ijo lili li pakala lili

Tinkerers Anonymous: Some people can't help making changes to "fix" Toki Pona. This is a playground for their ideas.
Tokiponidistoj: Iuj homoj nepre volas fari ŝanĝojn por "ripari" Tokiponon. Jen ludejo por iliaj ideoj.
jan-ante
Posts: 541
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:05 pm

Re: ijo lili li pakala lili

Post by jan-ante »

6. there were 2 suggestions:
(i) tenpo seli la, tenpo lete la, tenpo suno la, tenpo pimeja la mi olin e sina
A la B la C la D la E is (A or B or C or D)=>E
(ii) tempo suno kama la sina kama la mi pilin pona
A la B la C is (A=>B)=>C
i better like the option (ii). i would find a good use for this scheme

2. the preposition itself makes a regroupping, so we dont need pi if we really consider it as a preposition between 2 nouns. but if we consider it as a modifier with specific meaning, then we probably need pi.

1. good idea, but comma is not a good choice. may be this: jan li pana e sitelen `tawa mi. but the use of ` should not be mandatory.
janKipo
Posts: 3064
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:20 pm

Re: ijo lili li pakala lili

Post by janKipo »

jan-ante wrote:6. there were 2 suggestions:
(i) tenpo seli la, tenpo lete la, tenpo suno la, tenpo pimeja la mi olin e sina
A la B la C la D la E is (A or B or C or D)=>E
(ii) tempo suno kama la sina kama la mi pilin pona
A la B la C is (A=>B)=>C
i better like the option (ii). i would find a good use for this scheme
I don't think either of these cases fit strictly into the => format; they are not sentences but merely temporal specification "in Winter, in Summer, in Daylight and in Dark" and "Tomorrow". (I suppose these could be read as "If it is Winter, ..." but I don't see that as necessary. In fact, I would generally like to read the full sentences as time specifiers) Putting that aside, the reading of i seems to be what was intended, but the reading of ii picks one out of the ambiguous choices and I don't see any reason to favor it -- except that it is derivatively a little simpler -- but not enough to make a case for its being what is intended (and since the two readings are so close in reality, it may be that the speaker isn't clear either).
2. the preposition itself makes a regrouping, so we don't need pi if we really consider it as a preposition between 2 nouns. but if we consider it as a modifier with specific meaning, then we probably need pi.
The problem is, of course, that there is nothing to say that the word is there functioning as a preposition. If you see it as such, you will do the regrouping,; if you don't, you won't -- until you get an unintelligible pile of jibberish (or an intelligible one that is wrong). In any case, the prep phrase is a right-grouped modifier and so should have a 'pi' (I am starting to worry about 'nanpa' and the numbers and 'ala' as well.)
1. good idea, but comma is not a good choice. may be this: jan li pana e sitelen `tawa mi. but the use of ` should not be mandatory.
The virtue of comma is that it is familiar in some such use and easy to find and reach on the keyboard (I was surprised to notice that mine does have an `, though it is hard to reach.) Both suggestions are small, but we are used to seeing significant bits on the line, but not so much above the line. I agree that the use of whatever mark we use should not be mandatory across the board, but I think there are situations where it should be required and it is almost always helpful.
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