From xod@sixgirls.org Tue Sep 04 06:50:03 2001 Return-Path: X-Sender: xod@reva.sixgirls.org X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2); 4 Sep 2001 13:50:02 -0000 Received: (qmail 28969 invoked from network); 4 Sep 2001 13:47:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by l10.egroups.com with QMQP; 4 Sep 2001 13:47:08 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO reva.sixgirls.org) (64.152.7.13) by mta2 with SMTP; 4 Sep 2001 13:47:07 -0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by reva.sixgirls.org (8.11.6/8.11.1) with ESMTP id f84Dl7q06657 for ; Tue, 4 Sep 2001 09:47:07 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 09:47:06 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Instant Evaluation (was: The Knights who forgot to say "ni!" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII From: Invent Yourself On Sun, 2 Sep 2001, And Rosta wrote: > Rob: > > On Fri, Aug 31, 2001 at 06:04:28PM +0100, And Rosta wrote: > > > Rob: > > > > "whether D is a crook". Not every grammatical construct has to be > > "evaluated" > > > > to something shorter. > > > > > > In general, things *are* fully evaluated in Lojban. The times when you want > > > something that doesn't evaluate are special cases, that call for special > > > constructions, the ones that cause us so much perplexity. > > > > If you performed the kind of "evaluation" people are suggesting for {jei} all > > the time, then saying {la spat. gerku} would be instantly replaced by "true" > > and communicate nothing. > > A bridi is one of those special constructions that is exempt from evaluation. > Indeed, it is *the( special construction par excellence. That is why when, > as in the Q-kau discussions, and the needing a box and seeking a unicorn > discussions, some sumti musn't be instantly-evaluated, we seek a solution > that involves embedding the sumti within a subordinate bridi, so as to > block evaluation. I'm not making this up, or laying down the law, or > speaking ex cathedra; I'm describing long-long-established Loglan/Lojban > semantic principles -- or so I believe. Lazy evaluation makes lu'e a lot more useful. It converts {lu'e la djan} from "John" to "The Symbol for John". ----- "We should destroy the Muslims' homes while leaving the Christians' homes alone." -- Rehavam Zeevi, Israeli Tourism Minister