Subject: RE: [lojban] The Pleasures of goi (was: zipf computations & experimental cmavo

From: "And Rosta" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 22:54:02 +0100

John:
> Invent Yourself wrote:
> > no'u probably works like you think goi already does:
> > 
> > ko'a goi la djan. .i li'o .i la fred. no'u ko'a
> > ko'a is John. Fred is John.
> 
> By no means: saying "ko'a no'u la djan." is bogus if ko'a is not
> *already* defined. The whole point of goi (and cei) is their
> defining nature.

But you seem to be failing to recognize that ko'a, like cmene,
do not have to be defined by goi. They can get their referent
from context.

English: It is big.
Lojban: ko'a barda

In neither case must it or ko'a have an antecedent in previous
utterances. 

Furthermore, the referent need not even be accessible to the
addressee:

English: I read a certain book.
Lojban: mi tcidu ko'a noi ke'a cukta
ko'a ge cukta gi se tcidu mi

--And.