Subject: RE: [lojban] Re: The Any thread

From: "Craig" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 18:22:01 -0500

>> This is what the Any interpretation means! No specific doctor is needed.

>Fair enough.

>> However, I do need a doctor, and when that doctor shows up e is likely
>> to be specific.

>"Specific", in the sense used in talking about Lojban gadri, is not a
property
>of doctors but of references to them. When I say "there's a doctor in the
>next room", I may know perfectly well that the doctor is Tripp Hammer, but
>I am still referring non-specifically.

Yes. However, if I say "mi nitcu lo mikce" and Dr. Foo shows up, my need has
been filled by a specific doctor - Dr Foo. E can still be referred to
nonspecifically, as e was in the "mi nitcu lo mikce" sentence. But, there, I
maintain that the listener cannot be held to have been told of any specific
doctor who is needed, and that if the speaker is communicating there is
none.

>> "I need a doctor" in English usually means "I need Any doctor", which
would
>> be false if:
>> 1. There is a specific doctor that I need. I could then still need a
doctor,
>> but I wouldn't need Any doctor, which is what I interpret lojban "mi
nitcu
>> lo mikce" as meaning. Maybe it's just a glico bias, but I also think that
my
>> interpretation makes more sense.

>Another problem here is that "I need any doctor" is singular, whereas
>"mi nitcu lo mikce" might signal a need for more than one doctor.
>"I need any doctors" sounds bizarre to me.

Well, I think there is no controversy that the English is specifically
singular and the lojban doesn't specify.

>> 2. My need can be filled without a doctor. Then I don't need a doctor.

>No controversy here.

I was just listing what I considered to be necessary for "I need Any doctor"
to be true. I didn't expect any that to be controversial at all (except for
the Lojban translation), I was just explaining my interpretation.

>(A "tanka", or extended haiku)

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