Subject: Re: [lojban] observatives (was RE: a construal of lo'e & le'e

From: "Robert J. Chassell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 16:51:22 +0000 (UTC)

# Of course the bottom line is that in TLI Loglan there was an
# explicit debate between interpreting a bare predicate as a
# command or an observative ("Fire!" said to soldiers of an
# execution squad, vs. on seeing smoke and flame). JCB chose one
# way; we reversed that decision.

I don't see why you didn't go for a third option, that of having no
special rules (or "conventions") for bare predicates in main bridi.

I don't know the history, but I like the observative. It fits with
the way I learn basic vocabulary. Someone points to a creature and
observes: {mlatu} I understand and eventually remember the
connection between what I saw and the word.

All `concrete' notions are items that can be pointed to or mimed
(using visual, sound, smell, touch, or taste senses). These are what
observatives `observe'. The rest of language is built on metaphors
based on these words.

-- 
Robert J. Chassell [email-masked]
Rattlesnake Enterprises http://www.rattlesnake.com