From mattarn@123.net Wed Feb 23 09:03:25 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: mattarn@123.net X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 52118 invoked from network); 23 Feb 2005 17:03:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m21.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 23 Feb 2005 17:03:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mole.e-mol.com) (65.169.135.18) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 23 Feb 2005 17:03:25 -0000 Received: from mail.123.net (new.e-mol.com [65.163.85.18]) by mole.e-mol.com (8.12.3/8.12.3/Debian-7.1) with SMTP id j1NH3NTd022802 for lojban@yahoogroups.com; Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:03:23 -0500 Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:03:23 -0500 Message-Id: <200502231703.j1NH3NTd022802@mole.e-mol.com> To: lojban@yahoogroups.com In-Reply-To: <421BE620.8050100@eubot.com> References: <41E57613.7060606@users.sourceforge.net> <20050222210350.GA6994@mit.edu> <421BE620.8050100@eubot.com> X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: e-mol.com, e-mail online X-From: mattarn@mail.123.net Content-Type: text/plain X-eGroups-Remote-IP: 65.169.135.18 From: Matt Arnold Reply-To: mattarn@123.net X-Originating-IP: [209.220.229.254] Subject: Presentation, visual aid grammar diagrams X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=117354497 X-Yahoo-Profile: nemorathwald X-Yahoo-Message-Num: 23883 For a presentation that I'm giving on Lojban, I'd like to ask this group two questions. #1, Since I'll be presenting to a group of open-source computer programmers, they might be tempted to join the Lojban community if I show them a list of interesting applications that they could make. What are the skills most needed, and the programs most needed? What opportunities are currently available for group development of Lojban-related software? #2, For the visual presentation, I'd like to make graphics inspired by the illustration in CLL chapter 12 depicting a type of tinkertoy construction set. I intend to lean heavily on functional elegance from an engineering standpoint-- the concept of Lojban as a sophisticated toolkit. I wonder if I could extend this visual metaphor of modular parts to explain the basics of gismu, cmavo and place structures in a lojban sentence. Have any of you made drawings of this nature? When I was first beginning in Lojban, I recalled the grammar diagrams we used to do in English class to identify parts of speech. I thought about actually cutting pieces out of wood to represent gismu. When a block with a gismu written on it was employed as a selbri, the segments depicting the meanings x1, x2 etc. would telescope out to became sumti bays. In these bays you could slot other blocks. Cmavo pegs could work as "adapters" with specialized ends that restricted their attachment to proper grammatical use. Reading further, I came to realize that's insanely complicated for a variety of reasons. It was impractical to physically implement, but I still think there might be a potential to make grammar diagrams as flash animations this way. At least it might work for the simplest beginner sentences. -la epcat _______________________________________________________ Sent through e-mol. E-mail, Anywhere, Anytime. http://www.e-mol.com