Date:  Wed, 1 Oct 1997 11:35:45 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <199710011635.LAA00258@locke.ccil.org>
Reply-To: And Rosta <a.rosta@UCLAN.AC.UK>
Sender: Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From: And Rosta <a.rosta@UCLAN.AC.UK>
Organization: University of Central Lancashire
Subject:      Re: Simple Lojban questions
X-To:         LOJBAN@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
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djan:
> la xorxes. cusku di'e
>
> > In fact, the most difficult one would be to translate "my then wife".
> > For example, how would we say: "I gave the cat to my then wife"?
> > Now that I think about it, I don't know whether in {mi pu dunda
> > le maltu le mi ca speni} ca means at the time of speaking or at the
> > time of the giving.
>
> The latter.  Tenses in subordinate bridi (and a description is
> essentially a condensed form of subordinate bridi) are relative
> to the tense in the main bridi.
>
> To capture "my present wife" you would use "le mi nau speni";
> "nau" always means "here and now" un-relatively.

I don't remember "nau". Did it come in in the last two or three
years or so? How does one say "pu nau" and "ba nau" - i.e. absolute
past and future?

--&