jbocu'e: Difference between revisions

From Lojban
Jump to navigation Jump to search
mNo edit summary
 
m (Gleki moved page jbocre: jbocu'e to jbocu'e without leaving a redirect: Text replace - "jbocre: ([a-z])" to "$1")
 
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:


'''gadri''' -- articles/descriptors
ctuca lo cilre fo la lojban. fu le nu rapyzu'e je cilre casnu je lojbo cusku mupli
 
This section is currently outdated following the passing (but not the implementation) of the gadri proposal, see  [[B|BPFK Section: gadri]] and [[jbocre: H|How to use xorlo]] for more information.
 
Lojban gadri are potentially tricky at first.  This is an attempt
 
to explain the exact differences between them all in one place.
 
The main interest here is the difference between the lo-family and
 
le-family, and to a lesser extent the differences between mass,
 
set, and individual; the other articles are mentioned here as well
 
for completeness however.
 
First, a list of gadri, with their implicit [[jbocre: quantifiers|quantifiers]]:
 
--------
 
'''individual'''  '''mass'''                '''set'''
 
'''named'''      ro '''la''' su'o  pisu'o '''lai''' su'o    piro '''la'i''' su'o
 
'''described'''  ro '''le''' su'o  pisu'o '''lei''' su'o    piro '''le'i''' su'o
 
'''idealized'''  su'o '''lo''' ro  pisu'o '''loi''' ro      piro '''lo'i''' ro
 
ro '''le'e''' su'o      the stereotypical      (similar to ''le'' family)
 
su'o '''lo'e''' ro      the typical            (similar to ''lo'' family)
 
su'o '''li'''            the number
 
su'o '''me'o'''          the mexso
 
--------
 
There are three main categories of articles, and three main types.
 
The categories are "Names" (''la'', ''lai'' and ''la'i''),
 
"Descriptions" (''le'', ''lei'' and ''le'i''), and "Idealizations"
 
(''lo'', ''loi'', ''lo'i'').
 
'''Names''' -- Articles in the ''la'' family refer to something by
 
name.  The name need not have anything to do with what the referent
 
actually is, and may frequently be lojbanizations of names in other
 
languages (For example, the lojbanization of my name is "djorden.",
 
and thus I am referred to via "la djorden.").
 
'''Descriptions''' -- A lojban speaker uses description articles of
 
the ''le'' family when they are wishing to convey information about
 
a thing (group of things, etc) which they have in mind.  The gadri
 
introduces a description, which need not be related to what the
 
thing actually is (as if the speaker could determine that anyway).
 
For this reason the ''le'' family of gadri are frequently compared
 
to the English definite article "the".  I think this is misleading
 
because the ''le'' family is actually a bit broader than "the".
 
For example: when an English speaker starts a story about a man,
 
the first time the man appears he will be described as "a man",
 
and from then on as "the man".  In lojban, because the speaker is
 
referring to a particular man she has in mind, the first appearance
 
would be tagged with ''le''.
 
'''Idealizations''' -- The ''lo'' family of articles are easily the
 
most confusing to new speakers (or at least, they were to me).  The
 
standard wording of their meaning is "that which really is", which
 
reflects the fact that unlike the other two main groups of articles
 
they do not simply describe something, they claim it truly is that
 
thing.  However, this is not the most important difference:  the
 
''lo'' articles have a default implicit inner quantifier of "ro"
 
(all). So for example, the sumti phrase ''lo gerku'' refers to one
 
or more of all the things which are dogs.  The dogs are referred to
 
indefinitely; meaning, the speaker does not have particular dogs
 
in mind, but is instead talking about some of all the dogs.
 
The confusion which can arise from this distinction is what sometimes
 
leads new speakers to misuse the ''lo'' family by modifying the
 
inner quantifiers.  For example, ''lo re gerku'' does not mean "Some
 
of those two which really are dogs" in the way the user probably
 
intended.  Instead, it indicates that there are only two things in
 
existence which really are dogs.  A good general rule is that if
 
you are modifying the inner quantifier of a gadri in the ''lo''
 
family, think twice about it, as they are rarely useful with inner
 
quantifiers other than "ro".
 
-----
 
There are also three main forms for each category of gadri.
 
Individuals, masses, and sets.  Do not confuse these with quantification
 
-- a mass does not mean there is necessarily more than one, and
 
(more importantly) an individual does not mean there is only one.
 
Rather, this stuff explains in what manner claims are being made about
 
a sumti.  The differences between masses and individuals is most easily
 
explained with an example:
 
le gerku cu mrobi'o
 
lei gerku cu mrobi'o
 
The first of these says "The dog(s) became dead", meaning that each of
 
them died individually.  The second also says that "The dog(s) became
 
dead", but talks about them as a mass:  in order for the bridi to be
 
true, only one of the dogs need actually have died.  A mass has the
 
union of qualities of all of its members.  This means that it is possible
 
to say seemingly contradictory things using mass descriptors, such:
 
lei gerku cu morsi gi'e jmive
 
which says that "The dog(s) are dead and alive".  The bridi is true
 
if at least one of the members of the mass is dead AND at least
 
one of the members is alive.
 
-----
 
[jbocre: I'll put stuff about about sets in here later, unless someone
 
beats me to it].

Latest revision as of 14:53, 23 March 2014

ctuca lo cilre fo la lojban. fu le nu rapyzu'e je cilre casnu je lojbo cusku mupli

Retrieved from "https://mw.lojban.org/index.php?title=jbocu%27e&oldid=91032"