There is Lisps with so called f-expressions[0] which do not have special forms. That would be similar to the Rebol approach I think, I am a bit fuzzy on that.

The general consensus in the lisp community is that having a few special forms is worth it as it makes the compiler's job much easier. Basically it is a trap because yes it is much more elegant but practically it isn't worth the trouble, or at least some people see it that way. I also heard that Smalltalk is considered hard to compile for its lack of special forms.

But more complicated doesn't mean it is necessary impossible to still have a efficient compiler. It is definitely an interesting topic. Definitely would love to hear if you had any trouble on that front. If you already that far that you are thinking about optimization that is.

And your new languages looks amazing. Definitely going to check it out.

[0] https://web.cs.wpi.edu/~jshutt/kernel.html

> Lisps use Macros

IF is a built-in special operator in Common Lisp. COND is a macro, which expands into IF forms.

> (if (> x 1) '(print 'larger))

Stuff like this would not really work Common Lisp for the following code example:

    (let ((x 1))
      (if (> x 1)
        '(print x)))

The evaluator would not know that the X in the print form refers to the lexically bound X from the LET form.