[lojban-beginners] Re: using ko with xamgu

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

On Wed, Sep 21, 2005 at 10:05:36PM +0200, Sunnan wrote:
> Robin Lee Powell wrote:
> 
> >On Wed, Sep 21, 2005 at 09:25:42PM +0200, Sunnan wrote:
> >
> >>Is using ko with xamgu controversial? 
> >
> >I don't think it's come up.
>
> I'm thinking that ko can in many cases create sentences that seems
> very rude in a rough english translation.
> Like {ko selxau lo ckafi}
> YOU! ENJOY YOUR COFFEE! Seems like something a prison guard would say, 
> at first glance.

"ko" doesn't have the forcefulness you're attaching to it.  You
need {ga'i} for that, at least.

> But I've been thinking about this issue for some time. Similarly
> to how "Enjoy your coffee" always has sounded so rude to my
> (non-native English) ears, since I hear it as imperative, I figure
> that ko selxau lo ckafi would sound crazily rude to non-jbojbe
> ears.

Yeah, probably.  To me it just sounds kind of odd.  Especially since
you probably want {nelci} anyways.

> >>For example, is {ko selxau lo ckafi} an acceptable way to say
> >>"Enjoy your coffee"?
> >
> >No; that means "Make it so that you enjoy your coffee", whereas
> >the English means "I hope you enjoy your coffee", which is
> >something like ".a'o do nelci tu'a le ckafi".
> >
> Thanks. That brings up a separate question:
> Is it okay to use a'o in front of sentences that aren't currently true, 

Yes.  That's what it's for, in fact.  If you need to make it extra
clear you can add {da'i}.

-Robin

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