Re: Quantifiers

[jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU]

>  > I intended {le ka xokau ke'a cu nenri le kumfa} to mean "the property
>  > of how many of them are in the room". "Them" plays the role of
>  > the variable in English, the "how many" part is the usual indirect
>  > question.
>
> I don't like the use of {ka} rather than {ni}--it is an amount rather
> than a property, after all.

If you can explain to me how to use {ni} consistently, I'll be glad to
use it.  I never understood it.

> {le ka ke'a cu nenri le kumfa} is "the
> property of being a man in the room",

No man, it's just "the property of being in the room".

> which seems to bear little
> semantic realtion to "the number of men in the room".

I never said the property was a number.  I said it was "the property of
how many are in the room".

> I still don't
> follow what the {kau} is supposed to be doing here; maybe you could
> explain it?

I can try to give examples:

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka ke'a dunda makau
        She differs from him in what they give.
        (what = makau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka makau dunda fi ke'a
        She differs from him in who gives to them.
        (who = makau; them = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka dunda ke'a makau
        She differs from him in who they are given to.
        (who = makau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka ke'a dunda ca makau
        She differs from him in when they give.
        (when = makau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka ke'a klama makau
        She differs from him in where they go.
        (where = makau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka xukau ke'a dunda
        She differs from him in whether they give.
        (whether = xukau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka ke'a dunda fi mi jikau do
        She differs from him in whether they give to mi or to you.
        (whether...or... = jikau; they = ke'a)

        ko'a ko'e frica le ka ke'a dunda xokau plise
        She differs from him in how many apples they give.
        (how many = xokau; they = ke'a)

        lei ninmu cu frica lei nanmu le ka xokau ke'a cu nenri le kumfa.
        The women differ from the men in how many of them are in the room.
        (how many = xokau; them = ke'a)

I think this is all consistent, and I don't see how {ni} could fit in
there.

Jorge