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la and cusku di'e
Given the general way that the number grammar works, how would you show the number of significant figures, or the portion of a number that is approximate?
I don't think we need that level of precision in everyday speech.
For scientific purposes, I would use something like the usual plus
or minus notation: {pacivopize ma'uni'u pimu} "134.7+-.5". This
can't be done with the ji'i method, which is too precise for
everyday purposes and too vague for scientific purposes.
The official method with ji'i seems a good solution, and your objection to it seems really to be a more general objection that the overally magnitude of a number cannot be apprehended until the entire number has been parsed.
We should not overdimension the problem either. We usually don't
need more than three or four significant digits for everyday
purposes, and since Lojban digits are just one syllable, that
means all you have to process is a three syllable word. Even
for longer numbers, you can take them as three syllable words
separated by ki'o. But a ji'i in the middle of the word is a
big nuisance. If you're used to understanding {cirevo} as 324,
and {cire} as 32, then hearing {cire ji'i vo} you will first
think it's 32 and then you have to adjust to a special 324.
mu'o mi'e xorxes
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