Re: Are tanru really metaphors?

[bob@MEGALITH.RATTLESNAKE.COM]

... how to express kennings in Lojban, such as "flame of battle" for
"sword"...

One solution is mentioned in chapter 13 of the refgram:

    Alone among the cmavo of selma'o UI, {pe'a} has a rafsi, namely
    {pev}.  This rafsi is used in forming figurative (culturally
    dependent) lujvo, whose place structure need have nothing to do
    with the place structure of the components.

Perhaps:  pevjamnafagri         figurative-war-type-of-fire/flame
or        pevdambafagri         figurative-fighter-type-of-fire/flame

    * fire,
        x1 is a fire/flame in fuel x2 burning-in/reacting-with
        oxidizer x3 (default air/oxygen)
        /:/
        /=/ fagri (fag)

    * fight,
        x1 fight-s/combats/struggles with x2 over issue x3 (abstract);
        x1 is a fighter/combatant
        /:/ [use x3 tu'a for fight over an object/objective]
        /=/ damba (dab da'a)

    * war,
        x1 (person/mass) wars against x2 over territory/matter x3;
        x1 is at war with x2
        /:/
        /=/ jamna (jam)


Another solution would be prefix all your utterances with {pe'a}, thus
telling listeners to interpret what follows figuratively.


    pe'a      PEhA  start figurative
                      start figurative (non-literal) speech/text

    po'a      POhA  end figurative
                      end figurative (non-literal) speech/text

--

    Robert J. Chassell               bob@rattlesnake.com
    P. O. Box 693                    bob@ai.mit.edu
    Stockbridge, MA 01262-0693 USA   (413) 298-4725