On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 10:54 PM, Jonathan Jo= nes <eyeonus@gmai= l.com> wrote:

(I'm double-posting this to both lojban lists, please respond on the be= ginner's.)
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Days:
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A discussion about the nam= es of the weekdays was recently held in the thread "[lojban] la za'= ;e filjvocedra (The Age of Easy Lujvo)", about the pros and cons of th= e two current methods of naming the days of the week - one based on numbers= , the other on concepts. {pavdei} "1-day" =3D {lurdei} "moon= -day", to provide an example.

In this discussion, .xorxes. pointed out that the current number method= is anti-intuitive, because it seems as though, for example {mumdei} would = mean "five days", not "fifth day". As corollary, he poi= nted out two examples: {reljeftu}, "fortnight", and {mumymentu}, = "five minutes". To quote him, "[T]he place structure of {dje= di} screams for 'N-dei' to mean {djedi be li N}, not {djedi me'= e li N}."

Personally, I found this to be a very convincing argument against the u= se of {pavdei} et al. as names of weekdays. It is also, if I am correct, hi= s main reason for preferring the concept way.

I, on the other hand, = do not like the concept method, for the simple reason that I really, really= like having a systematic method, and that is anything but. After more disc= ussion, I came up with the following, which is agreeable to both .xorxes. a= nd me.

It's actually basically the exact same thing as {pavdei}, etc., exc= ept backwards. So, they would be:

{djeno} "0-day"/{djeze} = "7-day" =3D Sunday
{djepa} "1-day" =3D Monday
{dj= ere} "2-day" =3D Tuesday
{djeci} "3-day" =3D Wednesday
{djevo} "4-day" =3D Th= ursday
{djemu} "5-day" =3D Friday
{djexa} "6-day"= =3D Saturday

All eight of the above words have the exact same meani= ng as both current methods: "x1 is a [weekday name] of week x2 in mont= h x3"

The benefits of this method are that it is logical, systematic, and doe= sn't conflict with spans (as in {mumdei} =3D "a five day span"= ;).

The con is, obviously, they take up 8 spots in gismu space, whic= h may or may not be an atrocity, depending on your viewpoint.

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Months:
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Through further discussion, we have al= so come up with a really good method for month-naming. Currently, the only = Lojban words we have for the months are cmevla, i.e. {.pamast.}, {.remast.}= , etc. .xorxes. came up with a really good alternative, similar to my idea = with the weeks, for each of the months, which are the following fu'ivla= , based around {lunra}:

{lunrapa} "1-month" =3D January
{lunrare} "2-month&qu= ot; =3D February
{lunraci} "3-month" =3D March
{lunravo} &q= uot;4-month" =3D April
{lunramu} "5-month" =3D May
{lu= nraxa} "6-month" =3D June
{lunraze} "7-month" =3D July
{lunrabi} "8-month" = =3D August
{lunraso} "9-month" =3D September
{lunradau} &q= uot;10-month" =3D October
{lunrafei} "11-month" =3D Novem= ber
{lunragai} "12-month" =3D December

This has the advantage over the current cmevla method in that, being fu= 'ivla, we can give them place structure and use them in all the ways cm= ene can NOT be used. I don't see any cons at all, but I may be mistaken= .

Since it is .xorxes. idea, I direct you to him for the proposed definit= ions, although I'm certain that it will begin "x1 is month N ....&= quot;

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In conclusion, it is my desire to inform the whol= e of jbogugde about these ideas and to get feedback , and to possibly confu= se you lot to start using them whenever you are talking about days of the w= eek or about months.

Feedback, suggestions, criticisms, praise, and flaming are all welcome = and appreciated. :D

(I'm double-posting this to both lojban list= s, please respond on the beginner's.)

--
mu'o mi'e .= aionys.

.i.a'o.e'e ko cmima le bende pe lo pilno be denpa bu .i doi luk= . mi patfu do zo'o
(Come to the Dot Side! Luke, I am your father. :D= )

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