RE: Re: TECH vrici

[I.Alexander.bra0122@OASIS.ICL.CO.UK]

cu'u la .and.
> While I would agree that in English _There are a dozen people here_ means
> "approximately 12" & in Lojban (if John says so) "exactly 12", I don't
> think this should extend to _The typical goat has two legs_ - even in
> English, this does not mean "roughly two legs"; one can say _The
> typical millipede has two legs_, & this is true, even if _two_ is
> interpreted as exact.

> This is not to say that _pa_ shouldn't mean "only one"; I'm just
> pointing out that John's goat example has nothing to do with
> imprecision.

I _think_ I agree with this.  We appear to be debating the semantics of
gismu such as {ponse}.  {lo'e kanba cu ponse re tuple} for example.

Other superficially similar expressions are obviously wrong.

{lo'i tuple be lo'e kanba cu remei} is false.

{loni tuple lo'e kanba cu du re} likewise false.

{lo'e kanba cu se tuple lu'a lo remei} - not so sure about this one.
There _is_ a twosome whose members are legs of the typical goat,
e.g. (the set of) its front legs.

{lo'e kanba cu se steci re tuple}
{lo'e kanba cu ponse re tuple}
Whichever of these predicates you prefer is true of any chosen
(typical) goat and any two out of its four legs.  Does that not
make it valid?

Iain.