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on 1/29/04 8:25 AM, Garrett Jones at alkaline@hidden.email wrote: > Hello, I just joined this list yesterday. I am developing a "systematic > language" named Minyeva (http://minyeva.alkaline.org/). Since Ceqli is a > logical language, it's solutions to problems could be enlightening to > problems in my own language. > > I read the two chapters of the Ceqli grammar on the website. I had a > question about the articles. Only the definite article "to" is explicit; the > indefinite article is implicit. I was wondering what the exact meaning of > "to" was: does it just refer to something previously mentioned, or does it > have some of the other meanings of the English "the", like "the only one" or > "a generic instance of"? A while back on the conlang list I compiled a list > of meanings for "the" and "a". It might be useful for you to have this list > if you're intending on defining articles precisely for Ceqli. > > note: i didn't use meanings of 'the' or 'a' that i found weren't an > "article" usage. I provided a lot of examples because some of these are > pretty subtle. > > T* = the, A* = a/an, N* = [none] > > THE: > > TA. a certain one being spoken of/already mentioned (introduced by AA). > -The story ended. > -So then I smacked the guy. This would be 'to.' > > TB. hypothetical instance of (introduced by AB). > -I want a girlfriend. The girl has to be cute. > -I need some paint. The paint is going to be used here. "To," also, in the same since of 'one already mentioned' But Most likely in usage pronouns would be used instead, as in English. Go vol te pyarjini. Puy dwa pibel. Go fo te pena. Puy fu bezu ci. > > TC. the one and only (geographic/environmental/locational) > -The sun is very hot today. (both occurances here) > -The sky is bright today. > -The world is falling apart. > -I don't like the weather. > -He came to us from the north. > -I walked to the edge and contemplated jumping. (the edge of a cliff) > -Let's meet at the entrance. > -Where is the bathroom? This seems kind of catch-all. Don't most of these sort of mean 'the one we all know about, logically, without its necessarily being mentioned before'? I think Loglan would use proper names for a lot of these ? sun, north, at least. More input/ > > TD. the one identified by/as (the modifier of the noun) > -the man who answered (as opposed to the one who ignored his phone) This usage does seem different, somehow. Question is, would 'to' suffice for these, without ambiguity. To jino hu pa fanbol. To pa fanbol se jino. as opposed to Te jino hu pa fanbol. As in English, there's a difference between 'the man who answered' and 'a man who answered' Will answer further as I think more. Hoy Krawn, please give us your thoughts. Rex F. May (Baloo) Daily cartoon at: http://www.cnsnews.com/cartoon/baloo.asp Buy my book at: http://www.kiva.net/~jonabook/book-GesundheitDummy.htm