PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN OLD VERSION. The current version is linked from The Complete Lojban Language.
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Complex tanru grouping 		``Pretty Little Girls' School'': The Structure Of Lojban selbri
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Logical connection within tanru

5. Complex tanru with ``ke'' and ``ke'e''

The following cmavo are discussed in this section:

   ke  KE  start grouping
    ke'e    KEhE    end grouping
There is, in fact, a fifth grouping of ``pretty little girls' school'' that cannot be expressed with the resources explained so far. To handle it, we must introduce the grouping parentheses cmavo, ``ke'' and ``ke'e'' (belonging to selma'o KE and KEhE respectively). Any portion of a selbri sandwiched between these two cmavo is taken to be a single tanru component, independently of what is adjacent to it. Thus, Example 4.2 can be rewritten in any of the following ways: 
5.1)  ta ke melbi cmalu ke'e nixli ckule
    That is-a-( pretty little ) girl school.

5.2)   ta ke ke melbi cmalu ke'e nixli ke'e ckule
    That is-a-( ( pretty little ) girl ) school.

5.3)   ta ke ke ke melbi cmalu ke'e nixli ke'e ckule ke'e
    That is-a-( ( ( pretty little ) girl ) school ).

Even more versions could be created simply by placing any number of ``ke'' cmavo at the beginning of the selbri, and a like number of ``ke'e'' cmavo at its end. Obviously, all of these are a waste of breath once the left-grouping rule has been grasped. However, the following is equivalent to Example 4.4 and may be easier to understand:

5.4)  ta melbi ke cmalu nixli ke'e
        ckule
    That is-a-(pretty type-of ( little type-of girl ))
        type-of school.

Likewise, a ``ke'' and ``ke'e'' version of Example 4.3 would be:

5.5)  ta melbi cmalu
        ke nixli ckule [ke'e]
    That is-a-(pretty type-of little)
        ( girl type-of school ).

The final ``ke'e'' is given in square brackets here to indicate that it can be elided. It is always possible to elide ``ke'e'' at the end of the selbri, making Example 5.5 as terse as Example 4.3.

Now how about that fifth grouping? It is

5.6)  ta melbi
        ke cmalu nixli ckule [ke'e]
    That is-a-pretty type-of
        ( (little type-of girl) type-of school )
    That is a beautiful school for small girls.
Example 5.6 is distinctly different in meaning from any of Examples 4.2 through 4.5. Note that within the ``ke ... ke'e'' parentheses, the left-grouping rule is applied to ``cmalu nixli ckule''.

It is perfectly all right to mix ``bo'' and ``ke ... ke'e'' in a single selbri. For instance, Example 4.5, which in pure ``ke ... ke'e'' form is

5.7)  ta melbi
        ke cmalu ke nixli ckule [ke'e] [ke'e]
    That is-a-pretty type-of
        ( little type-of ( girl type-of school ) ).
can equivalently be expressed as: 
5.8)  ta melbi
        ke cmalu nixli bo ckule [ke'e]
    That is-a-pretty
        type-of ( little type-of (girl type-of school) ).
and in many other different forms as well.
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Complex tanru grouping 		``Pretty Little Girls' School'': The Structure Of Lojban selbri
The Lojban Reference Grammar 		Next
Logical connection within tanru