Re: Indirect questions

[JORGE JOAQUIN LLAMBIAS <jorge@INTERMEDIA.COM.AR>]

>> I would have said {xu do badri} means: repeat this
>> statement replacing the question word so as to make it
>> a true statement. The replacement for {xu} is in a first
>> instance either {na} or {ja'a}, and ususally you will repeat
>> by using {go'i}.
>
>I know you think this, and I don't think it incorrect, but I
>do think it an unnecessarily metalinguistic characterization
>of the meaning of questions.

But isn't your characterization just as metalinguistic?
You're replacing one metalinguism (xu) with another (ko).

 > I think the answer to a question (a piece of text = an
>act by a speaker) is either an act of supplying information, or a
>piece of information. We seem to agree on this, but not on
>whether either kind of answer can be x2 of djuno.

I'm not sure whether you're saying that a piece of text
is an act. By an act, do you mean a {nu}?
Do you mean something like:

    le nu mi cusku lu go'i li'u cu danfu lu xu do badri li'u
    My saying "I am" is an answer to "Are you sad?".

Or do you mean:

    le mi se cusku cu danfu lu xu do badri li'u
    What I said is an answer to "Are you sad?".


 >> >And {xu do badri} would
>> >be equivalent to something like {gau ko mi djuno le du`u
>> >xu kau do badri}.

But if you are willing to use {ko} and {xukau}, why not just:
{ko cusku le sedu'u xukau do badri} = "Say whether you're sad".

co'o mi'e xorxes