Date: Sat, 13 Dec 1997 07:16:29 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199712131216.HAA15590@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: Logical Language Group Sender: Lojban list From: Logical Language Group Subject: Re: category errors in sumti X-To: cowan@drv.cbc.com X-cc: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan Status: OR X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 1332 X-From-Space-Date: Sat Dec 13 07:16:30 1997 X-From-Space-Address: LOJBAN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU Cowan: >Thus the x1 of "fetsi" "must be animate", meaning that when >it is inanimate, the resulting bridi is invariably false. assuming of course that we define fetsi that way, which we have not. Indeed we have not even defined "animate" in a useful way. Is a dead female body animate? Are various body parts associated solely with females animate (or for that matter would it be correct to say that they are "fetsi" - e.g. a pair of X chromosomes in a human cell nucleus, or an egg cell that is unfertilized). Is a statue of a woman "fetsi"? We have not defined the meanings of the gismu so carefully that we necessarily can ascribe categories appropriate to each place. I think we should not try to do so, at least so long as the bulk of the analysis is being done by English speakers wihtout benefit of actually using the language for a long time to find out what "works". lojbab ---- lojbab lojbab@access.digex.net Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: ftp.access.digex.net /pub/access/lojbab or see Lojban WWW Server: href="http://xiron.pc.helsinki.fi/lojban/" Order _The Complete Lojban Language_ - see our Web pages or ask me.