From lojbab Sat Mar 6 22:55:46 2010 Subject: TECH: Minor Semantic Change TENSE #3 To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu From: lojbab Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 14:12:24 -0500 (EST) Cc: lojbab (Logical Language Group) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 1522 Status: RO X-From-Space-Date: Mon Mar 21 14:12:24 1994 X-From-Space-Address: lojbab Message-ID: TENSE #3 CURRENT LANGUAGE: Forethought and afterthought tense/modal connection between sentences have different meanings because they claim different things. Specifically: 1) mi klama le zarci .ibabo mi klama le zdani I go-to the store. After-that I go-to the house. makes three claims: a) that I go to the store, b) that I go to the house, c) that event b follows event a. The corresponding afterthought form: 2) bagi mi klama le zarci gi mi klama le zdani After I go-to the store, I go-to the house is currently said to claim only that event 2 follows event 1, without claiming that the events actually happen, i.e. "My going to the house is after my going to the store." PROPOSED CHANGE: Make Example 2 claim what Example 1 claims: both the two bridi and their temporal connection. RATIONALE: It is idiosyncratic, not to say bizarre, to have a forethought form which has different implications from the afterthought form. The afterthought form has been heavily used, especially in narration, and what it claims cannot now be changed. The forethought form is rare, and can easily be changed to match the afterthought form. As is done for the causal connections, the pure-connection claim can be expressed by making the tense into the main selbri: 3) le nu mi klama le zarci cu se balvi le nu mi klama le zdani The event-of my going-to the store has-as-its-future the event-of my going-to the house. -- John Cowan sharing account for now e'osai ko sarji la lojban.