Re: [lojban-beginners] Possesions and a Few Other Questions

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

On Wednesday 10 November 2010 20:22:18 Taylor Skidmore wrote:
> I'm relatively new to Lojban, and so I just wanted to make sure
> something's right:
>
> {le zdani be mi be'o blanu}
> My house is blue. Right?

That should be "le zdani be mi cu blanu" or "le zdani be mi ku blanu". If you 
want to say "I am blue" you can just say "mi blanu" with no "cu". But "le 
zdani be mi blanu" or "le zdani be mi be'o blanu" is a sentence 
fragment: "the house-of-mine blue thing".

Also, there is no possessive in that phrase. "le mi zdani" is a possessive 
phrase, and probably refers to the same as "le zdani be mi", but the latter 
means "what houses me", putting me in x2 of "zdani", while the former 
means "the house associated with me", probably by ownership. If you're a 
landlord on a camping trip, they are different.

> {le kumfa be ti be'o smaji }
> This room is quite, right?

You mean "quiet". That should be "ti noi kumfa cu smaji" or "le vi kumfa cu 
smaji".

> Like I said, I'm pretty new to Lojban, so any help would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Also, can someone clarify the true difference between la/lo/le? And
> what does {cu} really mean?

"cu" is the predicate marker, a part of speech which occurs in Tok Pisin. As 
to la/lo/le, here's an example:
lo bercribe = a polar bear (the speaker doesn't have any particular bear in 
mind)
le bercribe = the polar bear (the speaker has a particular bear or bears in 
mind)
la bercribe = Ursa Minor (not a bear, a constellation named Bear which 
contains the North Star), or maybe a tavern called The Polar Bear

The distinction between "lo" and "le" isn't the same as between "an" and "the" 
in English. Some differences:
"le" indicates that the speaker has some individual in mind, but does not 
expect the hearer to know which one. So if I talk about a boat I sailed, but 
you don't know about this boat, in English I say "a boat" the first time 
and "the boat" thereafter. In Lojban I say "le bloti" from the start.
When talking about polar bears as a species, in English one says "the polar 
bear", but in Lojban one says "lo bercribe" or "lo'e bercribe" (the latter 
emphasizes the type/token distinction).
With names of languages one generally uses "lo". If I heard "bau le xrabo", 
I'd think he had some particular Arabic dialect in mind.
If there is only one referent, both "lo" and "le" are appropriate. I use "lo" 
usually in this case. In English one would use "the".

Pierre
-- 
Jews use a lunisolar calendar; Muslims use a solely lunar calendar.

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