[lojban-beginners] Re: "If you can read this..."

["Newton, Philip" <Philip.Newton@gedas-onsite.de>]

la xal. cu cusku di'e

> Concerning {do kakne lenu tcidu ti semu'i lenu ko ckire la 
> lojbangirz.}
> 
> I've been thinking about this a few days and I'm confused on 
> several levels. :)
> 
> 1. First of all, surely something like {semu'i} can join 
> bridi? Just as, for example, we can say {la djan. nanmu
> .ija la djeimyz. ninmu} -- {.ija} joins two bridi, does it
> not?

I think so, yes. Note that it's got an {.i} in it.

If you want to do something similar with BAI, I believe you'll also need an
{.i}, in the form of {.i BAI bo} -- in your case, {.i semu'i bo}. (Though
ISTR that {A semu'i lenu B} and {A .isemu'ibo B} have reversed meanings, or
something like that.)

> Why then should I have to use an abstractor like nu?

Because BAI are often related to gismu that take abstractions? In this case,
{mukti}, which has "action/event/state" for x1 and "action/event" for x2 --
not "bridi".

> 2. If I leave out the second {lenu} jbofi'e will still 
> translate it. Is there a real difference in meaning?

Yes -- look at the parse. Without {lenu}, {semu'i} only has scope over {ko},
and you get a tanru composed of {nu tcidu ti semu'i ko} + {ckire}, with {la
lojbangirz} then occupying x3 of {kakne}.

In any event, I think you're missing a {kei} or a {ku} after {ti}, since the
{semu'i} should apply to {kakne le nu tcidu ti}, not merely to {ti} -- {do
kakne lo nu tcidu ti kei se mu'i lo nu ko ckire la lojbangirz.}, or similar.

> 3. It bothers me a little that "I can read" must be rendered 
> using {lenu} -- {mi kakne lenu tcidu}. Is there another way?
> Does {mi tcidu kakne} make any sense?

IMO yes. Tanru are vague, but one possible interpretation for me is "I can
read".

> I wish there were cmavo for what in English we call 
> modal auxiliaries.

Are you looking for {ka'e} or {pu'i}, perhaps? Though I'm not quite sure
whether that's what you want; I don't think {ka'e}, for example, is
completely interchangeable with {kakne}.

mu'o mi'e .filip.