[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
on "most"
- To: lojban-list
- Subject: on "most"
- From: lojbab (Bob LeChevalier)
- Date: Thu, 2 May 91 02:12 EDT
I'll be running this topic by pc (John Parks-Clifford) for a more authoratative
opinion on the logical aspects. The semantics of "most" in Lojban are m
minimally defined. In addition to "exact" numeric quantifiers, we have a
series of non-exact quantifiers. These range from so'a to so'u, with da'a
added as an afterthought alonmg with ji'i and du'e. These ARE a scale - they
have meaning relative to each other, most of all, rather than a formal
quantificational definition.
so'a almost all possible
so'e "most" a large number, but less than so'a, more than so'i
so'i "many" a nother large number, less than so'e more than so'o
so'o "several" a moderate number, less than so'i, more than so'u
so'u "a few" a small non-0 number
da'a was added for "all-but-n" default one to give penultimate, antepenultimate,
and the "true" quantifier for exclusive universals (such as the quantifier on
non-superaltive values)
ro is of course "each" or "all"
ji'i is "approximately" generally followed by a number, but defaulting to 1.
we also have su'o "at least" default the smallest non-0 value
su'e "at most" default ro
rau "enough"
du'e "too many"
Each of these can be preceded by the decimal point pi to get fractions of the
whole:
piro all of
piso'a almost all of
piso'e most of
piso'i much of
piso'o quite a bit of
piso'u a little of
pidu'e too much of
etc.
Again, these are relative quantifiers, defined in relation to each other, the
minimum value, and the maximum value.
-lojbab