> Very interesting. I read on the Aymara language and went on to read on
> Lojdoj. Despite my previous skepticism I now agree with the majority
> of posters in this thread. In present day languages, having to use
> tenses forces the speaker to add some clues on whether (s)he refers to
> past, present or future circumstances. In the "posthuman languages"
> one would also be forced to add clues on the degree of reliability of
> statements. I still believe that this is more likely to come from
> evolution of current languages than from the invention/adoption of new
> ones.
Lojban does not require the use of tenses if they aren't needed. It has
an extensive space/time tense system, but it's entirely optional.
"la djan klama le zarci" might be glossed in English as "John goes to
the market", but in fact if could mean that he went to the market
yesterday, will go tomorrow, or any or all of the above. It merely
asserts that there exists a relationship between John and a market
that has something to do with going. On the other hand, "la djan puzu
co'a klama le be'avi zarci" means something like "A long time ago,
John began the process of going to the market, which is a short
distance north of here."
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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