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Re: Lojban is *NOT* broken! Stop saying that! (was Re: [lojban] Re: Vote for the Future Global Language)
On 01/07/2011 06:15 PM, Jonathan Jones wrote:
"Do you WANT cream or sugar?" vs. "Do you want CREAM or SUGAR?" would
not be interpreted as having different meanings, because in the
context of cream and sugar for coffee, no one would ever suggest that
the customer may have one or the other but not both or neither. It
would be interpreted as "This customer is hard of hearing, so I should
speak louder so as to make sure he hears me correctly", which may be
considered to be rude by the customer (if, for example, he isn't hard
of hearing), but would not be considered an XOR question, due to
contextual factors, including culture.
Sure they'd be heard as different. I've just poured your coffee. I can
go back into the kitchen to fetch cream and/or sugar, or better still, I
can call the waitress over to get you something for you coffee, but only
if you need it. So do you want something? That's a yes/no question.
It might be more helpful if you volunteered more information, but it
remains a yes/no question. And for most English-speakers, it would be
stressed differently. This is a pragmatics thing; stresses CAN matter.
~mark
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