RE: [lojban] Re: paroi ro mentu [3]

["And Rosta" <a.rosta@lycos.co.uk>]

Jordan DeLong
> On Sun, Sep 29, 2002 at 12:02:03AM +0000, Jorge Llambias wrote:
> > la and cusku di'e
> > >Remind me what is to be gained by using roi + sumti rather
> > >than roi + ku?
> > 
> > That the sumti gives the exact interval in which the repetitions
> > occur, {ca} just gives an event with some overlap. I suppose
> > {ze'a ro mentu paroi} would work just as well as {paroi ro mentu}.
> 
> I agree.  Of course, as was likely And's intention to suggest, you
> *can* express either of the meanings which are being suggested for
> "paroi ro mentu" through seperate mechanisms.  However I don't think
> there should much doubt of that for almost anything in lojban, so
> I'm not sure what his point was.

... that when we consider the question of what such-and-such means,
one important consideration is whether there are convenient alternative
ways to express the candidate meanings. In situations where there
isn't a convenient alternative way to express a candidate meaning,
that candidate meaning becomes a stronger contender to be the
Correct Meaning.

I am here articulating a principle implicit in general debates on
Lojban List, not a principle that I have declared ex catheter.

--And.