Message-Id: <m0rEaEI-00007RC@xiron.pc.helsinki.fi>
Date:         Fri, 2 Dec 1994 13:46:48 EST
Reply-To:     jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU
Sender:       Lojban list <LOJBAN%CUVMB.bitnet@FINHUTC.hut.fi>
From:         Jorge Llambias <jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: cmavo hit-list
To:         lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
Content-Length: 2106
Lines: 50

la kris cusku di'e

> >        da'e da'u de'e de'u do'i
> >
> >They also seem too many. It would be nice if they could refer to
> >only part of a bridi, like the inside of an abstraction.
>
> I've only used "di'u" and "di'e" (which you don't include here because
> they're obviously useful).  I wish there was something that could refer to
> *several* sentences, because I often want to refer vaguely to a previous
> block of discourse without really pinpointing one sentence.

That's what {di'u} does, it refers to whole utterances, which could consist
of more than one bridi. But I don't think it can refer to part of a bridi.
For example, if someone says {mi jinvi le du'u ba carvi}, then is
{mi tugni la'e di'u} a good response? Am I agreeing that it will rain,
or that the first speaker thinks so?


> >        nu'e (vocative)
> >
> >Why is this a vocative? It doesn't seem to have anything to do
> >with the others.
>
> It should probably be an evidential, but I think it's useful to have
> "promise" as something other than just the bridi "nupre", to distinguish "I
> have a promise that I've made/will make" from "I hereby promise".  I think
> "mi nupre lenu prami do" would not be as good as "nu'e <cmene> mi ba prami
> do" or maybe "ca'e mi nupre lenu prami do".

Is nu'e only good for future events, or can it be used for things like
"I swear I didn't do it"? Does it only mean "I promise", or a more
general "you have my word of honour that what I say is the truth".


> The dau/fei/gai I like because we've got so many things, like months and
> hours, that come in twelves.

Many? The only other one I can think of is eggs. And for hours, it is
doubtful that they are useful, if you want to use a base twelve system
you can't use gai, which is pano in base twelve.

> Sometimes I can't find a UI I need, but when I sit down to list the ones
> that are missing I can never remember what they were.  .i ku'i le cmavo be
> zo .ui poi mi nitcu cu na'o zasti

I'm sure you don't mean that those cmavo exist only most of the time.
You are preobably referring to {so'e le cmavo poi do nitcu}.

Jorge