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Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:26:32 +0100
From: selpa'i <m3o@plasmatix.com>
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Subject: Re: [lojban-beginners] Frequency of {lo} and {le}
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la mudri cu cusku di'e
> Please don't groan about what must be another xorlo question.

These questions won't stop being asked if we groan. :) (and until some=20
additional clarifications are put on the gadri page)

> I was reading http://www.lojban.org/tiki/How+to+use+xorlo again, and
> came across these two sentences: =93In my post-xorlo writings, lo
> outnumbers le by about three to one (at a guess). I only use le when I'm
> talking about a specific item.=94.

Some people commonly use {lo} when translating the English article "a",=20
for example when a new object is introduced to the discourse or for=20
generic uses, and they use {le} anytime they refer back to something or=20
translate "the".

However, this is not how everyone does it.

In my writings, for example, {lo} outnumbers {le} by.. I'd say...=20
infinity. That is, you won't find a single {le} in my Lojban. It's a=20
question of ideolect.

(Btw, did you also read the "official" page on gadri?=20
http://www.lojban.org/tiki/BPFK+Section%3A+gadri  )

>I would assume that
> specific objects are talked about as frequently, if not more so, than
> generic descriptions. At least on Twitter, where most of my writing
> practice happens, this seems to be the case.
>
> It makes me wonder whether I have misunderstood. Can you either reassure
> me or point out where I am misunderstanding?

The most important thing you're probably missing is that even though=20
{lo} is a generic article, using it when having something specific in=20
mind is not wrong or unusual.

Imagine for example "The game was fun"; sure, you might have a specific=20
game in mind, the one you went to with your friends earlier that day for=20
instance. In Lojban, you can say:

le nunkei pu zdile
The game was fun.

However, you can also say:

lo nunkei pu zdile

Which you shouldn't translate mechanically as "a game was fun" or "games=20
are fun" and then be weirded out by (although both are possible meanings=20
depending on context), but rather as "Game was fun". It's a true=20
statement. If a specific game was fun, then some game was fun. What game=20
you're talking about is left to context, but I think your friends would=20
know that you're talking about the game from earlier that day. Thus,=20
when translating this into correct English, it does become "*The* game=20
was fun." even though you used {lo}.

In general, the frequency of {le} has been decreasing a lot over the=20
recent years, while {lo} is by far the most common article of them all now.

Feel free to ask follow-up questions.

mu'o mi'e la selpa'i

--=20
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