Re: Zaik! (Hi there!) - Description of Lyanjen

J Matthew Pearson wrote:

> As a P.S. to my previous post, a quick question:  What is an "aut/vel
> distinction"?
I was a little confused by this at first, too.  He's talking about Latin "aut"
and "vel".  Here's what the Lewis and Short dictionary has to say about
those two words:

    "[aut] puts in the place of a previous assertion another, objectively
    and absolutely antithetical to it, while vel indicates that the contrast rests
    upon subjective opinion or choice; i. e. aut is objective, vel subjective,
    or aut excludes one term, vel makes the two indifferent."

So, "aut" excludes one of two terms in a disjunction:  *either* that *or*
something else (you must choose).  "vel" does just the opposite:  either
that, or the other, or maybe both.

(Gosh.  My highschool Latin has really gone down the tubes.)

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Tom Wier   |     "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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