[lojban-beginners] Re: "la" questions

[Jorge Llambías <jjllambias@gmail.com>]

la gejyspa cu cusku di'e

>  Thanks for your help so far.  A couple of questions about the
> desriptor "la":  First, is it okay to use a cmene as part of a tanru,
> for example: lo la byc. sarji  ("a Bush supporter")?

Yes and no. :)

{lo la byc sarji} is correct, and it means what you want, but {la byc}
is not part of a tanru there. It means the same as {lo sarji pe la byc}.
The sumti {la byc}, or any other single sumti, can be inserted between
the article and the tanru, for example: {lo ko'a sarji}, {lo le jatna
ku sarji}.

>  Second, since it's possible for a name to be more than one word as
> shown in the refereence grammar (like "la preston. prins.") and it's
> also possible for a name to be a regular brivla preceeded by la (e.g.
> "la cribe"="Bear" like my dog)  what is the scope of the la?

There are two separate constructions with {la}. In one, {la} can be
folowed by any number of cmevla (consonant ending names). In the
other, {la can be followed by a selbri, just like {le}. But they can't be
mixed.

> Can you
> say something like "la bakstr. cribe ku"?

Unfortunately, no. Not with the current grammar.

> The grammar notes that the
> elidable ku can close the la, but without it, what is the assumption of
> the scope of the la?   It can't be jsut one word, as the first example
> cited above shows....

{ku} in fact cannot be used to close a string of cmevla. The two options
are: {la <cmevla> <cmevla> ...} or {la <selbri> ku} (where the <selbri>
can consist of many brivla, or be any other kind of valid selbri).

mu'o mi'e xorxes