Date:  Wed, 21 Jan 1998 12:14:17 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <199801211714.MAA28872@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: fuzzy bears
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To: John Cowan <cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG>
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Rik:
> And to Steven:
> >> <lo vofi'uze cribe pu finti le lisri>
> >>
> >> "One or more of the things which are fuzzily 4/7  really bears
> creates the
> >> story."
> >
> >This means that only 4/7 of a bear exists: all beardom amounts to
> >no more than 4/7 of an individual bear.
>
> I don't recall a conclusion to the "universe of discourse" discussion
> (it may have just drifted away).  Would this mean *all* of beardom, or
> just all of beardom within the universe of discourse?  What if we are
> talking about half a pie ("I just want half a piece"), or a half dollar
> coin.

It means that all of beardom collectively amounts to 4/7 of a bear.
"All of beardom" is, in my book, the same thing as "All of beardom
within the universe of discourse".

{lo ci rorci be me} asserts that I have just two parents [do I mean
rorci? rirni? I forget]. {lo pi mu rorci be mi} asserts that I
have just half a parent. Everything that is a parent of mine
amounts, collectively, in total, to just half a parent. Whatever
that means.

Half a piece of pie is {pi mu lo}, not {lo pi mu}.
But my lunch, which consisted of half a pie [excuse the didactically-
motivated falsehood], could be referred to as

  lo pi mu <pie> poi mi ca citka ke`a ku`o ku

--And