Re: [lojban] Re: "la" in names

[Robin Lee Powell <rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org>]

On Thu, Nov 09, 2006 at 06:40:28AM +0300, Yanis Batura wrote:
> I don't understand you, people. You are not at all confused by the
> fact that Lojban doesn't have VERY MANY sounds present in other
> languages, but the fact that you can't spell your name exactly as
> in English make you sick.
> 
> Lojban doesn't allow {la}, {lai} and {doi} in names, and that's
> all. If even almost everyone, including me, of course, cannot
> adhere to this rule, that is our problem, and not the language's.
> Just wait, and the sence of correct lojbanization will develop in
> us.

Not a single Lojbanist has *ever* internalized this rule.  We know
this because *every* major Lojbanist has made this mistake, and it
showed up in "What Is Lojban?", which was proofread by at least 3
major Lojbanists.

We have no evidence, at all, that anyone can internalize this rule.
It's not about whether the rule is good or not.  I don't mind in the
slightest that "la" isn't allowed; that's the least of what we have
to do to Lojbanize names.  The problem is not what the rule
requires, the problem is that *we can't follow it*, and we've
*proven* we can't.

A rule we can't follow that, in the not-following, breaks
audio-visual isomorphism is, to me, a total travesty of one of the
most important goals of the language.  Whether someone gets to use
the "la" sound in their name or not is totally irrelevant to my
concerns.  We're *breaking the language*, and it has to stop.

-Robin


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