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On Tue, Nov 26, 2002 at 12:48:14PM +0000, And Rosta wrote:
> Jordan:
> #On Tue, Nov 26, 2002 at 02:19:52AM -0000, And Rosta wrote:
[...]
> But to answer your point briefly, we felt that:
> (a) true statements about typicality could be expressed in other ways,
> (b) the mahoste gloss was only an approximation, and lo'e was in fact
> a *generic* gadri, (and a generic gadri makes much more sense
> systemically, as a gadri, than something that merely encodes a
> notion of statistical typicality),
> (c) the 'bad analysis' of {lo'e} is the best analysis of the meaning of
> a generic gadri
This is questionable I think. Cf. my complaints about the definition
in response to xorxes.
My understanding is that generics *do* in fact make statements about
typicality:
Dogs like to chase cats.
A dog has a tail and two ears.
I think le'e and lo'e are intended to cover these types of generics,
and not the "I want to eat a apple" type of statement.
Furthermore, for the latter type, I don't think we are in need of
additional tools:
mi djica lenu mi citka lo plise
covers it just fine, without claiming it's a specific apple, etc.
(djica already shifts things to the world of the speaker's desires,
I think, so I don't think the le on nu claims they have an event
from this world in mind)
> (d) there was a class of examples where generic reference made
> sense but not any notion of statistical typicality,
> (e) there was not a class of candidate examples of use of lo'e where
> a statistical typicality but not a generic notion was clearly required.
Under the suggested definition, a statement like
lo'e cinfo cu xabju la fi'ortu'a
Lions live in africa.
is equally as true as
lo'e cinfo cu xabju la vinys. .enai le terdi be ma'a
Lions live on Venus, not Earth.
lo'e must be related to the members of lo'i (in this world) for it
to make any sense as a generic article.
--
Jordan DeLong - fracture@hidden.email
lu zo'o loi censa bakni cu terzba le zaltapla poi xagrai li'u
sei la mark. tuen. cusku
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