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Re: [lojban] ca'e



In a message dated 3/3/2001 2:55:10 PM Central Standard Time,
jjllambias@hotmail.com writes:



<ca'e ro mlatu cu danlu
   By definition, every cat is an animal.




Does that speak to the definition of {mlatu}? of {danlu}?

of both? of neither? Is it a statement about cats and animals
or about the words "mlatu" or "danlu"? Does the statement
(in Lojban) have any meaning?>



The answers are mostly "yes" (Only "neither?" gets a "no")  The next to the
last is that the statement is about cats and animals says that all of the
former are also among the latter.  The {ca'e} merely places the source of
your confidence in that claim in your understanding of relevant definitions,
rather than, say, close and repeated observations or a wild guess.  Note
that, if you really based your claim on close and repeated observationsbut
said {ca'e} anyhow, the claim would still be true, though you might be
accused of being misleading or, perhaps, even of lying.