From LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET Sat Mar 6 22:45:27 2010 Reply-To: Jorge Llambias Sender: Lojban list Date: Mon Dec 11 14:02:03 1995 From: Jorge Llambias Subject: Re: PLI: length vs longness To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu, jorge@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu Status: OR X-From-Space-Date: Mon Dec 11 14:02:03 1995 X-From-Space-Address: LOJBAN%CUVMB.BITNET@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU Message-ID: 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