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From: Pierre Abbat <phma@phma.optus.nu>
To: lojban-beginners@lojban.org
Subject: Re: [lojban-beginners] Re: Duration questions
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:27:39 -0500
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On Wednesday 10 March 2010 18:32:18 komfo,amonan wrote:
> I take {ze'a} (and its kin {za}, {ve'a}, and {va}) to mean not only
> "medium", but also "unspecified". Others follow this usage as well, even
> though it's not strictly in accordance with the definition. So, {[.i ti
> zdani mi ze'a] lo cabdei} is a reasonable answer to the question.

I agree. This is one of several things called "markedness" in linguistics. =
In=20
Lojban, the middle degree is unmarked. In English, there is no middle degre=
e,=20
and "long" is unmarked. The unmarked degree is used in questions, unless yo=
u=20
know in advance that the marked degree applies. So "How short have you been=
=20
living in this house?" implies that you already know that it has been a sho=
rt=20
time.

Pierre
=2D-=20
When a barnacle settles down, its brain disintegrates.
J=E1 n=E3o percebe nada, j=E1 n=E3o percebe nada.