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 re [ve'o] du li ci'i
( π / 2 ) = 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
du li ni'e ni 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
du li mo'e vo 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.