Re: [lojban-beginners] Confusion involving lo and loi

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

On Wednesday 14 July 2010 19:54:57 la nub wrote:
> coi. I'm currently learning Lojban from "Lojban For Beginners." I was
> doing the exercises at the end of chapter 4 and I translated "One in
> three women like David Bowie" to "pafi'uci lo ninmu cu nelci la deivyd
> bo,is." However in the answer key stated "pafi'uci LOI ninmu cu nelci
> la deivyd bo,is." to be the correct answer.
>
> Why loi? Wouldn't that mean that 1 in 3 GROUPS of women like him? Why
> not just use lo? After all, women are capable of liking by
> themselves. .uanai.

Consider the statement "ci lo ninmu cu nelci la deivyd.bo,is". The number of 
women who like David Bowie is 3. If "pafi'uci lo ninmu cu co'e", the number 
of women who like him is 1/3. Which third of her likes him? The brain and 
arms, the torso, or the legs?

"ci loi ninmu cu nelci la deivyd.bo,is" means that three groups of women like 
him. So "pafi'uci loi ninmu cu co'e" means that one-third of a group of women 
does. This is the meaning you want: one in three women is one-third of a 
group of women.

Pierre

-- 
I believe in Yellow when I'm in Sweden and in Black when I'm in Wales.

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