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Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 12:56:21 -0400
From: "Bob LeChevalier, President and Founder - LLG" <lojbab@lojban.org>
Organization: The Logical Language Group, Inc.
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Subject: Re: [lojban] Higher-precedence Grouping with {bo} Is Impossible for
 TAG Sentence Connectives
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Jacob Errington wrote:
> The title says it all; the following won't parse:
>
> {.i broda .ija'ebo brode .iseri'abobo brodi}
>
> Semantically, it should parse meaning that {.i brode .iseri'abo brodi}
> is the right-hand operand of {.ija'ebo}.
>
> On a related note, even-higher-precedence grouping with bo is not
> possible for ijeks; the following won't parse:
>
> .i (broda .ijebo (brode .ijebo ((brodi .ijebobo brodo) .ijebo brodu)))
>
> Parentheses show intended parse.
>
> Furthermore, multiple {bo} are not allowed in tanru groupings:
>
> {.i (broda bo ((brode bo bo brodi) bo brodo))}
>
> It just seems like multiple {bo} is illegal across the board. Bug or
> feature? Could this even be implemented? If it can, should we?
>
> .i mi'e la tsani mu'o


The first problem is that the parser does not allow multiple "bo"s. 
That is why it won't parse.  Additional bos would have no meaning, 
grammatical or otherwise.

If you use only one bo in each .i compound, then all of them will group 
pairwise STRICTLY from the right.  So

  .i broda .ija'e brode .iseri'abo brodi

groups

.i broda .i(ja'e brode .iseri'abo brodi)


Note that you don't need a bo at all before the brode.


For your second example, this results:

.i broda .ije( brode .ijebo( brodi .ijebo( brodo .ijebo brodu)))

There is no provision using bo to make something other than the 
rightmost group first.

If you want to mix left and right grouping, you need tu'e/tu'u 
forethought to mark the left groupings.  See CLL chapter 14 section 8 
example 8.3 through 8.6, which has good discussion of the whys and 
wherefores.  The notes after 8.6 specificall say that afterthought 
connectives with bo are primarily for simple expression of the special 
case of right grouping.  Anything really complex needs the bracketing 
that is possible with forethought connection (and I observe that human 
beings don't generally formulate complex groupings in afterthought).

i  broda  .ije brode .ijetu'e brodi .ije brodo tu'u .ijebo brodu

gives the bracketing you showed, with the brodi/brodo pair grouping 
left, marked by tu'e/tu'u.  If you only used bo then you would 
parenthesize sentences from the right (and again you don't need a bo 
before the brode).

Sentence logical connection is a difficult problem, especially when you 
try to account for logical scope, so it is designed to be less flexible.

More broadly, really complex constructs are more easily expressed using 
gi'ebo/gi'eke for right and left grouping in afterthought, and ga/gi for 
forethought.  Since these constructs connect multiple "bridi-tails" 
(selbri plus trailing sumti) within one .i sentence, for maximal 
flexibility, you have to but all the sumti including x1 after the 
selbri.  These are also described in that same chapter of CLL.

lojbab
-- 
Bob LeChevalier    lojbab@lojban.org    www.lojban.org
President and Founder, The Logical Language Group, Inc.

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