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From: elna@netcom.com (Esperanto League N America)
Subject: Re: singular/plural *not* universal?
Message-ID: <elnaDxJIrE.5Az@netcom.com>
Organization: Esperanto League for North America, Inc.
References: <19960905104609.baaa00752@babyblue.cs.yale.edu> <7fg24waveu.fsf_-_@wisdom.cs.hku.hk> <50pgtv$c5@panix2.panix.com> <7fohji7vja.fsf@wisdom.cs.hku.hk>
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 23:33:14 GMT
Lines: 30
Sender: elna@netcom22.netcom.com

sdlee@cs.hku.hk (Lee Sau Dan ~{@nJX6X~}) writes in a recent posting (reference <7fohji7vja.fsf@wisdom.cs.hku.hk>):
>
>Then, shall  I define the words "then",  "shall", "I", "define", "the"
>"words",   "in",   "this",   "sentence",   "before",   "you",   "can",
>"understand", "me", "and",  and "clearly" in  this sentence before you
>can understand me clearly?
>
Bravo! Excellently wrought!!

>Then, how do you define "define"?  What's the meaning of "meaning"?
>
Just so....

>I think Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Thai and  Malay are also easy
>for beginners to understand, after they have  learnt a couple of words
>in a   few  hours.     The  grammars  of   these   languages   are  so
>straightforward (because there is no grammatical tense, gender, number
>and  case) that  a learner   can  start to understand sentences  after
>they've learnt enough words.
>
This is an interesting claim. I have *never* heard this before! How
can you back it up?
How does a beginner express temporal relations, plurality, etc??


-- 
Miko SLOPER                   elna@netcom.com         USA  (510) 653 0998
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