Lujvo paper, part 3.3

[Nick Nicholas <nsn@MULLIAN.EE.MU.OZ.AU>]

3.3. je-lujvo place structure ordering

Most lujvo in our list of proposed place structures have their place
structures ordered by je-lujvo ordering. In this scheme, the selected places
of the tertanru are followed by the selected places of the seltanru. This
ordering makes sense if we consider the seltanru and tertanru in the GDS
linked by a {gi'e}. If linked by {je}, nesting problems make the sequence
of places obscure. Besides being advantageous for je-lujvo themselves,
this ordering is also natural for those lujvo which do not fall into a
well-defined seltanru-tertanru relationship. If the relationship isn't
like {be}, then the seltanru places can't be placed in any tertanru place
slot, and it is safer to dump them at the end.

As an example of a je-luvo, consider {tinju'i}, to listen. Its places are:
j1=t1, j2=t2, t3. The places of the tertanru appear first, and the remaining
places of the seltanru follow: le jundi cu tinju'i le se jundi le te tirna.

As an example of a lujvo with an obscure seltanru-tertanru relationship,
take {pluku'a}, side chamber. {pluku'a} defines it to be a room in some
relationship with a route (corridor). This relationship cannot be expressed
by either {be} or {je}; the GDS looks something like:

le kumfa cu kumfa le se kumfa te'e le pluta

The easiest way to deal with this is simply to dump the seltanru places
after the tertanru places: le kumfa cu pluku'a le se kumfa le pluta.

Note that there are many cases where the seltanru-tertanru relationship
is obscure where a SE before the seltanru would make the relationship
clearer. Thus in {ti'ifla}, bill, proposed law, the relationship between
{le stidi} and {le flalu} is obscure. But {ti'ifla} can really be
considered a "surface structure" of {selti'ifla}, which is obviously
a je-lujvo, since {le se stidi} (that suggested) is {le flalu}. Place
ordering for {ti'ifla} thus proceeds as for {selti'ifla}. One should be
aware of the inherent risk with such lujvo (which we'll name after their
most famous exemplar, {le'avla}-lujvo, since the "proper" form of {le'avla}
is {selyle'avla}. Their abbreviated forms can easily be interpreted
themselves as je-lujvo or be-lujvo, rather than as abbreviations: a
{le'avla} formally is more plausibly {le valsi poi lebna} rather than
{le valsi poi se lebna}.

{le'avla}-lujvo are not inherently wrong: the veljvo {lebna valsi} is as
pertinent a description of the concept as {se lebna valsi}, if a bit more
opaque. And it would not be feasible to try and eradicate them: they are an
opportune abbreviation, and entrenched in many words in the language. However,
they are a trap in lujvo place ordering, as they obscure the basic relation
between the seltanru and tertanru.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Nick S. Nicholas,                      "Rode like foam on the river of pity
CogSci & CompSci student,               Turned its tide to strength
University of Melbourne, Australia.     Healed the hole that ripped in living"
nsn@{munagin.ee|mundil.cs}.mu.oz.au           - Suzanne Vega, Book Of Dreams
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