Re: tense conversions

mi joi la kir. cusku be di'e casnu

> > > Are you saying that {ca pu'o} means the same as {ba co'a}? I don't agree.
> > That doesn't follow.  As I said the other day, {ba co'a} entails nothing
> > about the present; the event might already be in progress.  {ca pu'o} excludes
> > that possibility.
> 
> {ba co'a} claims that start of the event is in the future. How can event
> be in progress in the present if it's start is still in the future? 

Oops, sorry, I was reading {ba co'a} as {ba ca'o}.  A bit too close there,
maybe.  In that case, the distinction is different.  A claim that the
beginning of an event <is> (tenseless) in the future is not the same as
claiming that the present moment <is> in the inchoative period.  For example,
suppose a volcano <erupts> tomorrow.  If the earth around it is grumbling
and farting, it would be clear that the present moment is in the inchoative
of the eruption.  However, if the eruption <comes> without warning, then
-- as far as ground-based observers are concerned -- the inchoative period
is still in the future.

-- 
John Cowan					cowan@ccil.org
		e'osai ko sarji la lojban.