[lojban] Re: Un-definite quantifier.

[John E Clifford <lojban-out@lojban.org>]

--- Opi Lauma <opi_lauma@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> could you pleas translate into Lojban the
> following
> phrases and check my translation? In my
> examples I
> speak about dogs in general. If I say "two
> dogs" I
> mean "only to dogs of all dogs existing in the
> world"
> (for example two dogs have been in cosmos).
> 
> "one dog" - {pa lo gerku},
> "some/(at least one) dogs" - {? lo gerku},
> "two dogs" - {re lo gerku},
> "a few dogs" - {? lo gerku},
> "many dogs" - {? lo gerku},
> "all dogs" - {? lo gerku}.

The absolutely safe way to say what you want is
with quantified variables; other expressions are
open to other interpetations ("some two -- among
perhaps many -- are now ...").  So, to the basic
pattern {da poi gerku} prefix
{pa}
{su'o} (or omit altogether)
{re}
{so'u} (some dispute about this -- does it imply
at least one, as "a few"  -- but not "few" alone
-- does in English?)
{so'i}
{ro}