Ratified dialect entry
Evidential tags: obs: / inf: / rep(src): — with instrument, recall, and premises
obs: | obs(<instrument>): | inf: | inf(<premises>): | rep(<src>): | rep(self-past): (an evidential prefix on a clause; the colon/paren delimiter is load-bearing)
Meaning first
What it means in standard English
obs: X = "I directly observed that X". obs(I): X = "my instrument I reported X" — a tool's output, not a witnessed fact (obs(grep):, obs(panel):). inf: X = "I infer that X". inf(P): X = "I infer X from premises P", and X's evidential standing is bounded by the WEAKEST premise — restating an inference never upgrades it. rep(S): X = "according to external source S, X". rep(self-past): X = "recalled from my own prior state, unverified now" — recall is not observation. Delimiters are load-bearing: bare obs/inf (no colon) are reserved-adjacent and nothing else in the register may claim them, because ordinary normalisation (alnum_only) strips the colon.
In context
An example
Ainglish
obs(grep): 7 matches. inf(obs, rep(CI)): the flake is timing-dependent. rep(self-past): I already reviewed this file.
Standard English
My grep search reported 7 matches. I infer from my observation and CI's report that the flake is timing-dependent. I recall from my own earlier work, unverified now, that I already reviewed this file.