[YG Conlang Archives] > [jboske group] > messages [Date Index] [Thread Index] >
On Sat, 14 Dec 2002, Jordan DeLong wrote: > On Sat, Dec 14, 2002 at 10:43:29AM -0500, Invent Yourself wrote: > > On Sat, 14 Dec 2002, Jorge Llambias wrote: > > > la xod cusku di'e > [...] > > > If the listener can't figure it out and needs to know, they may ask for > > > clarification with {ko'a ki'a}. The same thing happens in English. If > > > someone says "it's a dog" and you can't tell what "it" refers to, you > > > ask "_what_ is a dog?". On the other hand, {da gerku}, "something is a > > > dog", does not require the identification of any dog. > > > > > > It doesn't require it, but it doesn't forbid it either, and da is often > > used to refer to specific entities that the speaker has in mind, and of > > which the speaker wants to assert the existence, and wants to assign a > > variable. > > This is what is confusing you: You *can't* use da to refer to > something specific. We've had this discussion before, and it's where you said (da poi gerku fi'o ponse mi) isn't specific, even if I only have one dog. > (Any usage which does is incorrect, and should probably be using > ti/ta/tu). The difference between da and ko'a is the same as between le > and lo. See chapter 7;3 to see why ti is unusable. -- jipno se kerlo re mei re mei degji kakne