[lojban-beginners] Re: lo nanmu poi na va

[Robin Lee Powell <rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org>]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2004 at 06:24:56PM +0100, Newton, Philip wrote:
> la epcat cu cusku di'e
> > I keep having to get used to the change from CLL, where {lo}
> > means "the really is" and {le} means "the described as." If I
> > understand correctly from the wiki's BPFK Section: gadri, I
> > think {lo nanmu} now means "any of the things that are a man"
> > and {le nanmu} now means "a particular man I have in mind."
> 
> I think those mean the same thing; the wording may merely be
> confusing. Using {lo} asserts that something really is an X; 

It is somewhat innacurate, or at least confusing, to say that this
is the case with the BPFK's lo.  In the current BPFK proposal, {lo
broda} refers generically to any thing(s) that is a broda.  It
refers to broda in the most general possible sense.

> using {le} asserts that there is something specific which you will
> call an X but need not be an X. (For example, a drag queen might
> be a {le ninmu} but not a {lo ninmu}.)

That depends entirely on your point of view.  The BPFK specifically
rejects the idea that it is the language's job to define semantics.

-Robin

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