Subject: RE: [lojban] 1st Person Imperative

From: Jorge "Llamb�as" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 14:12:56 -0700 (PDT)

> >> >> What's the 1st Person Imperative analogous to 'ko'?
> >> >>
> >> >> How do you say "Let's eat!"?
> 
> e'u mi'o citka is a great translation. Grammatically, however, the question
> was about ko-type forms. 

There were two questions, I answered the second one.

> The meaning of ko is different from that of an e'o
> or e'u construction, and has no analogue for first person. 

We agree that {ko} has no analogue for first person. The only way
to use it to refer to the first person is to meke the first person 
coincide with the second (i.e. talking to yourself). But there is
almost no difference between {e'osai ko sarji la lojban} and
{e'osai do sarji la lojban}. In that sense e-cmavo cover the
meaning of {ko}.

> But since the
> value of the do to which ko refers can be set with doi, the analogue of ko
> would be ko. Needless to say, such a construction is far from useful, as
> most such utterances fit better with an e'u (or e'o) anyway.

That was my point. Most utterances that correspond to imperatives can 
be translated with an e-cmavo. I'm not sure why you object to calling
e-cmavo "imperatives". e-cmavo in general set the mood of the utterance 
to imperative. The "imperative mood" includes commands, requests, 
exhortations, etc.

> This is also one way to translate "someone feed the cat" that has been
> suggested - make it the same as "feed the cat" but with a "doi da" at the
> beginning.

{doi da} indicates that you are addressing someone. I prefer
{ei da djadu'a le mlatu} for "someone feed the cat".

mu'o mi'e xorxes

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From: Jorge "Llamb�as" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 May 2003 14:12:56 -0700 (PDT)

mu'o mi'e xorxes