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From: John E Clifford <clifford-j@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [lojban] Re: Presentation, visual aid grammar diagrams
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--- Matt Arnold <mattarn@123.net> wrote:

> 
> For a presentation that I'm giving on Lojban,
> I'd like to ask this group two questions.
> 
> #1, Since I'll be presenting to a group of
> open-source computer programmers, they might be
> tempted to join the Lojban community if I show
> them a list of interesting applications that
> they could make. What are the skills most
> needed, and the programs most needed? What
> opportunities are currently available for group
> development of Lojban-related software?
> 
> #2, For the visual presentation, I'd like to
> make graphics inspired by the illustration in
> CLL chapter 12 depicting a type of tinkertoy
> construction set. I intend to lean heavily on
> functional elegance from an engineering
> standpoint-- the concept of Lojban as a
> sophisticated toolkit. I wonder if I could
> extend this visual metaphor of modular parts to
> explain the basics of gismu, cmavo and place
> structures in a lojban sentence. Have any of
> you made drawings of this nature?
> 
> When I was first beginning in Lojban, I
> recalled the grammar diagrams we used to do in
> English class to identify parts of speech. I
> thought about actually cutting pieces out of
> wood to represent gismu. When a block with a
> gismu written on it was employed as a selbri,
> the segments depicting the meanings x1, x2 etc.
> would telescope out to became sumti bays. In
> these bays you could slot other blocks. Cmavo
> pegs could work as "adapters" with specialized
> ends that restricted their attachment to proper
> grammatical use. Reading further, I came to
> realize that's insanely complicated for a
> variety of reasons. It was impractical to
> physically implement, but I still think there
> might be a potential to make grammar diagrams
> as flash animations this way. At least it might
> work for the simplest beginner sentences.
> 
> -la epcat
Sounds like a noble effort.  On the one hand,
programmers have some linguistic knowledge left
over from Programming Languages class so just
playing it straight might work as well as
anything. On the other, I admit to having used
the chemical model: brivla atoms of various
valences, with several types of combining
elements (joining  on a sumtiized molecule,
joining atoms into molecules, joining atoms into
radicals, and in effect plugging valences).  This
gets a long way into the system (short ofthe
logical connectives).  I have heard nervous
system suggested (brivla as neurons, and so on)
but since I don't know anything useful about
those  systems I can't see how they help.
Good luck!