Message-Id: <199608062301.TAA28811@locke.ccil.org>
Date:         Wed, 7 Aug 1996 00:23:44 +0200
Reply-To: Goran Topic <topic@STUDENT.MATH.HR>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: Goran Topic <topic@STUDENT.MATH.HR>
Subject:      Re: may the wind....
To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
Status: U
Content-Length: 1970

> Thanks for replying so promptly and thought-provokingly.
>
> I agree with your exhortation to avoid metaphors and be explicit if there is
> any reason to believe you may be misunderstood (computer, alien, etc), but
> the difficulty is deciding whether a metaphor is appropriate in a particular
> context.
>
> >   - some metaphors might be obvious to any intelligent being regardless
>        of culture (?is this true?)
>
> This seems plausible, but which ones are obvious?
> The gimste tells us to avoid using 'heart' for 'love' but suggests  'brain'
> for 'intelligence'.

.i pe'ica'e zo besna selsmu la'elu dapoi sejai (to xu lu jaise li'u toi)
cumki lenu jimpe gi'e morji gi'e pensi .i ja'o la'edi'u na se klusku cei
se cuskrmetafora

.i cu'u mi zoi gy. big brain .gy. smuni lu barda besna li'u
.i zoi gy. big inteligence .gy. smuni lu xamgu besna li'u mu'a

> I'm not suggesting this is wrong, but it seems to me dangerous to assume
> that 'brain'='intelligence' everywhere.

.i fi'o selrua de'u go'i pe'i .i ro skami ji'a cu se besna gi'u xamgu
gi'u jmive .i la'ede'u selcme zoi gy. metonimy .gy. .enai zoi gy.
metaphor .gy. ba'anai .i la'eri na tcenabmi .i fau ri cafne claxu zo
tu'a .iku'i fau so'ida go'iji'a

> >   - very often Lojban interlocutors will happen to be from the same
>         or related cultures

.i xu go'i .i mi mo .i ji'a ma paunai krinu la lojban. .i fau lenu ro
jbopre cu pavyklu kei la lojban. se bankei gi'a jai bebna vauvau pe'i

> >   - maybe there will eventually be a lojbanic subculture with its
>         own metaphors

.i cumki .i ku'i pe'i loka loi se klusku cu se
tolzau cu cmima loi te xagmau be la lojban. bei loi drata bangu .i ly.
ri'a lenu zanru cy. zenba loka fadni filoi bangu

> >"May circumstances always assist you like a tailwind assists a ship".
>
> Yes!!
> A compromise with the best of both worlds. A metaphor and a clear
> description of the meaning. The best yet, anyway, in my opinion.

.ie

co'o mi'e. goran.