Message-Id: <199602031025.FAA20555@locke.ccil.org>
Date:         Fri, 2 Feb 1996 20:21:10 -0300
Reply-To: "Jorge J. Llambias" <jorge@INTERMEDIA.COM.AR>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: "Jorge J. Llambias" <jorge@INTERMEDIA.COM.AR>
Subject:      Re: "except"
To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
Status: OR
Content-Length: 1103

>Shouldn't {po'onai} mean `not only' rather than `except'?
>
>--Ivan

I don't know. I don't think {nai} is that well defined that we can tell.
Interestingly, the Esperanto word "krom" has both of those meanings,
depending on context. It can mean "besides, in addition to" (i.e "not only")
and it can also mean "except" (i.e. "only not"). Of course, I'm not proposing
that Lojban should have that ambiguity.

Another related word that I still don't know how to do in Lojban
is "even":

That is important not only to the Irish.
(Important to the Irish and to others as well, the unexpected part
being that it is important to the others.)

That is important even to the Irish.
(Important to the Irish and to others as well, the unexpected part
being that it is important to the Irish.)

"Only" and "except" seem to be more basic, "only" giving the
only one that does, and "except" the only one that doesn't.
"Not only" and "even" seem to also have an element of unexpectedness
together with the basic meaning of "in addition to others".

Does anyone have a theory for how to handle those in Lojban?

Jorge