From JoshuaHab@aol.com Sat Oct 23 17:04:11 1999 X-Digest-Num: 264 Message-ID: <44114.264.1428.959273825@eGroups.com> Date: 24 Oct 1999 00:04:11 -0000 From: JoshuaHab@aol.com Subject: why are selbri relations so arbitrary? In reading the literature about Lojban, I was very impressed with the theoretical perfection and harmony Lojban has (unbroken rules, unambiguous grammar and pronunciation, etc.), but in reading through a few chapters of the online book, I was disenchanted with how arbitrary the relationships are, and how much simple memorization they require. ex. vencu x1 (seller) sells x2 (goods) to x3 (buyer) for x4 (price) Four completely arbitrary arguments which are somewhat specific to time and culture, and if nothing else, requre simple memorization. What's wrong with the prepositions this replaces? I would envision the language being as consistant and simple as possible, requiring as little memorization as possible with the exception of the rules of grammar. Why so arbitrary with the selbri? Thanks... Joshua Haberman