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Comment by throwaway_pdp09 | Hacker News Reader

I'm not a linguist but that to me is more a list (a sequence of qualifiers) than a recursion (a nesting). However, a quick browse shows I'm wrong so for those who also aren't sure

https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/3252/what-is...

https://www.thoughtco.com/recursion-grammar-1691901

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Try diagramming that sentence. (base: "I behold pledges") Even just the last few words of that sentence:

    ... exemplified by
        all the attributes
          which can
            win the affections
              of its Citizens, and
           command the respect
              of the world.

have more structure than the pair of sentences:

    On @foxandfriends
      Now

    Enjoy

I'm not sure that those links completely show that you're wrong. The example you're replying to appears deeper than it is because each nested element is quite broad, so the absolute depth is not as much as it might seem (I think).

Agreed, there are listings, but even they are not always just a flat unary tree. For instance, there's the structure within the listing of:

    (no ((local prejudices) or (attachments))
     no (separate views)
     nor (party animosities))

which is itself embedded within

    ... will misdirect ...
    as on one side ... so, on another, ...
    etc.

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