Re: Dvorak (& Lojban)

[bob@MEGALITH.RATTLESNAKE.COM]

   ... Everything I can say in English is
   harder for me to say in Lojban, ....

To me, the following is easier in Lojban:

    .i lo mi ke xekri bunre mlatu zu'a vu pu'o kalte le cmacu

than English:

    Far to the left of me, one or more entitites that truly is or are
    one or more than one dark or black type of brown type of cat, and
    is `mine' or `ours' in some fashion, is or was or will be on the
    verge of hunting what I designate as mouse although it may be
    something else.

Even if you know the context (I only have one black/brown cat, I am
looking out my window on my left into the field), the English is still
quite hard:

    Far to the left of me, my dark brown cat has not yet begun to hunt
    a mouse although I am confident she is in the state that is prior
    to the beginning of a hunt.

English lacks spatial tenses like {zu'a} and event contours like
{pu'o}, so an English translation is either longer or less definitive
than the Lojban.

--

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@rattlesnake.com
    25 Rattlesnake Mountain Road     bob@ai.mit.edu
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA   (413) 298-4725