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Re: [engelang] Xorban Development

Jorge Llamb�as, On 25/08/2012 22:47:

On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 6:15 PM, And Rosta<and.rosta@hidden.email>  wrote:

Jorge Llamb�as, On 25/08/2012 21:56:

On Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 4:13 PM, And Rosta<and.rosta@hidden.email>  wrote:

Jorge Llamb�as, On 25/08/2012 01:04:


Hmm... OK, then I guess this makes the syntactic rules simpler, but
the rules for when it's appropriate to use an illocutionary operator
somewhat more complicated.


What are examples of complications? Why not just put illocutionaries in
the class of predicates?


Is it meaningful, for example, to negate such a predicate? The grammar
allows any predicate to be negated, but I'm not sure what it would
mean to say "I don't hereby command you to do so and so"? Or "I hereby
could command you to do so and so".


Good point! Can we appeal to pragmatics?


That's what I meant by complicating the rules for when it's
appropriate to use it. :)


We want rules of grammar, not rules of appropriate usage... But it is worrying if grammatical sentences can yield meanings that are not merely surreal but rather are complete unintelligible gibberish.

I think "Is it lunchtime yet, because I'm getting hungry" could be
analysed as two statements:

(1) I hereby ask whether it is lunchtime yet.
(2) I hereby assert that the reason I ask whether it is lunchtime yet
is because I'm getting hungry.

We mangle both into one utterance so as to not have to repeat the
portion that is common to both statements, but logically they don't
really belong in the same statement if I'm right that only one
illocutionary force per statement is allowed.


How about "hello again"? That doesn't seem to me to involve an
illocutionary assertion in addition to an illocutionary salutation.


I would say that would be a single statement: "I hereby express
greetings to you again", "I hereby re-express greetings to you". I
don't think the illocutionary there needs to be within the scope of
again.


And likewise "byebye for now" = "I hereby (bid you byebye for now)".

OK.
--And.