[lojban-beginners] Re: Articles to Refer to Words Themselves

[Bruce Webber <bruce@brucewebber.com>]

Travis Garris wrote:
> I'm baffled as to which articles, or abstractions, I would use to 
> specify a word itself, and not its meaning.  For example, "Bye is a 
> short form of goodbye."  The example I was using at the time was {vol 
> rafsi volfi}.  That starts to look like a tanru, so I tried to put 
> something in to break up rafsi and volfi.  Only think I could come up 
> with is {vol rafsi zo volfi}.  That borrows from (now optional) English 
> grammar rules.  I'm sure it gets the point across, but I'm sure there is 
> a better way to do it.
>
> Ideas?

Travis,

I believe you need to quote both the words you are talking about. So:

	zo vol rafsi zo volfi

zo quotes only the next word; there is no terminator. Then it's clear 
you are talking about the words themselves, and not what the words 
represent.

In your english analogy, this would be:

	"Bye" is short form of "goodbye".

If I'm wrong I welcome correction from the more experienced lojbanists.

mi'e brus