Return-Path: <@FINHUTC.HUT.FI:LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET> Received: from FINHUTC.hut.fi by xiron.pc.helsinki.fi with smtp (Linux Smail3.1.28.1 #1) id m0quwZ4-00005YC; Wed, 12 Oct 94 07:49 EET Message-Id: Received: from FINHUTC.HUT.FI by FINHUTC.hut.fi (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 3057; Wed, 12 Oct 94 07:49:37 EET Received: from SEARN.SUNET.SE (NJE origin MAILER@SEARN) by FINHUTC.HUT.FI (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 3054; Wed, 12 Oct 1994 07:49:35 +0200 Received: from SEARN.SUNET.SE (NJE origin LISTSERV@SEARN) by SEARN.SUNET.SE (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 9554; Wed, 12 Oct 1994 06:46:36 +0100 Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 13:48:30 +0800 Reply-To: Chung-chieh Shan Sender: Lojban list From: Chung-chieh Shan Subject: Re: Talking about non-existant objects X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: Veijo Vilva Content-Length: 1107 Lines: 30 > I haven't been reading my Lojban mail that closely recently, partly because > there's been so much of it Well now I know I'm not alone. :) > I then further thought, why not solve the problem of not being able to talk > about Elves and the such like by inventing a tense that would get us to the > (imaginary) location in which they do exist. Let's say this tense is "xa'o" > (c.f. ka'o :-) then if I say: > > lo ricre'a cu crino > > you (believing the non-existance of elves) would infer: > > lo ricre'a xa'o crino I like this proposal! Maybe vedu'o works, or maybe we need a new modal/tense cmavo such as xa'o. But this sounds most natural to me -- when I hear "elves are..." my mind automatically enters a "hypothetical mode". Of course, we should all be grateful to the implicit tense system of Lojban. Why hasn't anyone else commented on this one? This accepted-by-all-Lojbanists proposal xa'o ba add a new meaning to the tense paper title "Imaginary Journeys". :) ---------- Chung-chieh (Ken) Shan ken@cauchy.math.ntu.edu.tw "Ay, fashion you may call it. Go to, go to." -- Hamlet