Subject: the reason for x4 of {djuno}?

From: "A.W.T." <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 18:31:01 -0000

Since there's an ongoing controversal discussion on {djuno}, I'd be interested in hearing the considerations 
the creation of this gismu's place structure is based on. What has been the fundamental reason for the 
epistemological x4-place (with its authors now obviously not sharing the same idea on it).

The (common) meaning of "to know", "wissen" ... "djuno" surely has to do with "truth". Since Lojban is a 
language of our (modern) times, there might be the idea underlying that there are different "truths" 
possible (-> Einstein etc.)
This even nowadays is not a common thinking, nor was it in past times (when language was coined).
As I tried to point out earlier etymologically, the European languages (Germanic, Old-Saxon, Gothic etc. 
and ancient Greek) all have the idea (for "wizzan" -> "to know", e.g. Greek: "eidon") of "I have seen/
recognized" (lb: {mi pu viska}). This means that those terms all have a "built-in" epistemology as a 
commonly shared base of undoubted evidence. (I think the ancient Greek term had been coined long 
before a Platon - doxa/episteme etc. - and had not been influenced by those philosophies).
Also Latin "sapere" is similar ("We know what we can *taste*" - also e.g. German: "begreifen" (I know - for 
sure - what I can grasp/touch with my hands) - again: *one* built-in epistemology all can share. There's 
only *one* world the user of language live in, and *one* truth!
In (ancient and modern) Chinese this seems to be the same: the character for "chih1/chi1/chy" (to know) 
etymologically is composed of "arrow" (shih3/shi3/shyy) and "mouth" (k'ou3/kou3/koou), and that's what 
says the glose: "The knowledge that makes a man able to give an opinion upon a subject, with the rapidity 
and precision of an arrow hitting the marks". IMHO the kou-part most probably just symbolizes a dot/
mark/target, hence expressing "that one can hit with an arrow" (i.e. something not too far away and 
clearly visible = obvious).
As for myself: I don't think ever having any use for the x4-place of {djuno} and I surely won't accept 
another truth in my daily job dealing with murder cases than the *one* ;-) (which very often proves to be 
complicated enough).

co'omi'e .aulun. (zo'o noi *krici* le du'u su'o ki'orgra belo bakre'u cu zbasu lo xamgu stasu)