Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 23:30:50 -0400
From: Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
Subject: Re: afterthought conn within NU?
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
To: Veijo Vilva <veion@XIRON.PC.HELSINKI.FI>
Reply-to: Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
Message-id: <01HVANCSP97A000AF9@FIPORT.FUNET.FI>
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Length: 1093
Lines: 21

Problems with after thought - well probably because the design for the
connectives has been mostly an afterthought in the language design.
 
JCB did a lot of work on forethought and afterthought connectives
betweeen sentences and sumti, and a lesser amount on selbri connection.
Abstract sentences themselves were only half-designed by JCB - the current
flowering of their system did not emerge till 1989 when i was writing
lesson 3 of the first textbook draft.  Most other things in the language
that can be connected, and all non logical connectives, were not designed
until even later, and certainly not tested for robustness.
 
The priority was always placed on making sure everything was sayable in
forethought, because it was recognized that scope in afterthought was a
probable too-hard-to-solve problem if analyzed to the fullest extent.
Thus, most complex expressions have to be stated in forethought, and we have
added in afterthought connectives whenever we could make them work within
the YACC grammar, and then only to the extent that they fell out of the
design easily.
 
lojbab