Subject: Re: [lojban] rau

From: John Cowan <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 12:20:44 -0400 (EDT)

Nick Nicholas scripsit:

> In accordance with the supplicatory model: If Lojbab wrote this text, 
> then Lojbab must have intended "rau" to mean 'small enough' as well as 
> 'large enough'.

Indeed, the example goes back to JCB.

> The formal way of stating this without being braindamaged is: "rau" 
> indicates a quantity which is satisfactory for the purposes of the 
> perspective-holder in context [not necessarily the speaker], as they 
> can be inferred from context. Its reference is not constrained to being 
> a ceiling value ('large enough value'), it may be a floor ('small 
> enough value') or a median value, according to context.

I support this interpretation.

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