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Donkey sentence: Difference between revisions
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A '''donkey sentence''' is a kind of sentence that occurs in natural language, where an anaphoric pronoun (like {{t|hó}}) refers to a quantified variable (like {{t| | A '''donkey sentence''' is a kind of sentence that occurs in natural language, where an anaphoric pronoun (like {{t|hó}}) refers to a quantified variable (like {{t|sá aqshe}}) even though it is outside of that variable's scope. | ||
It is named after the following prototypical example of such a sentence: | It is named after the following prototypical example of such a sentence: | ||
{{Example| | {{Example|Tú haqpaoche, ꝡë bo hóa sá aqshe, nä kıaı hóa <u>áqshe</u> da.|“Every farmer who owns a donkey, cares for <u>it</u>.”}} | ||
The English sentence is clearly valid English. But the straightforward translation into logic of such a sentence is not well-formed: | The English sentence is clearly valid English. But the straightforward translation into logic of such a sentence is not well-formed: | ||
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Is the above Toaq sentence valid? What does it mean? | Is the above Toaq sentence valid? What does it mean? | ||
Hoemaı considers the case of anaphoric reference to a binding from a previous sentence not so different, and calls such pronouns ''donkey'' as well. There is then a "[https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877607261684518922 crude handling of donkey pronouns]" demonstrated in [https://toaqlanguage.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/on-quantifiers-and-variables-grammar-update/ ''On quantifiers and variables'']: | [[Hoemaı]] considers the case of anaphoric reference to a binding from a previous sentence not so different, and calls such pronouns ''donkey'' as well. There is then a "[https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877607261684518922 crude handling of donkey pronouns]" demonstrated in [https://toaqlanguage.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/on-quantifiers-and-variables-grammar-update/ ''On quantifiers and variables'']: | ||
<blockquote>{{t| | <blockquote>{{t|Kaqgaı jí sá guobe da. Nuo gúobe da.}}<br>[∃G : guobe(G)] kaqgaı(J,G). [∀R : raı(R) ∧ guobe(R) ∧ kaqgaı(J,R)] nuo(R).<br>“I see some cows. They (the cows) are asleep.”<br>“I see some cows. All the cows that I see are asleep.”</blockquote> | ||
Note the "surprising ∀ quantifier" in the logical translation of the second sentence. For as long as {{t|gúoso}} is logically out of scope, but not explicitly rebound, it refers to "'''all''' the cows that I see". [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877608075857637386 “The point of it is to catch the same things as appeared in the previous sentence … instead of just any.”] | Note the "surprising ∀ quantifier" in the logical translation of the second sentence. For as long as {{t|gúoso}} is logically out of scope, but not explicitly rebound, it refers to "'''all''' the cows that I see". [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877608075857637386 “The point of it is to catch the same things as appeared in the previous sentence … instead of just any.”] | ||
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Applying this same "crude handling" to quantifiers in subclauses, the meaning of the Toaq sentence above is: "All farmers who own some donkeys, care for all the donkeys that they own." This is often sufficient. | Applying this same "crude handling" to quantifiers in subclauses, the meaning of the Toaq sentence above is: "All farmers who own some donkeys, care for all the donkeys that they own." This is often sufficient. | ||
Hoemaı remarked that [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877608281156243487 "donkey anaphora can't really be allowed in Toaq, unless you use a separate set of pronouns or a donkey conversion mechanism. Otherwise you get ambiguity."] | |||
One idea is to explicitly anaphorically refer back to the construct containing the now-unbound variable and talk about its participants, as proposed [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877609515267260437 by | One idea is to explicitly anaphorically refer back to the construct containing the now-unbound variable and talk about its participants, as proposed [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/877609515267260437 by Hoemaı] and [https://discord.com/channels/311223912044167168/311223912044167168/887013492371099688 by Hoaqgıo]. | ||
<blockquote>"If you have a pet, then the pet in the previously mentioned state of affairs does XYZ." — Hoemaı<br>"{{t| | <blockquote>"If you have a pet, then the pet in the previously mentioned state of affairs does XYZ." — Hoemaı<br>"{{t|Tú [ë] kaqgaı jí sá kusera [nä]}} … the one who participates by seeing something, likes the thing that participates by being seen." — Hoaqgīo</blockquote> | ||
== External links == | == External links == | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_sentence ''Donkey sentence'' on Wikipedia] | * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_sentence ''Donkey sentence'' on Wikipedia] | ||
* [https://mw.lojban.org/papri/All_about_poi_and_noi#PA_da_noi ''All about poi and noi'' on the Lojban wiki]. The ''PA da noi'' section demonstrates a similar "surprising ∀ quantifier". | * [https://mw.lojban.org/papri/All_about_poi_and_noi#PA_da_noi ''All about poi and noi'' on the Lojban wiki]. The ''PA da noi'' section demonstrates a similar "surprising ∀ quantifier". | ||