Re: le/lo

[And Rosta <a.rosta@UCLAN.AC.UK>]

Lojbab:
> >(a) What you say is valid, but so is an ontology that denies
> >what you say, whereby the snowflake would merely be a xrula
> >to a lesser extent than a pansy.
>
> Hey we can take fuzzy truth to quite an extent, but there really are limits!
> I can describe a snowflake as a flower, but it is in no way veridically a
> flower by any *rational* ontology (irrational ones can claim anything they
> want to).  Veridicality among other things allows us to divide the world into
> things that are something and things that are not.  If two people cannot
> agree to use the same ontology, then it becomes meaningless.  In any event,
> we have "le" which allows us to describe an object without worrying about
> veridicality.
>
> In the absence of agreed upon ontologies, I think "le" and kin are the only
> appropriate gadri.

I of course see what you are saying, but I will explain further
the alternative view.

Nothing in this world is a geometrically perfect square. Everything
in this world is squarish to a greater or lesser extent. When we
describe X *veridically* as a square, we mean that in
the context X is sufficiently squarish to count as a square.
Change the context (e.g. from street layout to precision
engineering) and it might not be sufficiently squarish to count as a
square.

In other words, the boundaries of categories are not intrinsic,
but rather are assumed according to context and the needs of
communication.

In the right context, a snowflake might be sufficiently flowery
to count veridically as a flower.

To repeat what I said in an earlier point, I agree with the
ontology I've just described, but I also agree with your
ontology: I think the two coexist, and that evidence from
language use confirms this.

> >(b) they contradict universals of pragmatics
>
> Tell me about other languages that have "+ veridical" as a  feature, and I
> mightaccept it.

Apart from English, you mean? English, I believe, has a
veridicality feature. "a" is +veridical and "the" is -veridical.
I would expect other western European lgs to be similar.

--And