[lojban-beginners] Re: Duration questions

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

On Wednesday 10 March 2010 18:32:18 komfo,amonan wrote:
> I take {ze'a} (and its kin {za}, {ve'a}, and {va}) to mean not only
> "medium", but also "unspecified". Others follow this usage as well, even
> though it's not strictly in accordance with the definition. So, {[.i ti
> zdani mi ze'a] lo cabdei} is a reasonable answer to the question.

I agree. This is one of several things called "markedness" in linguistics. In 
Lojban, the middle degree is unmarked. In English, there is no middle degree, 
and "long" is unmarked. The unmarked degree is used in questions, unless you 
know in advance that the marked degree applies. So "How short have you been 
living in this house?" implies that you already know that it has been a short 
time.

Pierre
-- 
When a barnacle settles down, its brain disintegrates.
Já não percebe nada, já não percebe nada.