ri ra ru, Rah! Rah! Rah!

[Logical Language Group <lojbab@access.digex.net>]

>> >So what does this mean:
>> >
>> >        so'a da poi gerku cu se denci ije so'i da batci da
>> >        Almost all dogs have teeth, and most of those bite (themselves?/
>> >        those that bite?/those with teeth?)
>>
>> It means someone is trying to come up with a difficult case that is hard
>> to understand, and has succeeded.
>>
>> I start with using instead of that final "da":
>> ri = themselves (respectively or distributively is a bit ambiguous)
>
>Respectively in my opinion.  That is, if {ri} can refer back to {da}.  I
>think {ri} should refer back to any sumti whatever, but that's not the
>canon.
>
>> ra = those with teeth
>> ru = dogs
>
>How do you get these to be different?  There is only one sumti in the
>first sentence.

There is an implied prenex "da poi gerku zo'u", right?  That first
sentence is logically "da poi gerku zo'u so'a da cu se denci".  The
reference to a "ru" when there is no overt sumti to be referred to
suggests that one is referring to an unstated sumti, and the unstated
prenex seems the logical (zo'o) place to come up with it.

lojbab