On 21.08.2006, 0:16, Matt Arnold wrote:
> On 8/20/06, Yanis Batura <ybatura@mail.ru> wrote:
>> Why are there so many anatomical references for the gismu {mabla}? All those
>> body parts may be/seem obscene or derogatory in Western/European culture,
>> but not in every culture in the world.
>> zo vlagi cu srana lo se smuni be zo mabla mu'i ma .i mi na tugni
>> I think that is not culturally neutral!
>> mi'e .ianis.
> Every person has their own culture. Lojban is a culturally neutral
> *language*, but that does not mean a Lojban-speaker is a culturally
> neutral *person*. There is nothing in Lojban that makes {vlagi}
> automatically {mabla}. If someone says {mabla vlagi}, Lojban cannot
> prohibit them from having that opinion or that culture. They are
> speaking for their own opinions.
> In fact, the great thing about Lojban is that if you speak to a person
> from a culture that does not think {vlagi} is {mabla}, you are much
> more clear by making it specific with {mabla}. You are then
> communicating about yourself and your own culture so they can
> understand where you're coming from. In a natural language you would
> only use the word for {vlagi}. You would need them to already know
> that it is obscene or derogatory for you, and they wouldn't
> understand.
Hmm, my question was why {vlagi} was in the reference list of {mabla}, and not, say, {besna} or {since}.
mi'e .ianis.
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Lojban: A Language With *Intelligent* Design