Relative Clause Veridical Quantification Gotcha: Difference between revisions
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*mi zvati {re lo muno merjecta ku} noi snanu | *mi zvati {re lo muno merjecta ku} noi snanu | ||
Things get even worse without overt quantifiers. [[ | Things get even worse without overt quantifiers. [[The Complete Lojban Language]], [http://www.lojban.org/files/reference-grammar/chap8.html Chapter 8] gives example (6.8): | ||
*lo prenu noi blabi [[ku|ku]] cu klama le zarci | *lo prenu noi blabi [[ku|ku]] cu klama le zarci | ||
Latest revision as of 06:58, 25 March 2023
Relative clauses can attach to the selbri of a sumti, or to the entire sumti:
- mi viska le {prenu poi klama} ku
- mi viska le {prenu ku} poi klama
The default is the first; and it doesn't normally any make any difference. But if you're using a veridical determiner (e.g. lo), and a non-veridical relativiser (noi), note that the claim is by default made of the selbri and not of the sumti. So
- mi zvati re lo {muno merjecta noi snanu}
means I've been to 2 out of the {50 U.S. states, which are in the south}, and not I've been to {2 out of the 50 U.S. states}, which are in the south. What you should say is
- mi zvati {re lo muno merjecta ku} noi snanu
Things get even worse without overt quantifiers. The Complete Lojban Language, Chapter 8 gives example (6.8):
- lo prenu noi blabi ku cu klama le zarci
This means not A person, who is white, went to the store, but One out of {all people, who incidentally are white} went to the store -- namely, it assumes that all people are white!
Sagely, therefore, does The Book state:
- The safe strategy, therefore, is to always use ku when attaching a noi relative clause to a lo descriptor. Otherwise we may end up claiming far too much.