On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 8:03 AM, Michael Tur= niansky <mturniansky@gmail.com> wrote:

On Thu, Aug 30, 2012 at 7:08 PM, tengo <yurock.tengo@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think the issue really isn't with the "xu", but th= e fact that NA is
>> scoped over the whole bridi
>
>
> I think, here, function of {na} is very simple. Let's suppose, the=
> "previous" sentence is {.i ta mlatu xu}. Then
> {go'i} =3D {ta mlatu} =3D "that's true"
> {na go'i} =3D {ta na mlatu} =3D {na ku ta mlatu} =3D "that= 9;s false"
>
> But that's not the point. More important is that {ta mlatu xu} doe= s not
> contain a claim. The questioner usually doesn't even know whether = that is a
> cat or not. Now does {do jinvi lo du'u ta mlatu xu ku ta} contain = a claim?
> Does it say that you indeed have some opinion about that object?
>

=A0 xu is a UI, and like all UI, scopes only over the previous word (= if
that word itself defines a larger scope, such as a LE or NU or FUhE,
then of course it covers the entire scope of that.) =A0It also
implicitly acts somewhat ba'e-ish, in that it emphasizes that
word/structure. =A0So when you say, "do jinvi lo du'u ta mlatu xu = ku ta"
you are indeed making the claim that the listener has an opinion,
equivalent to the English "You think that's a /cat/?!" ("= ;xu do jinvi
lo du'u ta mlatu kei ta" or the equivalent "do jinvi lo du= 9;u ta mlatu
kei ta vau xu", on the other hand are in fact asking whether you have<= br> any opinion at all. ("Is it true that you think that's a cat?"= ;)_
Nonetheless, I still maintain that when you answer "na go'i",= you are
not, formally speaking, negating just the xu "in place" if you wi= ll,
but the entire xu-less bridi, =A0and therefore are not answering the
question you think you are answering. =A0Now it could fairly be argued
that I am wrong, and that since we have things like "na'i" to= answer
the question "I don't have any opinions at all; what are you talki= ng
about?", that "na" should just scope over the sub-bridi, but= I think
if that's what you really want you should say (maybe??) "go'i = naku"
(since this implies the second of the terbri is the only thing
negated) . Of course, in informal conversation, we all know what "&quo= t;na
go'i" is intended to mean, so no pressure...

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 --gejyspa

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