[lojban-beginners] Re: precise definition of cmene

[GREGORY DYKE <gregory.dyke@epfl.ch>]

> Look this one up, and see if it also conveys your intentions:
> 
> la dinas. gerku pisu'oroda
> 
> Realize that the second sumti is a *number*.

No! the second sumti is a quantified variable. As this variable is only restricted in number, I'm not sure this works. (in fact, I'm not even sure that the number is correct: you said "dina is a dog of species "no less than the whole of something""

Along the same line of thought, something like:

la dinas gerku le so'omei

might work.


> 
> Also, what about this one:
> 
> la dinas. gerku zo'e
> 
> Normally, "zo'e" is the same as leaving the sumti blank, but in 
> this case, it 
> clarifies that she is of some specifically unspecified breed.

 
> Remember, adding 
> sumti *restricts* or *narrows* the statement. Does specifying she 
> is a mutt 
> actually meaningfully *restrict* the statement "la dinas. gerku" 
> in the same 
> way as specifying a breed would for a pure-bred dog?

obviously: it eliminates all the pure-breed types of dog.

but adding the "zo'e" eliminates no types. It is exactly equivalent to elliding the zo'e and we should not let the inclusion of an ellidable zo'e modify the semantics of a sentence.

There are many other things which would indicate mongrelness:

la dinas gerku su'oreda

la dinas gerku za'uda

la dinas gerku so'oda

...

Greg