Subject: Re: periodic hexadecimal reminder

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 22:32:52 -0000

thinkit8@l... wrote:
>lojban by default is hexadecimal. there may be notes in the refgram 
>to the contrary, but they are in error. the presence of 16 digits 
>clearly indicates hexadecimal.

.e'ocai.o'onairu'e ko tagji jgari rero le kerlo be ko ku 
ge'i ba sisti le za'i le stedu be ko ku nenri le ganxo be ko 
ku kei ta'i le pu'u ko lacpu le stedu be ko

And Rosta <arosta@u...> wrote:
>><hfroark@b...> 10/02/01 08:41pm >>>
>>that would leave xa'a as my suggestion
[for a cmavo to be used to indicate base sixteen.
>
>On the whole I think it is best to choose an experimental
>form that is CVVV and that has had no other meaning
>previously proposed for it. e.g. {pa'ai}. Also, grammar
>change would be minimized by putting it in PA.

I'm not attached to my suggested cmavo, though I do think 
that the cmavo used should have no more than three 
syllables, but I don't expect a single syllable cmavo to 
be used either. pa'ai is fine by me. As for letting it be 
used as a digit in base seventeen numbers, I wouldn't 
encourage that, but I could accept a situation where that 
usage is permitted, but not required. (Incidentally, this 
would also have the side effect of requiring thinkit8 to 
then use base-17 by his previous logical justification.)

>>There is one other mechanism I would like to see considered: 
>>a way to assign a sticky base, so that one could define a 
>>base at the beginning of a document or section, and have 
>>the later numbers interpreted as the base in question. 
>>Since, this wouldn't be a common operation, I don't think 
>>that a cmavo needs to be assigned for that purpose.
>
>A general UI for stickiness would do the job and be more
>multifunctional.

If that's the method that is decided on I'll use that; my 
point was that if such a method could already be made using 
a short phrase, I would accept that as adaquate.

"michael helsem" <graywyvern@h...> wrote:
[In response to sticky base]
> wouldn't something like NO'O JU'U (say) VEI VAISU'IPA KI work? it 
sticks
> place & time in storytelling, why not the number base?

I think that ki might be extendable to that purpose, but 
your phrasing is not quite right; I want to set the typical 
value for the R-expression of ju'u; in your phrasing no'o 
is the L-expression of ju'u.