Message-Id: <199512111726.TAA17681@xiron.pc.helsinki.fi>
Date:         Mon, 11 Dec 1995 12:18:53 -0500
Reply-To: Jorge Llambias <jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: Jorge Llambias <jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: PLI: length vs longness
To: Veijo Vilva <veion@XIRON.PC.HELSINKI.FI>
Content-Length: 1129
Lines: 48

la dn cusku di'e

> I was thinking about "How long have
> you lived here?"
>
>     .i ma temci leco'anu do vi xabju le cabna

You need a {kei} after {xabju}, or {le cabna} is swallowed inside
{nu}, giving "How long have you inhabited the present?".

> This seems very heavy-handed to me.  Any suggestions?

        do xabju ti ze'a ma
        You inhabit this during-interval what?

> Similiarly, "How long will you stay?"
>
>     .i ma temci le cabna leco'unu do stali

        do stali ze'a ma
        You stay during-interval what?


i la dilyn cusku di'e

> How about
>         .i do vi xabju co'a ma

{co'a} is less specific than {ze'a}. There is no guarantee that
the inhabiting lasts for as long as the {ma} does.


> And how would you answer these questions?
[...]
> but the first calls naturally for
> an equivalent of "5 years ago".  Is there any (reasonably concise)
> equivalent?

{puza lei mu nanca} in my dialect, but maybe not in standard Lojban.

> (This brings up the whole "tensors" discussion, I suppose.
> Let's try to keep things concise.  Was there a conclusion from last
> time?)

Not really... :(

Jorge