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Re: [lojban] imperatives & scope (was: RE: Predicate logic and childhood.)



In a message dated 5/6/2001 1:07:06 AM Central Daylight Time,
a.rosta@dtn.ntl.com writes:


<pc:
> arosta@uclan.ac.uk writes:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>    ko broda da
>
> means
>
>    I hereby command that there be some da such that do broda da
>
> and not
>
>    There is some da such that I hereby command that do broda da
>
> which cannot be expressed in Lojban satisfactorily.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> {da zo'u ko broda da} and probably {da se broda ko}.  Structure words
> aside, extending scope requires anaphora of the scope determiner (here
> ko = do).   

Three responses.


1. Your proposal is counter to current convention, which is that {ko}
means "make this sentence true if {ko} were replaced by {do}".>


well, that depends upon how you interpret "this sentence"  Since a aprenex is
always "to a sentence," I take short scope in front, i.e., the beginning of a
illocutionary scope is the beginning of the shortest sentence of which the
illocutionary operator is part (with a variety of ways of expanding, of
course).



<2. Your proposal seems unable to cope with the contrast between (b) and
(c):

  a. "I command that you cause her to eat something."
    ="I command that you cause that there be something that she eats."
  b. "I command that there be something that you cause her to eat."
  c. "There is something that I command you to cause her to eat.">

I assume that you mean these to be expansion of "Get her to eat something",
not literally the problems sentences.  But, in any case, the various
positions around gasnu should work: prenex to the whole(c), lenu ko'e citka
da (a). b is different, not being a command to do at all, but a fiat quid --
maybe e'ocai zasti fa da poi do gasnu lenu ko'e citka da


<
3. There are much more common and more serious problems with the scope
of imperative operators than ones like (a-c). Consider (d/d'):

  d.  Make a note of my telephone number.
  d'. Make a note of a telephone number of mine.

This means (e/e'):

  e.  For my telephone number, make it the case that you make a note of it.
  e'. For a telephone number of mine, make it the case that you make a
note
      of it.

It does NOT mean (f):

  f.  Make it the case that you make a note of my telephone number.
  f'. Make it the case that you make a note of a telephone number of mine.

-- for these would be satisfied if you wrote down any old number but then
took steps to make sure that the phone company assigned this number to me.>

Again, I would use prenex but I suspect that this is common enough that we
need a new convention here, as we have already in various other world
shiftings, about the referent of definite descriptions therein.  since that
problem is not completely worked out yet, ...