Subject: Re: [lojban] Re: lujvo

From: Ivan A Derzhanski <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 18:31:15 +0300

Bob LeChevalier (lojbab) wrote:
> There is a direct Lojban equivalent to Italian "Madonna = my lady"
> in terms of etymology of the tanru - I would make it "mibni'u",

What?! {mibni'u} < {mi ninmu} means `my woman', not `my lady'.

> or if you want the connotations of mistress of higher class,
> you could insert "nol" as a modifier for nobility (mibnolni'u),
> ces for holy (mibycesni'u), or selse'u for one who is served.

Getting progressively closer, but still not there. I quote what
I think are the relevant meanings from Merriam-Webster:
`a woman having proprietary rights or authority especially as a
feudal superior'; `a woman of superior social position'.

> But in Lojban, none of these would have the Italian MEANING of "Madonna"
> because Lojban tanru have all manner of interpretations, and lujvo
> select a single ad hoc one of these, but are not necessarily a part
> of the lexicon unless picked up by the speaking community (and/or
> enshrined in the dictionary).

Indeed. {cevni mamta} `god mother' invites at least two obvious
interpretations: `mother who is a goddess' (Thetis) and `mother
of a god' (Alcmene).

> We ARE trying for a culturally neutral; language, so if I wanted
> a word for the mother of Christ, I would NOT use "cevni", I would
> use "xriso" as the basis for the lujvo.

I would use both: {xriso cevni mamta}. `Christian mother' is just
not enough.

But why use a lujvo/tanru anyway? Why not a cmene? It is the name
of one particular character, isn't it?

--Ivan