From LOJBAN%CUVMB.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Sat Mar 6 22:52:19 2010 Received: from YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU by MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU via SMTP; Thu, 1 Apr 1993 12:09:21 -0500 Received: from CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU by YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 5643; Thu, 01 Apr 93 12:07:59 EST Received: from CUVMB.BITNET by CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 7209; Thu, 01 Apr 93 12:08:56 EST Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1993 09:08:23 -0800 Reply-To: jimc@MATH.UCLA.EDU Sender: Lojban list From: jimc@MATH.UCLA.EDU Subject: Re: TECH: word "only" X-To: lojban@cuvmb.columbia.edu To: Erik Rauch In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 01 Apr 93 12:02:34 BST." <9304011123.AA20531@julia.math.ucla.edu> Status: OR X-From-Space-Date: Thu Apr 1 01:08:23 1993 X-From-Space-Address: @YaleVM.YCC.YALE.EDU:LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET Message-ID: On John Cowan's proposal of a UI discursive: > xu'o: exceptionally, uniquely, only Colin Fine responds: > I am very ambivalent about this. THe repeated difficulty we have had with > 'only' does indeed suggest that there is something missing; but the > difficulty we have had analysing what, suggests that either something is > broken, or 'only' is such a procrustean word that every use is different. I very much agree. The word "only" was one of the first that I broke my teeth on. Here is a short list of meanings, supplementing what Colin wrote: (1) The only way is love There is exactly one X which is a tadji (way), AND X is love (2) I ate only two cookies I ate two cookies, AND two is less than the expected number for this situation (3) I only ate two cookies I ate two cookies, AND that event is less than what would normally justify the criticism or punishment that you are putting me through (4) She is only a servant She is a servant, AND this condition implies a social status that is less than what is normally expected for the present situation (5) Smoke if you want, only not Smoke if you want [discursive of where I can smell it. contrast] don't smoke where... Thus, as Colin points out, the keyword "only" is very ambiguous and should be avoided, and the English word is Protean (not Procrustean). Syntactically in these examples, "only" is a 1-word abbreviation for a deep structure consisting of a rather complicated supplementary subordinate clause. Meanings 2,3,4 are closely related. In -gua!spi, to solve the "only" problem, I came up with the following list of gismu (showing only the definitions): (a) Object x1 is sufficient in dimension x3 for event/condition x2 to be true about it (x2 and x3 contain a cleft place replicating / ke'a'ing x1). Default x2 is "to qualify as x3". Scalar neutral negation gives "insufficient". (b) Object x1 is not quite sufficient ("almost" sufficient) in dimension x3 for event/condition x2 to be true about it. Polar opposite negation gives "barely". (c) Antecedent event x1 is a sufficient condition for consequence x2 to occur (d) x1 is more than usual or expected on dimension x2 for members of set x3. Scalar neutral negation gives "fairly", i.e. at the high end of the usual range. (e) x1 is less than usual or expected... Scalar neutral negation gives "somewhat", i.e. at the low end of the usual range. Polar opposite negation could conceivably be interpreted as converting (d) into (e), but I wanted a clear route to obtain "somewhat", so I gave a separate gismu. Negated versions of (a) or (c), with an implied pronoun in x2 connecting to the implied enclosing circumstance presumably expressed in preceeding discourse, give the "only" meanings of 2, 3 and 4. (e) can also be used to translate example 2. James F. Carter Voice 310 825 2897 FAX 310 206 6673 UCLA-Mathnet; 6221 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA 90024-1555 Internet: jimc@math.ucla.edu BITNET: jimc%math.ucla.edu@INTERBIT UUCP:...!{ucsd,ames,ncar,gatech,purdue,rutgers,decvax,uunet}!math.ucla.edu!jimc