Re: [lojban-beginners] Conditionals--da'i etc.

[Pierre Abbat <phma@phma.optus.nu>]

On Wednesday 28 April 2010 21:06:32 Ian Johnson wrote:
> Off the top of my head I can think of basically 3 main conditional cases:
> If p, which is definitely possible, then q
> If p, which might happen, then q
> If p, which is known to be false, then q
>
> The case "if p, which is definitely true, then q" is also there but I can't
> see much reason to use that outside of very formal settings like
> mathematical proofs.
>
> How do we express these, exactly? The way I understand {da'i} is that {.i
> ganai broda gi brode} is case 1 and {.i da'i ganai brode gi brode} is case
> 2. Do I understand these correctly? If so, how does case 3 (the
> contrary-to-fact case) work?

To me "da'i" covers both things that might happen and things that are known 
not to happen. To distinguish them you can add "cu'i", "ru'e", "sai", 
or "cai". I put "da'i" right after "ganai" or "gi" or after "broda" 
or "brode"; putting it between "i" and "ganai" makes the whole sentence, not 
just one clause, a counterfactual. "Suppose that if foo, then bar."

Also, not every English "if" corresponds to "ganai" in Lojban. Sometimes it's 
better to say "lo nu broda cu nibli/rinka/selja'e lo nu brode".

Pierre
-- 
When a barnacle settles down, its brain disintegrates.
Já não percebe nada, já não percebe nada.

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