Re: [lojban-beginners] Re: Question about appropriateness of articles

[Stela Selckiku <selckiku@gmail.com>]

On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 10:59 PM, Jed <three65daysaweek@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Why is "lo ponskina" okay? Just because it ends in a full-length
> gismu?

Because it ends in a rafsi that ends in a vowel.  This can be helpful
in remembering rafsi, since their shape has some meaning and isn't
just a random fact.  Whenever I look at the rafsi of a gismu, I think
about them in terms of whether or not they can be used at the end of a
lujvo.

If a gismu has a good end rafsi, especially a one syllable one, that
represents a whole rich family of potential lujvo.  You can make
hundreds of different really really short lujvo just by adding one
other little syllable to that one.  And if you add just two syllables,
there's a ridiculous number of options-- for instance, you could add
any of those aforementioned super short two-syllable lujvo, to make a
quick three syllable three parter like {plixauvla} ("useful word", a
recent invention of mine that I hope is a plixauvla!).  So for
instance when I look at the rafsi of {pensi} "think", I think to
myself, "Aha, it has the rafsi -pei-!  We can make a whole family of
lujvo that are different kinds of thinking: (subject)pei & (style of
thought)pei & (period of time)pei & etc."

On the other hand more often all we'll have for short rafsi is one
that ends in a consonant, like how with {skina} "video" all we have is
-kin-.  Then we have to think of what we can make the other way
around: kin(method of observation) & kin(emotion) & kin(way of making)
& etc.  We have to have those rarer good end rafsi in mind here,
because they're what we can combine with our non-end rafsi to make
those two quick syllables.  So for instance we've got -pei- in mind
now, so we can make use of that as a base to put our -kin- on, and
make {kinpei}, moviethink.  I think it should mean when you imagine
something by playing it like a movie in your mind! :D  Now we just
give in a jvajvo meaning:

$p_1=s_3=s_4$ pensi $p_2=s_2$ ta'i lo nu $s_1$ noi ke'a simsa lo skina
be vo'e cu xanri vo'a
$p_1=s_3=s_4$ thinks about $p_2=s_2$ by imagining $s_1$ which is
similar to a movie about it.

But all that is just if you're looking for super short lujvo, of
course.  Every gismu has as one of its rafsi the whole gismu, which
can only be used at the end of a lujvo and is a perfectly fine way to
end a lujvo.  We can still get up to a ridiculously huge number of
useful combinations if we add a couple extra syllables, and four
syllables isn't unreasonably long.  So you can combine any of those
two-syllable lujvo with any gismu as a base, to give us words like
za'e {plixauskina} ("useful film", I guess).

Here's another way to think about it: You are allowed to say {ponkin}
in a lujvo, you just need to put something after it.  So if you tack
another piece on after -kin-, you can shave that syllable off of
{skina} (and then use that saved moment later to do something
productive instead of just standing around all day using two whole
syllables to say {skina}).  We can put a -zga- {zgana} "observe" on
there, za'e {ponkinzga}, to watch a Japanese film.  Now instead of
saying {mi zgana lo ponskina} you can toss three syllables and just
say {mi ponkinzga}.

It actually simplifies things just a little bit that there's a
somewhat limited selected of (short) end rafsi.  The end rafsi is the
one that most determines the place structure, especially in jvajvo.
So if you at least get that one, you might be able to understand how
the lujvo fits into the sentence.

And of course if you just use a rafsi with a consonant at the end, you
get a cmevla, but one that looks like a lujvo.  I call those
{jvosmicmevla}.  A jvosmicmevla could mean anything at all, but it is
possible that it's a name for something related to that lujvo, because
we do name things like that sometimes.  So it's not that you're not
allowed to use those shapes, you just have to use them differently. :)

mi'e la stela selckiku
mu'o

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Lojban Beginners" group.
To post to this group, send email to lojban-beginners@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to lojban-beginners+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/lojban-beginners?hl=en.