lojban negation: summary

[cbmvax!uunet!gnu.ai.mit.edu!grackle!bob]

Lojbab's essay on lojban negation is both long and dense.  Here is an
attempt to summarize the five major types types of negation that he
describes.  I think I have got them right, but am not sure;
corrections please!

The five types of negation are

1. Assert "it is false that ..."                bridi negation
2. Assert "there are no ..."                    zero quantification of sumti
3. Assert "...other-than..."                    scalar negation
4. Assert "...opposite-than..."                 opposite scalar negation
5. Assert "presuppositions are false that ..."  metalinguistic negation

Here are short descriptions of each:

1.  Falsehood assertion (for bridi)   La lojbab calls this:  bridi negation

    Falsehood assertions state that the sentence is false.  There are
    two variations, both meaning exactly the same.

  1a. external bridi negation    

    A prenex-using falsehood assertion (an external bridi negation)
    states that the sentence following the header is false.  The
    header is called a "prenex" and is the phrase: "naku zo'u",
    meaning, "it is false that".

        naku        zo'u lo                            mlatu cu vofli
        it is false that at-least-one-that-really-is-a cat      flies

  1b. internal bridi negation

    An internal bridi negation denies the truth of a sentence
    *exactly* as does an external bridi negation.  The only difference
    is that internal bridi negation does not use a prenex, but places
    "na" before the selbri.

    It is strongly recommended that novice Logban speakers never use
    internal bridi negation form, since it is easily confused with an
    English form of apparently similar but actually different meaning.

                            lo                            mlatu na vofli
        it is false that    at-least-one-that-really-is-a cat      flies

    Note that the English translation of the internal bridi negation
    is exactly the same as the translation of the similar sentence
    with external bridi negation.

2. Absence assertion (for sumti)
        La lojbab calls this: sumti negation by zero quantification

    Absence assertion states that there are zero or no instances of
    the sumti.

        le no                                           mlatu ca  sipna
        Zero of that-described-as-(by- me,-presumably)  cat   now sleep

        i.e., none in the set of those described by me as cats now sleep.

    Note that "lo no mlatu cu sipna" states that "zero of those that
    actually are cats sleep"; while a rambunctious cat may lead one to
    believe this, this statement is claiming that no cat anywhere in
    the world ever sleeps, which is false.  However, if I refering to
    a single entity that I describe as a cat, and it is not sleeping,
    then the " le no mlatu ca sipna" sentence is true.

3. Other-than assertion 

  3a.  scalar selbri negation

   Other-than selbri assertion states that the sentence is true of a
   different selbri.

       le mlatu                   cu na'e       xunre
       that-described-as-a cat is    other-than red

   Sometimes, "na'e" is translated as "non-" as "non-red".

   Listeners are expected to use their cultural knowledge to determine
   what might be the category to which a different selbri could belong.

   For example, when referring to an entity other-than-red, the
   other-than-red entity could be "black"; a listener would not expect
   that the other-than-red entity be "rock".

   If a listener is unable to determine the expected group of
   other-than entities, the speaker may specify the group, for example:

       le                mlatu cu na'e       xunre ci'u lo ka  skari
       that-described-as-a cat is other-than red on-a-scale-of colorness

  3b. scalar sumti negation with na'ebo

   Other-than sumti assertion states that the sentence is true of a
   different sumti.

       na'ebo               le                  mlatu cu xunre
       something-other-than that-described-as-a cat is   red

   In this form of negation, some grouper must be used with "na'e",
   lest the listener become confused as to what "na'e" is modifying.
   Novices are urged to use "bo", the short scope joiner, which limits
   the range of "na'e" to the following sumti.

4. Polar opposite assertion with "nai"
       also known as: opposite or contrary scalar negation

   Polar opposite assertion states that the culturally-defined
   opposite is true; or if no opposite is evident, that something
   other than the assertion is the case.

   "nai" is a suffix modifying the immediately preceding word; in
   writing, "nai"  is often joined to the preceding word.

      ienai
      emotional-state-is-opposite-that-of-agreement-concord-or-harmony
      i.e., disagreement-disharmony

      u'enai
      emotional-state-is-opposite-that-of-wonder-or-amazement
      i.e., boredom

   All attitudinals and discursives have lojban-creator defined
   opposites; it will be interesting to see whether fluent lojban
   speakers understand the opposites in the same way or whether
   they redefine the semantic space of each word.

       le                mlatu      ca nai       sipna
       that-described-as cat   opposite-than now sleep

   Note that "opposite-than now" could be either past or future, so in
   this case, you cannot deduce a single polar opposite meaning.

5. Metalinguistic negation

    Metalinguistic negation states that something is wrong with the
    presuppositions of the sentence.

    Given the true or false question:

        xu                  lo                            mlatu 
        Is-it-the-case-that at-least-one-that-really-is-a cat

            ca sisti lo nu                vofli
              stops  the-event/process-of flying

    An answer is:

        na'i 
        Something-is-wrong-with-the-statement-that

            lo mlatu ca sisti lo nu vofli
            a cat     stops    flying

6. Natural language negation with "naku"

   It is possible to express the forms of natural language negation in
   lojban by using "naku", but the process is confusing.  Novices are
   urged to avoid any such attempts.

7. Answering yes and no.

   You can say the equivalent of "yes" in Lojban by saying "ja'a go'i".
   You can say the equivalent of "no"  in Lojban by saying "na   go'i".

   "ja'a" is the bridi affirmer; "na" is the bridi negator

   The cmavo "go'i" means "the preceding bridi".  Simply stating
   "go'i" is a way of repeating the preceding sentence.

   Often you can express a meaning of `yes' by simply repeating a
   preceding sentence, but beware!  A plain "go'i' quotes the
   preceding sentence exactly as is.  This may not be what you want.

   If you utter a "go'i" and something else, the `something else' is
   added to or substituted into the preceding sentence in the
   appropriate grammatical position in place of whatever was there.

   Thus, a "na go'i" will add or substitute "na" into the preceding
   sentence, thus making sure the repeated sentence is negated.

   A "ja'a go'i" will add "ja'a to a sentence, substituting "ja'a" for
   "na" if the sentence has a "na", thereby making sure the repeated
   sentence is affirmed.

   You can use the phrase "na'i go'i" to metalinguistically negate
   the preceding sentence.

    Given the true or false question:

        xu lo mlatu ca sisti lo nu vofli        Has the cat stopped flying?

    You can answer either

        na'i lo mlatu ca sisti lo nu vofli 
    or 
        na'i go'i


================
That all.

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@gnu.ai.mit.edu
    Rattlesnake Mountain Road        (413) 298-4725 or (617) 253-8568 or
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA   (617) 876-3296 (for messages)