lujvo & tanru

[Invent Yourself <xod@sixgirls.org>]

On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, michael helsem wrote:

> >From: "Bob LeChevalier (lojbab)" <lojbab@lojban.org>
>         li'o
> >until we
> >have committed sufficient lexicon to paper
> 
> there are 2 related fallacies here. first, that because RARNYBAU have SO'I 
> VALSI & LA LOJBAN doesn't, we need to go madly about CNINO FINTI LE LUJVO 
> for every ZE'I SE JINVI that pops into one's STEDU.


Have I said yet that I suspect that "true" Lojbanic style might include
extremely long tanru? Perhaps it is malglico, or in any case non-Lojbanic,
to desire small words with poignancy. Perhaps the spirit of Lojban is to
achieve such shades of meaning not by relying on a huge, historical,
subtle vocabulary, but by constructing detailed nuanced tanru on the spot.

By "true" of course I mean trying to go where the internal logic
and flow of the language takes us, rather than trying to aim it in a
pre-declared direction. The existence and beauty of ke and bo hint and
encourage us to take tanru in a direction that English doesn't want to.

A tendency in this direction would address the Great Dictionary Problem,
and give us some SW effects by providing us with a new, rather poetic,
dynamic skill. In English we pause for a moment and try to recall the One
Right Word, whereas perhaps in Lojban we should pause for a moment and
construct a monstrous tanru with kes and bos. Unstacking ke and bo might
be an easier skill then de-lujvo-izing, recalling rafsi, and figuring out
the place structure of an unfamiliar lujvo.

Whatever the case may be, since this is a very un-Englishistic habit, I
think I will try to develop it!



----- dave@userland.com on design: How do you get there, do a lot of hard
work, breathe, and listen listen listen. Listen to what the product tells
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Do what it says and shut up.