A heterogeneous assembly of comments & queries
mostly concerning gismu lexicology.
(1) x2 of nitcu (need), djica (want) and cpedu
(request), and x3 of pikci (beg) should be an
event abstraction. "Need/want/ask/beg to have"
should be rendered "ponse zei nitcu/djica/cpedu/
pikci" (with x2 of the lujvo being x2 of ponse).
(2) Facki (find, discover) is redundant.
Facki is equivalent to cilre (learn) (except that
cilre has an x4 place for method, which is anyway
not inappropriate for discovering.)
(3) Sisku (seek) is redundant and too vague.
(x2 of sisku is in my list object/event/property.
I believe that this has been changed to just property,
but either way I don't understand why.) "Mi sisku do"
is either "Mi troci lenu mi { penmi [=encounter] / ponse
[=possess] / jitro [=control] } do" or "I try to learn where
you are" (don't know how to say that, but it involves
"mi troci lenu mi cilre" (-- can someone please remind me how
Lojban handles subordinate interrogatives, as in "I wonder
what you're reading"?)). These could be condensed into
penmi/ponse/jitro zei troci (with x2 of lujvo being x2 of
penmi/ponse/jitro).
(4) How to say "I search the pockets"? "mi zukte fe
le nu catlu le daski kei fi le nu mi penmi/ponse/jitro/kavbu"?
(Or with lujvo, "mi catlu zei zukte le daski le nu
mi penmi/ponse/jitro/kavbu".)
I assume "catlu" means not "look" but "inspect, examine".
(5) How to say "watch, heed, pay attention to"? 'Zgana'
doesn't seem right.
(6) simlu: x1 seems/appears to have property(ies) x2 to
observer x3 under conditions x4.
So "I seem blue" is "mi simlu le ka blanu"?
Then how to say "It seems to be raining, it seems that it
is raining"? I think we should be able to say "simlu fa
le duhu carvi" - that is, x1 of simlu is a duhu abstraction
and x2 is scrapped. "I seem blue" would be "simlu fa le duhu
mi blanu".
simlu: x1 (duhu) seems-to-be-the-case to observer x2
under conditions x3.
or, perhaps more usefully:
simlu: to observer x1 x2 (duhu) seems-to-be-the-case
under conditions x3.
(This latter order avoids need for 'fa' to postpose the
duhu clause, & lends itself as a translation of "it seems
to me that...".)
(7) galfi: x1 (event) modifies/alters/changes x2 into x3
stika: x1 (event) adjusts/changes x2 (ka/ni) in amount/degree x3
I think the x1 place of these should be abolished.
Galfi then becomes redundant with binxo:
binxo: x1 becomes/changes into x2 under conditions x3
And I think binxo should have an extra place:
binxo: x1 changes from belonging to category (ka) x2
into belonging to category (ka) x3
I think some new but related meaning should be found for galfi,
such as:
galfi: x1 evolves from (ka) x2 into (ka) x3 under conditions/
constraints x4 [e.g. natural selection]
(8) panci: x1 is an odor/fragrance/scent/smell emitted by x2
and detected by observer/sensor x3
sumne: x1 (experiencer) smells [transitive verb] x2;
x2 smells/has odor to observer x1
ganse: x1 [observer] senses/detects/notices/is aware of
stimulus x2 by means x3 under conditions x4
vrusi: x1 is a taste/flavor of x2
(a) Given sumne, why does panci have this x3 place? Suppose
I want to describe the smell of an unsmelt rose.
(b) Why does sumne lack a place for the odour?
(c) Why does 'vrusi' have no 'transitive' counterpart? I suppose
we could have:
vrusi zei ganse: x1 tastes taste x2 of x3
But in this case, why bother with having sumne?
(d) Unless I've misunderstood, I suggest dropping the x3 of panci,
and dropping sumne altogether, using panci zei ganse instead.
(9) Is there an agreed expression for look/appearance/
countance/visual stimulus, without there being an implied
perceiver?
(10) tirna: x1 hears x2 against background/noise x3
Could x3 be abolished, please? Otherwise, when there's
no background noise we'll have to remember to use "xohe"
(or whatever the sumti-abolishing cmavo is).
(11) Is there a standard expression for 'saliva'?
---
And