xor questions (was Re: indirect Qs (was Re: On logji lojbo discu

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

Jorge:
> >  ta vasru ma poi ke`a na go tcati gi ckafi
>
> I think you mean:
>
>     ta vasru ma poi ke'a gonai tcati gi ckafi
>
> {na go} denies the whole bridi, i.e. it denies that the connective
> {go} holds.

I suspect there is something wrong with my logic here.
Here is how I'm working it out:

  ke`a tcati                   T T F F
  ke`a ckafi                   T F T F
  ke`a go tcati gi ckafi       T F F T
  ke`a na go tcati gi ckafi    F T T F

If {ke`a na go tcati gi ckafi} means something else, what does
it mean?
What does {gonai} mean?

> But is that really what we want to ask? An unhelpful answer like
> {lo selpinxe} or {lo glare} would make the bridi true. (Same thing
> happens with your other versions.)

If {ma} really does mean "replace this word with another than
makes the bridi true", then this problem does exist. But I
think the question means:

 Cause me to know for each of {tea xor coffee} whether the pot
  contains it.

If you can't say that with {ma}, then you could do it with {ko}.

> If you have to rely on a helpful
> answer anyway then I don't see why not simply ask:
>
>         ta vasru loi tcati ji loi ckafi
>
> >[NB: by {go} I mean "iff". I may have misremembered this.]
>
> You remembered right.

Ta.

--And