Comments on: On the ambiguity of Lojban http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/ I will not be swayed be every small current; nor will the memes faze me or infect me. I am pure. I am intelligent. I am rational. I am at peace. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:18:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: John Cowan http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-145 John Cowan Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:28:04 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-145 Sounds good to me. Sounds good to me.

]]> By: pdf23ds http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-142 pdf23ds Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:10:22 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-142 What if you want to question about a place that's not in the selbri? Is there some way to form a question using fi'o? Like {fi'o brode be FA ma}? What if you want to question about a place that’s not in the selbri? Is there some way to form a question using fi’o? Like {fi’o brode be FA ma}?

]]> By: John Cowan http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-141 John Cowan Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:06:26 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-141 Yes. In addition, you can ask questions like " be fi ma" to ask "What is the x3 place you are implying for ?" That requires a variety of idiosyncratic expressions in English, depending on the specific verb or noun. ("Which table?" "A creator of what kinds of things?") Yes. In addition, you can ask questions like ” be fi ma” to ask “What is the x3 place you are implying for ?” That requires a variety of idiosyncratic expressions in English, depending on the specific verb or noun. (”Which table?” “A creator of what kinds of things?”)

]]> By: pdf23ds http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-140 pdf23ds Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:38:45 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-140 Hmm. Are you saying that Lojban sentences are such that it's much easier to add detail and clarity to them, without rewriting the sentence, as would often happen in English? I can definitely see this---many times in English to remove an ambiguity in a sentence it has to be completely rearranged. The only time I can see this happening in Lojban is with certain semantically heavy seltau that, to be more explicit, would have to have a bunch more supporting structure. Hmm. Are you saying that Lojban sentences are such that it’s much easier to add detail and clarity to them, without rewriting the sentence, as would often happen in English? I can definitely see this—many times in English to remove an ambiguity in a sentence it has to be completely rearranged. The only time I can see this happening in Lojban is with certain semantically heavy seltau that, to be more explicit, would have to have a bunch more supporting structure.

]]> By: John Cowan http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-138 John Cowan Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:33:17 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-138 I think a related but distinct claim <i>can</i> be made, though, which is that Lojban is especially good at disambiguating over-broad sentences through conversation. If a predicate is too broad, it can be narrowed by supplying a compound or by filling in some of the arguments that hitherto have remained implicit. If a missing tense/aspect or adjunct is missing, it can be supplied. If a particular role-filler is in doubt, one can ask very specifically about it. This doesn't help a machine that just wants to interpret text, but it can be very useful for an "advice-taker and inquirer" program. I think a related but distinct claim can be made, though, which is that Lojban is especially good at disambiguating over-broad sentences through conversation.

If a predicate is too broad, it can be narrowed by supplying a compound or by filling in some of the arguments that hitherto have remained implicit. If a missing tense/aspect or adjunct is missing, it can be supplied. If a particular role-filler is in doubt, one can ask very specifically about it.

This doesn’t help a machine that just wants to interpret text, but it can be very useful for an “advice-taker and inquirer” program.

]]> By: pdf23ds http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-132 pdf23ds Thu, 03 Aug 2006 03:17:58 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-132 "I’m not sure I agree with the final paragraph" Neither am I, anymore. Also, I think my thoughts about implicational ambiguity are much more eloquently expressed in my more recent <a href="http://pdf23ds.net/implications-and-debate/" rel="nofollow">article</a>. “I’m not sure I agree with the final paragraph”

Neither am I, anymore.

Also, I think my thoughts about implicational ambiguity are much more eloquently expressed in my more recent article.

]]> By: Mike Hearn http://pdf23ds.net/2006/06/20/on-the-ambiguity-of-lojban/#comment-52 Mike Hearn Thu, 29 Jun 2006 18:08:55 +0000 http://pdf23ds.net/?p=64#comment-52 I'm not sure I agree with the final paragraph, though the rest seems to make a lot of sense. There are a bunch of potentially interesting and useful applications which currently don't exist due to the difficulties of disambiguating English, because Lojban "solves" a few of these problems it frees up extra time to spend solving the last few. For instance if you wanted to build a Cyc style knowledge base then Lojban is a much more suitable language to work with than English, even though it wouldn't be able to be completely unambiguous. I’m not sure I agree with the final paragraph, though the rest seems to make a lot of sense. There are a bunch of potentially interesting and useful applications which currently don’t exist due to the difficulties of disambiguating English, because Lojban “solves” a few of these problems it frees up extra time to spend solving the last few.

For instance if you wanted to build a Cyc style knowledge base then Lojban is a much more suitable language to work with than English, even though it wouldn’t be able to be completely unambiguous.

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