Re: clani

["Lee Daniel Crocker (none)" <lcrocker@MERCURY.COLOSSUS.NET>]

> It was concepts like "length" that "ni" was invented to express.
> I think it works with the current place structure.  It did not with
> JCB's original place structure for "clani" (which was x1 is longer than x2)

Though Jorge wasn't talking about "ni", I think his point is still
good: the abstract property of "length" is "ka mitre", and "length"
of something (a measure) is "ni mitre".  "ni clani", or "amount of
longness" is different.  A (subjectively) long thing has "some"; a
subjectively short thing has none.  A subjectively very long thing
has a lot.  Similarly, a long thing has no amount of shortness, and
a very short thing has a lot of shortness.

Otherwise, you have the counter-intuitive result of:

    ta na clani
    .i le ni clani cu cmalu

I'm with Jorge; both the short thing and the long thing have both
"ka mitre" and "ni mitre", but the short thing has /neither/ "ka
clani" nor "ni clani".  Something with very little "ni clani" is
still "clani", just not very much so.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC