[lojban-beginners] Re: sumti places for {farvi}

[Edward Cherlin <edward.cherlin@etssg.com>]

On Wednesday 29 December 2004 10:37 am, you wrote:
> coi rodo
>
> I'm working on a translation (which I'll upload for review
> once I've gotten about a third of the way through) & can't
> quite wrap my brain around {farvi}. The gismu list has:
>
> x1 develops/evolves towards/into x2 from x3 through stages x4
>
> In the evolution or development of something there is a
> start-point (x3), intermediate stages (x4), & an endpoint
> (x2). So I'm not quite sure what role x1 plays here. 

x1 is the general name for the evolving entity through all its 
stages. We are not used to having such names covering the 
various stages in a moth's or butterfly's life, other than the 
scientific species name. But we are used to having names for 
people, countries, stars, and other process entities covering a 
wide variety of different forms.

> An example {selbri} with all places filled would go far in
> explaining this to me.
>
> ki'e fe'o mi'e .adam.

Rome developed 
into an empire 
from a kingdom 
through a republic.

Malaria parasites develop 
to an adult form 
from a larval stage 
through several metamorphoses in different hosts.

Stars evolve 
to various end stages (black dwarf, or supernova with no remnant, 
neutron star, or black hole) 
from condensing Bok globules 
through an accretion disk and then a sequence of alternating 
normal and giant phases during which they primarily fuse one or 
more elements in the sequence hydrogen, helium, carbon, neon, 
silicon, and may accrete matter from a companion or lose matter 
in stellar winds.
-- 
Edward Cherlin, Simputer Evangelist
Encore Technologies (S) Pte. Ltd.
The Village Information Society
http://www.ryze.com/go/Cherlin