Return-Path: Message-Id: <9110212054.AA27546@relay1.UU.NET> Date: Tue Oct 22 02:57:21 1991 Reply-To: And Rosta Sender: Lojban list From: And Rosta Subject: aphorisms & cultural gismu To: John Cowan , Eric Raymond , Eric Tiedemann Status: RO X-From-Space-Date: Tue Oct 22 02:57:21 1991 X-From-Space-Address: cbmvax!uunet!CUVMA.BITNET!LOJBAN (1) John Parks-Clifford fears Lojban aphorisms to be relatively longwinded, but I think literal aphorisms are definitely a text-type where maximal precision is to be desired. They remain short & pithy relative to the importance of the information they convey. The literal type of aphorism is to be contrasted with the metonymic types of aphorism such as _Too many cooks spoil the broth_ and _The probability of the bread falling buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet_. In these cases stylistic considerations are what count. I would like to offer an aphorism (one might call it a sutra) for translation: (in English:) All land is collectively owned by everyone. The intended meaning is that all the non-living material substance of this planet is the 'possessed' argument of a single instance of owning, whose 'possessor' argument is the set containing all people. I guess it should go something like: pa boi [selbri: own] [FA: owner] [all] [LE] prenu [FA: owned] tedytu'a (or some better lujvo) (2) I can't quite fathom the selection criteria for cultural gismu. Most of them seem to be places where the languages Lojban derived its gismu from are spoken. Is this right? What happens to the rest? I can't help feeling that there's a certain kudos to being a gismu rather than a le'avla! My first impulse on reading the gismu list was to speak up for: camri Welsh madja Hungarian skera Basque & it was with irrational chagrin that I realized that their exclusion was probably principled and not a slight on the gismuless. Why are Canadians kadno and not kando? Is someone worried that people would then make jokes about them being dim (kandi)? cizra! I don't think if I said in lojban "You're looking a bit pale today" anyone would think I'd said "You're looking a bit Canadian today" (unless they were also carrying a maple leaf, say). --------- fe lei da'u cu zbasu fa .o'a le brito be fa la .and. e'osai se ciksi la lojban