ko'a stizu

[lojbab (Bob LeChevalier)]

>ko'a stizu

John Cowan labelled this "incorrect" where ko'a has not been assigned.  This
is only partially correct, and as noted, we teach this in introductory
lessons where relative phrases with "goi" have not been used.

If ko'a has not been defined, then using ko'a risks confusion.  The
appropriate answer then is "ko'a ki'a stizu", which for novices has
to be answered with "ko'a du ti".  We would prefer people to use the
vague usage "ko'a stizu" than to overuse "du" as "ko'a du le stizu"
which new Lojbanists will (and do) quickly acquire the malglico and
very incorrect non-predicaty "du" = English "is".

So I favor people using undefined "ko'a" at the start.  It is a relatively
unserious error that is easily correctable and usually communicative.
As opposed to the alternative, which if theoretically more correct is
risky of bad pedagogy.

Hmmm.  Perhaps "zo ko'a sinxa le stizu" is  within a lesson 1 or lesson 2
student's grasp,in which case it should replace the sloppy form.

But "ko'a stizu" is always grammatical, and there is the possibility that
the speaker defined it before the listener came in, in which case "ko'a
ki'a stizu" is still the appropriate response.

-lojbab