va'icu'i
valsi
va'icu'i
type
cmavo-compound
creator
time entered
Fri May 15 13:07:20 2020
English
Definition #71940 - Preferred
selma'o
UI*
definition
discursive: in the same words.
notes
In the CLL va'i is defined as "in other words" while va'i nai is "in the same words", leaving "va'i cu'i" undefined. The entry for this cmavo compound is essentially a proposal to redefine the va'i spectrum slightly, to make it a little more like the similar discursive ta'u. Consider the English sentences: (A) "Gold has atomic number 79, in other words, there are 79 protons in a gold nucleus." (B) "There are 79 protons in a gold nucleus, in other words, gold has atomic number 79." In English, in both A and B, the parts are discursively connected by the same "in other words" connective, even though the connection is in two mutually opposite directions. To understand that there really is a difference between the two, consider another pair of sentences: (A') "According to the Bible, God made the world in six days, in other words, it took almost a week to make everything around us." (B') "According to the Bible, it took almost a week to make everything around us, in other words, God made the world in six days." Unlike A and B, from among the pair A' and B', only A' makes sense, B' sounds absurd. The proposal is to redefine Lojban's va'i and va'i nai, in the motivation to give va'i nai more of a use, to reflect this very Lojbanic difference in direction, which English cannot capture. This compound, i.e. "va'i cu'i" would then acquire the meaning of "in the same words". There is no set in stone rule for which of va'i and va'i nai stands for which direction for any given two pair of sentences: however, if one of them is used to connect them in one way, then the other one would connect them in the reverse order. "broda .i va'i nai brode" simply is defined as equivalent to "brode .i va'i broda". See also ta'u, a similar discursive that inspired this proposal.
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vote information
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time
Fri May 15 13:07:20 2020
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