[lojban-beginners] Re: Compataives and superlatives

[Pierre Abbat <phma@phma.optus.nu>]

On Monday 01 October 2007 13:41, ANDREW PIEKARSKI wrote:
> coi rodo
>
> I've just re-read the section in CLL on comparatives and superlatives. 
> "more", "less", and "most" are discussed but "least" doesn't even get a
> mention.  Then I discover a lujvo for "least": {mecrai}.  So, whereas the
> lojban for "more" and "less" is symmetrical  "most" and "least" seem to be
> treated completely differently.  In "most", the property is inherent in the
> lujvo itself so there is no need for an X3 defining the property, while in
> "least" {mecrai}, X3 defines the property being compared.
>
> Have I got it right, or am I missing the point somewhere?  Why the apparent
> lack of symmetry (which, after all, is good to have as it helps us
> remember!

I'm not sure why the lack of symmetry, but what you missed is that there are 
two meanings of "most" and "least": the meaning when they're used by 
themselves, and the meaning when used to form a superlative. {mecrai} 
is "least" by itself; its opposite is {zmarai}. The superlative is formed by 
adding {-rai}. I suppose that the inferlative [?] could be formed with 
{-mecrai}, but I don't know if anyone's used such a word, and it would raise 
the question of what {-maurai} means. {tolrai} doesn't mean "least", it 
means "mediocre" (least extremal).

phma