Re: Events, Sisku, le, lo

[Jim Carter <jimc@MATH.UCLA.EDU>]

On Sat, 15 Nov 1997 00:49:08 -0300, Chris Bogart <cbogart@QUETZAL.COM> wrote:
> Could someone explain what an "intension" is?  The word has come up =
> before here, and it's my intention to find out what it means.  I gather =
> from context that it's not what someone plans on doing.

As I learned it, the referent of a set in extension is all of the members
 separately.
Example:

    mi nelci ro lo mlatu
    I like all cats = I like cat #1 AND I like cat #2 AND etc. etc.

Whereas, the referent of a set in intension is the set itself:

    mi nelci lo'i mlatu

I'm not really sure what that would mean, applied to cats, which are not
collective creatures, although to me it makes
a lot more sense when used for numbers and things like that.  British usage
 makes
the distinction:

    It was revealed that the government _are_ corrupt (each politician
 individually)
    Therefore the government _is_ about to fall (as a collective unit)

And now the thread wanders off into masses (loi), and I think I've done enough
damage for today.

James F. Carter        Voice 310 825 2897       FAX 310 206 6673
UCLA-Mathnet;  6115 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA  90095-1555
Internet: jimc@math.ucla.edu (finger for PGP key)
UUCP:...!{ucsd,ames,ncar,gatech,purdue,rutgers,decvax,uunet}!math.ucla.edu!jimc