Received: from mail-oa0-f61.google.com ([209.85.219.61]:34173) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1:RC4-SHA:128) (Exim 4.76) (envelope-from ) id 1TFTtR-0008GY-RF; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:34 -0700 Received: by oagn9 with SMTP id n9sf3679728oag.16 for ; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:23 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=googlegroups.com; s=20120806; h=x-beenthere:received-spf:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from :date:message-id:subject:to:x-original-sender :x-original-authentication-results:reply-to:precedence:mailing-list :list-id:x-google-group-id:list-post:list-help:list-archive:sender :list-subscribe:list-unsubscribe:content-type; bh=2elCXRDFWI3VaovL++yBCmPf3/t7FBov9KrINFz2CUs=; b=Cuc5d+zdGHFt3V5fIJVUeQsGQQUGuGTJECmfki1LzXdX+yUKow4VShqgB+35wQuKqT m5Dl9N7g9Gq5A9J4mBV7LQZ30HMgu+WflQujnscEIBRlbIxfGOBrB4UySXE/PqF+0hQW UEYqfvXDDJwdlTOZAiAH0ct5vLsEBqh4J786naN4C9W2SH8bjmK9ZrHOfvK8z0cD9ZuU ROoFIRhu73Lhz9XwjrQB09VpmwuokuVtqNEFVMnioGheuyCjOpd43FqbupeXE/+0hEt3 9A7ywLu6e+f/kLnkjfpDkC3M5VkzoNDnyPhFYUBLhkx7vEU8ahDkA6FHN/KL/m8YnjrM XxEw== Received: by 10.52.75.36 with SMTP id z4mr1404722vdv.14.1348336402925; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) X-BeenThere: lojban@googlegroups.com Received: by 10.220.241.209 with SMTP id lf17ls3371788vcb.4.gmail; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.58.124.165 with SMTP id mj5mr1758446veb.34.1348336402380; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.58.124.165 with SMTP id mj5mr1758445veb.34.1348336402357; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mail-vb0-f47.google.com (mail-vb0-f47.google.com [209.85.212.47]) by gmr-mx.google.com with ESMTPS id s13si664614vde.2.2012.09.22.10.53.22 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER); Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of nictytan@gmail.com designates 209.85.212.47 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.85.212.47; Received: by mail-vb0-f47.google.com with SMTP id ez10so5287903vbb.34 for ; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.58.69.38 with SMTP id b6mr5086786veu.30.1348336402230; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:53:22 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.52.92.48 with HTTP; Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:52:52 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: <4eae7ab1-572f-44cc-a260-a78b3bf93a9c@googlegroups.com> <4646abde-2d1e-4e97-a7e5-5e187d7ec59e@googlegroups.com> From: Jacob Errington Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:52:52 -0400 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [lojban] Re: Cowan's summary: opacity and sumti-raising To: lojban@googlegroups.com X-Original-Sender: nictytan@gmail.com X-Original-Authentication-Results: gmr-mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of nictytan@gmail.com designates 209.85.212.47 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=nictytan@gmail.com; dkim=pass header.i=@gmail.com Reply-To: lojban@googlegroups.com Precedence: list Mailing-list: list lojban@googlegroups.com; contact lojban+owners@googlegroups.com List-ID: X-Google-Group-Id: 1004133512417 List-Post: , List-Help: , List-Archive: Sender: lojban@googlegroups.com List-Subscribe: , List-Unsubscribe: , Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=e89a8fb204484aec0604ca4e087e X-Spam-Score: -0.7 (/) X-Spam_score: -0.7 X-Spam_score_int: -6 X-Spam_bar: / --e89a8fb204484aec0604ca4e087e Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 The thing about {cirko} is that it may or may not have to deal with possession. It has a sort of possession focus, but if you're using it with properties, then that just falls apart: {.i mi cirko lo ka pampe'o do} Really, it's just co'u, but when used on a concrete sumti, it has the implication of losing possession. I'm not too fond of this duality. .i mi'e la tsani mu'o On 22 September 2012 12:53, Ian Johnson wrote: > I consider {cirko} to have similar issues to {binxo}; if it's going to > have anything to do with properties, it should always have to do with > properties, but since properties are just predicates in my usage, {binxo} > is essentially redundant to {co'a}. {cirko} as only having to do with {co'u > ponse} would be fine, but if it has to do with a property then it is again > redundant to just {co'u}. > > The rest are straightforwardly fine, to me; things like {melbi} fall into > a general category of "pre-jai'd" gismu, which are a bit odd but useful and > pe'i consistent. > > mu'o mi'e la latro'a > > > On Sat, Sep 22, 2012 at 9:18 AM, la gleki wrote: > >> I should make my point more clear. >> >> Look at the following. >> >> prami x1 loves/feels strong affectionate devotion towards x2 (* >> object/state*). >> dirba x1 is dear/precious/darling to x2; x1 is emotionally valued by >> x2; x1 may be a specific *object, a commodity (mass), an event, or a >> property* >> pluka x1 (event/state) seems pleasant to/pleases x2 under conditions x3. >> melbi x1 is beautiful/pleasant to x2 in aspect x3 (ka) by aesthetic >> standard x4. >> >> And last but not least >> cirko -cri- x1 loses person/thing x2 at/near x3; x1 loses >> property/feature x2 in conditions/situation x3; x2 may be a specific*object, a commodity (mass), an event >> * (rare for cirko), or a *property*. >> >> This last example shows something *mutce lo ka cizra*. >> >> If we can easily interchange objects and abstractions in {lo se prami, lo >> dirba, lo se cirko} omitting {tu'a} then it would be reasonable to ask: >> >> *"What the hell is {tu'a} for?" If lojban is not consistent in using it >> at all, why not omit it all the time?* >> * >> * >> *Then we'll get those {mi sisku lo penbi} (in la selpa'i 's dialect) and >> even {mi djica lo plise}.* >> >> >> On Monday, August 20, 2012 12:46:15 PM UTC+4, la gleki wrote: >>> >>> Again Google Groups didn't let me resurrect this >>> old >>> discussion. So please follow the link to follow the whole discussion. >>> >>> And now it's my turn to ask the community once again after 18 years of >>> disinterest. >>> >>> {djica}, {nitcu} and {sisku}, for example, have all been >>> dealt with differently: {djica} only accepts events, {nitcu} still >>> accepts >>> objects, and the solution for {sisku} was the weirdest: the x2 place was >>> directly eliminated and replaced by only a property of some inaccesible >>> entity, so that {le se sisku} is not the thing looked for, but a property >>> of said thing. >>> >>> >>> *Why not treat them all the same?* >>> >>> The transparent case: >>> >>> {mi djica lo tanxe} = "There is a box wanted by me" >>> {mi nitcu lo tanxe} = "There is a box needed by me" >>> {mi sisku lo tanxe} = "There is a box sought by me" >>> >>> >>> One more moment. Are there any other gismu that have the same "problem"? >>> >>> On Tuesday, November 22, 1994 4:03:33 AM UTC+4, Jorge Llambias wrote: >>>> >>>> la lojbab cusku di'e >>>> >>>> > Of course there is nothing strange about a brivla relating two >>>> objects - a >>>> > seeker and the thing known-and-sought-after, and having a certain >>>> predicate >>>> > relating them. The problem that I see is that there is more than one >>>> such >>>> > predicate, and the choice is dependent on the specificity (or is that >>>> > definiteness %^) of x2 vs. its opacity, etc., and what the desire is >>>> of the >>>> > seeker for the final state after finding. >>>> >>>> The problem is transparency vs opacity. Transparent references can be >>>> specific or nonspecific, and that can be marked with the appropriate >>>> quantifiers, but we don't have any way to mark explicitly opaque >>>> references. >>>> >>>> The other properties that you mention, like desires of the seeker for >>>> what >>>> to do after (or rather if) the sought after thing is found, are not >>>> really >>>> to the point. If you want a place for them I guess you do need a lujvo. >>>> >>>> Also, in English, the meaning of "seek an object" has been generalized >>>> to "seek knowledge", where by "finding it", we mean that we get to >>>> know the truth value of some utterance. (I suppose that's what you call >>>> the >>>> seeking of science.) I don't have a problem with letting this >>>> metaphorical >>>> extension into Lojban, but in any case this is not part of the opaque >>>> problem. >>>> >>>> An interesting property of sisku as it is defined now, is that the >>>> lambda >>>> variable of its property really never takes a value. Normally, the >>>> lambda >>>> variable of a property corresponds to one or more of the places of the >>>> selbri (for example for {zmadu}, it's the x1 and x2) but for sisku, >>>> there >>>> is no place for the thing being sought, so there is no place that fits >>>> the >>>> lambda variable. >>>> >>>> > WE have other cases in Lojban where the Lojban word covers a >>>> misleading >>>> > subset of the English meanings of the keywords ("old" and "know" >>>> being two >>>> > cases that come to mind). >>>> >>>> BTW, because of my mail problems a month or so ago I never found out >>>> whether >>>> {citno} means "young", so that it only refers to living things, or >>>> whether >>>> it is more general. Would an "old car" in lojban be a {tolcitno karce} >>>> or >>>> a {tolcnino karce}? >>>> >>>> > In all such casesa we have learned to live with the >>>> > fact that the English word is tto broad and have come up with lujvo >>>> for the >>>> > alternative meanings. Such lujvo can always exist, and if this whole >>>> > issue of "lo" and "existence" blows away. the number of distinctions >>>> we need >>>> to >>>> > make may be reduced. But I remain unconvinced of this - as pc said a >>>> while >>>> > back in this discussion - there are some predicates that embody a >>>> hidden >>>> > abstraction involving one of the sumti, and we have to live with this >>>> >>>> What do you mean by "some predicates"? English verbs, like "want", >>>> "need", >>>> "look for", etc, or Lojban predicates like {djica}, {nitcu}, {sisku}, >>>> etc.? >>>> >>>> I totally agree that the English verbs can accept opaque references as >>>> direct >>>> objects, without any marking. They also, in other contexts, can take >>>> transparent >>>> direct objects. >>>> >>>> Because of the logical aspect of Lojban, this can't work like that in >>>> Lojban, >>>> and so the arguments are always transparent. >>>> >>>> But, the fact is that the opaque meaning is often very useful for these >>>> predicates, so what do we do? >>>> >>>> I propose to find one solution for all such predicates, rather than >>>> patches >>>> for each of them. {djica}, {nitcu} and {sisku}, for example, have all >>>> been >>>> dealt with differently: {djica} only accepts events, {nitcu} still >>>> accepts >>>> objects, and the solution for {sisku} was the weirdest: the x2 place was >>>> directly eliminated and replaced by only a property of some inaccesible >>>> entity, so that {le se sisku} is not the thing looked for, but a >>>> property >>>> of said thing. >>>> >>>> Why not treat them all the same? >>>> >>>> The transparent case: >>>> >>>> {mi djica lo tanxe} = "There is a box wanted by me" >>>> {mi nitcu lo tanxe} = "There is a box needed by me" >>>> {mi sisku lo tanxe} = "There is a box sought by me" >>>> >>>> and the opaque case: >>>> >>>> {mi djica xe'e lo tanxe} = "I want a box (I don't care which)" >>>> {mi nitcu xe'e lo tanxe} = "I need a box (I don't care which)" >>>> {mi sisku xe'e lo tanxe} = "I seek a box (I don't care which)" >>>> >>>> (I don't mind using {lo'e} instead of {xe'e lo}, I think it makes sense >>>> as well.) >>>> >>>> As things stand now, for the transparent case I have to say: >>>> >>>> {da poi tanxe zo'u mi djica tu'a da} >>>> {mi nitcu lo tanxe} >>>> {da poi tanxe zo'u mi sisku le ka du da} >>>> >>>> Why so complicated? >>>> >>>> > mi'e la lojbab noi sisku loka lo danfu be le me zo sisku me'u >>>> nabmi >>>> > cu mansa roda >>>> >>>> That doesn't make much sense to me. You probably mean {noi sisku lo ka >>>> danfu >>>> le me zo sisku me'u nabmi gi'e mansa roda}, otherwise you are saying >>>> that >>>> you are looking for something with property an answer satisfies >>>> everyone, >>>> but what is it that you look for? the answer, everyone? I think this is >>>> an >>>> unnecessarily complicated way to deal with {sisku}. >>>> >>>> Jorge >>>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "lojban" group. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/lojban/-/aTfTDbKnrqUJ. >> >> To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> lojban+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/lojban?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "lojban" group. > To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > lojban+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/lojban?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "lojban" group. To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojban?hl=en. --e89a8fb204484aec0604ca4e087e Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The thing about {cirko} is that it may or may not have to deal with possess= ion. It has a sort of possession focus, but if you're using it with pro= perties, then that just falls apart: {.i mi cirko lo ka pampe'o do} Really, it's just co'u, but when used on a concrete sumti, it has t= he implication of losing possession. I'm not too fond of this duality.<= /div>

.i mi'e la tsani mu'o

On 22 September 2012 12:53, Ian Johnson <blindbravado@gmail.com&g= t; wrote:
I consider {cirko} to have similar issues to {binxo}; if it's going to = have anything to do with properties, it should always have to do with prope= rties, but since properties are just predicates in my usage, {binxo} is ess= entially redundant to {co'a}. {cirko} as only having to do with {co'= ;u ponse} would be fine, but if it has to do with a property then it is aga= in redundant to just {co'u}.

The rest are straightforwardly fine, to me; things like {melbi} fall in= to a general category of "pre-jai'd" gismu, which are a bit o= dd but useful and pe'i consistent.

mu'o mi'e la latro= 9;a


On Sat, Sep 22, 2012 at 9:18 AM, la gleki <gleki.is.my.name@gmail.com> wrote:
I should make my point more clear.

Look at the following= .

prami x1 loves/feels strong affectionate de= votion towards x2 (object/state).
dirba x1 is dear/precious/= darling to x2; x1 is emotionally valued by x2;=A0x1 may be a specific ob= ject, a commodity (mass), an event, or a property
pluka x1 (event/state) seems pleasant to/pleases x2 under c= onditions x3.
melbi=A0x1 is beautiful/pleasant to x2 in asp= ect x3 (ka) by aesthetic standard x4.

And last but= not least
cirko -cri-=A0x1 loses person/thing x2 at/near x3; x1 loses prope= rty/feature x2 in conditions/situation x3;=A0x2 may be a specific object= , a commodity (mass), an event (rare for cirko), or a property.<= /div>

This last example shows something mutce lo ka = cizra.

If we can easily interchange object= s and abstractions in {lo se prami, lo dirba, lo se cirko} omitting {tu'= ;a} then it would be reasonable to ask:

"What the hell is {tu'a} for?" If lojb= an is not consistent in using it at all, why not omit it all the time?<= /div>

Then we'll get those {mi sisku lo pe= nbi} (in la selpa'i=A0's dialect) and even {mi djica lo plis= e}.


On Monday, August 20, 2012 12:46:15 PM UTC+4, = la gleki wrote:
Again Google Gr= oups didn't let me resurrect this old discussion= . So please follow the link to follow the whole discussion.

And now it's my turn to ask the community once agai= n after 18 years of disinterest.

{djica}, {nitcu} and {= sisku}, for example, have all been
dealt with differently: {djica} only accepts events, {nitcu} still acc= epts
objects, and the solution for {sisku} was the weirdest: the = x2 place was
directly eliminated and replaced by only a property = of some inaccesible
entity, so that {le se sisku} is not the thing looked for, but a prope= rty
of said thing.
=A0
=
Why not treat them all the same?

The transparent case:

{mi djica lo tanxe} =3D &qu= ot;There is a box wanted by me"
{mi nitcu lo tanxe} =3D "There is a box needed by me"
<= div>{mi sisku lo tanxe} =3D "There is a box sought by me"

One more moment. Are there any other gismu t= hat have the same "problem"?=A0

On Tuesday, November 22, 1994 4:03:33 AM UTC+4, Jorge Llambias wro= te:
la lojbab cusku di'e

> Of course there is nothing strange about a = brivla relating two objects - a
> seeker and the thing known-and-soug= ht-after, and having a certain predicate
> relating them. =A0The prob= lem that I see is that there is more than one such
> predicate, and the choice is dependent on the specificity =A0(or is th= at
> definiteness %^) of x2 vs. its opacity, etc., and what the desir= e is of the
> seeker for the final state after finding.

The pro= blem is transparency vs opacity. Transparent references can be
specific or nonspecific, and that can be marked with the appropriate
qua= ntifiers, but we don't have any way to mark explicitly opaque reference= s.

The other properties that you mention, like desires of the seeker = for what
to do after (or rather if) the sought after thing is found, are not really<= br>to the point. If you want a place for them I guess you do need a lujvo.<= /p>

Also, in English, the meaning of "seek an object" has been = generalized
to "seek knowledge", where by "finding it", we mean tha= t we get to
know the truth value of some utterance. (I suppose that'= s what you call the
seeking of science.) I don't have a problem with= letting this metaphorical
extension into Lojban, but in any case this is not part of the opaque probl= em.

An interesting property of sisku as it is defined now, is that th= e lambda
variable of its property really never takes a value. Normally, = the lambda
variable of a property corresponds to one or more of the places of the
s= elbri (for example for {zmadu}, it's the x1 and x2) but for sisku, ther= e
is no place for the thing being sought, so there is no place that fits= the
lambda variable.

> WE have other cases in Lojban where the Lojban = word covers a misleading
> subset of the English meanings of the keyw= ords ("old" and "know" being two
> cases that com= e to mind).

BTW, because of my mail problems a month or so ago I never found out whe= ther
{citno} means "young", so that it only refers to living t= hings, or whether
it is more general. Would an "old car" in lo= jban be a {tolcitno karce} or
a {tolcnino karce}?

> In all such casesa we have learned to live w= ith the
> fact that the English word is tto broad and have come up wi= th lujvo for the
> alternative meanings. =A0Such lujvo can always exi= st, and if this whole
> issue of "lo" and "existence" blows away. the numb= er of distinctions we need
=A0to
> make may be reduced. =A0But I r= emain unconvinced of this - as pc said a while
> back in this discuss= ion - there are some predicates that embody a hidden
> abstraction involving one of the sumti, and we have to live with this<= /p>

What do you mean by "some predicates"? English verbs, like = "want", "need",
"look for", etc, or Lojban= predicates like {djica}, {nitcu}, {sisku}, etc.?

I totally agree that the English verbs can accept opaque references as d= irect
objects, without any marking. They also, in other contexts, can ta= ke transparent
direct objects.

Because of the logical aspect of Lo= jban, this can't work like that in Lojban,
and so the arguments are always transparent.

But, the fact is that th= e opaque meaning is often very useful for these
predicates, so what do w= e do?

I propose to find one solution for all such predicates, rather = than patches
for each of them. {djica}, {nitcu} and {sisku}, for example, have all been<= br>dealt with differently: {djica} only accepts events, {nitcu} still accep= ts
objects, and the solution for {sisku} was the weirdest: the x2 place = was
directly eliminated and replaced by only a property of some inaccesible
= entity, so that {le se sisku} is not the thing looked for, but a propertyof said thing.

Why not treat them all the same?

The transpare= nt case:

{mi djica lo tanxe} =3D "There is a box wanted by me"
{mi n= itcu lo tanxe} =3D "There is a box needed by me"
{mi sisku lo = tanxe} =3D "There is a box sought by me"

and the opaque cas= e:

{mi djica xe'e lo tanxe} =3D "I want a box (I don't care wh= ich)"
{mi nitcu xe'e lo tanxe} =3D "I need a box (I don= 9;t care which)"
{mi sisku xe'e lo tanxe} =3D "I seek a bo= x (I don't care which)"

(I don't mind using {lo'e} instead of {xe'e lo}, I think it = makes sense
as well.)

As things stand now, for the transparent cas= e I have to say:

{da poi tanxe zo'u mi djica tu'a da}
{mi nitcu lo tanxe}
{da poi tanxe zo'u mi sisku le ka du da}

W= hy so complicated?

> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0mi'e la lojbab noi sisku l= oka lo danfu be le me zo sisku me'u nabmi
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 = =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 cu mansa roda

That doesn't make much sense to me. You probably mean {noi sisku lo = ka danfu
le me zo sisku me'u nabmi gi'e mansa roda}, otherwise y= ou are saying that
you are looking for something with property an answer= satisfies everyone,
but what is it that you look for? the answer, everyone? I think this is an<= br>unnecessarily complicated way to deal with {sisku}.

Jorge

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups &= quot;lojban" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com= /d/msg/lojban/-/aTfTDbKnrqUJ.

=20 To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegrou= ps.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojba= n?hl=3Den.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups &= quot;lojban" group.
To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegrou= ps.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojba= n?hl=3Den.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "= lojban" group.
To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegrou= ps.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojban= ?hl=3Den.
--e89a8fb204484aec0604ca4e087e--