On 9/1/08, Jorge Llambías <jjllambias@gmail.com> wrote:
Perhaps because the creation or assignment of proper names is more
frequent than the creation of new common names, that gives rise to the
illusion that we have total freedom with them,
Indeed, I'm forced to agree that how much freedom we have isn't the fundamental distinction. We have complete freedom in all cases, of course-- we could come up with a whole different language, if we were so dissatisfied.
OK so help me dig deeper into what the real distinction is between the LA-space and the LO-space..
There are definitely two different semantic spaces. The main distinction between them is cultural, is how we relate to each of them. We relate to the LA-space by filling it with lots of names of people, some names of places, and not much else. We relate to the LO-space by thinking of it as a bunch of "words with meanings" and arguing about place structures..
In putting together the Amber dracyselkei, I've been imagining these characters I'm calling the "crida". The crida speak Lojban with a distinctive style. For instance, they like the construction: "lo lo lo broda ku brode ku brodi". I'm also considering having them use LA-space for some different things, like for instance naming an emotion "xrerx" and then describing someone who's feeling it as "lo cinmo be la .xrerx."
This part doesn't really differ from names. It's not a requirement for
{lo} that it be used with words known to the whole speech community. {lo} can just
as well be used for technical terms known to a few, with nonce short-lived
words, even nonsense words invented for the current convesation. {lo}
doesn't care how well established the word is.
You can certainly use {lo} with a less established word, but I feel like there's still some distinction there. It's a cultural distinction, again. it's about how we feel about words and their contexts.
I feel like all of the brivla in large part go together in one basket in my mind, as "the words of Lojban". Even words which are transient or occasional are somehow part of that same ecosystem.
You can tell that people feel something like that, by the way that they react to new words & to synonyms, etc., with an awareness of their relation to the whole.
The LA-space is a distinct place, which is also populated-- "cizra" has a meaning in both places, for instance.
So {lo} is used to talk about things in word-boxes, while {la} is used
to talk about things with word-tags stuck to them. But some tags may
be just as permanent as some boxes, and we can create new boxes
just as we can create new tags. Perhaps it's easier with the new tags
in the sense that anyone that sees us sticking it to the thing will
immediately be able to use it, while a new box may require some
explaining to do to make sure others understand what kind of things
are meant to go there. Showing some of the things that can go there
may not be enough to tell what all the things that can go there are.