Subject: Re: [lojban] Re: non-core translations

From: Invent Yourself <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 5 Aug 2002 11:11:51 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 5 Aug 2002, araizen wrote:

> la lojbab cusku di'e
>
> > Now that I am again working on the dictionary file, I should note
> again
> > that I HAVE made very minor changes to the text of my "working
> copy" of the
> > English gismu list, but nothing substantive like a change in
> keyword -
> > usually adding in a word or two to the definition or explanatory
> text to
> > clarify things that arise in the process of writing dictionary
> entries.
>
> I realize that these are just clarifications and should not change
> the meaning, but I still have a problem with any changes other than
> correction of typos to the baseline list. There are words whose exact
> meaning is disputed, and adding clarification could change the
> interpretation. For example, there are those who say that 'botpi' is
> any closable container, whereas others say it's more like
> English 'bottle'. Adding clarification to 'botpi' could decide in
> favor of one of the interpretations.

What if the target language doesn't support the ambiguity which was
accidental in the English description and which you want to retain? You
may find yourself writing a paragraph to express the subtle imprecisions
of a particular English keyword.

The concepts in the minds of the designers may have been clear but when
they were transcribed into English, degradation occurred. Now those
designers must be consulted when transcribing into a different language
certain cases which degraded when going into English; The desired
knowledge is the baselined gismu list, not their English representations,
which are only lossy representations of the ideal forms. Clarification is
just that, and distinct from any sort of baseline-threatening semantic
drift.

However, inasmuch as the LLG did in fact have well-defined ideas in mind
when writing the gismu list, and simply failed in some few cases to
express themselves clearly, it behooves the LLG to correct these
misunderstandings and let the community know which competing
interpretation was intended.

-- 
Nisha, 26, clutching an ice cream and her toddler son, read impassively
through a leaflet calling for immediate dialogue with Pakistan to avert
the horror of a nuclear war. "Why should we worry about this?" she said
with a shrug. "India has more nuclear weapons than Pakistan. We will
wipe them off the map and win the war."