For the purposes of this post, I will define context-sensitive predicates (CSP) as predicates whose meaning depends on the sentence they appear in. This is an experimental idea that hasn't been tried before in Lojban (or at all?).
Let's jump right in with a simple example:
Let's jump right in with a simple example:
mi ponse ro da poi mi djica lo nu mi ponse ke'a
"I own everything that is such that I desire that I own it."
or more colloquially "I own everything I want."
The important part for us is the repetition of [mi ponse ke'a] and the connection of the two repetitions with a predicate, in this case djica. A perfect candidate for the use of a CSP.
mi ponse ro [da poi mi djica lo nu mi ponse ke'a]
The entire part in square brackets can be turned into a CSP, with the underlined selbri being the only really defining bit of the CSP, and that defining bit could be called the interface.
The CSP would be defined something like this:
The CSP would be defined something like this:
x1 is something such that I desire that I main-selbri it
Let's call this predicate broda (a single brivla). We can use our new broda to drastically shorten the sentence we started out with:
mi ponse ro broda
"I own everything that is such that I desire that I own it."
or more colloquially "I own everything I want."
Wow! Wait, really?
Really.
Now, realistically, a CSP like that would get an x2 place so that the predicate could also be applied to other desirers. (So it would become "x1 is something such that x2 desires that they main-selbri it".)
What else can be said about CSP?
Being context-sensitive, a CSP requires a host-sentence to be meaningful. It cannot be used as the main selbri, a case which is to be defined as undefined if not ill-formed. A sentence like
Really.
Now, realistically, a CSP like that would get an x2 place so that the predicate could also be applied to other desirers. (So it would become "x1 is something such that x2 desires that they main-selbri it".)
What else can be said about CSP?
Being context-sensitive, a CSP requires a host-sentence to be meaningful. It cannot be used as the main selbri, a case which is to be defined as undefined if not ill-formed. A sentence like
lo karce cu broda
is difficult to interpret. The internal reference to a main selbri cannot be made, as there is no higher selbri to point to, except the CSP itself. Perhaps a sentence like this could still be argued to carry some meaning, however, despite being anomalous.
Now that we've established the workings of CSP, let's think of some good things to do with them.
One potentially useful CSP might be:
Now that we've established the workings of CSP, let's think of some good things to do with them.
One potentially useful CSP might be:
x1 is such that I know, but you don't know, that they main-selbri.
This might not seem very special, but it and the many possible variations of it can accomplish a lot in terms of discursive subtlety:
su'o brode pu vitke ca lo cabdei
"Someone came by today, I know who came by, but you don't know."
In very few words this sentence conveys subtle but useful information to the listener that gives them an idea of the degree of knowledge about the identity of visitor(s) and to what degree that knowledge is shared between speaker and listener. Various similar CSP seem natural.
One of the main advantages of CSP is the extreme amount of information that can be encoded, while they can still be defined broadly enough to be applicable often.
CSP are closely related to jai, in that they encode specific versions of jai, or of the part that jai makes implicit.
One of the main advantages of CSP is the extreme amount of information that can be encoded, while they can still be defined broadly enough to be applicable often.
CSP are closely related to jai, in that they encode specific versions of jai, or of the part that jai makes implicit.
mi ponse ro jai se djica [be fai lo ka mi no'a ce'u]
mi ponse ro broda
The possibilities of CSP seem endless. Any commonly used jai+fai pattern lends itself to being turned into a CSP, but one could go so much further.
What useful CSP can you think of?
What useful CSP can you think of?