An Agreement? (was: An approach to attitudinals

[Invent Yourself <xod@sixgirls.org>]

On Fri, 15 Jun 2001, Bob LeChevalier (lojbab) wrote:

> 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.)


(and from another mail:)

> No, because I don't want people to have to THINK (i.e. "reason") while
they
> are attitudinally emoting.  They should express what they feel at the
time
> they feel it, and the few rules we have for attitudinal expression are
> really just conventions that attempt to describe the pragmatics that
> realistically will apply if someone just expresses things naturally.



I conclude that you would agree with a tradition or habit of tending to
put UI in front of the bridi when pragmatically meaning to discuss a
hypothetical, and putting it elsewhere when emoting while issuing an
assertion. Such a habit would likely sort things out in my head as I
speak!





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