Subject: Re: broda bu instead of by?

From: "Stefan \"1of3\" Koch" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2002 03:20:43 +0100

ebu vebu cy. cusku di'e

> Any thoughts on using "broda bu" rather than "by" to refer back to a
> previous sumti?
>
> It's obviously not shorter in syllables, but it seems to me to be
> clearer in meaning and not have the variable binding issues (I think) of
> repeating the sumti verbatim. Also, it would let you reference multiple
> "by" sumti without needing forethought assignment or subscripting.
>
> So is "broda bu boi brode bu brodi" neat and useful, or just despicable
> Lojban?

IMO are bu-constructions quite beautiful features of lojban grammar and they
might be nice in poetry. But I doubt that "broda bu" is a useful
abbreviation for "le broda". Longer sumti like "le broda poi brodi ti" can
be reduced to "le broda" (which is IMO the way most natural languages would
take).

Furthermore bu-constructions are basically signs. This might cause a recipee
to think that you actually have a sign in mind that is used to represent "le
broda". As I mentioned that might be interesting in poetry but most of the
time it might be just confusing.

mu'omi'e ctefan.