From @uga.cc.uga.edu:lojban@cuvmb.bitnet Fri May 26 21:59:26 1995 Received: from punt2.demon.co.uk by stryx.demon.co.uk with SMTP id AA3120 ; Fri, 26 May 95 21:59:23 BST Received: from punt2.demon.co.uk via puntmail for ia@stryx.demon.co.uk; Fri, 26 May 95 13:44:45 GMT Received: from uga.cc.uga.edu by punt2.demon.co.uk id aa11142; 26 May 95 14:44 +0100 Received: from UGA.CC.UGA.EDU by uga.cc.uga.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 7216; Fri, 26 May 95 09:42:04 EDT Received: from UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@UGA) by UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8396; Fri, 26 May 1995 09:39:22 -0400 Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 09:38:30 -0400 Reply-To: John Cowan Sender: Lojban list From: John Cowan Subject: Re: quantifiers on sumti - late response X-To: Lojban List To: Iain Alexander In-Reply-To: <199505260012.UAA06641@locke.ccil.org> from "Iain Alexander" at May 25, 95 11:07:14 pm Message-ID: <9505261444.aa11142@punt2.demon.co.uk> Status: R la xorxes. cusku di'e > > So what does this mean: > > > > so'a da poi gerku cu se denci ije so'i da batci da > > Almost all dogs have teeth, and most of those bite (themselves?/ > > those that bite?/those with teeth?) > > > > To me it means "themselves", which doesn't agree with your rule (nor with > > what you say it doesn't mean). I think the last {da} doesn't have a > > quantifier. If you put one there it changes the meaning. la .i,n. cusku di'e > I think it has to mean the same as {so'i da zo'u: da batci da} - > many of those bite themselves. The following bridi would revert > to {da} = the one's with teeth. I don't agree. I believe that Jorge's example does indeed mean "most of those bite the ones with teeth", since "da" is not rebound. Iain's version, OTOH, means something quite different: "most things bite themselves". When "da" explicitly appears in a new prenex, that clobbers the old interpretation altogether, so all connection to dogs is lost. Essentially the rule as I have stated it gives meaning to the case in which an already-bound variable is explicitly quantified at the point of use. It is not intended as a general-purpose narrowing mechanism. -- John Cowan cowan@ccil.org e'osai ko sarji la lojban.