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The original message has been attached to this so you can view it or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see @@CONTACT_ADDRESS@@ for details. Content preview: On Tuesday, September 30, 2014 5:51:57 PM UTC-4, Dustin Lacewell wrote: > > I'm putting this here because I was asked to do so (probably for > completeness in discourse) > > I have -never- used {le} to indicate a non-veridical description. I am > completely on-board with selpahi's observation that nearly all human > language is metaphorical and explicitly marking a description as > non-veridical seems to be a waste of breath. In most situations, your > speaker knows when you're making a non-veridical description. > > The example I habitually provide is, imagine some men are hanging out by a > water-cooler and some women walking past hear them making sexist remarks. > One women isn't going to confuse the other by saying something like "Those > dogs are disgusting". Does the listener really require such a > front-and-center indication of non-veridicality? As far as I'm concerned > the answer is blaring "no". We can have some articles for explicitly > marking non-veridical descriptions but they should hidden away in an > obscure cmavo that is there only to fulfill the promise that we can be as > precise as we want to in lojban. Use {pe'a} is my suggestion. > > {le} has always existed as a Definite Article for me. When I first started > studying Lojban I remember someone remarking quite aggressively that {le} > is DEFINITELY NOT the English "the". Since then, I've heard similar disgust > at even the notion that they share similar semantics. The impression I > originally was given was that "oh god, -nothing- from _ENGLISH_ could be > useful for communicating jbopre". Since then I have understood that the > feeling is more that the English "the" is simply muddied up the same way > {le} is muddied up with multiple semantics. > > Well then, that's fine because I've only ever used it for the major > definition of "the" as a standard Definite Article and in the most general > sense at that. From wikipedia: > > A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) >> identifiable to the listener. It may [...] Content analysis details: (0.1 points, 5.0 required) pts rule name description ---- ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- 0.0 URIBL_BLOCKED ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE: The query to URIBL was blocked. See http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/DnsBlocklists#dnsbl-block for more information. [URIs: googlegroups.com] -0.0 RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H2 RBL: Average reputation (+2) [209.85.192.187 listed in wl.mailspike.net] 0.0 T_HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS From and EnvelopeFrom 2nd level mail domains are different -0.0 SPF_PASS SPF: sender matches SPF record 0.0 FREEMAIL_FROM Sender email is commonly abused enduser mail provider (transfire[at]gmail.com) 0.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message -1.9 BAYES_00 BODY: Bayes spam probability is 0 to 1% [score: 0.0000] -0.1 DKIM_VALID Message has at least one valid DKIM or DK signature -0.1 DKIM_VALID_AU Message has a valid DKIM or DK signature from author's domain 0.1 DKIM_SIGNED Message has a DKIM or DK signature, not necessarily valid 2.0 LONGWORDS Long string of long words 0.0 T_FREEMAIL_FORGED_FROMDOMAIN 2nd level domains in From and EnvelopeFrom freemail headers are different ------=_Part_4912_1319649317.1412128339431 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 On Tuesday, September 30, 2014 5:51:57 PM UTC-4, Dustin Lacewell wrote: > > I'm putting this here because I was asked to do so (probably for > completeness in discourse) > > I have -never- used {le} to indicate a non-veridical description. I am > completely on-board with selpahi's observation that nearly all human > language is metaphorical and explicitly marking a description as > non-veridical seems to be a waste of breath. In most situations, your > speaker knows when you're making a non-veridical description. > > The example I habitually provide is, imagine some men are hanging out by a > water-cooler and some women walking past hear them making sexist remarks. > One women isn't going to confuse the other by saying something like "Those > dogs are disgusting". Does the listener really require such a > front-and-center indication of non-veridicality? As far as I'm concerned > the answer is blaring "no". We can have some articles for explicitly > marking non-veridical descriptions but they should hidden away in an > obscure cmavo that is there only to fulfill the promise that we can be as > precise as we want to in lojban. Use {pe'a} is my suggestion. > > {le} has always existed as a Definite Article for me. When I first started > studying Lojban I remember someone remarking quite aggressively that {le} > is DEFINITELY NOT the English "the". Since then, I've heard similar disgust > at even the notion that they share similar semantics. The impression I > originally was given was that "oh god, -nothing- from _ENGLISH_ could be > useful for communicating jbopre". Since then I have understood that the > feeling is more that the English "the" is simply muddied up the same way > {le} is muddied up with multiple semantics. > > Well then, that's fine because I've only ever used it for the major > definition of "the" as a standard Definite Article and in the most general > sense at that. From wikipedia: > > A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) >> identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the speaker has >> already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The definite >> article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is *the*. > > > This is -exactly- how I've used {le} in the past and how I describe it to > newcomers and even those jbopre who claim to have no clue what it means. > Contrast it against the definition of the Indefinite Article: > > An *indefinite* article indicates that its noun is not a particular one >> (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be something that the >> speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be >> irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general >> statement about any such thing. > > > To me, this is natural, intuitive and not complicated at all. It has been > pointed out to me that certain cultures don't have this distinction and so > it is not natural for everyone to think this way. But for me it is indeed > incredibly intuitive. The most important semantic that {le} introduces is a > *signal* to the listener that the referenced object *can be identified* either > through context, preknowledge or otherwise. This is especially clear when > contrasted against object descriptions where *no referent can be > identified**.* > > What does this mean? I like to use examples: > > Let's say a teacher asks a student "What is your favorite fruit?" the > student my answer with an *indefinite description*, "Apples!". In this > case, there is no relevant apple. It isn't a quantification issue. The > student isn't merely saying that they {nelci ro lo plise}. There's no > quantification taking place at all, since there is no referent to the > description. There is no context or Universe of Discourse which allows the > listener to identify one ore more apples that the student was referring to. > But not because there arent any apples around - but because the description > is *literally indefinite*. > > Now let's change the thought experiment. We simply introduce a table where > a selection of various fruits are arranged. Now when the teacher asks "What > is your favorite fruit?" the student will invariably give a slightly > different answer that aims at the same objective of communicating their > favorite. They will say "The apple!". The description is now *definite. *It > isn't just *definite* in the mind of the speaker. There is a real, > objective and practical difference here. The listener now has a previously > inaccessible capability to *identify* -a- referent to the description. > We're not talking about accuracy on the part of the listener, or the > vagueness or specificity of the speaker. We don't care if the listener gets > it wrong because they are dumb, or the speaker isn't precise enough. We're > talking about a substantial and mechanical distinction in that the > formulation of the speech creates the *potential* for identification > because the speaker has provided a *definite description*. To contrast > how *definite *and *indefinite* descriptions create completely different > linguistic circumstances regarding referentiality and identification that > is *completely unrelated to vague or precise speech (ambiguity) *notice > that *regardless of the precision of speech, no indefinite description > can ever be identified as having a referent. *There is no context in > which the answer "Apples!" is relevant to any specific apple. It doesn't > even attribute the students preference to all apples; its *orthogonal* to > quantification. > > Further, the mechanical difference -has nothing to do- with 'coining' a > creative label for which to refer to something. A nickname, > impressionistic, utilitarian or otherwise non-veridical description that we > create in order to -help- identification. That's a second order concern *once > referentiality and therefore identification is *possible** in the first > place. Non-veridicality implies a definite description has already been > made. > > Some people will argue that this distinction isn't useful or claim to have > a complete inability to fathom such contexts where the distinction between *definite > *and *indefinite* descriptions is actually useful for communication. I > find it -*childishly trivial*- to come up with examples where the > distinction between the indefinite and definite descriptions of some 'kind' > or platonic class is important for encouraging comprehension between two > interlocutors. > > :: A just returns home to B:: > A: {coi} > B: {coi .i xu do se pluka le draci} > A: {uinai na go'i} > B: {ue .i xu do se pluka lo draci} > A: {je'a} > > A: Hello > B: Hey. Did you enjoy the play? > A: No, :( > B: What? Do you like plays? > A: Indeed. > > Now this example *assumes* that {lo} doesn't contain the semantics of > {le}, or rather, we can specifically utilize the semantic of {lo} that is > inaccessible to {le} by *contrasting* them. If we removed {le} from the > lexicon it would take a more verbose description in one of the cases. > Either "the play that you just saw" for the first appearance of draci or > "plays in general" or the second appearance. By letting the gadri > *indicate* or *signal* to the listener that the {draci} that we're > referring to is definite, probably contextually relevant or in some cases > perviously mentioned but more importantly *identifiable. *We then > constrast our second description against the {le} version by using {lo}. > Two speakers who speak my preference in lojban semantics immediate > recognizes this second question as asking about plays in a way where no > specific play is identifable. Therefore we implicitly and automatically > know that we're talking about plays "in general". The discourse is > efficient and clear. > > I have argued that {lo} and {le} have the same exact lojbanic expansion, > {le} doesn't affect quantification after all, it just makes this > metadiscourse signal to the listener. But if I had to come up with > something, if {lo broda} is expanded to {zo'e noi ke'a broda} then, in my > world, {le broda} is defined as {zo'e noi ke'a broda jecu se dubyfa'i do'o} > or something like that. Its probably wrong, but it just shows that the > identity of the thing for which the description is given must be concretely > identifiable. > > I appologize if there is a lot of tautology here, but I'm just trying to > drive home the impression I'm attempting to put forth. > Very well said. Would I could be so well spoken. I pretty much agree with your view. But this leaves me wondering about {lo} versus {lei} and {loi}. I reread the section in the CLL and it doesn't quite gel. It seems to me that there are only three types of "descriptions": 1. specific thing within the discourse (the) 2. any instance of a thing (a/any) 3. formal thing The first two are exactly the same except for, as you say, the "metadiscourse" signal. But the third refers to the formal notation of a thing --this is the "mass" descriptor. But I think mass descriptor is a horrible name because it confuses the formal idea of a thing for the idea of a mass of individuals clumped together, which is silly. No, I don't imagine all the butter in the universal in a big mass ball when I say "butter is soft". Rather I am taking about butter as a general idea. Plato called these "forms" and though he believed they had a real existence and today we see them as concepts, they have nothing to do with quantification! So that's why {lei} and {loi} don't jive for me. To say "the men carried the piano together" I would not use {lei}, rather I expect there to be another word that means "all together", for argument sake say "ro" means that, so "ro lo" would be what I'd use. I know I did not explain that as well as you, but I hope the idea comes through. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "lojban" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to lojban+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to lojban@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojban. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. ------=_Part_4912_1319649317.1412128339431 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable


On Tuesday, September 30, 2014 5:51:57 PM UTC-4, D= ustin Lacewell wrote:
I'm putting this here because I was asked to do so (probably = for completeness in discourse)

I have -never- used= {le} to indicate a non-veridical description. I am completely on-board wit= h selpahi's observation that nearly all human language is metaphorical and = explicitly marking a description as non-veridical seems to be a waste of br= eath. In most situations, your speaker knows when you're making a non-verid= ical description.

The example I habitually pro= vide is, imagine some men are hanging out by a water-cooler and some women = walking past hear them making sexist remarks. One women isn't going to conf= use the other by saying something like "Those dogs are disgusting". Does th= e listener really require such a front-and-center indication of non-veridic= ality? As far as I'm concerned the answer is blaring "no". We can have some= articles for explicitly marking non-veridical descriptions but they should= hidden away in an obscure cmavo that is there only to fulfill the promise = that we can be as precise as we want to in lojban. Use {pe'a} is my suggest= ion.

{le} has always existed as a Definite Article= for me. When I first started studying Lojban I remember someone remarking = quite aggressively that {le} is DEFINITELY NOT the English "the". Since the= n, I've heard similar disgust at even the notion that they share similar se= mantics. The impression I originally was given was that "oh god, -nothing- = from _ENGLISH_ could be useful for communicating jbopre". Since then I have= understood that the feeling is more that the English "the" is simply muddi= ed up the same way {le} is muddied up with multiple semantics.
Well then, that's fine because I've only ever used it for the = major definition of "the" as a standard Definite Article and in the most ge= neral sense at that. From wikipedia:

= A definite article indicates that= its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It ma= y be something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be somethi= ng uniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular a= nd plural nouns, is the<= /i>.

=
This is -exactly- how I've used {le} in the past and how I descr= ibe it to newcomers and even those jbopre who claim to have no clue what it= means. Contrast it against the definition of the Indefinite Article:
=

A= n indefinite article indicates that its noun is = not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It may be some= thing that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise ide= ntity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a gen= eral statement about any such thing.

To me, this is natural, intuitive and not complicated at all. It has been = pointed out to me that certain cultures don't have this distinction and so = it is not natural for everyone to think this way. But for me it is indeed i= ncredibly intuitive. The most important semantic that {le} introduces is a = signal to the listener that the referenced object can be identified either through context, prekno= wledge or otherwise. This is especially clear when contrasted against objec= t descriptions where no referent can= be identified. 
<= div>
What does this mean? I like to use examples:
<= br>
Let's say a teacher asks a student "What is your favorite fru= it?" the student my answer with an indefinite description, "Apples!"= . In this case, there is no relevant apple. It isn't a quantification issue= . The student isn't merely saying that they {nelci ro lo plise}. There's no= quantification taking place at all, since there is no referent to the desc= ription. There is no context or Universe of Discourse which allows the list= ener to identify one ore more apples that the student was referring to. But= not because there arent any apples around - but because the description is= literally indefinite.

Now let's change the= thought experiment. We simply introduce a table where a selection of vario= us fruits are arranged. Now when the teacher asks "What is your favorite fr= uit?" the student will invariably give a slightly different answer that aim= s at the same objective of communicating their favorite. They will say "The= apple!". The description is now definite. It isn't just definite=  in the mind of the speaker. There is a real, objective and practi= cal difference here. The listener now has a previously inaccessible capabil= ity to identify -a- referent to the description. We're not talk= ing about accuracy on the part of the listener, or the vagueness or specifi= city of the speaker. We don't care if the listener gets it wrong because th= ey are dumb, or the speaker isn't precise enough. We're talking about a sub= stantial and mechanical distinction in that the formulation of the speech c= reates the potential for identification because the speaker has= provided a definite description. To contrast how definite an= d indefinite descriptions create completely different linguisti= c circumstances regarding referentiality and identification that is comp= letely unrelated to vague or precise speech (ambiguity) notice that = regardless of the precision of speech, no indefinite description can ever b= e identified as having a referent. There is = no context in which the answer "Apples!" is relevant to any specific apple.= It doesn't even attribute the students preference to all apples; its or= thogonal to quantification.

Further, = the mechanical difference -has nothing to do- with 'coining' a creative lab= el for which to refer to something. A nickname, impressionistic, utilitaria= n or otherwise non-veridical description that we create in order to -help- = identification. That's a second order concern once referentiality and therefore identification is *possible* in= the first place. Non-veridicality implies a definite description has alrea= dy been made.

Some people will argue that this distinction isn't use= ful or claim to have a complete inability to fathom such contexts where the= distinction between definite and indefinite description= s is actually useful for communication. I find it -childishly trivial- to come up with examples where the distinctio= n between the indefinite and definite descriptions of some 'kind' or platon= ic class is important for encouraging comprehension between two interlocuto= rs.

:: A just returns home to B::
A: {co= i}
B: {coi .i xu do se pluka le draci}
A: {uinai na go'= i}
B: {ue .i xu do se pluka lo draci}
A: {je'a}

A: Hello
B: Hey. Did you enjoy the play?
<= div>A: No, :(
B: What? Do you like plays?
A: Indeed.

Now this example assumes that {lo} doesn= 't contain the semantics of {le}, or rather, we can specifically utilize th= e semantic of {lo} that is inaccessible to {le} by contrasting = them. If we removed {le} from the lexicon it would take a more verbose desc= ription in one of the cases. Either "the play that you just saw" for the fi= rst appearance of draci or "plays in general" or the second appearance. By = letting the gadri indicate or signal to the listene= r that the {draci} that we're referring to is definite, probably contextual= ly relevant or in some cases perviously mentioned but more importantly identifiable. We then constrast our second de= scription against the {le} version by using {lo}. Two speakers who speak my= preference in lojban semantics immediate recognizes this second question a= s asking about plays in a way where no specific play is identifable. Theref= ore we implicitly and automatically know that we're talking about plays "in= general". The discourse is efficient and clear.

I have argued that = {lo} and {le} have the same exact lojbanic expansion, {le} doesn't affect q= uantification after all, it just makes this metadiscourse signal to the lis= tener. But if I had to come up with something, if {lo broda} is expanded to= {zo'e noi ke'a broda} then, in my world, {le broda} is defined as {zo'e no= i ke'a broda jecu se dubyfa'i do'o} or something like that. Its probably wr= ong, but it just shows that the identity of the thing for which the descrip= tion is given must be concretely identifiable.

I a= ppologize if there is a lot of tautology here, but I'm just trying to drive= home the impression I'm attempting to put forth.
<= div>
Very well said. Would I could be so well spoken.

I pretty much agree with your view. But this leaves me wo= ndering about {lo} versus {lei} and {loi}. I reread the section in the CLL = and it doesn't quite gel. It seems to me that there are only three types of= "descriptions":

1. specific thing within the disc= ourse (the)
2. any instance of a thing (a/any)
3. forma= l thing 

The first two are exactly the same e= xcept for, as you say, the "metadiscourse" signal. But the third refers to = the formal notation of a thing --this is the "mass" descriptor. But I think= mass descriptor is a horrible name because it confuses the formal idea of = a thing for the idea of a mass of individuals clumped together, which is si= lly. No, I don't imagine all the butter in the universal in a big mass ball= when I say "butter is soft". Rather I am taking about butter as a general = idea. Plato called these "forms" and though he believed they had a real exi= stence and today we see them as concepts, they have nothing to do with quan= tification! So that's why {lei} and {loi} don't jive for me. To say "the me= n carried the piano together" I would not use {lei}, rather I expect there = to be another word that means "all together", for argument sake say "ro" me= ans that, so "ro lo" would be what I'd use.

I know= I did not explain that as well as you, but I hope the idea comes through.<= /div>

--
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