Re: imperative mood

[jorge@phyast.pitt.edu]

> >> Um.  Well, Jorge is of the opinion that {e'u do} is exactly equivalent
> >> to {ko}.
> >
> >I wouldn't say exactly equivalent, but they both would be in the
> >imperative mood.  {e'u do} is more precise, because it says what type of
> >imperative it is:  a suggestion.  Other possibilities would be {e'o do}
> >for a request, {ei do} for a command.
>
> I don't think the "do" version is necessarily imperative.  My kid left
> his wagon on the driveway last night, although he said he brought it in.
> If I had checked, I might have said ".e'u do na nenri cpacu le [wagon]"
> which is NOT a suggestion that he not bring it in.

You mean that {e'u} has both uses of the English expression? I thought
it meant "I suggest/propose", and not "I suggest/insinuate". I don't
see why it should mean both just because the same word can be used in
English for both senses.

> For petition (.e'o), I might say the Lojban for "Please tell me it isn't
> true!" which emotively has an "e'o" component on the main bridi and an
> ".a'o" component on the subordinate.  You don't really want the person
> to tell you it isn't true, if it really is - so it is NOT an imperative.

Whether you mean what you say or not is not the point. {e'o do cusku
le sedu'u na co'e} is a request to tell that it is not so, independently
of what you really want to be told. Even in your example "tell me" is
in the imperative mood.

> Likewise ".ei" can express a perceived obligation without necessarily
> commanding it - and stating the obligation is not necessarily the same
> as suggesting it.

I know it is not the same, they are different instances of the imperative
mood. That mood is not only used for commands, so "imperative" may not
be the best name for it.

> I could tell a long adoption-related story now to
> back this up, but I won't.  In all cases, though, I think "ko" is a
> indication of imperative mood that overrides any implicatures of the
> attitudinals.

The problem was not with {ko}, but what to use for the imperative
case of {mi'o}. I said {e'o mi'o}, {e'u mi'o} etc can do the job,
so that no new cmavo is needed for it.

Jorge