From xod@xxxx.xxxx Mon Oct 18 21:15:23 1999
X-Digest-Num: 259
Message-ID: <44114.259.1390.959273825@eGroups.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 00:15:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: xod <xod@xxxx.xxxx
Subject: 3 dogs, 2 men, many arguments

I take issue with Chapter 16, section 7: Grouping of Quantifiers.

http://www.animal.helsinki.fi/lojftp/reference-grammar/chap16.html#s7

The meaning of "ci gerku cu batci re nanmu" is taken to mean "each of
three dogs bite two men", leaving the number of men not necessarily 2
but any value between and including 2 and 6. The result is that the 2 is
taken less literally than the 3 because it is declared later.

This is malglico, reflecting subject/object asymmetry in English. I
suggest a more Lojbanic alternative.

Does "ci gerku" mean "each of three different dogs", or does it mean "3
dog instances", a condition which could just as easily be satisfied by one
dog three times?

The statement "da broda de" should, by default, be symmetrical between da
and de.

Unless further specified, "ci gerku cu batci re nanmu" can only be
satisfied by a saturated relationship: each of exactly three dogs bites
each of exactly two men at least once.


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