lojban predicates

[cbmvax!uunet!GNU.AI.MIT.EDU!pucc.PRINCETON.EDU!bob]

Here is a way to think about lojban predicates in contrast to English
verbs.

In the written language of arithmetic, we write expressions such as
the following:

    2 + 2

In this example, the plus-sign is the equivalent of a lojban gismu.

If I write

    2 +

you know there is something missing...you yearn for another number, to
complete the expression.

The same with a lojban expression:

    mi klama
    I  come/go

is incomplete.  In lojban, you yearn for a destination, departure,
path, and means.

However, the expression "mi klama" is not so badly incomplete as the
expression "2 +".  In normal arithmetic, "2 +" is not grammatical.

Here is a better comparison to "mi klama":

    First, think in the context of expressions such as

        2 + 3 = 5
        3 + 4 = 7

    Then, look at the expression

        2 + 2

In this context, you see "2 + 2" and you know that it is a grammatical
expression, but also that it is incomplete.  You yearn to add "= 4" to
the expression.

(But note that the complete arithmetic expression consists of two
predicates, the plus-sign and the equals-sign; the lojban expression
using "klama" is an expression with only one predicate, asserting a
relationship among five objects/states/processes/entitites in the
universe.)

    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)