18.18. Using Lojban resources within mekso

The following cmavo are discussed in this section:

na'u	NAhU	selbri to operator
ni'e	NIhE	selbri to operand
mo'e	MOhE	sumti to operand
te'u	TEhU	terminator for all three

One of the mekso design goals requires the ability to make use of Lojban's vocabulary resources within mekso to extend the built-in cmavo for operands and operators. There are three relevant constructs: all three share the elidable terminator te'u (which is also used to terminate vectors marked with jo'i)

The cmavo na'u makes a selbri into an operator. In general, the first place of the selbri specifies the result of the operator, and the other unfilled places specify the operands:

Example 18.124.

li	na'u	tanjo	te'u
The-number	the-operator	tangent	[end-operator]

vei

pai

fe'i

[ve'o]

ci'i

(

)

the-number

infinity.

tan(π/2) = ∞

tanjo is the gismu for “x1 is the tangent of x2”, and the na'u here makes it into an operator which is then used in forethought

The cmavo ni'e makes a selbri into an operand. The x1 place of the selbri generally represents a number, and therefore is often a ni abstraction, since ni abstractions represent numbers. The ni'e makes that number available as a mekso operand. A common application is to make equations relating pure dimensions:

Example 18.125.

li	ni'e	ni	clani	[te'u]
The-number		quantity-of	length

pi'i	ni'e	ni	ganra	[te'u]
times		quantity-of	width

pi'i	ni'e	ni	condi	te'u
times		quantity-of	depth

ni'e

canlu

equals

the-number

quantity-of

volume.

Length × Width × Depth = Volume

The cmavo mo'e operates similarly to ni'e, but makes a sumti (rather than a selbri) into an operand. This construction is useful in stating equations involving dimensioned numbers:

Example 18.126.

li	mo'e	re	ratcu	su'i	mo'e	re	ractu
The-number		two	rats	plus		two	rabbits

mo'e

danlu

equals

the-number

four

animals.

2 rats + 2 rabbits = 4 animals.

Another use is in constructing Lojbanic versions of so-called “folk quantifiers”, such as “a pride of lions”:

Example 18.127.

mi	viska	vei	mo'e	lo'e	lanzu	ve'o	cinfo
I	see	(		the-typical	family	)-number-of	lions.

I see a pride of lions.