Subject: Re: [lojban] RE:not only

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:21:51 EDT

In a message dated 4/19/2001 5:54:44 PM Central Daylight Time, 
[email-masked] writes:

> . One reason [for adopting the simple predicate form for colors, rather 
> than the comparative] was a realization from prototype theory that word 
> meanings 
> (especially of colors) simply are NOT comparative to a typical in nature, 
> but rather reflect closeness to an archtypical or prototypical concept of 
> blue. Thus "blue" is "less non-blue than any non-blue object, or something 
> to that effect, though even this formulation may break down at the borders 
> between colors.
> 

That is, a psychological theory about color recognition won out over a 
linguistic theory about how color terms function in language. That sounds 
familiar. In any case we got rid of the Angstrom unit crew and the fights 
between the red-blue-whatevers and the cyan-magenta-whatevers -- and the 
color spindleists. 

<Nora also had strong distaste for what is now "na se blanu", the negated 
converse, which IIRC JCB attached special meaning to.>
I don't remember that but I do know what JCB could do with odd cases, so I 
can imagine that as a powerful motive.