Magic Words
On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 04:33:25PM -0500, John Cowan wrote:
> Robin Lee Powell scripsit:
>
> > This removes the primary function of fa'o, which is to allow
> > arbitrary non-Lojban text afterwards.
>
> In fact the primary purpose of fa'o is to separate multiple texts
> in a single stream. It does *not* entail that the remainder is
> not Lojban, merely that it is not part of the current text and
> should not be parsed *now*. That does not exclude parsing it in
> future.
<blink>
The cmavo ``fa'o'' (of selma'o FAhO) is the usually omitted marker
for the end of a text; it can be used in computer interaction to
indicate the end of input or output, or for explicitly giving up
the floor during a discussion. It is outside the regular grammar,
and the machine parser takes it as an unconditional signal to stop
parsing unless it is quoted with ``zo or with ``lo'u ... le'u.
In particular, it is not used at the end of subordinate texts
quoted with ``lu ... li'u or parenthesized with ``to ... toi.
The Red Book seems to disagree with you. I note in particular
"outside the regular grammar" and "unconditional signal to stop".
I was under the impression that it was basically like typing ^D in
UNIX.
-Robin