WikiDiscuss

WikiDiscuss


BPFK Section: gadri

Nice — and would that it were so simple. But it fails to cover the case where there are no rabbits or where the one I want doesn't exist, that is the opacity of {djica2}. Other than that, the {lo}-{le} distinction is just fine, as it always has been and without any fluff. In fact, I think that it is perfectly fine even with that problem, provided only that we get over thinking that "I want a rabbit" is {mi djica lo ractu} rather than {mi djica tu'a lo ractu}.
xod <xod@thestonecutters.net> wrote:John E Clifford wrote:

>So from "I want Mr. Rabbit" we can presumably generalize to "There is something (indeed, a rabbit kind) such that I want it." But "I want Mr. Rabbit" does not say the same thing as "I want a rabbit;" that requires "I want a manifestation of Mr. Rabbit." And from this we can get "There is something (some rabbit kind) such that I want a manifestation of it." My problem is to know which of these is what {mi djica lo ractu} means and, having said that, how do I say the other. The situation is easy in old Lojban (up to possible
> needed predicates: {mi djica tu'a le ka ractu} (taking {ka}as the nearest thing to -kind, for the moment) whence {su'o da (poi ka ractu) zo'u mi djica da} and {mi djica tu'a lo ractu}, whence, by a longer route perhaps, {su'o da (poi ka ractu) mi djica tu'a lo ckaji da}. The new {mi djica lo ractu} seems to fit somewhere in between — or maybe mix parts of one with parts of the other. (Incidentally, if "I want Mr. Rabbit" is not meant in some weird sense, it seems to me always false since I always have Mr. Rabbit — and all other abstractions — as much as I can.)
>
>

There are only 2 actual use cases we must cover.

1. I want a rabbit, any rabbit, it doesn't matter which one. (selkaicfa;
referring to some real objects; the speaker has revealed all of his
criteria; uses lo)

2. I want the rabbit, a certain rabbit, not any other. (kaicfa;
referring to some real objects, the speaker has not revealed all
criteria but retains some unspoken — he'll let you know if you bring
the wrong rabbit; uses le)


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