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Re: [lojban] "Any" and {ro}
la v4hn cu cusku di'e
On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 06:12:02PM +0100, selpa'i wrote:
Thinking back to this topic, I'm wondering why nobody suggested
simple {lo}. It's more or less perfect for this kind of thing.
ko dunda lo plise pe lo lanka mi
Give me any apple from the basket.
Because according to your usual arguments, this sentence can also mean
"Give me an apple (and I might have a specific one in mind) from the basket"
and
"Give me the apple from the basket."
Therefore it would be unclear whether you have a specific one in mind.
{lo} by itself doesn't refer to a specific apple, but me wanting a
specific one doesn't make {lo} false. It's an important distinction,
which, I admit, I didn't see as clearly then (in fact some of what I
said in this thread doesn't seem quite right now in retrospect, and I
certainly didn't express myself well!). However, as things stand, what I
said above is true, {lo} is not specific, but you might very well have a
specific apple in mind (without making {lo plise} incorrect). It's just
not conveyed by {lo}, and if context isn't strong enough, some relative
clause that clarifies the intended referent will be needed e.g. {lo
plise poi pritu traji} or similar.
{le} will give you a specific apple (though the listener still has no
idea which one), but I don't feel like using {le} myself.
So what do you reply if someone asks you in response "Which apple exactly?",
e.g. {lo plise poi mo} or whatever.
lo va plise poi se barna lo so'i cmalu ke manku xunre
You could answer {ko cuxna}, but the major question is, whether you can
avoid such a question in the first place.
Using {lo} should avoid it, {da} will only work if the scope is right.
mu'o mi'e la selpa'i
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