Re: singular and plural

[bob@GNU.AI.MIT.EDU]

jorge@phyast.pitt.edu cuska di'e

    I don't see why we would want to have both {le} and {lo} as singular
    terms, and no simple quantifier expression. ...

Because Lojban does *not* consider singular and plural to be primary.
In English and in most people's interpretations of logical
expressions, number is primary.  Lojban is different.

The primary distinction in Lojban is between `that which I designate
in my head' and `that which is real according to the epistimology and
context of the conversation'.

    lo tanxe

is at least one box because it is real and things which do not exist
are not real, at least not in the context of this and most other
Lojban list dialogs.

    le tanxe

is likely to be (but is not necessarily) at least one something
because I tend not to designate a thing as a box unless the thing
designated is real, although that thing may not be a box, again in the
epistemology and context of the dialog.

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
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