14.10. Multiple compound bridi

Giheks can be combined with bo in the same way as eks:

Example 14.60. 

mi nelci la .djan. gi'e nelci la .martas. gi'abo nelci la .meris.

I like John and ( like Martha or like Mary ).


is equivalent in meaning to Example 14.39 and Example 14.40. Likewise, keke'e grouping can be used after giheks:

Example 14.61. 

mi dzukla le zarci
I walk-to the market
gi'e dzukla le zdani
and walk-to the house,
gi'a ke dzukla le ckule
or ( walk-to the school
gi'e dzukla le briju [ke'e]
and walk-to the office. )

is the gihek version of Example 14.47. The same rule about using keke'e bracketing only just after a connective applies to bridi-tails as to sumti, so the first two bridi-tails in Example 14.61 cannot be explicitly grouped; implicit left-grouping suffices to associate them.

Each of the pairs of bridi-tails joined by multiple giheks can have its own set of tail-terms:

Example 14.62. 

mi dejni lo rupnu la .djan.
[If] I owe some currency-units to-that-named John,
.inaja mi dunda le cukta la .djan.
then I give the book to-that-named John
.ijabo mi lebna le cukta la .djan.
or I take the book from-that-named John.

is equivalent in meaning to:

Example 14.63. 

mi dejni lo rupnu nagi'a dunda
[If] I owe some currency-units then (give
gi'abo lebna vau le cukta vau la .djan.
or take) a book to/from-that-named John.

The literal English translation in Example 14.63 is almost unintelligible, but the Lojban is perfectly grammatical. mi fills the x1 place of all three selbri; lo rupnu is the x2 of dejni, whereas le cukta is a tail-term shared between dunda and lebna; la .djan. is a tail-term shared by dejni and by dunda gi'abo lebna. In this case, greater clarity is probably achieved by moving la .djan. to the beginning of the sentence, as in Example 14.53:

Example 14.64. 

fi la .djan. fa mi dejni lo rupnu
To/from that-named John, [if] I owe some currency-units
nagi'a dunda gi'abo lebna vau le cukta
then [I] give or take the book.

Finally, what about forethought logical connection of bridi-tails? There is no direct mechanism for the purpose. Instead, Lojban grammar allows a pair of forethought-connected sentences to function as a single bridi-tail, and of course the sentences need not have terms before their selbri. For example:

Example 14.65. 

mi ge klama le zarci gi nelci la .djan.
I both go-to the market and like that-named John.

is equivalent in meaning to Example 14.50.

Of course, either of the connected sentences may contain giheks:

Example 14.66. 

mi ge klama le zarci gi'e dzukla le zdani
I both (go to-the market and walk to-the house)
gi nelci la .djan.
and like that-named John.

The entire gek-connected sentence pair may be negated as a whole by prefixing na:

Example 14.67. 

mi na ge klama le zarci gi dzukla le zdani
[False!] I both go-to the market and walk-to the house.

Since a pair of sentences joined by geks is the equivalent of a bridi-tail, it may be followed by tail terms. The forethought equivalent of Example 14.54 is:

Example 14.68. 

mi ge dunda le cukta
I both (give the book)
gi lebna lo jdini vau do
and (take some money ) to/from-you.

Here is a pair of gek-connected observatives, a forethought equivalent of Example 14.57:

Example 14.69. 

ge klama le zarci gi dzukla le briju
Both a-goer to-the market and a-walker to-the office.

Finally, here is an example of gek-connected sentences with both shared and unshared terms before their selbri:

Example 14.70. 

mi gonai le zarci cu klama gi le bisli cu dansu
I either-but-not-both to-the office go or on-the ice dance.

I either go to the office or dance on the ice (but not both).