Return-Path: <@segate.sunet.se:LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET> Received: from segate.sunet.se by xiron.pc.helsinki.fi with smtp (Linux Smail3.1.28.1 #1) id m0spiJG-0000ZKC; Mon, 4 Sep 95 23:40 EET DST Message-Id: Received: from segate.sunet.se by segate.sunet.se (LSMTP for OpenVMS v0.1a) with SMTP id D890E3F7 ; Mon, 4 Sep 1995 22:40:06 +0200 Date: Mon, 4 Sep 1995 14:08:46 EDT Reply-To: jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU Sender: Lojban list From: jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU Subject: Re: Names X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: Veijo Vilva Content-Length: 785 Lines: 25 la djer cusku di'e > mi du la'e la djer: > I am the referent of the name, djer. That's not quite right. You can either say {mi du la djer} or {mi du la'e zo djer}. i la djer cu prenu gi'enai valsi i zo djer cu valsi i la'e zo djer cu prenu > I'm not sure these say what xorxes wants, but there should be a way. Saying {mi du la xorxes} to me is like saying {ta du lo mlatu} instead of {ta mlatu}. It is not that it is wrong, it just doesn't sound like normal Lojban, it looks like the worst calque from English, translating "is" as {du}. The idea of using {zei} is just an underhanded way of creating a predicate out of a name, by combining it with something semantically empty, that doesn't add anything extra. Otherwise, the name can't be used as a predicate by itself. Jorge