Return-Path: Message-Id: Date: Tue, 14 May 91 09:45 EDT From: cbmvax!uunet!count.tct.com!chip (Chip Salzenberg) To: lojban-list@snark.thyrsus.com Subject: Re: Gismu uniqueness In-Reply-To: Organization: Teltronics/TCT, Sarasota, FL Cc: Status: RO X-From-Space-Date: Tue May 14 17:58:02 1991 X-From-Space-Address: cbmvax!uunet!pdn!tct!count.tct.com!chip John Cowan writes: >Chip Salzenberg writes: >> So if no gismu like "bridV" other than "bridi" can be created, then >> why not have all gismu end with the same vowell, say "o", thus freeing >> up "CVVCa", "CVVCe", etc. for other uses? > >Mostly for better recognition. "blanu" = "blue" would be considerably >less recognizable to English-speakers if it didn't end in "u". I find this argument less than compelling when applied to a language that is intended to be learnable by anyone. >Also, what other uses? Gismu space is really pretty big, much larger than >the existing number of gismu, and that provides needed redundancy. (Disclaimer: I'm a computer weenie, not a linguist, so my intuition may be wrong.) A common practice in computer hardware and software is to reserve certain pins and bit combinations for future expansion. This practice follows from the computer science truism that no fixed-length field is ever big enough. I forget the total number of lojban consonants. Assuming 18 consonants and the current rules, there are about 60,000 possible unique gismu. Yes, that's a lot (more than I expected, actually). But I am still concerned that limiting the total number of gismu will eventually cause a real problem. After all, we *will* run out someday. BTW, if I can't answer the "what other uses" question, that may indicates a failure of my imagination. It does not necessarily indicate that the question has no good answer. >...already a problem with Lojban that a garbled cmavo can produce utter >nonsense; we need a reasonable amount of separation to make the language >humanly usable. If the trailing vowell is truly useful in distinguishing gismu, then isn't dropping it during lujvo formation a bad idea? -- Brand X Industries Custodial, Refurbishing and Containment Service: When You Never, Ever Want To See It Again [tm] Chip Salzenberg ,