tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 23 14:07:59 1997
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Re: KLBC: or
- From: "Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: or
- Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 17:07:58 -0500 (EST)
- In-reply-to: <[email protected]> (message from Ivan ADerzhanski on Thu, 20 Feb 1997 07:04:12 -0800)
>Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 07:04:12 -0800
>From: Ivan A Derzhanski <[email protected]>
>
>Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
>> >From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>[re alternative questions of the `Do you want coffee or tea?' type]
>> >I'd solve this by asking two questions:
>> >
>> >Dargh DaneH'a'? qa'vIn DaneH'a'?
>>
>> This is my personal preference as well.
>
>It's mine too. (Courtesy of Japanese and Turkish.)
>
>> The "or" of the English, in a
>> sense, is not a logical connective. It is a questioning conjunction.
>> We're sort of asking "which conjunction would go well here?" (using a
>> broader meaning for "conjunction" than the language actually has).
>
>That looks like a good argument for not claiming that we're asking
>which conjunction would go well there. See below.
>
>> In Lojban, there actually *is* a "questioning conjunction", and you
>> answer with a conjunction (conjunctions can mean "the first but not
>> the second", "the second but not the first", "both", "neither",
>> etc. in Lojban).
>
>Yes, but the Lojban approach is an extremely artificial one. It sort
>of works, but it is not at all like what natlangs do (and Klingon may
>be alien, but it is supposed to be natural).
Sigh. You're probably right. I just LIKED the way Lojban looked at it so
much...
~mark