Re: cmavo hit list - lojbab responds

[Veijo Vilva <veion@XIRON.PC.HELSINKI.FI>]

la lojbab cusku di'e

> Date:         Fri, 2 Dec 1994 15:39:56 -0500
> From:         Logical Language Group <lojbab@ACCESS.DIGEX.NET>
> Subject:      cmavo hit list - lojbab responds

> This came down to questions about which location tenses could be mapped
> to real language usages.  Note also that the system was developed before
> Cowan did his thorough space-time-reference analysis, so that the
> explanations or the distinctions are all post hoc.
>
> I think Finnish was one of those languages that has many more locative
> prepositions (and cases?) than English has, so perhaps Veijo could
> comment.

  Finnish has 6 locative cases - 3 inner and 3 outer ones:

      talossa   inessive  in the house
      talosta   elative   from within the house
      taloon    illative  into the house

      talolla   adessive   at/on the house
      talolta   ablative   from the the house
      talolle   allative   to the house

  (BTW the adessive is also used to indicate possession as there is
       no verb corresponding to 'to have':

      pojalla on koira     the boy has a dog )

  We also use a number of postpositional constructs with locational
  cases attached to the genitive of the root word to clarify and/or
  emphasize some spatial relationship. These constructs also employ
  to other cases which aren't usually considered locational.

      talon alla     under the house
      talon alta     from under the house
      talon alle     (to) under the house

      talon luona    at the house  ~talolla
      talon luokse   to the house  ~talolle

      talon takana   behind the house      ( -na  essive )
      talon taakse   (to) behind the house ( -kse translative )

   ( The essive usually expresses 'as being something' and the
     translative 'turning into something':

      lapsena        as a child
      lapseksi       into a child )

Personally I'm in favour of a comprehensive set of spatial tenses.
I have never felt that Lojban has too many of them - even if there
are some with no counterpart in all the other languages I know.

--

  co'o mi'e veion

---------------------------------
.i mi du la'o sy. Veijo Vilva sy.
---------------------------------