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Re: [engelang] Xorban vocative, d- & m-



For the vocative, I am just curious why simply "ca", or maybe a new particle "co" which is available, couldn't do the job in cooperation with other parts of the syntax.  I don't think we need the ability to bind arbitrary variables to anything referring to "you/me"; that's what "e'e/a'a" is reserved for.  (As a side note, how exactly does "ca" differ from "ci"?)

ca [le'e rslfe'e] me'e ndi
VOC you are And
hereby, you are And

ca [la'a mslfa'a] ma'a mke
VOC I am Mike.
hereby, I am Mike.

If that's not good enough, I would guess "co" = "I hereby make the [possibly new] identification such that" would work.  I think the vocative is worth this short form.  A lot of languages get by with null. 

co me'e ndi!  And!

co prne'e! Hey people!

co mlte'e! Hey cat!

co ge'e me'e ndi me'e xrxe. O And and Jorge.

coke'e could stand for "co rslfe'e" if deemed desirable.  I actually see no problem with "co sme'e" though.

coke'e! = co sme'e!  You!

Maybe "co prne'e" is more polite. Also possible:

co tze'e! You there! (tz < Lojban -taz- < Lojban ta)

co sma'a.
I'm here. / Present.

co ma'a mke
I'm Mike