From snark!cowan Wed Jun 12 11:38:47 1991 Return-Path: Message-Id: Apparently-From: snark!cowan Subject: Re: names as predicates To: cbmvax!uunet!Think.COM!gls (Guy Steele) Date: Wed, 12 Jun 91 11:15:09 EDT From: John Cowan In-Reply-To: <9106112229.AA09543@strident.think.com>; from "Guy Steele" at Jun 11, 91 6:29 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.2 PL13] Status: RO la gais. stil. (la glis.?) cusku di'e: > I am not entirely convinced that distinguishing names and > predicates is such a good idea after all. Is not a name merely a > predicate that you are pretty sure happens to be satisfied by a > single thing (whatever a "thing" is)? For this purpose, the "me" particle was introduced into the language: it turns an argument (often a name argument) into a predicate. > I am Guy Steele. > I am Guy-Steele-ish. > I satisfy the Guy-Steele predicate. > I have the Guy-Steele nature. mi me la glis. (predicate version) mi du la glis. (identity-sentence version) mi'e glis. (non-predicative, self-vocative = "I hight GLS") > I wish there were two Guy Steeles. mi djica re da poi me la glis. I desire two somethings which-are GLS-ish. > Tina Turner has the Mick-Jagger nature. la tinas. tr,nr. me la mik. djag,r. > Fabian was Bobby-Darin-ish. la feibi,n. pu me la babis. derin. > Luciano-Pavarotti can Enrico-Caruso better than anyone else alive today. la lutcian. pavarot. ne semau ro da poi cabna jmive prenu cu xamgu me la .enrik. karus. Luciano Pavarotti, more-than all those who-are (presently living) persons is-a-good Enrico-Caruso-er. -- cowan@snark.thyrsus.com ...!uunet!cbmvax!snark!cowan e'osai ko sarji la lojban