TECH: Two non-English based lujvo requests

["Mark E. Shoulson" <shoulson@CTR.COLUMBIA.EDU>]

>Date:         Thu, 30 Sep 1993 17:57:19 -0400
>From: Logical Language Group <lojbab%ACCESS.DIGEX.NET@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
>X-To:         lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu

>mi'e .djan. kau,n.

>.i la nitcion. cusku di'e

>> 2. A closing phrase of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" caught my ears tonight;
>> it was "Buy you a drink?" In Greek, we would use the verb "kern'w", which
>> corresponds to the rare English verbs "regale" ("to entertain or refresh
>> with a choice meal") and "treat" ("to give food, drink [or amusement] to;
>> to pay the cost of a treat [or entertainment]). It's what you do when
>> you offer someone sweets at your home (a time-honoured tradition), or
>> when you buy them food or drink when going out. The latter meaning is
>> also conveyed by the Australian "shout": "I'll shout you a meal"; "It's
>> my shout" = "The drinks are on me".

>A tough one, probably with several answers.  The one that comes to mind is
>"tervendu'a" = "te vecnu dunda", with place structure d1=v3 d2=v2 d3 v1 v4,
>"x1 buys and gives item x2 to recipient x3, bought from seller x4 at cost x5".
>I'm sure there are better alternatives.

>> Is the gismu {friti} by itself sufficient to do the job? (I strongly
>> suspect it is, but wonder if there are any people out there who *aren't*
>> lujvo minimalists like Mark Shoulson :)

>Only if you get the {ve friti} right.  If this place can be filled in by
>something in the lujvo, it would be satisfactory.  Otherwise I read it as
>"contractual offer, bid".

I dunno... Seems to me that {te vencu} with the BAI {seva'u} should do the
trick nicely.  Works in English: "I'll buy you a meal / buy a mean for
you[r benefit]."  Just because there's a special verb for it in English or
Greek doesn't mean it necessarily needs a special selbri.  {mi te vencu .ai
lo sanmi seva'u do}, or perhaps a bit more idiomatically {mi te vencu .ai
lo do sanmi}.  Maybe {nu'e} should be here somewhere, but I don't
understand how to use a "promise" COI.

~mark

Man, these holidays can really get you behind in your mail!