Re: 'your will' as sumti

[David Barton <dlb@WASH.INMET.COM>]

Ashley Yakeley writes:

   I think this called 'currying' in functional calculus... anyone
   care to comment?

Hmmm.  I don't think so.

"Currying" in a functional language refers to the fact that, because
functions are first class values (the same class of values as numbers
and characters), a function can be formed from a multi-parameter
function by providing just one of the arguments (or two, or any number
less than the full number called for).  Thus, if "add" takes two
parameters, (add 2 2 being equal to four), then "add 2" is a function
that takes any number and adds two to it.  "add 2" is said to be a
"curried" application of "add", and the general process is called
"currying" (after Haskell Curry, who worked out the type system of the
lambda calculus and who codified this concept very explicitly in his
theory).  I can then set "f = add 2", and later say "f 3" which
produces the answer 5.

It seems to me that the example to which you were referring was simply
the ability to leave out the ending terminator, simply because no
ambiguity results.  This is a different concept.  I see no ability in
Lojban to set a pro-sumti to a partial sumti (ko'a equal to "mi
klama", say) and then to "fill in" the left out positions later (ko'a
le zarci").  This would be currying.


                                        Dave Barton <*>
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                                        http://www.intermetrics.com/~dlb