[lojban-beginners] Re: mass vs. individual articles

["Jorge Llambías" <jjllambias@gmail.com>]

On Sat, Jul 5, 2008 at 12:00 AM, Chris Capel <pdf23ds@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 13, 2008 at 13:27, Jorge Llambías <jjllambias@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>    lei re nanla cu tsamau le ri patfu
>>    "The two boys (together) are stronger than their father."
>>
>>    ro le re nanla cu tsamau le ri patfu
>>    "Each of the two boys is stronger than their father."
>
> What would you say the meaning of {le re nanla cu tsamau li'o} is? The
> same as {ro le re nanla li'o}, even given xorlo? Or indeterminate?

Indeterminate.

> On a related note, would you say {lei nanla} would more strongly
> suggest that there are {su'o re nanla} than does {le nanla}?

Yes, because there's no reason to use {lei} when the inner
quantifier is known to be {pa}. The number could however be
unknown, so {lei} does not actually guarantee an inner {su'ore}.

mu'o mi'e xorxes