From cbmvax!uunet!CUVMA.BITNET!LOJBAN Thu Feb 13 09:56:33 1992 Return-Path: Received: by snark.thyrsus.com (/\==/\ Smail3.1.21.1 #21.19) id ; Thu, 13 Feb 92 09:56 EST Received: by cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com (5.57/UUCP-Project/Commodore 2/8/91) id AA23813; Thu, 13 Feb 92 07:22:08 EST Received: from cunixf.cc.columbia.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA02358; Thu, 13 Feb 92 03:29:51 -0500 Received: from cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu by cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB) id AA05673; Thu, 13 Feb 92 03:29:51 EST Message-Id: <9202130829.AA05673@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Received: from CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU (IBM VM SMTP R1.2.1) with BSMTP id 6193; Thu, 13 Feb 92 03:28:36 EST Received: by CUVMB (Mailer R2.07) id 9871; Thu, 13 Feb 92 03:27:58 EST Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1992 02:39:45 -0500 Reply-To: Logical Language Group Sender: Lojban list From: Logical Language Group Subject: response X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan , Eric Raymond , Eric Tiedemann Status: RO Frank Schulz asks: >Mark E. Shoulson writes the sentence > mi bacru le cmene be mi be'o ne ta'i lu mark. clsn. li'u >I do not understand the last part of the sentence > le cmene ne ta'i lu mark. li'u >This should have form > sumti ne sumti >so > ta'i lu mark. li'u >is a sumti. This means > BAI sumti >is a sumti, whichs seems strange. On a suspicion, I checked. Nora's grammar summary (the diagrammed examples publication) says "sumti ne sumti" because she was trying to keep things simple. The BNF, and more important, the YACC grammar, shows that the potential for what can go in the places labelled 'sumti' in the diagrammed examples is hardly touched by that phrase. Those who have the handout (updated and posted a few months ago) are welcome to suggest a workable change that won't mislead, but also won't overcomplicate. I'm not sure BAI-tagged sumti are even discussed in the handout, and this may be part of the problem. The diagrammed examples were intended as very introductory material intended to get people started, and also to serve as a quick reference for people who have gotten rusty, but who already know the grammar. This dual purpose may be self-contradictory, alas. lojbab