[lojban-beginners] Re: ti, ta, tu for people?

["Philip Newton" <pnewton@gmx.de>]

On 19 Feb 2003 at 12:11, Jan Pilgenroeder wrote:

> Am Mittwoch, 19.02.03 um 09:08 Uhr schrieb Philip Newton:
> 
> > Is it correct to use ti, ta, tu for people?
> 
> Why should ti, ta, tu not be used for people?

For example, because the ma'oste described it as referring to a 
"thing/place" and I generally don't consider people "things".

> I guess you feel bad about this because you were raised in 
> culture that teaches its children not to point at people.

No, more because I wasn't sure whether "people" are a subset of 
"things" in Lojban, since they're not in the culture I was raised in. 
(For example, I generally wouldn't refer to a person as "it" in 
English.)

> {mu'i ma ta katna le jimca} does not link the motive specifically to 
> {ta} but it links it to the selbri. You observe that a branch is cut by 
> a cutting tool and ask for the motivation that causes this to happen. 

Yes. That's fine.

> And I think you did not really want to know about the personal motives
> of the people who wield the cutting tools you are pointing at (they
> might tell you that they really prefer uncut trees but need the
> money), but you wanted to know about a more abstract reason.

Yes -- something like "Because they are dangerous for the passing cars" 
or "Because the branch blocked the light" or whatever.

> You probably want to get an answer like {leka cumki daspo nalseltro
> selfa'u le jimca}. 

I don't understand that sentence. What is it supposed to mean?

mu'o mi'e filip.

[P.S. camgusmis: is the threading OK on this?]
-- 
Philip Newton <pnewton@gmx.de>