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--- In ceqli@yahoogroups.com, Rex May <rmay@m...> wrote: > > > On Jan 28, 2006, at 7:40 PM, Jim Henry wrote: > > > On 1/28/06, Rex May <rmay@m...> wrote: > >>> > >> But it just occurred to me that a compound like 'tota' might fill the > >> bill, and 'tu' could be used for something more frequent. > > > > I reckon "tu" would be about as frequent as the others. > > It's not as if tceqli requires mandatory articles like > > French or English -- all of them will be used only when > > needed/helpful for clarity, and I don't see why "tu" > > would be helpful less often than the others. > > > > "tota" doesn't seem very logical to me, either. > > Right on both counts. 'Tu' it is. > > Some time back, this sort of article was being discussed and it was > decided that 'to' meant known to speaker and listener, 'ta' unknown > to both, and 'tu', then, known to speaker, but not to listener. > Does that make sense? > > Yes, Rex, I remember those discussions. "I'm marrying the Swede (that we both know about)." "I'm marrying a Swede (but not just any Swede...one that I have in mind)." "I'm marrying a Swede (any Swede will do)." And it makes good sense, and I agree with Jim that "tu" will probably come up as frequently as the others, since it is the meaning we intend by "a" in English quite frequently. There was further discussion about how to refer to the "tu" or "ta" Swede after she was introduced to the discussion. I _think_ it was agreed that "to" would suffice from then on, whereas in English we might use "this" rather than "the": "Now about this Swede that I have in mind..." or "Now about this hypothetical Swede...". ---Krawnzo