From cbmvax!uunet!CUVMA.BITNET!LOJBAN Mon Feb 17 01:46:42 1992 Return-Path: Received: by snark.thyrsus.com (/\==/\ Smail3.1.21.1 #21.19) id ; Mon, 17 Feb 92 01:46 EST Received: by cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com (5.57/UUCP-Project/Commodore 2/8/91) id AA06694; Mon, 17 Feb 92 00:44:50 EST Received: from cunixf.cc.columbia.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA13584; Mon, 17 Feb 92 00:25:20 -0500 Received: from cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu by cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB) id AA29232; Mon, 17 Feb 92 00:25:28 EST Message-Id: <9202170525.AA29232@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Received: from CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU by CUVMB.COLUMBIA.EDU (IBM VM SMTP R1.2.1) with BSMTP id 8301; Mon, 17 Feb 92 00:24:11 EST Received: by CUVMB (Mailer R2.07) id 9590; Mon, 17 Feb 92 00:23:41 EST Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1992 20:39:24 -0800 Reply-To: "F. Schulz" Sender: Lojban list From: "F. Schulz" Subject: lojbab comments X-To: uunet!cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu!lojban@uunet.UU.NET To: John Cowan , Eric Raymond , Eric Tiedemann Status: RO lojbab sends comment on my writing in lojban. I find the comment somewhat challenging, so comment + my translation follows: << mi na cmila le nu da troci le nu cusku bau la lojban. I not laugh the event someone try the event express in-language lojban .i le temci cu na'e dukse ma'i lo nuntroci pamoi the time not excess in-reference-frame event-try first .i mi ba tcidu le do mulno ke lojbo se cusku .o'acai I will read the you complete lojban is-expressed >> In sentence (1) , at first I think "da" is a typo for "do" , then I realize existential variable means someone. Clear. In sentence (2) I wonder why scalar negation na'e is used instead of "na". I look at my scalar negation document, and find it is unformatted. I go into an edit frenzy and format the document. Exhausted by the edit, I skip "na'e" for later analysis. I examine "lo nuntroci pamoi". I guess the most important bridi is the second, which also controls the place structure. 'first' must refer back to "ma'i" and fills in the "ma'i" better than "attempt". So the main semantics is "first" but a certain kind of first. So "nuntroci pamoi" fits better than "pamoi nuntroci". Why "lo" rather than "le"? "lo" means we check the truth of the tanru, which seems not necessary. Rereading the lojbab reply to Colin, I see "lo" means "at least one of those satisfying the bridi" which means indefinite "a". I will ponder "lo" some more. "lo" must mean that a general statement about first attempts is being made, not about a specific first attempt which "le" would mean. Sentence (3) is tough. Why is "do" after the "le"? I expect a bridi here. Woops, "do" must attach to the whole "le" construct, ok. A complex 3 term tanru at the end. The last two terms group. The thing which is expressed, lojbanically expressed. What does "complete" mean here? Frank Schulz ( fschulz@pyramid.com )