RE: [jboske] makau, dakau

["And Rosta" <a.rosta@lycos.co.uk>]

xorxes:
> la and cusku di'e
> 
> >Is there a difference between A and B?
> >
> >A. X knows that whatever colour of box Z needs, Y knows that
> > Z needs a box of that colour 
> >B. Whatever colour of box Z needs, X knows that Y knows that
> > Z needs a box of that colour 
> 
> I'm not sure. In A it is clear that X need not know what the
> colour is, and it seems to be strongly implied that X does
> not know. In B, it seems that X too must know what the colour
> is. Suppose Z needs a red box. Then B means that X knows that
> Y knows that Z needs a red box, and that would seem to require
> X too to know that Z needs a red box 
> 
> >If there is, which does C mean?
> >
> >C. X knows that Y knows what colour of box Z needs 
> 
> In English, I would say it means A. X need not know what the
> colour is 
> 
> >I'm not thinking clearly, but I'm wondering whether it is
> >really always the case that a makau will be paraphrasable by
> >a main clause wh-ever 
> 
> It would seem from this example that it can be paraphrased with
> a wh-ever in the next outer clause, but not further than that 
> That is if Lojban is like English in this, which is not
> necessarily the case given that Lojban's questions are somewhat
> different than English, as they can be embedded as much as you
> like 

How are Lojban questions different from English? I'd have thought
questions, qua meanings rather than words, ought to be independent
of the particular language.

--And.