At 07:05 AM 7/23/03 -0700, you wrote:
--- Travis Garris <ptg_thug@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > {mi cmana kevna zbasu}
>
> The magic of that statement is still just beyond me.
> I would start by wondering what the x2 and x3 of cmana
> were. "I'm a mountain with caves...wha--?" I guess a
> cu before zbasu would help.
{cmana kevna zbasu} is a tanru, {cmana} modifies {kevna}
and then {cmana kevna} modifies {zbasu}. A cu before zbasu
would be ungrammatical, because cu can only go in front of
the whole selbri, which in this case is {cmana kevna zbasu}.
mu'o mi'e xorxes
To expand on xorxes' explanation, consider "This is a comic book shelf". The thing you're pointing at isn't a comic, nor a book; it's a shelf - the LAST of the string of description. Lojban works like that. It is a comic-type-of-book, and then a comic-book type of shelf.
So, the "cmana kevna zbasu" that "mi" is/is-doing winds up: mountain (cmana) type of cavity (kevna) --> mountain cave cmana kevna (mountain-cave) type of maker/builder (zbasu). So you are a mountian-cave builder. -- mi'e noras noras@cox.net Nora LeChevalier