Re: [lojban] Re: jordis

["Adam D. Lopresto" <adam@pubcrawler.org>]

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004, Jorge Llambías wrote:

> la jordis cusku di'e
>
> > How do I mark the focus in lojban?
>
> Lojban can mark the topic (when it is a sumti) by placing
> it in the prenex:
>
>   lo xanto zo'u lo pilka cu mutce rotsu
>   "As for elephants, the skin is very thick."
>
> but there is no convention for explicit marking of focus
> yet. Possible candidate markers are {ba'e} (emphasis) and
> {bi'u} (new-information).

I've wondered this before, but is there a way to refer back to the topic?  As
far as I can tell, there isn't, but it really feels like there should be.

lo xanto zo'u lo pilka be ... cu mutce rotsu

In this case, I can use {ri}, but in general that might not do it.  I can
assign a prosumti, but that's getting awfully awkward.  I've even wondered if
{vo'a} can do it, but I really doubt it.

da goi le speni be mi zo'u do fi da tavla

Is at least a little tempting (it feels like it should have about the
transience of da, so we don't have to worry about assigning a go'V), but I'm
not sure whether it works.
--
Adam Lopresto
http://cec.wustl.edu/~adam/

When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail.  If
you're going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce.