Message-Id: <199311232002.AA03425@eli.CS.YALE.EDU>
Date:         Tue, 23 Nov 1993 20:00:26 +0000
Reply-To: ucleaar <ucleaar@UCL.AC.UK>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN%CUVMB.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.YALE.EDU>
From: ucleaar <ucleaar@UCL.AC.UK>
Subject:      Re: proposal for new member of SE
To: Erik Rauch <rauch>
In-Reply-To:  (Your message of Tue, 23 Nov 93 13:26:53 EST.)
Status: RO

John:
> > >thanks to the "FA-suppletion" rules, which say that an un-FA'ed place falls
> > > into the numerically next place not yet filled.
>
> la .and. cusku di'e
>
> > How's this? I'd thought that to get 51234 with FA you just need "fu" on
> > the first sumti. Why not? [I don't know why I originally said you need
> > several FA.]
>
> Well, no.  The FA-rules don't know how many places the selbri has, so
> omitting "fa" from the example above puts the four following sumti into
> the (meaningless) x6, x7, x8, and x9 places.

I see I was ignorant of the FA-suppletion rules. I assumed that FA-marked
sumti had no effect on the place number of the other sumti, except for
removing the FA-sumti from the sequence. So Fi-A B C D E F would
be 3 1 2 4 5 6. And Fi-A B C fa-D E F would (no doubt gardenpathing
the hearer) be 3 2 4 1 5 6.

What is the rationale behind the FA-suppletion rules?
- superficially they seem to complicate the grammar unprofitably.

---
And                   KO JBOBANPEHO