11. Special mekso selbri

   mei MOI cardinal selbri
    moi MOI ordinal selbri
    si'e    MOI portion selbri
    cu'o    MOI probability selbri
    va'e    MOI scale selbri

    me  ME  make sumti into selbri
    me'u    MEhU    terminator for ME

11.1)    lei mi ratcu cu cimei
    those-I-describe-as-the-mass-of my rats are-a-threesome.
    My rats are three.
    I have three rats.

Here, the mass of my rats is said to have three components; that is, I have three rats.

Another example, with one element this time:

11.2)    mi poi pamei cu cusku dei
    I who am-an-individual express this-sentence.

In Example 11.2, ``mi'' refers to a mass, ``the mass consisting of me''. Personal pronouns are vague between masses, sets, and individuals.

However, when the number expressed before ``-mei'' is an objective indefinite number of the kind explained in Section 8, a slightly different place structure is required:

x1 is a mass formed from a set x2 of n members, one or more of which is/are x3, measured relative to the set x4.

An example:

11.3)    lei ratcu poi zvati le panka cu so'umei
        fo lo'i ratcu
    the-mass-of rats which are-in the park are a-fewsome
        with-respect-to the-set-of rats.
    The rats in the park are a small number
        of all the rats there are.

11.4)    le'i ratcu poi zvati le panka cu se so'imei
    The-set-of rats which-are in the park is-a manysome.
    There are many rats in the park.

In Example 11.4, the conversion cmavo ``se'' swaps the x1 and the x2 places, so that the new x1 is the set. The x4 set is unspecified, so the implication is that the rats are ``many'' with respect to some unspecified comparison set.

More explanations about the interrelationship of sets, masses, and individuals can be found in Chapter 6.

``-moi'' creates ordinal selbri. The place structure is:

x1 is the (n)th member of set x2 when ordered by rule x3

Some examples:

11.5)    ti pamoi le'i mi ratcu
    This-one is the first-of the rats associated-with me.
    This is my first rat.

11.6)    ta romoi le'i mi ratcu
    That is-the-allth-of the rats associated-with me.
    That is my last rat.

11.7)    mi raumoi le velskina porsi
    I am-enough-th-in the movie-audience sequence
    I am enough-th in the movie line.

``-si'e'' creates portion selbri. The place structure is:

x1 is an (n)th portion of mass x2

Some examples:

11.8)    levi sanmi cu fi'ucisi'e lei mi djedi cidja
    This-here meal is-a-slash-three-portion-of my day-food.
    This meal is one-third of my daily food.

event x1 has probability (n) of occurring under conditions x2

11.9)    le nu lo sicni cu sedja'o cu pimucu'o
    The event of a coin being a head-displayer
        has probability .5.

x1 is at scale position (n) on the scale x2

11.10)  le vi rozgu cu sofi'upanova'e xunre
    This rose is 8/10-scale red
    This rose is 8 out of 10 on the scale of redness.
    This rose is very red.

11.11)  le ratcu poi zvati le panka cu du'emei fo mi
    The rats which-are in the park are too-many
        by-standard me.
    There are too many rats in the park for me.

This place is not normally explicit when using one of the subjective numbers directly as a number. Therefore, ``du'e ratcu'' means ``too many rats'' without specifying any standard.

It is also grammatical to substitute a lerfu string for a number:

11.12)  ta ny.moi le'i mi ratcu
    that is-nth-of the-set-of my rats
    That is my nth rat.

The cmavo ``me'' (of selma'o ME) has the function of making a sumti into a selbri. It is often used to make a name into a predicate:

11.13)  ti me la nu,IORK. [me'u]
    this-here pertains-to what-I-call ``New York''.
    This is New York (or is New York-related).

11.14)  ta me li ny. su'i pa me'u moi le'i mi ratcu
    that is the-number n plus one-th-of the-set-of my rats.
    That is my (n+1)-th rat.

Here the mekso ``ny. su'i pa'' is made into a sumti (with ``li'') and then changed into a mekso selbri with ``me'' and ``me'u moi''. The elidable terminator ``me'u'' is required here in order to keep the ``pa'' and the ``moi'' separate; otherwise, the parser will combine them into the compound ``pamoi'' and reject the sentence as ungrammatical.

It is perfectly possible to use non-numerical sumti after ``me'' and before a member of MOI, producing strange results indeed:

11.15)  le nu mi nolraitru
        cu me le'e snime bolci
        be vi la xel. cu'o
    The event-of me being-a-nobly-superlative-ruler
        has-the-stereotypical snow type-of-ball
        at Hell probability.
    I have a snowball's chance in Hell of being king.