vocabulary Framework
| Form | Status | Gloss | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
wi-ra |
W177 ✅ | directed power / authority | core power predicate; used as noun and verb this batch |
de-li |
W223 ✅ | adversary / opposing agent | "the enemy" across all 12 rules |
wi-to |
W045 ✅ | plan / tactic | single-instance purposive plan = tactic |
to-su |
W030 ⏳ | organized knowledge / expertise | competence domain; Rules 2–3 pivot |
wi-fe |
W100 ✅ | rule / prohibition | adversary's own rule-set (Rule 4) |
ka-ra |
W222 ✅ | combat / attack / martial action | the actual act (Rule 9, Rule 11) |
wi-du |
W175 ✅ | victory / achievement | successful attack (Rule 11) |
si-de-vo |
W232 ✅ | ridicule; signal of value-decrease | new W-entry; first use S781 |
fe-si |
W024 ✅ | warning signal / threat | the threat (Rule 9) |
fa-ra |
W154 ✅ | fear / awe, forceful affect | comparative grading (Rule 9) |
fa-vo |
W197 ✅ | positive affect / enjoyment | tactic quality measure (Rules 6–7) |
ne-fe |
W042 ✅ | dependency condition / requirement | the price of victory (Rule 11) |
pa-wi |
W088 ✅ | intentional target / destination | the target (Rule 12) |
ka-ne-de |
W092 ✅ | deliberate bond dissolution | freeze/isolate the target (Rule 12) |
de-vo |
W121 ✅ | evil / value-diminishment quality | the negative to be transmuted (Rule 10) |
ra-vo-be |
compositional | most potent / highest-force | ra (force) + vo (quality) + be (increase); superlative pattern first use |
no-ti-fe |
compositional | without temporal limit / too long | no (negation) + ti-fe (W037, temporal boundary) |
ka-ru-li |
compositional | personalize / singularize-as-person | ka (action) + ru (unity) + li (person); cast blame on one individual |
ka-wi-de-li |
compositional | polarize / cast as adversary | ka (action) + wi-de-li (W124, opposing-will agent); make the target the enemy |
ALI-001 — The Thirteen Tactical Rules (S777–S788)
S777 — ALI-001-A — Rule 1
Source: "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have."
Notation: wi-ra ne ra / [la-de-li to wi-ra]
Written: wira ne ra / [ladeli to wira]
Gloss: directed-power is [actual-force] / [adversary models directed-power]
Natural reading: Power is both your actual force and what the adversary believes your directed power to be.
Notes: The / (bi-clausal parallel) marks the structural pairing: the two components of power are held in formal parallel, not merely listed. Left side = ra (raw energy/force, primitive); right side = la-de-li to wi-ra = the adversary's mental model of your wi-ra. The claim is constitutive: power (wi-ra) is not merely ra — it is ra plus the adversary's attributed wi-ra. The gap between actual ra and attributed wi-ra is the leverage space Alinsky is naming.
S778 — ALI-001-B — Rule 2
Source: "Never go outside the expertise of your people."
Notation: go {la-o-li ka lo-no-to-su}, wi-ra de
Written: go {laoli ka lonotosu}, wira de
Gloss: because [collective acts outside organized-knowledge] → directed-power decreases
Natural reading: When your people operate outside their domain of competence, your collective power diminishes.
Notes: lo-no-to-su = patient of action + negation + organized-knowledge = acting toward the absence of organized knowledge = operating outside competence. This is a causal declarative, not a prohibition: Alinsky's rules are structural observations about power dynamics. The imperative ("never") follows from the causal observation. Compare S779 — the Tonesu forms are mirrors of each other, making the underlying symmetry explicit.
S779 — ALI-001-C — Rule 3
Source: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy."
Notation: go {la-de-li ka lo-no-to-su}, wi-ra de lo-de-li
Written: go {ladeli ka lonotosu}, wira de lodeli
Gloss: because [adversary acts outside organized-knowledge] → adversary's directed-power decreases
Natural reading: Force the adversary to operate outside their domain of competence and their power diminishes.
Notes: Mirror of S778 with de-li substituted for o-li and lo-de-li added to specify whose power decreases. The structural symmetry is now explicit: Rules 2 and 3 are the same causal principle applied to two different agents. The tactical implication of Rule 3 (create the condition that triggers the causal chain) is not stated — it is the inference from the causal form. wi-ra de lo-de-li = directed-power decreases [patient: adversary] = the adversary's power, not power in general.
S780 — ALI-001-D — Rule 4
Source: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules."
Notation: la-ra wi-ra [la-de-li ka wi-fe lo-de-li]
Written: lara wira [ladeli ka wife lodeli]
Gloss: [force] demands [adversary enacts rules of/for adversary]
Natural reading: Force demands that the adversary act according to its own stated rules.
Notes: la-ra = second cross-batch attestation of the depersonified force agent (first: SLZ-001-B S766). The agent here is not a person but the impersonal coercive structure of the situation. wi-fe lo-de-li = rules belonging to / directed at the adversary = the adversary's own stated rule-set. The lo-de-li possessive follows wi-fe in the same pattern as to-su lo-[NP] (AOW-001, S703+). The demand: apply the adversary's own wi-fe as the standard by which they are judged.
S781 — ALI-001-E — Rule 5
Source: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon."
Notation: si-de-vo ne ra-vo-be ka-mu lo-zo-li
Written: sidevo ne ravobe kamu lozoli
Gloss: value-decrease-signal is highest-force action-instrument of human-persons
Natural reading: Ridicule is the most potent instrument available to human persons.
Notes: si-de-vo = W232 (new). Parse: si (signal/representation) + [de-vo] (W121, evil/value-diminishment quality) = a signal that makes the target appear worthless/shameful. This is compositionally precise: ridicule works by publicly marking its target as de-vo. ra-vo-be = ra (force/energy) + vo (quality) + be (growth/increase) = force of highest increasing quality = most potent. First use of this superlative pattern; ra-vo (W071) is the registered form; ra-vo-be extends it. ka-mu (W047) = action-instrument. lo-zo-li = [for/of] human persons = the scope. Note: Alinsky's original adds "there is no defense" — that is a separate claim not encoded here; the batch note returns to it.
S782 — ALI-001-F — Rule 6
Source: "A good tactic is one your people enjoy."
Notation: go {la-o-li fa-vo lo-wi-to}, wi-to ne vo
Written: go {laoli favo lowito}, wito ne vo
Gloss: because [collective has positive-affect toward tactic] → tactic is good/valuable
Natural reading: A tactic is good when the people who deploy it take pleasure in it.
Notes: fa-vo (W197) = positive-valence affect state, enjoyment. lo-wi-to marks the tactic as the patient/object of the affect — the collective takes fa-vo toward the tactic. The causal structure makes this definitional: what makes a tactic good is not abstract effectiveness but felt enjoyment by the practitioners. Compare S783 — the same affect measure (fa-vo) appears in inverse (decreasing) when the temporal condition fails.
S783 — ALI-001-G — Rule 7
Source: "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag."
Notation: go {wi-to re no-ti-fe}, fa-vo de
Written: go {wito re notife}, favo de
Gloss: because [tactic cycles beyond temporal-boundary] → positive-affect decreases
Natural reading: A tactic that runs without temporal limit exhausts the enjoyment that sustains it.
Notes: re here applies to wi-to (the tactic) in the clause, indicating repetition/cycling. no-ti-fe = no-temporal-boundary = beyond the time limit = "too long." This is the no-X-fe extremal pattern applied to a temporal compound: ti-fe (W037, temporal boundary/deadline) negated = deadline-absent. fa-vo de = positive affect decreases = the enjoyment erodes. The pair S782/S783 now constitutes a minimal contrast: S782 defines good tactics by fa-vo; S783 shows the failure mode when fa-vo de.
S784 — ALI-001-H — Rule 8
Source: "Keep the pressure on."
Notation: la-o-li wi-ra re lo-de-li
Written: laoli wira re lodeli
Gloss: collective applies directed-power cyclically toward adversary
Natural reading: The collective applies directed pressure to the adversary without relent.
Notes: Alinsky's shortest rule. wi-ra re = directed-power cycling = sustained, continuous application of pressure. First use of re directly on wi-ra as an aspectual modifier in this function. Previous re on predicates: ROM-001 (habitual compulsion), SLZ-002 S774 (continuation/repeat). Here the cycling sense is explicit and political: re on wi-ra = the pressure-application does not stop.
S785 — ALI-001-I — Rule 9
Source: "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."
Notation: fe-si ne fa-ra-vo-be / ka-ra ne fa-ra-de
Written: fesi ne faravobe / kara ne farade
Gloss: warning-signal is highest-fear / actual-force is lower-fear
Natural reading: The threat signal carries greater dread than the act of force itself.
Notes: First explicit fa-ra grading across a / parallel. Left: fe-si (W024, warning/boundary-condition signal) = the threat = fa-ra-vo-be (fear of highest increasing quality). Right: ka-ra (W222, combat/actual force) = the act = fa-ra-de (fear diminishing/lower fear). The parallel makes the comparison structural rather than additive: the two forms of the same event (anticipated vs actual) are assigned different fa-ra grades. fa-ra-vo-be extends the same superlative pattern introduced in S781.
S786 — ALI-001-J — Rule 10
Source: "If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive."
Notation: go {wi-ra lo-de-vo ra-vo-be}, du {de-vo ki vo}
Written: go {wira lodevo ravobe}, du {devo ki vo}
Gloss: because [directed-power toward negative at highest-force] → result: [negative changes to positive]
Natural reading: Apply sufficient directed force toward a negative and it transmutes into a positive.
Notes: de-vo (W121) = the negative (value-diminishment quality). vo = value/positive. ki = motion/change = transforms. The causal frame makes the transformation structural: there is a mechanism (go), not mere conjunction. ra-vo-be = at highest force intensity = "hard enough." First explicit dialectical transmutation in the corpus: a de-vo entity undergoes ki and becomes vo under sufficient wi-ra. The result clause is bracketed in du {} to mark it as the formal outcome of the causal chain.
S787 — ALI-001-K — Rule 11
Source: "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative."
Notation: go {la-o-li ka-ra wi-du}, ne-fe [lo-o-li be wi-to]
Written: go {laoli kara widu}, nefe [looli be wito]
Gloss: because [collective attacks and achieves victory] → required: [collective grows tactic/plan]
Natural reading: A victorious attack carries a structural requirement: the collective must build something.
Notes: ka-ra wi-du = attack + victory (W222 + W175) = successful attack. ne-fe (W042) = dependency condition/requirement = the structural prerequisite that the successful outcome creates. lo-o-li be wi-to = the collective grows a plan = constructive alternative. The be (growth/increase) on wi-to (plan) yields the "constructive" reading: a plan that builds/expands rather than merely destroys. First use of ne-fe as the required output of a successful causal chain.
S788 — ALI-001-L — Rule 12
Source: "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."
Notation: ka lo-pa-wi ; ka-ne-de lo-pa-wi lo-ne-su ; ka-ru-li lo-pa-wi ; ka-wi-de-li lo-pa-wi
Written: ka lopawi ; kanede lopawi lonesu ; karuli lopawi ; kawideli lopawi
Gloss: act-toward target ; dissolve target-from-network-bonds ; singularize-as-person target ; cast-as-adversary target
Natural reading: Select a target; sever it from its support network; reduce it to one individual; make it the adversary.
Notes: Four ;-chained operations on the same patient lo-pa-wi — longest tactical sequence in corpus. Each operation is a ka-[TYPE] verb:
- ka = bare select/act-toward (picking the target from the field of possible targets)
- ka-ne-de (W092) = deliberate bond-dissolution = freeze/isolate (sever the target from lo-ne-su, its support network)
- ka-ru-li = ka + ru (unity/singularity) + li (person) = deliberately singularize-as-person = personalize (collapse a systemic problem to one named individual)
- ka-wi-de-li = ka + wi-de-li (W124, opposing-will agent) = deliberately cast as adversary = polarize (force everyone to take sides)
The ; connector is correct here: the four operations are ordered (constant conjunction, left-to-right) but the causal mechanism between them is not asserted — Alinsky's own logic is tactical sequence, not logical entailment.
ALI-001 Batch Summary
| S# | Rule | Core claim | Structural notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| S777 | 1: Power attribution | wi-ra ne ra / [la-de-li to wi-ra] |
/ parallel: actual force vs attributed force |
| S778 | 2: Stay in expertise | go {la-o-li ka lo-no-to-su}, wi-ra de |
Causal declarative: competence → power |
| S779 | 3: Push adversary out | go {la-de-li ka lo-no-to-su}, wi-ra de lo-de-li |
Mirror of S778; symmetry made explicit |
| S780 | 4: Hoist by own rules | la-ra wi-ra [la-de-li ka wi-fe lo-de-li] |
la-ra depersonified force agent (2nd corpus use) |
| S781 | 5: Ridicule as weapon | si-de-vo ne ra-vo-be ka-mu lo-zo-li |
W232 si-de-vo; ra-vo-be superlative first use |
| S782 | 6: Tactics people enjoy | go {la-o-li fa-vo lo-wi-to}, wi-to ne vo |
fa-vo as tactic-quality measure |
| S783 | 7: Time limits matter | go {wi-to re no-ti-fe}, fa-vo de |
no-ti-fe temporal extremal; S782/S783 minimal pair |
| S784 | 8: Keep pressure on | la-o-li wi-ra re lo-de-li |
re on wi-ra = sustained pressure |
| S785 | 9: Threat > act | fe-si ne fa-ra-vo-be / ka-ra ne fa-ra-de |
First fa-ra grading across / parallel |
| S786 | 10: Push negative to positive | go {wi-ra lo-de-vo ra-vo-be}, du {de-vo ki vo} |
First dialectical transmutation (de-vo → vo) |
| S787 | 11: Victory requires alternative | go {la-o-li ka-ra wi-du}, ne-fe [lo-o-li be wi-to] |
ne-fe as post-victory structural requirement |
| S788 | 12: Target sequence | ka lo-pa-wi ; ka-ne-de … ; ka-ru-li … ; ka-wi-de-li … |
4-op ; chain; longest tactical sequence in corpus |
New W-entries: W232 si-de-vo (ridicule, signal of value-decrease).
Compositional first uses:
- ra-vo-be = most potent / highest-intensity (S781, S785, S786); superlative on ra-vo (W071)
- no-ti-fe = beyond temporal limit (S783); no-X-fe extremal pattern on temporal compound
- ka-ru-li = personalize / singularize-as-person (S788); ka + ru + li
- ka-wi-de-li = polarize / cast as adversary (S788); ka + W124
Key structural findings:
1. Rules 2 and 3 structural symmetry (S778–S779). The Tonesu forms are exact mirrors (la-o-li ↔ la-de-li; wi-ra de ↔ wi-ra de lo-de-li). The underlying causal principle is symmetric. Tonesu enforces this explicitly where English states two separate prescriptions.
2. la-ra pattern confirmed cross-batch (S780). Depersonified force as la--marked agent first appeared SLZ-001-B (S766); reappears here with the same structure. The agent is the coercive situation itself, not any person.
3. si-de-vo = ridicule (S781). Signal of value-decrease. Parse: si + W121. Publicly marking the target as de-vo is the mechanism by which ridicule operates.
4. ra-vo-be superlative pattern (S781, S785, S786). ra-vo (W071, signal intensity) extended with be (growth/increase) = highest-intensity = "most/greatest." First use of this pattern; productive across strength-claims.
5. S782/S783 fa-vo minimal pair (Rules 6 and 7). The same measure (fa-vo = positive affect) is the criterion for tactical quality (S782: when present → good) and the failure mode (S783: when depleted → bad). Together they constitute the complete criterion.
6. re on wi-ra (S784). Third function of re in corpus: (1) ROM-001 habitual-compulsive, (2) SLZ-002 S774 continuation, (3) here: cyclic/sustained application of directed power without relent.
7. fa-ra grading (S785). First comparison of fa-ra levels across two paired predicates using /. fe-si (threat) scores fa-ra-vo-be; ka-ra (actual force) scores fa-ra-de. The / makes the comparison structural.
8. Dialectical transmutation (S786). First de-vo → vo claim via go/du causal frame. A negatively-valenced entity transforms to its opposite under sufficient directed force. The du {} formal result-clause marks this as a structural outcome.
9. ne-fe as post-victory requirement (S787). First use of ne-fe (dependency condition) as the structural output generated by a completed causal chain (go {victory}). The requirement is not prior to the action but posterior: winning creates an obligation.
10. Four-operation ; chain (S788). The longest sequential tactical sequence in corpus. Four ka-[TYPE] lo-pa-wi operations. The ; is correct: the operations are ordered (left-to-right), but the mechanism connecting them is tactical sequence, not logical entailment.
Colloquial Register Analysis
| Form used | CLQ entry | Colloquial form | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
wi-ra (W177) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
de-li (W223) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
wi-to (W045) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
to-su (W030) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
wi-fe (W100) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
ka-ra (W222) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
wi-du (W175) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
si-de-vo (W232) |
none | — | 3-root — meets threshold; no shortform established; defer pending further attestations |
fe-si (W024) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
fa-ra (W154) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
fa-vo (W197) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
ne-fe (W042) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
pa-wi (W088) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
ka-ne-de (W092) |
none | — | 3-root — meets threshold; no shortform established |
de-vo (W121) |
none | — | 2-root — below CLQ threshold |
ra-vo-be |
none | — | 3-root compositional first use; no shortform established; defer |
no-ti-fe |
none | — | 3-root extremal compositional; no shortform established |
ka-ru-li |
none | — | 3-root compositional first use; no shortform established |
ka-wi-de-li |
none | — | 4-root compositional first use; no shortform established |
go {…}, X pattern |
none | — | Semantically load-bearing causal frame; relaxation changes the claim |
Verdict: irreducibly formal — all registered compounds below threshold, compositional first uses deferred, causal operators load-bearing.
CLQ entries registered from this batch: none.