Re: place structure of lujvo

[And Rosta <cbmvax!uunet!UCL.AC.UK!pucc.PRINCETON.EDU!ucleaar>]

Jimc says, rightly that Lojbab applies the following argument to Lojban:
> 1.  In a steady-state natural language the speaker community by
> consensus of usage determines the meaning of each word.  The linguists
> merely describe.  Introducing rigid rules (prescriptive linguistics)
> goes against what are seen as the natural ungovernability of the
> language process.

When I learnt English in my infancy, its grammatical rules had been pretty
much already established. If I wanted to speak English I had to follow
the established rules. With Lojban, certain features of the grammar are
decreed (as is appropriate in an artificial lg), but others are left
for the users of Lojban to negotiate among themselves. As nothing has
been negotiated yet, one can attempt to negotiate for the version
of Lojban one prefers. In this case, Jim - or his grandchildren -
could seek through insistent usage to infiltrate dikjvo into Lojban.
[My preferred coup is to make [@] the buffer vowel & dispense with
/y/ hyphens.]

I personally feel that too little is decreed, and too much of Lojban is at
present a blank sheet awaiting the legislation of protracted and intensive
usage of the language.


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And