From LOJBAN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU Sat Mar 6 22:58:52 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: veion@XIRON.PC.HELSINKI.FI Received: (qmail 15168 invoked from network); 13 Dec 1996 20:36:48 -0000 Received: from segate.sunet.se (192.36.125.6) by xiron.pc.helsinki.fi with SMTP; 13 Dec 1996 20:36:48 -0000 Received: from listmail.sunet.se by SEGATE.SUNET.SE (LSMTP for OpenVMS v1.1a) with SMTP id <1.327DF6CB@SEGATE.SUNET.SE>; Fri, 13 Dec 1996 21:36:43 +0100 Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 09:34:41 -0700 Reply-To: Chris A Bogart Sender: Lojban list From: Chris A Bogart Subject: Re: BEGINNER'S QUESTION: internal sumti X-To: lojban%cuvmb.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu To: Veijo Vilva In-Reply-To: <199612131406.HAA28893@indra.com> Content-Length: 1198 Lines: 31 Message-ID: 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