From cowan@ccil.org Mon Feb 18 15:52:37 2002 Return-Path: X-Sender: cowan@mercury.ccil.org X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_2); 18 Feb 2002 23:52:36 -0000 Received: (qmail 94192 invoked from network); 18 Feb 2002 23:52:36 -0000 Received: from unknown (216.115.97.167) by m10.grp.snv.yahoo.com with QMQP; 18 Feb 2002 23:52:36 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mercury.ccil.org) (192.190.237.100) by mta1.grp.snv.yahoo.com with SMTP; 18 Feb 2002 23:52:36 -0000 Received: from cowan by mercury.ccil.org with local (Exim 3.12 #1 (Debian)) id 16cxaP-0002dh-00 for ; Mon, 18 Feb 2002 18:52:45 -0500 Subject: Re: [lojban] [OT]Argumentum ad elephantum In-Reply-To: <0GRQ009VI6RRMI@mta7.pltn13.pbi.net> from Edward Cherlin at "Feb 18, 2002 03:04:39 am" To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 18:52:45 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL66 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: X-eGroups-From: John Cowan From: John Cowan X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=212516 X-Yahoo-Profile: johnwcowan X-Yahoo-Message-Num: 13351 Edward Cherlin scripsit: > > But the poem is self-undermining, > > because of the existence of an authorial voice who uses "the > > Elephant" = lobi'e xanto, and says "all of them are wrong". > > I don't see how we can insist that he says more than "le xanto". Because English "the" implies veridicality. "The man was a woman" is just not sound English. > (What does bi'e mean here? I know only of its use for modifying > precedence in mekso.) Thinko for "bi'u". -- John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan cowan@ccil.org To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful. --_The Hobbit_