Subject: [lojban] Lexing text with {fa'o} and {zoi} in it

From: Pierre Abbat <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 00:59:24 -0500

Is this a correct way of lexing zoi-quotes?:

1. Scan the line from left to right. Convert all spaces to pauses
2. Break at all pauses (cannot pause in the middle of a word).
3. If the FAhO flag is set, resolve the piece as foreign text and skip to step 
9.
4. If the ZOI flag is set:
A. If the beginning of the current unresolved piece matches the delimiter 
(which is the value of the ZOI flag), ignoring commas and capitalization, 
break the current piece after the delimiter (if there is anything after it), 
resolve it as the ending delimiter, and clear the ZOI flag.
5. Pick the first piece that has not been resolved.
A. If the piece ends in a consonant...
B. If the piece ends in 'y'...
C. If the piece does not end in 'y' or a consonant and has no consonant...
D. If the piece contains 'y' and no consonant following the last 'y' is...
E. If the piece contains a consonant followed two letters later, not...
6. If the piece is a cmavo of selma'o ZOI and the ZO flag is clear, resolve 
the next piece as the starting delimiter and set the ZOI flag to a copy of 
it.
7. If the piece is a cmavo of selma'o FAhO and the ZO flag is clear, set the 
FAhO flag.
8. If the piece is a cmavo of selma'o ZO and the ZO flag is clear, set the ZO 
flag; otherwise clear the ZO flag.
9. If there are any more pieces unresolved, return to step 3.

According to 19:10, if {le'u} appears in a {zoi} quotation which is inside a 
{lo'u} quotation, the {lo'u} quotation is prematurely terminated. If the 
{le'u} is not surrounded by pauses, I don't see how that can work. For 
instance:
/lo'ugA'ocUskuzoixy.vaiic.alE'umal`asOt.xy.axacuEroc.le'u/
The {le'u} inside the {zoi} quotation is embedded in the Hebrew word 
"wayish'alehu", which, being inside a {zoi} quotation, is not attempted to 
lex (and if it did, it would choke on the `ayin of "mah l`asot").

Chapter 21, step 2, says that the word following {zoi} *should* be delimited 
with a pause, not that it *must*. If it is not delimited with a pause, this 
can cause text to be lexed that is part of the quotation. For instance:
/zoiladjAn.bagram.ladjAn/
is lexed as {zoi la djan. bagram. la djan.}. Conversely, two words could be 
taken as the delimiter, as in /zoi.flAlukAvbu.../ that I mentioned before. 
Should the word be changed to "must"?

phma