Subject: Re: [lojban] Re: Questions

From: "Jorge Llambias" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 09 Aug 2000 00:13:57 GMT

la ivAn cusku di'e
>What if you're asking how old a baby is, and the answer is going
>to be expressed in months, weeks or days rather than years?
>Should you reformulate the question accordingly? (Some natlangs
>do, others do not.)

Yes, of course: {ta masti ma}, {ta jeftu ma}, {ta djedi ma}.
Also, it is possible to answer with fractional numbers if
it's less than a year. And of course you can always answer
{ta masti li papa} to a question like {ta nanca ma}.

> > As I see it, the duration of the referent of {mi} is
> > from my birth to now. My past experiences are certainly
> > a part of what I am. I can't say the same about the future,
>
><smiling> This from the same person who was looking for full
>symmetry between the past and the future in the {za'o} thread.

There is no contradiction, I never denied the differences
between future and past.

Besides, I am not the same person I was back then in
the {za'o} thread... :)

> > so I think it is ok to treat my present self as lasting
> > from my birth till now.
>
>Arguably, though, you weren't your present self before you had
>those experiences, so your present self lasts but this moment.

My present self contains those moments. My then self was
of course younger, as it did not contain the moments that
came later on. Growing older is like growing in size, you
build on what is there, you don't completely replace it with
something new.

co'o mi'e xorxes

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com