From cowan Wed Nov 22 10:47:11 1995 Subject: Re: Some comments to mark,l From: John Cowan To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu (Lojban List) Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 10:47:11 -0500 (EST) In-Reply-To: <199511210418.XAA20609@locke.ccil.org> from "Goran Topic" at Nov 21, 95 05:03:56 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 1192 Status: OR Message-ID: la goran. cusku di'e > I don't know, really. We probably have some name for it, but I just can't > remember any. I guess when I want it handed to me, I say the equivalent > of "Give me that... for flies." I am usually understood, and if not, I > accompany the sentence with the swatting motion of my hand. .u'ise'i In other words, you ask for the {sfani co'e}. Very lojbanic. > How is lalxu defined, lojbab? I found myself asking why doesn't lalxu > have a place for composition, like xamsi. I guess if I lived near one, > I'd say elliptically just {silnyla'u}. I would like to be able to use > it, besides the obvious meaning, also for puddles of oil, these salt > pans, as well as for what happens in the upturned umbrella. Or tell > me how to say that otherwise. This is one of those places where a lujvo can achieve a genuine semantic extension. Ivan's example is "stone lion"; this is a good tanru, and doesn't mean that "cinfo" has to have the place structure "x1 is a lion of species x2, made of material x3"! Indeed, the x2 place of "cinfo" probably never gets filled in "rokcinfo", because it is fairly useless. -- John Cowan cowan@ccil.org e'osai ko sarji la lojban.