[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: [lojban] An approach to attitudinals
At 12:09 AM 06/15/2001 +0000, Jorge Llambias wrote:
la lojbab cusku di'e
>But plausibly it can mean "I am happy now" about a situation (bridi) that I
>am presently considering which is not a present reality, which
>pragmatically often means "I would be happy if".
No, "I would be happy if" is very different from "I am happy
that it could be so". Only the second one can be handled with {ui}.
Would-be happiness has to be {a'o} or {au}.
I am daydreaming about my ideal world when I say the first. At the time I
make that sentence, it is true. Then I realize it is only in my mind, and
add a sentence that indicates it is conditional.
(Hey, I'm not saying that these unusual cases are common, merely that the
rules of thumb are reflecting a pragmatic norm that simply doesn't always
hold. .ui usually means that we are asserting the bridi, because we WOULD
normally recognize and use .a'o or au for would-be happiness. I reject the
impossibility of no other pragmatic case.)
lojbab
--
lojbab lojbab@lojban.org
Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273
Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: http://www.lojban.org