Re: to'o

[jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU]

la lojbab cusku di'e

> As to the underlying issue, I would consider it a substantive change to
> make VA/ZA have anything to do with precise distance.  The Lojban tense
> system is intentionally (or is that intensionally zo'o) imprecise.

Allowing the complement of VA/ZI to be a magnitude in no way affects
the imprecision of the tense system. It only allows to be precise when
needed. Or is the intention that we can never be precise?

> It
> would also implicitky require us to make the interval size words require
> a precise size in my mind..

I don't see why. Does the possibility of specifying tense require us
to have a specific tense in mind? Does the possibility of specifying
number require us to have a precise number in mind?

> If I read it correctly, "vi le ckule zu'a(vi/va?) lo mitre be li cino"
> should mean 30 meters left of the school, if Cowan doesn't contradict me
> on how we interpret such a multiple tense-tagged sumti.

What?!!! Why would you give the magnitude to the direction marker and the
direction to the magnitude marker? And in the normal order direction
comes first and then magnitude, (zu'ava), but as tcita you are giving
first the magnitude (va) and then the direction (zu'a). That seems like
a very complicated system.

> But then
> leaving the first tagged sumti off "zu'a(vi/va?) lo mitre be li cino"
> would imply an offset from the space-time origin, whereas the standard
> interpretation would be that it is to the left of some unspecificied 30
> meter length.

And not only that, but some unspecified length to the left of that
unspecified 30 meter length. Perhaps another 30 m.

> In the dual-tense, the apparent opacity of "lo" is fine
> and I think more comfortably non-subjective, whereas in the second case
> you lose the implication that the event is taking place the the left of
> a specific 30 meter interval, i.e. the one extending 30 meters to the
> left of the space-time-origin (which defaults in lieu of the explicitly
> stated school).

I'm completely lost in that paragraph.

Jorge