From - Tue Dec 17 10:10:44 1996
Reply-To: Chris A Bogart <cbogart@INDRA.COM>
Date: Tue Dec 17 10:10:44 1996
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: Chris A Bogart <cbogart@INDRA.COM>
Subject:      Re: BEGINNER'S QUESTION: internal sumti
To:         lojban%cuvmb.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu
In-Reply-To:  <199612131406.HAA28893@indra.com>
X-UIDL: 5d9686bb1a4f4d7b3015a6511d5fbfaa
X-Mozilla-Status: 0011
Content-Length:  1233
Message-ID: <GaAqHSXmkQN.A.E-B.q60kLB@chain.digitalkingdom.org>


On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Nick Summers wrote:
> are there any conventions for defining strings of words constituting a
> tanru? Any start/end markers or joining words? Can I just go adding
> words together: 'a big blue dilapidated old wooden Georgian house'?

Two useful rules to get started with:

 - Tanru group left-to-right, e.g.
     merko panpi gumna  = (merko panpi) gunma :
      probably means some kind of group dedicated to promoting
      a distinctively American kind of peace

 - Use ke..ke'e as parenthesis (with ke'e elidable at end of tanru):
     merko ke panpi gunma = merko (ke panpi gumna ke'e)
      A peace group, which is American

merko=America(n)
panpi=peace
gunma=group

(example taken from an error I made, using the first to translate
"American Peace Corps" -- when the latter would have been better.
My corrector suggested that the first might be translated as
"'Pax Americana' corps".  I'm not sure whether it was really an
error I made, or biting subconscious political commentary :-)  )

There's also some connectives you can put between words:
je = logical and, joi = "combined with", etc. -- you'll have
to look in the ref grammar for the whole list...

co'omi'e kris