7.7. Indefinite pro-sumti and pro-bridi: the zo'e-series and the co'e-series

The following cmavo are discussed in this section:

zo'e	KOhA	zo'e-series	the obvious value
zu'i	KOhA	zo'e-series	the typical value
zi'o	KOhA	zo'e-series	the nonexistent value
co'e	GOhA	co'e-series	has the obvious relationship

The cmavo of the zo'e-series represent indefinite, unspecified sumti. The cmavo zo'e represents an elliptical value for this sumti place; it is the optional spoken place holder when a sumti is skipped without being specified. Note that the elliptical value is not always the typical value. The properties of ellipsis lead to an elliptical sumti being defined as “whatever I want it to mean but haven't bothered to figure out, or figure out how to express”.

The cmavo zu'i, on the other hand, represents the typical value for this place of this bridi:

Example 7.49.

mi	klama	le	bartu	be	le	zdani
I	go-to	the	outside	of	the	house	from

le	nenri	be	le	zdani	zu'i	zu'i
the	inside	of	the	house	[by-typical-route]	[by-typical-means]

In Example 7.49, the first zu'i probably means something like “by the door”, and the second zu'i probably means something like “on foot”, those being the typical route and means for leaving a house. On the other hand, if you are at the top of a high rise during a fire, neither zu'i is appropriate. It's also common to use zu'i in “by standard” places.

Finally, the cmavo zi'o represents a value which does not even exist. When a bridi fills one of its places with zi'o, what is really meant is that the selbri has a place which is irrelevant to the true relationship the speaker wishes to express. For example, the place structure of zbasu is:

actor x₁ makes x₂ from materials x₃

Consider the sentence

Living things are made from cells.

This cannot be correctly expressed as:

Example 7.50.

loi	jmive	cu	se zbasu	[zo'e]	fi	loi	selci
The-mass-of	living-things		is-made	[by-something]	from	the-mass-of	cells

because the zo'e, expressed or understood, in Example 7.50 indicates that there is still a “maker” in this relationship. We do not generally suppose, however, that someone “makes” living things from cells. The best answer is probably to find a different selbri, one which does not imply a “maker”: however, an alternative strategy is to use zi'o to eliminate the maker place:

Example 7.51.

loi	jmive	cu
The-mass-of	living-things

se zbasu	zi'o		loi	selci
is-made	[without-maker]	from	the-mass-of	cells.

Note: The use of zi'o to block up, as it were, one place of a selbri actually creates a new selbri with a different place structure. Consider the following examples:

Example 7.52.

mi	zbasu	le	dinju		loi	mudri
I	make	the	building	from	some-of-the-mass-of	wood.

I make the building out of wood.

Example 7.53.

zi'o	zbasu	le	dinju		loi	mudri
[without-maker]	makes	the	building	from	some-of-the-mass-of	wood.

The building is made out of wood.

Example 7.54.

mi	zbasu	zi'o		loi	mudri
I	make	[without-thing-made]	from	some-of-the-mass-of	wood.

I build using wood.

Example 7.55.

mi	zbasu	le	dinju	zi'o
I	make	the	building	[without-material].

I make the building.

If Example 7.52 is true, then Example 7.53 through Example 7.55 must be true also. However, Example 7.51 does not correspond to any sentence with three regular (non- zi'o) sumti.

The pro-bridi co'e (which by itself constitutes the co'e-series of selma'o GOhA) represents the elliptical selbri. Lojban grammar does not allow the speaker to merely omit a selbri from a bridi, although any or all sumti may be freely omitted. Being vague about a relationship requires the use of co'e as a selbri place-holder:

Example 7.56.

mi	troci	le	nu	mi	co'e	le	vorme
I	try	the	event-of	my	[doing-the-obvious-action]	to-the	door.

I try the door.

The English version means, and the Lojban version probably means, that I try to open the door, but the relationship of opening is not actually specified; the Lojbanic listener must guess it from context. Lojban, unlike English, makes it clear that there is an implicit action that is not being expressed.

The form of co'e was chosen to resemble zo'e; the cmavo do'e of selma'o BAI (see Section 9.6) also belongs to the same group of cmavo.

Note that do'i, of the di'u-series, is also a kind of indefinite pro-sumti: it is indefinite in referent, but is restricted to referring only to an utterance.