zipcpi: Yet another gadri article

The following describes my personal thoughts on how gadri ("articles") should be used.

le

Definite article. le broda = the broda(s) that are identifiable or knowable. Often used to refer to either something mentioned earlier, or to something in the immediately shared context of the speakers.

For example, if a wife returns home after watching a play, she might have this conversation with her husband:
W: coi "Hello."
H: coi .i xu do nelci le draci "Hi. Did you like the play? (that you just watched)"
W: na'e uinai "No. *sadness*"

lo'e

Indefinite / archetypical article. lo'e broda = brodas in general, without referring to any broda in particular.

H: ue .i xunai do nelci lo'e draci "Eh? Don't you like plays? (plays in general)"
W: je'a "Yes (I do like plays; xunai only makes the question rhetorically negative, and does not change the expected answer)"
H: je'e "OK. (Understood / Roger)"

Note that this differs from xu do nelci ro draci "Do you like all plays?", which is most probably false. Even the biggest fan of plays would probably hate some plays; in fact, they may hate it all the more because of their appreciation of plays in general!

lo

Descriptive article. lo broda = something(s) that brodas. Can mean either le or lo'e depending on context. lo is pretty much "never wrong", but le and lo'e can be used when definiteness is important.

mi djica lo nu do penmi lo prenu = "I want you to meet someone." Compare with:

mi djica lo nu do penmi le prenu = "I want you to meet that person (a/some particular person[s])."
mi djica lo nu do penmi lo'e prenu = I want you to meet people (in general; I don't care who you meet)."

lo'i

Essentialistic article. lo'i broda = the set of those defined as broda. The truth value of the sentence would depend of the definition of broda, regardless of the actual status of things that broda.

xu lo'i remna cu danlu = "Are humans animals? / Is animality a part of humanity?" (true, as Lojban danlu does not imply non-personhood like English "animal" might.)
xu ro remna cu mroka'e = "Are all humans mortal?" (true; compare with the next sentence)
xu lo'i remna cu mroka'e = "Is the essential human mortal? / Is mortality a part of humanity?" (a very interesting question indeed; you might get very different answers depending if you asked a transhumanist, a priest, or a nihilist! Note that the truth value of this statement is not dependent on that of the last one.)

Note that this makes xu do nelci lo'i draci "Is (you liking it) a part of (being-a-play-ness)?" a pretty ridiculous question; plays aren't characterized by whether the wife likes it or not!