Re: ma'oste

[Iain Alexander <ia@stryx.demon.co.uk>]

In message <861044695.0517852.0@vms.dc.lsoft.com> eflamini@UNS.EDU.AR writes:
> ma goi ko'a djica lenu mi benji ti ko'a
>
> Does anyone know a shorter way (for I could think of *longer* ways!) ;-)

ma djica lenu mi benji ti vo'a

and Lee Daniel Crocker <lcrocker@CALWEB.COM> comments:

> That brings up an interesting point: While you're correct that {ma}
> was probably intended here, would {mo} be a valid question anyway,
> where it is asking not for a whole selbri, but for part of a tanru?
> In other words, could I ask "mo zdani do" for "what kind of house
> do you live in" or "ta blanu mo" for "what is that blue thing"?

Indeed.  While I realised even before reading the given translation
that {ma} was probably intended, I was quite pleased by the original,
{mo djica lenu mi benji ti do} which means something like
"How much do [you] want me to send it to you?".
--
Iain Alexander               PGP 1024-bit key id B501A0AD
ia@stryx.demon.co.uk   I.Alexander@bsn0106.wins.icl.co.uk