Part I
What is Lojban?
la lojban. mo
(/lah,LOHZH,bahn. mo/)
Part I consists of an overview of the nature of Lojban. First is an
introduction describing the purpose of the language and how to use
this book. Then one summary lesson presents the basic concepts of
Lojban grammar. With these basic concepts, and a very small
vocabulary, a variety of Lojban sentences can be constructed. The
concepts described in this part form the basis of a more detailed
discussion in Part II.
Lesson 0
nomoi seltadni (/NO,moy sehl,TAHD,nee/)
Introduction to Lojban
pamoi nu cilre la lojban. (/PAH,moy noo,SHEEL,reh,lah,LOHZH,bahn./)
What is Lojban? Lojban is an artificial language, the major
accomplishment of a 35-year research project into the nature of human
language. Dr. James Cooke Brown, founder of this project, called it
'The Loglan Project'; Lojban is a specific version of the generic
language called 'Loglan'. Brown originally designed Loglan to test a
controversial idea in linguistics called the Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis.
As others became involved in the research, a variety of other goals
arose in linguistics research, computers and artificial intelligence,
intercultural communication, and education. Loglan/Lojban is thus
unique, among artificial languages, in having several useful purposes
incorporated into its design. Because of this, Lojban attracts people
with a variety of in- terests. Diversity will sustain Lojban's growth
and ensure that it finds acceptance as a useful tool of analysis and
communication. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is named for linguists
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, who helped set forth the idea of
'cultural relativism'. Cultural relativism specifies that there is a
close relationship between the structure of a language and the culture
that uses that language. There are several interpretations of the
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. These versions differ on how strong the
relationship is thought to be between language and culture, and what
'Sapir-Whorf effects' might be seen in a culture derived from a
particular language. The 'version' of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
guiding Lojban development states that "the structures of language
constrains the thought patterns of participants in the culture
associated with that language." Lojban attempts to test this
hypothesis by removing constraints in several areas of language use,
while imposing other constraints not found in natural languages.
Lojban was designed to test the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: "the structure
of language constrains the thought patterns of participants in the
culture associated with that language." Much of linguistic academia
abandoned the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis in the late 1950s. They were
unable to even agree on what the hypothesis meant, much less on how to
test it. One problem was the difficulty in sorting out 'Sapir-Whorf
effects' from other factors that might affect culture (like history
and geography). Another was the difficulty of differentiating between
language constraints on cultural thought, and cultural effects that
dictate the evolution of a language. Meanwhile, the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis became intellectually (and politically) unfashionable,
because some people used it to justify racist ideas regarding the
supposed superiority or inferiority of specific cultures. In 1955,
Dr. Brown suggested that a constructed language, free of ties to a
particular culture, would help distinguish causes from effects. By
engineering specific and unusual structural features into the
constructed language, the effects of those features could be more
easily detected. He chose to devise a language based on logic, a
"logical language", hence "Loglan". ("Lojban" is the same contraction
using words from within the Lojban language instead of English words).
Brown's language incorporated the well-understood concepts and
structures of symbolic logic into its structure, and attempted to
avoid ambiguities that could confuse those well-formed structures.
Inventing a fully-expressive language from scratch is difficult.
Inventing one that was both to- tally different from all other
languages and still able to express the full range of ideas conveyed
by language proved a daunting task. Brown and others re-engineered
Loglan several times as they found weaknesses in the original design,
and as the science of linguistics provided new knowledge of the
essential properties of languages. Finally, in 1987, the Loglan
development effort passed to a new generation of Loglanists led by The
Logical Language Group, Inc., who completed Lojban in ***. While it
is no longer the sole reason for Lojban's development, the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis remains an essential underlying concept behind its design.
Interestingly, as Lojban is completed, renewed interest in the
hypothesis has surfaced, for reasons related to those that caused its
submersion in the 1950s. Do specific properties of 'Black English'
hinder the education of American blacks? Does the lack of a
gender-neutral 3rd person singular pronoun in English, and the default
of grammatical 'person' to masculine forms enhance inequality between
the sexes and cause sexual stereotyping? For these controversial
ideas to be true, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis must be true. Questions
have arisen in other fields that seem related to the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis, most notably in the computer industry. Would a
'natural-language-like' interface between computers and people enhance
the understanding of computers and the productivity of their users?
Does the icon- graphics-based Apple Macintosh interface lead to
'sloppier thinking' than the 'glass-typewriter' MS- DOS computer
interface? The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis has also permeated the study of
literature. The hypothesis has been particularly significant in
semiotics (the study of signs and symbols in language and literature).
The Lojban effort has now added new goals totally unrelated to this
original one. People have recognized the following, among others: -
research into linguistics and the nature of language; - artificial
intelligence; - human-computer communication; - computer translation
of natural language text; - education in the use of language as a tool
of thought; - education in language as a reflection of culture; - more
rapid learning of foreign languages, with Lojban as a first step; -
creative personal exploration of new ideas. These are only a few
possibilities. New uses for Lojban are continuously being proposed as
more and more people learn the language. Now, Lojban is ready for you
to learn and apply to your goals. You will be a pioneer in a new
language, just as Chaucer and Shakespeare were pioneers in the
literary use of English. You can work toward any of the above
applications for Lojban, or you can devise new ones that suit your
interests. You will learn to think clearly and analytically, when it
is important to do so. Yet you also will discover creative uses of
language, thought and expression. Lojban is an extraordinary
language. Unlike any other language intended for human communication,
Lojban has an unambiguous grammar. Unlike any other language, Lojban
has the basic structures of formal logic embedded in its architecture.
Yet Lojban is a language that transcends grammar and logic, having a
potential expressive power superior to any single natural language.
That power is only a potential. A language must be used - for
communication, for expression - in order to live. This book seeks to
teach you to use Lojban, to make it alive.
Exercise 0-1
larnuntoi nopi'epamoi (/lahr,NOON,toy NOH,pee,heh,PAH,moy/)
The following questions are especially suitable to group discussion,
but are worth thinking about on your own as well.
1. Can you think of any ways not mentioned in which language might
affect the thought patterns of those who use it?
2. Is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis racist? Why or why not?
3. Exceptional individuals like Einstein break new ground in thought,
though they may use the same language as everyone else. Is this
evidence against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
4. Could Sapir-Whorf effects be detected in individuals, or only in
an entire culture raised from birth speaking the same language? Is
there a middle ground?
5. Does learning any new language invoke Sapir-Whorf effects in
individuals by providing new and different structures around which to
frame our ideas? Would a language more different in structure from
your native language be more effective in invoking such effects?
6. Are such effects as those implied in 5. of the same scale and
significance as culture-wide effects that might be caused by
constraints in language?
In the remainder of this lesson we will examine two key concepts
underpinning Lojban's design that are key to understanding several
aspects of that design. These are cultural neutrality, and avoiding
constraints on thought. We will then discuss how you can tailor your
use of this book and your efforts at learning Lojban to your goals.
Cultural Neutrality
kulnu ka nutli (/KOOL,noo kah,NOOT,lee/)
All major goals for Lojban rely on a key design principle, cultural
neutrality. What does this mean, and why is it important? There are
an enormous number of features of language that we use without being
conscious of them. Some of these features are common to all
languages; others are unique to specific languages, or even to
specific people who use those languages. Cultural neutrality is the
attempt to avoid language usage favoring forms used by one culture, at
the expense of equally valid forms used in other cultures. For
Lojban, neutrality also includes attempting to make the language
approximately equal in learning difficulty for people of different
cultures. There is particular effort toward preventing biases in
favor of American English forms in Lojban, since most of the Lojban
developers and early students are native speakers of that language.
English speakers trying unfamiliar expressions in Lojban are prone to
incorporate familiar usages from English into Lojban when they aren't
appropriate. Cultural neutrality is the avoidance of language usages
that favor the forms used by one culture. Among these usages are
idioms, set expressions that have a meaning not necessarily implied by
the words and their grammar. Thus, in greeting someone with the
'question' "How are you?", we do not expect to be answered by a
statement of the respondent's personal situation. On the other hand,
if we are visiting a person in a hospital, that is exactly what we
seek with the question. As another example, consider what it means to
"make do"? There are more subtle idioms as well. The saying "time
flies like an arrow" has at least four totally unrelated English
meanings: - the traditional aphorism, where "flies" is the verb, and
the phrase "time flies" is a figure-of- speech connoting the apparent
rate at which time passes; - a sentence with the same grammatical
interpretation, but literally claiming that time is a physical object,
streamlined to minimize drag and prevent tumbling, and propelled by a
bow; - one corresponding to "fruit flies like a banana", where "like"
is the verb; - one suggesting that the listener needs a stopwatch or a
stroboscope, where "time" is the verb. Even more subtly, hidden
metaphors often pass unrecognized. The word "up" and related words
convey several metaphorical meanings: - happiness ("I'm feeling up.")
- consciousness ("Wake up") - health and life ("I'm in tip-top shape."
"Lazarus rose from the dead.") - control and decision ("I'm on top of
the situation." "It's up to you.") - increase ("Unemployment rose
last month.") - the future ("What's up on today's schedule?") - high
status ("She's high on the list." "He's climbing the ladder.") -
virtue ("A high-minded citizen") - good quality ("Things are looking
up.") - rationality ("To succeed, you must rise above your
emotions.") - the unknown ("It's still up in the air."). "Down" has
associations with the opposites of each of these properties. Another
example: English speakers associate "blue" with sadness, "white" with
'good', "black" with evil, "green" with envy, and so forth. NOT ALL
LANGUAGES MAKE THESE SAME ASSOCIATIONS. Some languages asso- ciate
the future with "down"; others make no association at all. If
Lojban's effects are to be detectable in all cultures, only metaphors
derived directly from the meaning of the words in context can be
permitted. These metaphors may be important to how we think. In
English, we talk about arguing using the metaphors of war ("He shot
down all my arguments."). Might such language encourage arguments to
lead to violence? If the language we use to talk about arguments
refers to them as ways of resolving disagreements through
communication and cooperation, or as means of evaluating different
points of view (not necessarily seeing "differing" as "competing"),
might violence be less common? Related to these metaphors are the
symbolic effects of words and ideas. Sex and various bodily functions
are taboos in our culture; there are similar taboos in other cultures,
but with varying degrees. Western culture associates black with evil
and death; white with virtue, purity, and life. Chinese culture
associates white with death and illness. In China, owls symbolize
death, and bats symbolize life. Words and their meanings aren't the
only cultural biases in language. Grammar also has effects, often
more profound. Japanese women use vastly different language than
Japanese men. Japanese also has 'honorific' words relating to social
rank; omitting these causes offense. English uses forms of "have",
"be" and "will" as auxiliaries to modify tense ("I have eaten." "I am
eating." "I will eat."); Italian often uses the equivalents of "come"
and "go" in addition to "have" and "will", and Rumanian uses "wish" as
a future tense auxiliary. Other languages have totally different
methods of conveying subtleties of time and order relationships.
There are languages where it is impossible to make direct claims about
another person's feelings. One can say the equivalent of "I want
this.", but only "John seems to want this." Most people with any
knowledge of foreign languages know that many languages have more
explicit systems of declensions that convey much grammatical
information. (We tend to think English is free of declensions; it is
not. In some aspects, English is more complex and more ir- regular
than most languages.) These declensions convey information about
person (whether the speaker, the listener, or someone or something
else is being discussed), number (where what is being discussed is
singular or plural, but dual is a separate 'number' in Arabic and
other languages), tense (the time and sometimes the location of an
event), gender (masculine and feminine, but also sometimes neuter;
grammatical gender may have little correlation with the actual gender
of the person or creature; Swahili has over a dozen different
grammatical genders.), and mood or modality (how the speaker relates
to the statement - whether it is claimed, hypothesized, or asked
about). You also may be familiar with case, which conveys the role
within the sentence of different pieces of that sentence. English has
the nominative case for 'subjects' of sentences, and the accusative
case for most of the other 'objects' in a sentence. You can recognize
these cases by the choice you subconsciously make between "I" and "me"
when referring to yourself. English also has the genitive case, known
to many of us as the possessive. Other languages have 8 or more
cases, and attach significant differences in meaning to the use of
each. Still other languages have case systems that work entirely
differently than English's. Some languages do not have 'nominative'
or 'accusative' cases. Often, these languages make significant
grammar distinctions between active or ergative causing of an event as
opposed to being a passive subject of the event. In such languages,
"Jack fell down the hill" must distinguish grammatically between
whether he jumped intentionally, slipped, or was pushed. English
speakers seldom recognize the use of language features such as animism
(using different words or grammar for less 'advanced' forms of life,
and for non-life). Animism is present in English, though not
important. For example, we often talk about a pet animal or even a
human baby as "it", when "he" or "she" is clearly more appropriate
(and known to us). We very rarely use a gendered pronoun in talking
about insects. Yet we would never talk about another adult human as
"it" except in insult. We are more careful about the gender of
pronouns when talking about 'higher' forms of life. Other languages
have more profound 'animism' effects, changing both word structures
and words, depending on how adult-human-like the referent of the
pronoun is. The list of differences between languages could go on
indefinitely. The examples given, however, show that we are often
unaware of important distinctions that we make in language. We often
judge the ideas and people of other cultures based on these hidden
distinctions. Khrushchev's statement "we will bury you" heightened
Cold War tensions. English speakers interpreted this as a statement
of aggression. The Russian usage meant merely that Khrushchev
expected communism to outlast capitalism, on the Russian metaphor that
longer-lived people bury those who die before them. Significant
cultural biases could have devastating effects on whether Lojban can
meet its goals. Accidental Sapir-Whorf effects from bias might dwarf
or conceal the effects from the intentional effects from design
feature built into the language. The Khrushchev example shows how
computer- aided translation would suffer if figurative usages cannot
be recognized as such. Similarly, biases would seriously reduce
Lojban's usefulness for intercultural communication. Lojban will be
less acceptable to other cultures if they perceive the language as too
much like 'Imperialistic English'. As you learn Lojban, you will
often compose expressions that reveal these biases. Every Lojban
speaker born to another language will do so. It is important that you
try to catch these biased usages as often as you can, but also to
accept your limitations. Equally important is to watch for biased
usages by others and politely and gently to correct them (but not in a
way that interferes with communication). Learn to accept similar
correction from others as helpful assistance. Try to learn these
skills when speaking Lojban with native speakers of your language.
You will then be much more effective at communicating in Lojban with
those from other cultures. Those others will be similarly working to
avoid the different biases present in their native languages.
Exercise 0-2
larnuntoi nopi'eremoi (/lahr,NOON,toy NOH,pee,heh,REH,moy/)
For thought and discussion:
1. Devise English examples using 'down' as a metaphor for each of the
opposite values of those described in the section for 'up'.
2. Devise examples for the English metaphors of love as a 'journey',
as a 'physical force', as 'insanity', as 'magic', and as 'war'.
3. Devise examples for the English metaphors of ideas or theories as
'buildings', 'food', 'people', 'plants', 'products', 'commodities',
'resources', 'money', and 'fashions'.
4. If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were true, how might the culture
using a language differ from yours if gender was totally absent from
the grammar, even from pronouns? (This is true of Lojban.)
5. If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were true, how might the culture
using a language differ from yours if there was no distinction of
number between singular and plural? For example, would people lose
their individuality if they could not distinguish between "I" and
"we"? (This is partially true of Lojban. Lojban has no grammatical
singular and plural. Lojban can distinguish between "I" and "we", but
not at the most basic level of usage; the normal contextual assumption
is that a speaker speaks only for herself.)
6. If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were true, how might the culture
using a 'logical language' differ from yours? Is your answer (and
those of others you talk with) colored by stereotypes of 'logical
thinking' as dull or mechanical (or possibly as clear and incisive)?
What do you see as the primary characteristics of a logical language?
7. If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were true, how might the culture
using a language based on an expressive and elaborate set of emotional
expressions differ from yours? Assume that expressions clearly
indicate the speaker's emotional state and distinguish ideas from the
speaker's attitudes toward those ideas. (Lojban is both logical and
has such a set of emotional indicators.)
8. How can learning to recognize biases in language help you in
learning other languages? In understanding the people of other
languages?
Avoiding Constraints on Thought
nu rivbi le pensi rinju (/noo,REEV,bee leh,PEHN,see,REEN,zhoo/)
Lojban seeks to avoid unnecessary constraints on thought. We've just
explored some of those constraints, those imposed by cultural biases.
How does Lojban avoid other constraints? The most important answer is
that Lojban avoids assumptions that might limit how we use the
language. As noted above, in English and other languages, there are
grammatical concepts of gender and number. English statements usually
imply something about the gender (or lack of gender) of whom or what
you are talking about, and also how many people are involved.
Lojban's grammar does not require either. Similarly, English requires
that all statements reflect a time in the past, present, or future, or
a combination of these. Lojban sentences can omit the specification
of tense in sentences. It is hard for an English speaker to recognize
that tense is unnecessary; we are so used to it. But speakers of
languages with complicated declension systems do not easily see how
one could make sense of a sentence without those declensions, while
English speakers have no trouble doing so. You will see many examples
of English assumptions that are not automatically made in Lojban as
you progress through this book. One way of avoiding constraints on
thought requires your direct attention as a Lojban speaker interacting
with one or more listeners. This textbook will attempt to teach you
to recognize that your listener is not you. He/she/it will naturally
apply his/her/its own unique experiences to in- terpreting your
statements. Thus the onus is on you, the speaker, to express your
ideas in a form that will be understood by the listener. (Wondering
about the 'it'? Suppose you are talking to a computer. In making the
above statement, I did not make the 'usual' assumption that you are
planning to speak Lojban only to people.) Lojban permits vague
statements and even 'figures of speech'. Unless you are sure that
your listener will interpret such a statement exactly as you intend
it, you risk misunderstanding. You must not force your listener into
trying to think as you do; it isn't always possible. If you do not
know your listener well, as for example in writing for mass
distribution, you should make few assumptions and be very specific.
Why not require the listener to figure out what you meant? Simple.
The listener does not know what you know; the purpose of communication
is to transfer information. If you don't transfer all information
needed to understand what you say, you might not be understood. In
written expression, the listener may have no way of questioning you if
your statements make no sense. Thus, when we read classics of English
literature, we often miss nuances requiring knowledge of the writer's
culture. The writer of course took his/her cultural environment for
granted.
Exercise 0-3
larnuntoi nopi'ecimoi (/lahr,NOON,toy NOH,pee,heh,SHEE,moy/)
1. The debate over abortion rights is an excellent example of ignoring
others' cultural assumptions in the use of language. One side
defines 'life' to include the period before birth; the other does
not. Can you think of other words or phrases used in the abortion
debate for which you need to know a specific definition in order to
understand the proponent's position?
2. Can you think of examples from other controversies where you must
know the speaker's cultural background and the cultural associations
of the speaker's words to understanding the argument?
3. Advertising makes heavy use of the cultural associations of words,
and advertisers often target a specific audience. Can you think of an
advertisement that you found difficult to 'identify with' because the
targeting used associations not familiar or relevant to you?
4. Often, advertisements make incomplete statements, leaving the
listener or viewer to insert the implied information (often the
listener does not notice this, but fills in the assumed information
subconsciously). Can you think of an example of an advertisement
where the advertiser uses vague information in this way? (Hint - most
uses of the words "new" and "improved" beg the question of what the
words "old" and "unimproved" might refer to.)
5. Examine the simple English sentence "Judy swims." Does this
sentence imply that Judy is swimming now? How do you know? Does this
sentence imply that Judy has swum in the past, or that she will swim
in the future? Is it possible to say "[name] swims" about someone who
has never swum and never will? Rephrase the original sentence so that
it is clearer even in the absence of any clarifying context.
6. As a variation on the last sentence, examine "Sandy dog-paddles."
Do your answers to 5. change for this sentence? Do your answers
change if you find out that Sandy is a dog? How about if Sandy is a
cat or a fish? Can you rephrase the sentence for someone who does not
know what 'dog-paddles' means?
7. Now examine: "Peter works in Peoria." Does this sentence mean that
Peter is at this moment working in Peoria? Could it be true if Peter
worked in Peoria yesterday and will work there tomorrow, but is not
working today? Is it still true if he is on a one-day business trip
to Chicago? Does this sentence imply that Peter worked in Peoria last
year? Might he have worked somewhere else last year? Would your
answers to these questions change for the sentence "Peter works in
Peoria now"? Rephrase one interpretation of each sentence ("Peter
works in Peoria" and "Peter works in Peoria now") so it is clear in
the absence of any clarifying context.
8. Say the sentence "Peter works in Peoria now." aloud in a bored tone
of voice. Repeat the sentence as if you were answering the question
"Where does Peter work?" Repeat the sentence as if you were answering
the question "Do you know anyone who works in Peoria?" Repeat the
sentence as a question (without rephrasing it), as if you wish to
confirm the rumor that Peter is working in Peoria. Repeat the
sentence in disbelief because you thought Peter was living in New
York. Repeat the sentence in disbelief because you thought Peter was
a ne'er-do well who can't hold a job. Listen to how your voice and
tone changes in each of these versions. How would you convey these
various expressions or attitudes if you were writing a book? If your
book were intended for a foreigner who is learning English through
reading books, how would you make sure she/he understands which
expression implied which attitude?
9. Examine: "William ran out the door and hurdled the tricycle in the
walkway." Does this imply that the sentence "William is a runner and
a hurdler." is true? Given the latter sentence first, might you have
thought of the first sentence as describing a situation where the
second one is true. Construct a similar pair of sentences using the
word 'build' and 'builder'.
10. Examine: "Lions come from Africa." Is this a true statement? Is
it still true when you are reminded of the new cub born at the zoo
yesterday? If lions come from Africa, where do they go to?
When trying to speak Lojban, it is often a good idea to think about
how your listener might misinterpret your statement without full
knowledge of the context. Then - provide that context.
Setting Your Lojban Goals
nu ko cuxna le do terzu'e ra'a la lojban.
(/noo,koh,SHOOKH,nah leh,doh,tehr,ZOO,heh
rah,hah,lah,LOHZH,bahn./)
If you already know enough about why Lojban is worth learning, and
want to learn Lojban, you can start with Lesson 1 now (well, finish
this section first). If you are studying as part of a group or a
class, feel free to work ahead on your own. Learning a language is a
complex effort; you will not hurt your group effort by studying ahead.
You may even enrich the group through personal insights that you may
gain in a first reading.
Before you start learning Lojban, you should clarify your goals for
studying and using the language. If you have an instructor, make your
goals clear to the instructor. It is also useful to look over your
cultural and language background and your experience in learning
languages. Then, use this book's resources in ways suited to your
specific needs. There are several reasons for studying a language.
You may wish to visit a foreign country where people speak the
language, or to host a native speaker of that language visiting you.
You may wish to read literature in the language. You may wish to
confer with other speakers of the language. You may simply wish to
gain the perspective of another language and its inherent cultural
viewpoint on the nature of human life and civilization. You are
unlikely to visit Lojbanistan (except in your mind), or to host
visitors from that realm. The other reasons listed above could still
apply to learning Lojban. In addition, as the number of Lojban
speakers grows, you might find knowing Lojban an excellent bridge to
communicating with someone who does not know English. Lojban has a
couple of additional reasons for study that do not apply to other
languages. You may be interested in computer applications of Lojban.
You may be interested in planning, conducting, or participating in,
various linguistic research efforts that will use Lojban. You also
may be learning Lojban as a stepping stone to other languages;
researchers have shown that learning one foreign language makes
learning others easier. Using easily-learned Lojban as your first
foreign language could greatly accelerate your learning another
language that will be more important to your life. Lojban may be
especially valuable for learning languages that are far different from
English, languages whose structures may not easily translate into
English. These are just a few possibilities. What are your reasons?
Exercise 0-4
larnuntoi nopi'evomoi (/lahr,NOON,toy NOH,pee,heh,VOH,moy/)
1. Are you studying Lojban just out of curiosity, but have not (yet)
decided to try to master the language for any particular use? (If
so, you probably want to concentrate less on memorizing
vocabulary, and more on structures of the language, especially
those emphasized in Lesson 1.)
2. Do you intend to read Lojban? Do you want to do so with or
without a dictionary in hand? (Written Lojban will tend to have
more complex grammar than spoken Lojban, and probably a larger
vocabulary usage. You need to concentrate on recognizing Lojban
words, disassembling complex words into their components; you must
also have a broad command of the grammar. You will not have much
need to recall a Lojban word for a concept without seeing that
word in print. Pronunciation rules and listening practice
probably aren't very important to you.)
3. Do you intend to speak Lojban with others? Does your knowledge
need to be fluent, for comfortable conversation or serious
communication, or do you just need to 'get by' speaking the
language only occasionally? (Having a command of the vocabulary
is more important in speaking the language. You need to both
recognize and recall Lojban words quickly; the recognition should
include some practice with spoken words in isolation and in the
context of sentences. To be fluent in Lojban, you must either
build a large vocabulary, or be quick and skillful at 'making up'
words or paraphrases to get your point across. On the other hand,
you will seldom use more complex or unusual features of the
grammar. Concentrate on the grammar covered in the earlier
lessons of the book.)
4. Do you wish to translate English or other languages into Lojban,
especially with publication quality? (If so, you need to
concentrate on the grammar, including the less common structures.
You need to recall Lojban words for concepts easily, and to create
new words and paraphrases easily. Your total vocabulary need not
be large, especially if an English-Lojban dictionary is available;
you need little emphasis on speaking and listening to the
language.)
5. Do you want to write creatively or originally in Lojban? (You
need the same skills as a translator, though concentrating on the
more common grammar structures before worrying about rarer
constructs. (You should have complete mastery of the basics
before playing with unusual word orders and constructs.) For
poetry, you also need a feel for how the language sounds. You
need especial skill at recognizing when your expressions rely on
non-Lojban cultural information, or on idiom derived from other
languages.)
6. Do you plan to write in Lojban only minimally (primarily
sentences, paragraphs, or maybe short letters)? (You need a good
command of the basic vocabulary, and the basic structures of the
languages, but do not need to master any particular feature.)
7. Do you plan to use Lojban for designing computer applications?
(You need to understand the grammar thoroughly in a formal or
technical sense that will not be emphasized in this book. The
informal approaches here will provide a basis for such advanced
study. You also need to concen- trate on learning patterns in the
Lojban vocabulary far more than individual words. Topics to
understand include the construction of new words and determination
of their formal definition, analysis of meanings, and the
interactions between words in complex expressions.)
8. Do you plan to teach Lojban? If so, to which of the above types
of people? (Most likely, you need to master those skills that
your students need. You also need a certain amount of fluency, as
described in 3. above, in order to quickly invent a good example
when someone is having trouble. If you are planning to teach
children, you need to concentrate heavily on the most basic and
common structures and vocabulary. On the other hand, the author
and others taught the first Lojban classes with only a minimal,
non-fluent, command of the vocabulary and grammar.)
9. Do you plan to use Lojban in linguistic research? (If so, you
probably should learn a variety of grammatical forms, and minimize
vocabulary unless your research will significantly require it.)
10. Now that you have focussed on your goals for using Lojban,
consider the most important question: What do you expect to
accomplish toward your goals before finishing this book? How much
time will you spend in this pursuit, and with what intensity?
No language textbook can teach everything about a language to you.
Some textbooks are more effective than others for particular skills,
or for people with particular backgrounds. How much you achieve in a
course of study depends on how long the course is, and how intensely
you study. Language study, in particular, requires much practice,
preferably with others. Set realistic goals, so that you gain
confidence at your successes, and not disappointed when progress seems
slow. People do not learn languages overnight. You took years to
learn English; if you practice a couple hours every day, you might be
fluent in Lojban in several months. Most people, though, will skip
days of practice entirely (while we might wish otherwise) or spend
only a little time on those days when they do study. If your
expectations are reasonable, this becomes less of a problem. Continue
your learning efforts and you will eventually reach your goal.
Reading this book and doing the exercises is not enough to learn
Lojban. Not only must you study the vocabulary, you must use Lojban.
If you are in a class or study group, try saying a few sentences every
session. Don't worry about making mistakes; everyone else will too.
In fact, it is almost obligatory that you push your knowledge of the
language to the point where you make mistakes as often as possible.
That is how you will learn. Many people believe that adults have
particular difficulty learning new languages; that only young children
can become fluent in a new language with ease. Actually, the only
proven difficulty adults have in learning languages is speaking with a
native accent. Otherwise, your greater understanding of the rules of
even one language give you a strong advantage over children in
learning other languages. On the other hand, children aren't afraid
to make mistakes. Listen to any young child speaking her/his native
language and you will hear mistakes in nearly every sentence. As
children grow older and gain more experience in the language, they
make fewer and fewer mistakes. To learn any language, including
Lojban, you must lose your adult self-consciousness, and learn like a
child. You'll learn much more quickly and will speak fluent and
error-free Lojban within a few months. In learning Lojban, do not be
afraid to make mistakes. You will learn from those mistakes, just as
children do, and more quickly master Lojban. In addition, adults have
more responsibilities than children, and find it more difficult to
sustain long-term effort at learning. Adults also have higher
expectations of themselves, and get discouraged more easily. A child
does not expect total mastery of a language in a few months. After
leaving formal school, most adults find it difficult to pursue even a
single course of study for more than a few months. Recognize your
limitations, but take pride in your progress. You will find yourself
capable of expressing far more in Lojban in a very short time than you
can in comparable effort in learning any other language.
Using This Book
nu pilno levi cukta (/noo,PEEL,noh leh,vee,SHUUK,tah/)
The lessons in this book should be studied in order. The first lesson
stands alone, presenting basic concepts that will reappear throughout
the book. The remaining lessons, in Part II, go over these basic
concepts in a bit more depth. This helps you understand the features
that make Lojban unique before making extensive demands that test your
understanding. After a semester of rigorous study or a year of
lighter effort with this book, your skill in Lojban will probably be
comparable to that after four years studing a typical natural
language. The first lesson does not discuss pronunciation. Frankly,
pronunciation is boring to most people; we want you to see the
features that make Lojban interesting! We provide self-explanatory
pronunciation guides for Lojban text in this lesson. Try to pronounce
the words and sentences from the guides, but don't worry about errors.
If you have an instructor, ask her/him to say the words and sentences
correctly. In Part II, we discuss the rules for Lojban pronunciation,
and explicit guides are less frequent. Since Lojban spelling is
completely phonetic (it matches the pronunciation exactly), you
shouldn't need pronunciation guides after the first few lessons. The
Logical Language Group, Inc. sells a cassette tape covering most of
the material covered in the pronunciation guides, and some longer
dialogues and readings. See Lesson 2 on pronunciation for more on how
to use this tape. Learning a language is demanding. While you can
express meaningful Lojban sentences practically from the start, you
will need to learn 2000 words or more to use the language in
conversation. This probably seems like a lot right now, unless you
stop to realize that native English speakers know 20,000 to 100,000
English words, or more. Or, if you are reading and understanding this
book using English as a second language, you probably have an English
vocabulary in excess of 5000 words. A thousand words are still a lot
to learn, though, and you should start immediately. Lessons 2 and 3
discuss Lojban word forms and pronunciation. The remainder of Part II
will not require an extensive vocabulary knowledge. (You could even
read Part II through without learning any of the vocabulary, though we
don't recommend this unless you are just trying to satisfy your
curiosity about the language). Speak Lojban to others you are
studying with; again, don't worry about making mistakes. In fact,
encourage others to point out mistakes that cause confusion. (When
you get more skilled in the language, you will want others to watch
for vagueness, or reliance on English figures of speech that might not
mean the same to a non-English native. This should not be your
primary concern at the beginning.) If you are studying on your own,
practice with a tape and write sentences. Eventually work up to
longer writings. When you have enough vocabulary to write a paragraph
on a simple subject, contact The Logical Language Group. The group
will put you in touch with others at your same level of skill and you
can exchange paragraphs and eventually letters. (Until both you and
the recipient can skillfully read and write Lojban, always include a
translation showing what you intended to say, preferably on a separate
sheet.) Feel free to contact The Logical Language Group with
questions on this textbook, suggestions for improvement, etc.
Remember, though, Parts I and II do not cover all the details of the
language. Even after studying them, there will be several things you
won't yet know how to say.
We've written this book for readers who are unskilled in logic and
linguistics, and who have not studied any foreign language in depth.
If you have background in any of these, some material may seem
repetitive. Please forgive us. In the interests of reaching as many
people as possible, this book avoids the specialized terminology of
linguistics and language education. (This book will use the word
jargon, with no pejorative intent, for such terminology). Where a
jargon term is necessary, we explain the basic concept behind the
term, and then we present a Lojban word to stand for the concept. The
reason for this is simple - you are trying to learn Lojban, not
linguistics or logic. Among the earliest subjects you will want to
talk about will be the language you are using and its structures. It
is thus better to associate important concepts with their Lojban words
from the start, and bypass learning the English jargon. For those
with a technical background, when there is a clear linguistic term for
a concept, we print the word in italics upon first use of the Lojban
word that represents it. A glossary in the back of this book defines
each Lojban and English technical term.
Enough preliminaries. It's time to LEARN AND USE LOJBAN!
Lesson 1
pamoi seltadni (/PAH,moy sehl,TAHD,nee/)
The Basic Structure of Lojban
stura jicmu la lojban.
(/STOO,rah,ZHEESH,moo lah,LOHZH,bahn./)
In this lesson, you will learn the basic concepts underlying Lojban
grammar. The most important Lojban structures will be presented
briefly, using a limited vocabulary. Your goal should be to
understand each structure and concept as it is presented, without
making any particular effort to memorize any of the vocabulary or
structures.
1.1
Relationship Sentences
bridi (/BREE,dee/)
Lojban has exactly one basic sentence form. There are complications
and elaborations that give Lojban its expressive power, but the single
form remains fundamental. To learn Lojban you must learn just this
one form - learn it thoroughly and be able to recognize it in a
variety of guises. When you can do so, you will be able to read and
understand even the most complex Lojban sentence. Lojban's basic
structure is based on ideas, and on relationships among those ideas.
Let us first look at some English sentences to see what this means.
Alice looks at Jane. (1.1-1)
Alice is shorter than Jane. (1.1-2)
Alice is the sister of Jane. (1.1-3)
These three sentences have three different grammatical structures in
English. In Lojban, all of these are expressed using a single
grammatical structure.1 These sentences talk about, and relate, two
separate 'ideas'. The ideas are expressed (or identified) through the
use of names: "Alice" and "Jane". Presumably the speaker and the
listener know who both Alice and Jane are, otherwise there will be no
communication. The first sentence (1.1-1) relates the two ideas by
the English verb "looks". When you learn the English word "looks",
you learn that it involves a 'looker', and something 'looked at'. You
recognize which idea fills which role by the order, and by the
presence of the word "at". If you omit the word 'at', the result
makes no sense:
*Alice looks Jane. (1.1-1a)2
If you change the word order, the result also makes no sense:
*Alice looks Jane at. (1.1-1b)
Similarly, the second sentence (1.1-2) relates the two people, using
the English adjective "shorter". "Shorter" also implies a
relationship between two ideas. Here, too, the order of the ideas is
important to the meaning:
Alice is shorter than Jane. (1.1-2)
is clearly different from:
Jane is shorter than Alice. (1.1-2a)
In these sentences, the little words "is" and "than" remind you which
idea plays which role in the sentence. In (1.1-2a), "is" is placed
after the 'first' idea (Jane) to join it to "shorter"; "than"
identifies the 'second' idea (Alice), and ties it to the sentence. In
the third sentence (1.1-3), an English noun - "sister" - indicates the
relation. Again, little words ("of", "is", and the") are used to keep
the order straight. You cannot omit these words. You can see this
in:
*Alice sister Jane. (1.1-3a)
which of course is not grammatical. In all of the above sentences,
information is conveyed through the meaning of the relation words
"looks", "shorter", and "sister", as well as through the grammar of
the little words that tie the sentence together. In general, the two
kinds of information are not interchangeable. Little words like "at"
in (1.1-1) have no particular 'meaning' in the same sense as the
longer 'relation words'. They merely tie the ideas into their
particular roles in the sentence. (A dictionary will try to define
each of these words; you will find several definitions for each, all
rather vague; only by knowing the relation word will you have any idea
what these little words mean in a given context. Thus it is more
correct to say that the little words 'bring out' hidden meaning
contained within the 'content' words.) Little words like these which
convey little or no meaning, but which serve to show grammatical
roles, are called cmavo (/SHMAH,vo/) in Lojban (structure words or
function words in English). cmavo are the structure or function words
used to show grammatical structure, but which have little meaning in
themselves.
Sentences do not need to relate exactly two ideas. In each of the
examples above, the second 'idea' and its associated cmavo could have
been omitted; the shorter sentence would still make sense:
Alice looks. (1.1-4)
Alice is shorter. (1.1-5)
Alice is the sister. (1.1-6)
You can add other ideas into the sentence, using additional cmavo to
tie these extra ideas into the relationship:
Alice looks at Jane through a telescope. (1.1-7)
Alice is shorter than Jane by three inches. (1.1-8)
Notice that 'through' is a cmavo (i.e. a 'little word'), even though
it is longer than the relation word "looks". In Lojban, all cmavo are
3 or fewer letters long. When more than two ideas are related in
English, a sentence can get pretty confusing. The sentence:
Fred gives the book to Steve. (1.1-9)
can be rearranged, leaving out the cmavo 'to':
Fred gives Steve the book. (1.1-10)
Non-natives learning English don't realize this, and are likely to
make the sentence:
*Fred gives to Steve the book. (1.1-10a)
which sounds strange to a native speaker.
Finally, sentences can express relationships among more complicated
ideas. These more complicated ideas are generally tied together with
cmavo:
George and Mary played tennis with Betty and Sam. (1.1-11)
Now you try and identify some English sentence structures in the
following exercise.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-1
larnuntoi papi'epamoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,PAH,moy/)
For each of the following English sentences, identify the relation
word, the ideas being related, and the cmavo (if any) which serve to
indicate what role each of the ideas plays in the relationship. For
example, in:
(Example) I sit on the chair.
"I" and "the chair" are two ideas related by the relation "sit". "On"
is a cmavo that indicates which of the two ideas is in the role of
being the thing which is sat upon.
1. John hits Mary in the knee.
2. Sue is smarter than Fred.
3. War and Peace is a book about Russia.
Now for a more complex sentence:
4. You will go home from class via Main Street in George's car.
Next, try a sentence with complex ideas and relationship expressions:
5. George and Martha quietly talk about their new house.
Now try a few sentences that are similar in meaning. These examples
show how English uses several different kinds of sentence structure to
convey the same basic relationship.
6. I study Lojban.
7. I am a student of Lojban.
8. Your arms cradle the baby.
9. Your arms are cradling the baby.
10. Your arms are a cradle for the baby.
As a thought exercise, play with some of these sentences, seeing what
happens to the relationship if you move the cmavo around, or if you
exchange the positions of the ideas within the sentence. For example,
with exercise sentence 1., you can examine several variations. Which
of the following are grammatical in English? Which mean the same as
the original sentence? Are the commas in some of the samples
important to understanding the meaning?
1. John hits Mary in the knee.
Mary hits John in the knee.
John hits the knee in Mary.
The knee hits Mary in John.
In the knee, John hits Mary.
In the knee, hits John, Mary.
John, in the knee, hits Mary.
John hits, in the knee, Mary.
Hits John Mary in the knee.
Try variations of other sentences. Notice that each English
relation word has its own special rules that determine what
rearrangements are permitted, and how the rearrangements change the
meaning. Non-native English speakers must learn these rules
explicitly as part of learning the language. English speakers tend to
think of English as being 'easy to learn' because it avoids complex
inflections on relation words that other languages require. On the
other hand, languages with inflections allow more freedom in ordering
the presentation of ideas, with fewer variations from word to word.
Like English, Lojban does not add inflections that other languages
require. Indeed, Lojban avoids even the few that English has
retained3.
____________________________________________________________________________
Lojban's sentence structure is called a predication by logicians; in
Lojban, it is called a bridi. Any complete sentence in Lojban is a
bridi (/BREE,dee/). As you will see, more complex Lojban sentences
may contain several bridi; for now only the basic form is discussed.
Lojban discourse is made up of ideas. To say something in Lojban, you
express one or more of these ideas, and then relate them to each other
and to the universe. A Lojban bridi expresses this relationship.
1.2
Lojban Relation Words
lojbo brivla (/LOHZH,bo,BREEV,lah/)
You've seen that relationships can be identified in English sentences.
However, expressing relationships is NOT the underlying concept of
English grammar. In fact, the different parts of English speech like
nouns, verbs, and adjectives require different structures. If you did
the thought exercises, you found that certain ideas cannot be
grammatically expressed in certain roles. 'Nonsense', where familiar
ideas are related in unfamiliar ways, is frequently ungrammatical.
Lojban is simpler. In Lojban, there are no nouns, verbs, or
adjectives. A relation is conveyed by a single grammatical unit.
This unit is called a selbri (/SEL,bree/ - in formal logic, a selbri
is called a predicate4). A selbri expresses the relation among the
ideas in a bridi sentence. A Lojban bridi expresses a relationship
among several ideas. All Lojban sentences consist of bridi. Later,
you will explore more complex selbri; for now, though, consider only
selbri that consist of a single word. Single words that can express
the relationship of a bridi are called brivla (/BREEV,lah/). Most of
the vocabulary you need for expressing Lojban sentences are brivla,
since Lojban sentences must contain a selbri. Thus, the more brivla
that you know, the better you can speak and write Lojban. A selbri is
a word or group of words that expresses the relation in a Lojban
bridi. Every Lojban bridi has a selbri. The following are Lojban
brivla. The idea-roles that they relate are listed as well:
birka /BEER,kah/ expresses a relation between an arm, and the body
that the arm is attached to. (2 ideas)
cukta /SHOOK,tah/ expresses a relation between a book, the author of
the book, the subject of the book, and the audience for whom the book
is intended. (4 ideas)
darxi /DAR,khee/ expresses a relation between a hitter, a thing hit,
an instrument of hitting, and a location where contact is made. (4
ideas)
tavla /TAHV,lah/ expresses a relation between a talker, a person
talked to, a subject of discourse, and the language in which talking
takes place. (4 ideas)
zutse /ZOOT,seh/ expresses a relation between a sitter and the thing
sat upon. (2 ideas)
The words "bridi", "cmavo", "selbri", and "brivla" are also brivla.
Since you won't be using them in Lojban sentences for a while, they
are not defined here. If you are curious, you can look in the brivla
word list in Appendix ***. Indeed, you should get in the habit of
looking in the Appendix to discover new Lojban brivla, and the
idea-roles that are a part of each bridi sentence made with those
brivla. Most brivla relate 2 or 3 idea-roles to each other.
Sometimes, however, a thought involves only one idea-role; the selbri
expresses a relation that idea-role fills within the universe. The
concept of a chair is such a single idea. You can say a lot of things
about a chair, but its 'chairness' is a single idea. Many Lojban
brivla express such one-idea relations. Most correspond to English
nouns like "chair", and to adjectives like the colors "red" and
"blue". The simplest selbri is a single word. A single word that can
serve as a selbri is called a brivla. Thus, a brivla is a single word
that expresses the relation in a bridi.
Following are some examples of Lojban brivla specifying a single idea:
bikla /BEEK,lah/ expresses that the single idea is a whip, or is
something that whips (thus representing both the noun and verb senses
of English "whip".
blanu /BLAH,noo/ expresses that the single idea exhibits the color
blue.
senci /SEHN,shee/ expresses that the single idea sneezes (is a
sneezer). "senci" thus conveys the idea of the English verb "to
sneeze".
stizu /STEE,zoo/ expresses that the single idea is a seat or chair.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-2
larnuntoi papi'eremoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,REH,moy/)
Using Appendix ***, look up the following brivla. For each, indicate
how many ideas are being related, and give a brief definition of each
role, as in the examples above.
1. cmalu /SHMAH,loo/
2. cpana /SHPAH,nah/
3. dunda /DOON,dah/
4. jubme /ZHOOB,meh/
5. plise /PLEE,seh/
6. prenu /PREH,noo/
7. sanli /SAHN,lee/
8. stedu /STEH,doo/
9. xunre /KHOON,reh/
And one longer exercise:
10. klama /KLAH,mah/
In the Appendix, individual idea-roles are assigned numbers (such as
x1, x2, and x3). In Lojban, as in English, the order that you express
the ideas clarifies what role each idea plays in the sentence. Don't
worry about memorizing the roles associated with each brivla; you'll
learn them naturally as you study the words and use them in sentences.
If you haven't done so already, you may wish to make a quick reference
list of the brivla that were presented in Section 1-2, and those you
looked up in the exercise for that section. A complete list of the
words presented in this lesson will be found at the end of the lesson,
but it is convenient to have the list at hand when studying examples
and doing exercises.
_____________________________________________________________________________
1.3
Relationship Ideas
sumti (/SOOM,tee/)
sumti are the ideas that fill the roles in a bridi. A bridi relationship
consists of a selbri relation and one or more sumti that are related.
In Lojban, there is a word for the ideas that are tied together in a
bridi relationship expression. They are called sumti (/SOOM,tee/ -
the term used in formal logic is argument). Thus a Lojban bridi
consists of a selbri which relates several sumti.
In order to make sentences in Lojban, you need to know a few words and
phrases that can be used as sumti. First are words that work like
pronouns in English; the term "sumti cmavo" (which means argument
structure-word) will be used to discuss these:
mi /mee/ identifies the speaker (and sometimes others that she/he is
speaking for) as a sumti
do /doh/ identifies the person(s) being spoken to as a sumti
mi'o /mee,hoh/ identifies the combination of the speaker and the
person(s) being spoken to as a sumti. As such, it represents one
meaning of English "we" or "us"; the other meanings are represented in
Lojban by different sumti cmavo which are explained in later lessons.
ko'a /ko,hah/ identifies some specific person or persons, or some
thing or things, as a sumti. "ko'a" thus corresponds to English "he",
"she", "it", and "they".
ko'e /ko,heh/ is identical to "ko'a", but is available to identify a
different sumti when "ko'a" is already in use.
ti /tee/ identifies this thing 'here' that the speaker is pointing to
(or otherwise specifically indicating) as a sumti. "ti" can be used
in several places in the same sentence; you can indicate something
different each time you use it in a sentence.
ta /tah/ identifies that thing 'there' (usually further away from "mi"
than "ti") that the speaker is pointing to (or otherwise specifically
indicating) as a sumti. Like "ti",
"ta" can be used several times in the same sentence, indicating
something different each time. You can also use "ti" and "ta"
together to keep the relative distance clear.
tu /too/ identifies that thing 'yonder' (usually further away from
both "mi" and "do" than both are from "ta") that the speaker is
pointing to (or otherwise specifically indicating) as a sumti. Like
"ti" and "ta", "tu" can be used in several places in the same
sentence.
Each of the above may be either singular or plural. Lojban words do
not implicitly indicate whether the referent is one person or thing,
or more than one. Often the context will make it clear.
There are explicit ways to add information about how many are being
referred to. Lojban sumti do not implicitly indicate whether they
refer to one person/thing, or more than one. You can express the
number explicitly if it is important.
Lojban names end in a consonant, and must not contain the words "doi",
"la", or "lai" within them. "la" turns a name into a sumti. Normally
"ti", "ta", and "tu" cannot easily be used in written Lojban, since
the reader has no idea what is being pointed at. Thus, when this book
uses these words in examples, imagine the writer is pointing to
something that you can see around you.
_____________________________
A second type of sumti is formed by taking a name, and marking it with
the cmavo "la". In Lojban, names are spelled so that they are
pronounced as close as possible to the way that the owner of the name
wants. Since Lojban spelling is entirely phonetic, this is easy,
although some names end up looking quite different from their
equivalents in other languages. Some names from other languages
cannot be pronounced exactly like they are in the original language,
either because Lojban does not have the exact same sounds as the other
language, or because Lojban rules require a minor change in the form
of the name.
There are three such rules about names which are important - if you
know these rules you can recognize a Lojban name, because NO OTHER
Lojban word has the same form:
- they must end in a consonant, even if you have to add one or drop
off a final vowel;
- they cannot contain the sounds of the words "doi", "la", or "lai"
within them, unless that sound is preceded by a consonant;
- names are pronounced with a pause following the final letter; if the
name starts with a vowel, at least a short pause must also be added
between the "la" and the name.
Some examples of names, with "la" added to make the name into a sumti:
la djan.5 /lah,jahn./ the person/thing named 'John'
la fred. /lah,frehd./ the person/thing named 'Fred'
la suzn. /lah,SOO,znn./ the person/thing named 'Susan'
la .alis. /lah .AH,lees./ the person/thing named 'Alice'
la lojban. /lah,LOHZH,bahn./ the person/thing named 'Lojban'
la .iunaitydsteits. /lah .yoo,NAI,tuhd,steyts./
the person/thing named 'United States'
la DO'itclant. /lah,DOH,heech,lahnt./
the person/thing named 'Deutschland' (Germany)
la uest. vrdjinias. /lah,wehst. vrr,JEEN,yahs./
the person/thing named 'West Virginia'
Names are personal. The Lojban philosophy is to use the name
preferred by the person or people most closely associated with the
name. When using a name from another language, try to match the
pronunciation of that name by a speaker of that language. Hence the
name for "Germany" above is not "la djrmynis." (/lah,JRR,muh,nees./
The words "le" and "ku" surrounding a selbri, turn it into a
description sumti, or selgadri sumti. The two cmavo clearly separate
the sumti from other parts of the sentence. The final type of sumti
covered in this section is formed by surrounding a selbri with two
words. Preceding the selbri is the word "le", and following the
selbri is the word "ku". This type of sumti is called a description,
because the selbri describes a property of the idea being expressed.
A Lojban phrase for a description sumti is selgadri sumti
(/sehl,GAH,dree,SOOM,tee/).
You can turn any of the brivla from section 1.2 into a description:
le zutse ku /leh,ZOOT,seh,koo/ the thing described as sitting; the sitter
le darxi ku /leh,DAR,khee,koo/ the thing described as hitting; the hitter
le tavla ku /leh,TAHV,lah,koo/ the thing described as talking; the talker
le cukta ku /leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/ the thing described as a book; the book
le birka ku /leh,BEER,kah,koo/ the thing described as an arm; the arm
le stizu ku /leh,STEE,zoo,koo/ the thing described as a chair; the chair
le blanu ku /leh,BLAH,noo,koo/ the thing described as blue; the blue object
le senci ku /leh,SEHN,shee,koo/ the thing described as sneezing; the sneezer
le bikla ku /leh,BEEK,lah,koo/ the thing described as whipping; the whip
Comparing these examples with the descriptions of the sumti roles in
1.2 (or the Appendix) you can see that a description is interpreted by
treating the sumti as if it were the first (x1) sumti of the brivla.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-3
larnuntoi papi'ecimoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,SHEE,moy/)
Part 1
Imagine the following situation: Mary and Pete are in a room. Mary is
sitting on the floor. Pete is sitting on a green chair. There is a
blue table in the room, with a red apple on it. Mary is talking with
Pete, and pointing at the table. Pete answers, pointing at the white
door.
1. If Mary uses the word "mi" in a bridi, who or what idea is she
trying to specify?
2. If Mary uses the word "do" in a bridi, who or what idea is she
trying to specify?
3. If Pete uses the word "mi" in a bridi, who or what idea is he
trying to specify?
4. If Pete uses the word "do" in a bridi, who or what idea is he
trying to specify?
5. If Mary uses the word "ti" in a bridi, what idea is she trying to
specify?
6. If Mary uses the phrase "le stizu ku" in a bridi, who or what idea
is she trying to specify?
7. If Mary uses the phrase "le blanu ku" in a bridi, who or what idea
is she trying to specify?
8. If Pete uses the phrase "le plise ku" in a bridi, who or what idea
is he trying to specify?
9. If Pete answers using the word "ta" in a bridi, who or what idea is
he trying to specify?
10. All of the Lojban words and phrases used in this exercise are
called what?
Part 2
The following are Lojbanized names, marked with the cmavo "la" to
allow them to represent ideas in bridi. Can you identify the idea or
person that each name represents? Hint - use the pronunciation
guides. (Note - the last 10 are foreign names, and may be less
recognizable.)
1. la nuIORK. /lah,nu,YOHRK./
2. la djiordj. buc. /lah,jyohrj. boosh./
3. la CRlok. xolmz. /lah,SHRR,lohk. khohlmz./
4. la meris. tailr. mor. /lah,MEH,rees. TAI,lrr. mohr./
5. la .uinstn. TCRtcl. /lah .WIN,stnn. CHRR,chll./
6. la .eibry'em. linkyn. /lah .EI,bruh,hehm. LEEN,kuhn./
7. la ritcrd. niksn. /lah,REE,chrrd. NEEK,snn./
8. la duait. .aiznhau,r. /lah,dwait. .AI,znn,hau,rr./
9. la .adolf. xitlr. /lah .AH,dohlf. KHEET,lrr./
10. la maRIS. .antuaNET. /lah,mah,REES. .ahn,twah,NEHT./
11. la carl. deGOL. /lah,shahrl. deh,GOHL./
12. la mixaIL. garbaTCOF. /lah,mee,khah,EEL. gahr,bah,CHOHF./
13. la lex. va'uensas. /lah,lekh. vah,HWEN,sahs./
14. la MExikos. /lah,MEH,khee,kohs./
15. la .astral,ias. /lah .ahs,TRAHL,yahs./
16. la nedrlant. /lah,NEH,drr,lahnt./
17. la .io'ANys. bramyz. /lah .yoh,HAHN,uhs. BRAHM,uhz./
18. la maudzydyn. /lah,MAUD,zuh,duhn./
Part 3
Using your answers from Exercise 1-2, what ideas do the following represent?
Examples:
le stedu ku (/leh,STEH,doo,koo/) le sanli ku (/leh,SAHN,lee,koo/)
the thing described as a head the thing described as standing
1. le prenu ku (/leh,PREH,noo,koo/) 2. le xunre ku (/leh,KHOON,reh,koo/)
3. le cmalu ku (/leh,SHMAH,loo,koo/) 4. le dunda ku (/leh,DOON,dah,koo/)
5. le jubme ku (/leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo/) 6. le klama ku (/leh,KLAH,mah,koo/)
Express the following ideas as Lojban sumti:
7. the thing described as an apple
8. the thing described as lying (upon something)
_____________________________________________________________________________
1.4
Relationship Expressions in Lojban
bridi bau la lojban. (/BREE,dee bau,lah,LOHZH,bahn./)
Now that you know the pieces that make up a Lojban bridi sentence, you
can express dozens of simple sentences in Lojban. Your only
limitations are vocabulary and things to say. First some examples
with only one sumti. In most examples, we will underline each of the
sumti, and double underline the selbri to make the grammar clear:
ti cu stizu (1.4-1)
/tee shoo,STEE,zoo/
This-here-thing is-a-chair. (This is a chair.)
ta cu blanu (1.4-2)
/tah shoo,BLAH,noo/
That-there-thing is-blue. (That is blue.)
do cu prenu (1.4-3)
/doh shoo,PREH,noo/
You are-a-person.
le plise ku cu xunre (1.4-4)
/leh,PLEE,se,koo shoo,KHOON,reh/
The-thing-described-as an-apple is-red. (The apple is red.)
le birka ku cu bikla (1.4-5)
/leh,BEER,kah,koo shoo,BEEK,lah/
The-thing-described-as an-arm whips/is-a-whip. (The arm whips.)
The first sumti comes before the selbri. The cmavo "cu" (/shoo/) is
inserted between a preceding sumti and the selbri to make it easy to
recognize the selbri. It has no meaning at all other than as a
separator. It makes the language unambiguous, and hence easy to
understand. "cu" is a meaning-free cmavo which separates preceding
sumti from the selbri, making it easier to recognize the selbri. A
selbri can be translated into English as a noun or a verb or an
adjective as appropriate. The three English parts of speech are
expressed identically in Lojban. Now, look at some bridi with two
sumti:
do cu zutse le stizu ku (1.4-6)
/doh shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
You sit/are-a-sitter on the-thing-described-as a-chair.
(You sit on the chair.)
ko'a cu sanli le jubme ku (1.4-7)
/ko,hah shoo,SAHN,lee leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo/
He/she/it stands/is-a-stander on the-thing-described-as a-table.
(It stands on the table.)
le plise ku cu cpana le jubme ku (1.4-8)
/leh,PLEE,seh,koo shoo,SHPAH,nah leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo/
The-thing-described-as an-apple is-upon the-thing-described-as a-table.
(The apple is on the table.)
ti cu birka mi (1.4-9)
/tee shoo,BEER,kah mee/
This is-an-arm of me.
(This is my arm.)
Notice that the second sumti is placed after the selbri. This is the
normal place for the second sumti for several reasons. One obvious
one is that it makes the sentences seem natural to English speakers
like you. However, in Lojban, unlike in English, you can put the
second sumti before the selbri just like the first one. Thus the
following four sentences mean identically the same thing as the last
four:
do le stizu ku cu zutse (1.4-6a)
/doh leh,STEE,zoo,koo shoo,ZOOT,seh/
ko'a le jubme ku cu sanli (1.4-7a)
/ko,hah leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo shoo,SAHN,lee/
le plise ku le jubme ku cu cpana (1.4-8a)
/leh,PLEE,seh,koo leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo shoo,SHPAH,nah/
ti mi cu birka (1.4-9a)
/tee mee shoo,BEER,kah/
Why would you want to express a sentence in this order? For one
reason, in some languages other than English, the verb goes at the end
of the sentence. Thus, for speakers of such languages, the latter
order would be the 'natural' order of speech for sentences of this
type - they would find it easier to first learn Lojban speaking in
this order. You might also change order for emphasis. In normal
speech, words which are at the beginning and end of a sentence tend to
stand out more to a listener, and are thus emphasized. With the
selbri at the end of the sentence, it becomes relatively more
emphasized than the second sumti. No extra cmavo or commas are used
when the sentence is rearranged. As long as the first sumti is at the
beginning of the sentence and all of the sumti appear in exact order
(whether before or after the selbri), no extra cmavo are required. In
'standard' sentence order, the first sumti appears before the selbri,
and all of the remaining sumti appear after the selbri in order. This
'standard order' can be varied.
Later, you will see ways to use extra cmavo to put all of the sumti
after the selbri, as well as to mix up the order of the sumti. Now
for some sentences in 'standard' sentence order, but having more than
two sumti:
mi cu dunda le bikla ku la fred. (1.4-10)
/mee,shoo,DOON,dah leh,BEEK,lah,koo lah,frehd./
I give/am-a-giver-of the-thing-described-as a-whip to the-one-named-Fred.
I give the whip to Fred.
We will abbreviate the translation of "le" ("the-thing-described-as
...") as simply "the" to save space. As you will see later, though,
this is only one of several equivalents for English "the". Remember
to use the longer definition to truly understand the meaning of a
Lojban sentence using "le".
la .alis. cu klama le jubme ku le stizu ku ti ta (1.4-11)
/lah. AH,lees. shoo,KLAH,mah leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo leh,STEE,zoo,koo tee tah/
Alice goes/is-a-go-er to the-table from the-chair via (this-)here
by-mode-of-transport that-there.
la djan. cu tavla le prenu ku la CRlok. xolmz. la lojban. (1.4-12)
/lah,jahn. shoo,TAHV,lah leh,PREH,noo,koo lah,SHR,lohk. kholmz.
lah,LOHZH,bahn./
John talks/is-a-talker to the-person about Sherlock-Holmes in Lojban.
do cu darxi la suzn. le birka ku le cukta ku (1.4-13)
/doh shoo,DAHR,khee lah,SOO,zn. leh,BEER,kah,koo leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/
You hit/are-a-hitter-of Susan in the-arm with the-book.
These bridi could also be written in non-standard orders. For
example, the following versions of the last example all mean the same
as the original:
do la suzn. cu darxi le birka ku le cukta ku (1.4-13a)
/doh lah,SOO,zn. shoo,DAHR,khee leh,BEER,kah,koo leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/
do la suzn. le birka ku cu darxi le cukta ku (1.4-13b)
/doh lah,SOO,zn. leh,BEER,kah,koo shoo,DAHR,khee leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/
do la suzn. le birka ku le cukta ku cu darxi (1.4-13c)
/doh lah,SOO,zn. leh,BEER,kah,koo leh,SHOOK,tah,koo shoo,DAHR,khee/
For now, assume that there must always be at least one sumti (and "cu"
as a separator) prior to the selbri.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-4
larnuntoi papi'evomoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,VOH,moy/)
Part 1
Translate the following into English:
Example:
le xunre ku cu plise
/leh,KHOON,reh,koo shoo,PLEE,seh/
The red thing is an apple.
1. la. fred. cu zutse le jubme ku
/lah,FREHD. shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo/
2. mi cu dunda ti la .alis.
/mee shoo,DOON,dah,tee lah .AH,lees./
3. le sanli ku cu darxi le zutse ku le stedu ku le plise ku
/leh,SAHN,lee,koo shoo,DAHR,khee leh,ZOOT,seh,koo leh,STEH,doo,koo
leh,PLEE,seh,koo/
Part 2
Now it's your turn to use Lojban. First, let's add five new brivla to
your vocabulary. Using Appendix ***, look up each brivla, and give a
brief definition of each role, as Section 1-2.
1. botpi /BOHT,pee/
2. karce /KAHR,sheh/
3. tanxe /TAHN,kheh/
4. tuple /TOOP,leh/
5. zarci /ZAHR,shee/
Now, express the following English sentences in Lojban, using standard
sentence order. Mark the selbri and sumti of each sentence as in our
example:
Example:
The red thing is a market.
le xunre ku cu zarci
/leh,KHOON,reh,koo shoo,ZAHR,shee/
6. You are a person.
7. I stand on the apple.
8. The talker is blue.
9. That goes to the market from the blue thing via the box by (mode of
transport) the car.
Express the following English sentences in Lojban, using any
non-standard sentence order:
10. You give this to Fred.
11. The box talks to the apple about the bottle in Lojban.
____________________________________________________________________________
1.5
Place Structures and Ellipsis
terbri gi'e sumti nalnunsku (/TEHR,bree,gee,heh SOOM,tee,nahl,NOON,skoo/)
The relation expressed by the selbri "klama" involves five sumti
idea-roles. Briefly, these are the one-who-goes, the origin, the
destination, the route, and the mode of transport. All of these are
implicitly a part of "going"; you cannot "go" anywhere without, for
example, a mode of transporting yourself there. An English speaker
learns that the meaning of "goes" may involve all of these idea-roles
(and realizes that they are all involved when she/he thinks about it,
as you now are doing). An English speaker also learns that, for a
sentence based on the word "goes", that a phrase marked with "to" or
"into" is a destination, one marked with "from" or "out of" is an
origin, one marked with "in" or "using" is a mode of transport, and
one marked by "via" or "by way of" is a route. Each of these phrases
(they are called prepositional phrases in English) marked with a tag
word is similar to a Lojban sumti, though not identical in all
aspects. Since each of the tag words (prepositions) has many
different meanings when associated with other words besides "goes", an
English speaker has to learn which tag words are permitted to be
associated with each verb (you can't, for example, use a phrase marked
by "of" in a sentence with "goes"), and what they mean in that
association. An English speaker also learns the preferred order for
expressing these phrases; variations in the order are allowed, but may
sound awkward:
"John goes via the highway in his car to the store from the office." (1.5-1)
as compared to:
"John goes from the office to the store via the highway in his car." (1.5-2)
With Lojban, you learn the 'place structures' for each gismu, and
their normal order, but special} tags are NOT necessary for each sumti.
You have seen how to do rearrangements of sumti around a selbri
without tags. You will see later how to express sumti in absolutely
any order you choose with just a couple of cmavo to keep the sumti
associated with their proper idea-role in the place structure. Hint -
Memorizing place structures is not important when you are first
learning Lojban. When you were very young, you did not memorize the
complete set of phrases that could be attached to "goes" when you
first learned that word, either. When you need to know a place
structure, use your knowledge of English to determine the Lojban
idea-roles. Make an intelligent guess as to the order, usually
identical to the order you would express the same idea-roles in a
corresponding English sentence.
The concept of "going", involving five idea-roles, is the same
regardless of which language you use. Yet, we have no trouble
understanding an English speaker who says "John goes to the store".
The speaker did not identify the origin, the route, nor the mode of
transportation, even though John's "going" certainly required each of
these. Meaningful communication took place when the speaker expressed
the English sentence, even though the information was not complete.
It is necessary to be able to express such incomplete relations for
several possible reasons, including:
a. the speaker may not know the route, mode of transport, etc.;
b. the speaker may wish to conceal some or all of this information;
c. the speaker may know that some or all of the information is known
or obvious to the listener from the context;
d. the information may simply be irrelevant to the discussion.
In English, the sentence "John goes to the store." was complete and
grammatical even though information was omitted. Furthermore "John
goes to the store in his car." is similarly a complete and grammatical
sentence. Implicitly, when you learn the word "goes", you learn that
while "going" involves all five pieces of information, you can leave
some of that information out. Similarly, in Lojban, you can leave
information out that is implicitly part of a bridi relationship and
still have a grammatical sentence. Because Lojban words are defined
with specific place structures, speakers and listeners both know that
there are specific idea-roles implicit in the bridi, even if values
for those idea-roles are not expressed. The technical term for such
omitted information that is implicitly part of the relationship is
ellipsis (this is also the English word for the three dots "..." that
explicitly mark ellipsis in print, called ellipsis marks). In Lojban,
we can use the phrase "sumti nalnunsku" (/SOOM,tee,nahl,NOON,skoo/),
which means "sumti non-expression". sumti nalnunsku (sumti
nonexpression) is the Lojban phrase equivalent of ellipsis, the
omission in an expressed bridi of information which is implicitly part
of the relationship. English sentences have the equivalent of Lojban
place structures, but they are irregular, and marked by prepositions
that change meaning in each sentence. sumti nalnunsku is easily
expressed in Lojban, with several grammatical techniques available
depending on which sumti are nalnunsku. We'll demonstrate some of
these now, and some later in the lesson.
The easiest method of sumti nalnunsku is to replace an explicit value
for the sumti by a place- holder. There are two place-holder sumti
(sumti cmavo) values provided in Lojban:
zo'e /zoh,heh/ identifies the sumti as being filled by some
unspecified value, which is elliptically omitted; the speaker is
explicitly indicating that the sumti value is not being defined. The
actual value is plausible, but not necessarily a particular typical
value for the position.
zu'i /zoo,hee/ identifies the sumti as being filled by the typical
value for this idea-role that particularly fits the context, but which
is elliptically omitted.
Let's look at some examples:
la djan. cu klama le zarci ku zo'e zo'e zo'e (1.5-3)
/lah,jahn. shoo,KLAH,mah leh,ZAHR,shee,koo zoh,heh,zoh,heh,zoh,heh/
John goes to the market, from somewhere unspecified,
via some unspecified route, using some
unspecified mode of transportation.
la djan. cu klama le zarci ku ti zu'i zu'i (1.5-4)
/lah,jahn. shoo,KLAH,mah leh,ZAHR,shee,koo tee zoo,hee,zoo,hee/
John goes to the market, from somewhere unspecified, v
ia the usual route, using the usual means.
To make the second example realistic, we specified both origin and
destination. Given this knowledge, and the listener knowing something
about John's habits, the speaker can reasonably assume that the
listener can determine the typical route and means of transport to be
used, if the listener needs or wants to know. The speaker may not
even know these typical values, but in any case does not need to
specify them. In the first example, however, the speaker has only
said that John is the "go-er" and "the market" is the destination. No
inference can necessarily be made about the other sumti values; the
speaker has simply not specified them. Since Lojban is a logical
language, we can express the difference between these two sumti values
in another way. In a sentence like the first example, the omitted
sumti values represented by "zo'e" do not determine whether the
sentence is true or false. In this example, if John is going, and the
destination is the market, the sentence is true, and the omitted
values are therefore 'defined' as any values that are consistent with
the sentence being true. In the second sentence, the additional claim
is made that the values for the unspecified sumti are typical for the
position. If the sentence is not true with the typical values
inserted, the sentence is false.
zo'e sumti have no effect on the truth value of a sentence. zu'i
sumti claim that the typical value for the idea-role, although
unspecified, makes the sentence true. Some additional examples:
zo'e cu zutse le stizu ku (1.5-5)
/zoh,heh shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
Something/someone unspecified sits on the chair.
(The chair is being sat on.)
zu'i cu zutse le stizu ku (1.5-6)
/zoo,hee shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
The one who normally does, sits on the chair.
zo'e cu tuple le tanxe ku (1.5-7)
/zoh,heh shoo,TOO,pleh leh,TAHN,kheh,koo/
Something(s) unspecified is/are legs of the box.
(The box has legs.)
ti cu botpi zo'e zu'i (1.5-8)
(tee shoo,BOHT,pee zoh,heh,zoo,hee
This is a bottle containing something unspecified, made of the typical
material (glass?).
Like other sumti, "zo'e" and "zu'i" do not expressly indicate singular
or plural. If the typical value for a sumti is plural, then "zu'i"
can be translated as a plural. bridi sentences where one or more
places are unspecified are common in Lojban usage, especially in
Lojban speech. The speaker feels no need to communicate idea values
that are already known to the listener, or irrelevant to the point
being made. Usually, if sumti are omitted, they either are the
trailing sumti, as in earlier example (1.5-3):
la djan. cu klama le zarci ku zo'e zo'e zo'e (1.5-3)
/lah,jahn. shoo,KLAH,mah leh,ZAHR,shee,koo zoh,heh,zoh,heh,zoh,heh/
John goes to the market, from somewhere unspecified,
via some unspecified route, using some
unspecified mode of transportation.
or the first sumti, as in earlier example (1.5-5):
zo'e cu zutse le stizu ku (1.5-5)
/zoh,heh shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
Something/someone unspecified sits on the chair.
(The chair is being sat on.)
Lojban allows you to completely omit trailing sumti with the value
"zo'e". Thus, (1.5-3) could be more simply expressed as:
la djan. cu klama le zarci ku (1.5-3a)
/lah,jahn. shoo,KLAH,mah leh,ZAHR,shee,kooh/
John goes to the market (from somewhere unspecified,
via some unspecified route, using some
unspecified mode of transportation.)
The listener who knows that "klama" has five places in its structure
knows that the final three places have nalnunsku sumti (unexpressed
sumti) with the value "zo'e". The listener knows that the speaker
chose not to define what these three sumti values were. If it seems
important to the listener what any of those values are, the listener
can ask for further information. Hint - among the place structures,
you should concentrate on learning the first places of each brivla
first, since trailing sumti are often omitted anyway. If you want to
omit a "zo'e" in the first sumti position, and you are expressing the
bridi in the normal way, with the first sumti before the selbri and
the remaining sumti after the selbri as in example (1.5-5):
zutse le stizu ku (1.5-5a)
/ZOOT,seh leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
(Something/someone unspecified) sits on the chair.
(Sitter on the chair.)
(The chair is being sat on.)
Notice that in (1.5-5a) there are no sumti before the selbri, which is
"zutse". You may recall from the last section that any sumti
rearrangement must always keep at least the first sumti before the
selbri. Because of that rule, you can omit the first sumti in
(1.5-5a), and it is still clear that "le stizu ku" is the second sumti
of the relationship and not the first. (Notice also that the "cu" is
not present; there is nothing before the selbri to be separated.
Indeed, "cu" is not permitted unless there is a sumti expressed before
the selbri.) This special rule allowing omission of the first sumti
is important to practical use of Lojban. Recall that the words at
either end of a sentence are most strongly emphasized to the listener.
This omission places the selbri in that most important first position
of the sentence. The result:
You are walking across the street. Someone yells at you "ta karce".
You look to find the speaker to see where he/she is pointing (the only
way to tell what "ta" refers to in this context), while the car hits
you.
The alternative:
You are walking across the street. Someone yells at you "karce." You
know that the speaker considers it most important to call your
attention to the relation "karce" - there is a car you need to know
about. You look for the car, not the speaker, and thus avoid getting
hit.
"zo'e karce" would of course be grammatical, but the "zo'e" is an
distraction. Leave it out and keep the emphasis on "karce". In
English, we have a similar usage. You are seldom taught it in an
English grammar class, because it is considered 'grammtically
improper' in written English. But you would not hesitate to ponder
correct grammar in the above situation. You would call out the
warning "Car!". Similarly, upon seeing flames, you yell "Fire!"
Unlike English, Lojban considers this usage perfectly grammatical in
all situations. The convention requiring one sumti before the selbri
ensures that the sumti assignments remain unambiguous. Omitting the
first sumti in this way, resulting in the selbri coming first in the
sentence, is given the special term observative in discussions of
Lojban grammar. A Lojban word for this concept is zgabri
(/ZGAH,bree/), or roughly translated, "observer-bridi". The word
refers to the normal usage of this construction, which is that the
speaker is observing something that fits in the first sumti position,
which she/he wishes to call to your attention, without taking time to
name or de- scribe it (or wasting time with the filler-word "zo'e".
An observative, or zgabri is a bridi where the first sumti value is
left unspecified (zo'e), and there are no other sumti to the left of
the selbri. A zgabri indicates that the speaker observes the
relationship and wants to call the listener's attention to it,
emphasizing the selbri relation. The word observative also helps an
English speaker distinguish this usage from another short English
form, the imperative, or command. Lojban prevents the following from
occurring:
There has been a nearby armed robbery just before you drive up. The
policeman, not knowing you, aims a gun at you, telling you to freeze
until you can be frisked. Suddenly the building immediately behind
the officer bursts into flames. You yell "Fire!" to warn the
policeman, realizing that English is ambiguous just a bit too late.
Contrived perhaps? But such confusions can occur in English in rather
less dire circumstances. In Lojban, a command is a quite distinct
form from an observative, as we will see in a later section.
There are a few other ways to omit "zo'e" sumti that will be discussed
in later sections and lessons. It's time now for you to practice the
techniques of this section.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-5
larnuntoi papi'emumoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,MOO,moy/)
Translate the following Lojban sentences into English. Assume a
plural value for all "zo'e"s:
1. le botpi ku cu cmalu zu'i
/leh,BOHT,pee,koo shoo,SHMAH,loo zoo,hee/
2. le karce ku cu darxi mi zo'e le tuple ku
/leh,KAHR,sheh,koo shoo,DAHR,khee,mee zoh,heh leh,TOO,pleh,koo/
3. ta cu cukta zo'e zo'e zo'e
/tah,shoo,SHOOK,tah zoh,heh zoh,heh zoh,heh/
4. zo'e cu cukta
/zoh,heh shoo,SHOOK,tah/
5. blanu
/BLAH,noo/
6. sanli le jubme
/SAHN,lee,leh,ZHOOB,meh/
7. la .alis. cu klama ti tu
/lah .AH,lees. shoo,KLAH,mah,tee,too/
8. zu'i cu birka le prenu ku
/zoo,hee shoo,BEER,kah leh,PREH,noo,koo/
9. dunda ko'a mi
/DOON,dah,koh,hah,mee/
10. Which of the above sentences are observatives?
Translate the following into Lojban, with explicit values for all sumti.
11. This is a book about Sherlock Holmes.
12. Susan sits at her usual place.
13. Fred talks to John in Lojban.
14. On the table (in answer to a question about where the bottle is.)
15. People! (remark of a hermit coming out of isolation)
16. Sherlock Holmes goes from London via car.
Reconsider, for each of these six sentences, why you chose "zo'e" or
"zu'i" for the elliptical sumti values before checking your answers.
For each sentence among 11. through 16. where it is possible, rewrite
your translation omitting the nalnunsku sumti where it is permitted.
Identify which of the resulting sentences are zgabri.
17. Try to devise another English example where an observative and an
identical imperative could be confused with serious effect. (A hint
if you have no ideas - try using the word "attack".)
____________________________________________________________________________
1.6
Descriptions Using bridi
mulbricmu sumti (/mool,BREE,shmoo,SOOM,tee/)
Recall the definition of a description sumti (one marked with "le" and
"ku"). That definition stated that the selbri describes a property of
the idea being expressed. But selbri do not describe properties; they
describe relations among sumti. We can now give a better definition
and explanation. When you convert a selbri to a description sumti,
you are saying that the resulting sumti is a valid first sumti for a
bridi based on that selbri relation. Thus, for example:
le zutse ku (1.6-1)
/leh,ZOOT,seh,koo/
The sitter
can be interpreted by making the sumti the first one of a bridi based
on "zutse":
le zutse ku cu zutse (zo'e) (1.6-1a)
/leh,ZOOT,seh,koo shoo,ZOOT,seh (zoh,heh)/
______ sits (on something unspecified).
and the sumti "le zutse ku" is therefore an idea the speaker is
describing as "something that sits (on something else unspecified)".
This is roughly equivalent to "the sitter". Similarly,:
le blanu ku (1.6-2)
/leh,BLAH,noo,koo/
The blue one(s)
communicates an idea that fits into:
le blanu ku cu blanu (1.6-2a)
/leh,BLAH,noo,koo shoo,BLAH,noo/
______ is blue.
and is thus fits the description "something that is blue". (Usually,
with this type of sumti, the speaker has something specific in mind
that she/he is describing, so a better phrasing is "something I have
in mind, that I am describing as being blue". We emphasize the word
'describing' in this definition. The speaker is trying to communicate
a particular idea, and does so by describing it in terms that the
listener can use to identify that idea.) Notice that, in (1.6-1) the
description expanded to a bridi with an elliptically unspecified
sumti. The speaker's description deals only with the first place of
the bridi's place structure. The other sumti are implicitly part of
the bridi even but are not specified. By the rules described in the
last section, these sumti are interpreted as nalnunsku sumti
(elliptically-omitted sumti) with the value "zo'e"; i.e. they do not
matter to the description. But, what if they do matter?
Two people are in a room with a chair and a table. One person is
sitting in the chair; the other is sitting on the table. The one
sitting on the table starts talking.
A speaker trying to describe this situation has a problem. If she/he
expresses:
le zutse ku cu tavla le zutse ku (1.6-3)
/leh,ZOOT,seh,koo shoo,TAHV,lah leh,ZOOT,seh,koo/
The sitter talks to the sitter (about ... in language ...).
the description in each position could apply to either of the people
in the room (one person might even be talking to herself or himself).
Clearly, we need a way to incorporate the other sumti of "zutse" into
the description. As you might expect, Lojban provides a way to do
this. We tightly bind the extra sumti "into" the selbri, using the
word "be" (pronounced /beh/ and not like the English word spelled the
same way). We then end the construct with "be'o" (/beh,hoh/). Extra
sumti may be bound to a selbri for incorporation into a description
sumti. The cmavo "be" and "be'o" are used to mark these tightly-bound
sumti.
Thus, if the speaker were to point to the one sitting on the table,
he/she could use the expression:
ta cu zutse le jubme ku (1.6-4)
/tah shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo/
That (one) sits on the table.
which can be converted into a 'tightly bound' form:
ta cu zutse be le jubme ku be'o (1.6-4a)
ta cu zutse
/tah shoo,ZOOT,seh beh,leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo,beh,hoh/
That (one) is a sitter-on-the-table.
That (one) sits on the table.
(1.6-4) and (1.6-4a) are identical in meaning. You will not generally
use the form (1.6-4a), though, in Lojban speech or writing, since it
has two unnecessary words that add nothing to the sentence. But the
form (1.6-4a) is grammatical in Lojban, and serves as an intermediate
step to converting the 'completed bridi' into a more specific
description. In other words, the tightly-bound sumti is now attached
as part of the selbri, and when that selbri is surrounded with "le"
and "ku", we get our desired description sumti:
le zutse be le jubme ku be'o ku (1.6-4b)
/leh,ZOOT,seh beh,leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo beh,hoh,koo/
The sitter-on-the-table
which can then be inserted in a bridi sentence communicating which of
the two sitters is talking:
le zutse be le jubme ku be'o ku cu tavla (1.6-4c)
le zutse ku cu tavla
/leh,ZOOT,seh beh,leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo beh,hoh,koo shoo,TAHV,lah/
The sitter-on-the-table talks [to... about... in language ...].
In case there was some doubt as to who was being 'talked to', the
speaker could specify in detail:
le zutse be le jubme ku be'o ku cu tavla le zutse be le stizu ku be'o
ku (1.6-4d)
le zutse ku cu tavla le zutse ku
/leh,ZOOT,seh beh,leh,ZHOOB,meh,koo beh,hoh,koo shoo,TAHV,lah
leh,ZOOT,seh beh,leh,STEE,zoo,koo/
The sitter-on-the-table talks to the sitter-on-the-chair [about... in
language ...].
"le" and "ku" pairs surround both the 'inner sumti' attached to the
selbri in each description, as well as each entire description sumti.
An important rule in Lojban is that every "le" has a closing "ku", and
every "be" has a closing "be'o". The result is Lojban's completely
unambiguous grammar.
Occasionally, you may want to be even more specific in a description
sumti, by attaching more than one sumti to the description selbri.
Lojban allows this as well, using one additional cmavo (structure
word), "bei" (/bey/, rhyming with English "day"). "bei" is inserted
between each sumti which is to be tightly bound into the selbri. Only
one "be'o" is used, after the final bound sumti, to end the entire
construct. bei separates multiple sumti attached to a description, as
part of a set marked with be/be'o. To show the resulting form, let us
start with a bridi having two sumti to be included in a description:
ta cu darxi le stedu ku le cukta ku (1.6-5)
/tah shoo,DAHR,khee leh,STEH,doo,koo leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/
That [one] hits the head with the book [at specific locus ...].
Both trailing sumti may be tightly bound to the selbri using all three
of the cmavo "be", "bei", and "be'o":
ta cu darxi be le stedu ku bei le cukta ku be'o (1.6-5a)
ta cu darxi
/tah shoo,DAHR,khee beh,leh,STEH,doo,koo bey,leh,SHOOK,tah,koo/
That [one] is a hitter-on-the-head-with-the-book [at specific locus ...].
That [one] hits the head with the book [at specific locus ...].
And this form of the bridi can be made into a description sumti of
another bridi:
le darxi be le stedu ku bei le cukta ku be'o cu cmalu (1.6-5b)
le darxi cu cmalu
/leh,DAHR,khee beh,leh,STEH,doo,koo bey,leh,SHOOK,tah,koo shoo,SHMAH,loo/
The hitter-on-the-head-with-the-book is small.
You could attach an indefinite number of additional sumti into a
description if you wanted to, although the result gets somewhat
unwieldy. Thus, even a completely specified "klama" bridi (with five
sumti) could become a description sumti, shown schematically as:
le klama be [the destination] bei [the origin] bei [the route] bei
[the mode of transport] be'o ku (1.6-6)
You can also use any number of description sumti in the places of a
bridi. The result is a single sentence with several implied sentences
hidden inside it. Much of Lojban's expressive power comes from this
unlimited ability to 'nest' sentences inside each other in several
ways, allowing grammatically unambiguous expressions equivalent to any
English sentence, no matter how complex. By comparison, in very
complex English sentences, you can easily get confused as to how the
various phrases that make up the sentence are related. Let us
summarize the three new cmavo presented in this section:
be /beh/ Tightly binds following sumti up until a closing be'o to a
preceding selbri, to form a description usable inside a sumti.
bei /bey/ Separates multiple sumti in a "be" construct.
be'o /beh,ho/ Marks the end of sumti in a "be"-marked set to be
tightly bound to a selbri.
In Section 1.8, you will see why these are all necessary to Lojban's
unambiguous grammar.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-6
larnuntoi papi'examoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,KHAH,moy/)
Translate the following into English:
1. le cpana be le karce ku be'o ku cu tanxe
/leh,SHPAH,nah beh,leh,KAHR,sheh,koo,beh,hoh,koo shoo,TAHN,kheh/
2. tu cu stedu le cmalu be le tuple ku be'o ku
/too shoo,STEH,doo leh,SHMAH,loo beh,leh,TOOP,leh,koo,beh,hoh,koo/
3. le stedu be le senci ku be'o ku cu xunre
/leh,STEH,doo beh,leh,SEHN,shee,koo,beh,hoh,koo shoo,KHOON,reh/
4. le stedu be la fred. be'o ku cu cpana le birka be la suzn. be'o ku
/leh,STEH,doo beh,lah,frehd. beh,hoh,koo shoo,SHPAH,nah
leh,BEER,kah beh,lah,SOO,zn.
beh,hoh,koo/
5. le tavla be zo'e bei zo'e bei la lojban. be'o ku cu zutse mi
/leh,TAHV,lah beh,zoh,heh bey,zoh,heh bey,lah,LOHZH,bahn. beh,hoh,koo
shoo,ZOOT,seh,mee/
Translate the following bridi into English. Then convert the bridi
into description sumti with "be", "bei", and "be'o" inserted as
appropriate, and translate them.
Example:
ta cu darxi le xunre ku
/tah shoo,DAHR,khee leh,KHOON,reh,koo/
That hits the red thing. / That is a hitter of the red thing./
le darxi be le xunre ku be'o ku
[le darxi ku]
/leh,DAHR,khee beh,leh,KHOON,reh,koo beh,hoh,koo/
The hitter of the red thing.
6. ko'a cu zutse le tanxe ku
/koh,hah shoo,ZOOT,seh leh,TAHN,kheh,koo/
7. ko'e cu tavla mi do
/koh/heh shoo,TAHV,lah mee,doh/
8. ti cu cukta la maRIS. .antuaNET. la carl. deGOL. le prenu ku
/tee shoo,SHOOK,tah lah,mah,REES. .ahn,twah,NEHT.
lah,sharl. deh,GOHL. leh,PREH,noo,koo/
Translate the following into Lojban:
9. I hit the arm of you.
10. The sneezer stands on the book about Sherlock Holmes.
11. The box containing the whip is upon the box containing the bottle.
12. You go to the market operated by Alice which sells the boxes.
13. Giver of the small-one to John.
_________________________________________________________________________
1.7
Modification phrases as selbri
tanru (TAHN,roo)
Lojban does not limit you to individual brivla in the selbri. When
multiple brivla are put together into a selbri, the result is a
construct called a tanru. Much of Lojban's grammar relates directly
to the relationships between the words of a tanru. On the surface, a
simple tanru (two adjacent brivla) looks and acts just like two
adjacent words do in English. The first modifies or restricts the
second in a way that gives a slightly different meaning. Thus "blanu
botpi" appears very similar to the corresponding English in:
le blanu botpi ku cu cmalu (1.7-1)
/leh,BLAH,nooBOHT,pee,koo shoo,SHMAH,loo/
The blue bottle is small.
As a result of this similarity, without much understanding of the
language, you can produce a variety of grammatical Lojban sentences
based on the corresponding word groupings in English. The results
will be close, if not always identical, to your desired intent.
Complications can arise, though. In many subtle ways, Lojban tanru
differ from English modification. Let's look more closely at how the
concept is similar to, and and how it differs from, English. Firstly,
"tanru" has no English equivalent word; English does not truly use the
concept in the Lojban way. Two similar concepts from English are
metaphor and modification, but each of these words is potentially
misleading. After defining Lojban tanru, we will return to explain
how it contrasts with these English concepts. You have seen that
Lojban brivla cannot be categorized as nouns (substantive things),
verbs (actions), or adjectives (describing modifiers), the most
commonly known English word types. As selbri, they describe relations
among several sumti idea-roles. Incorporated into description sumti,
they describe the ideas that are related. When brivla join with other
brivla, the relations defining each component word in the tanru
interact. tanru are forms where two or more brivla interact in
meaning to form a more complex selbri. The grammar of such
interactions is unambiguous.
To understand what happens, let us look at the place structure of each
of the two brivla in the example above. We will use a format for
expressing place structures that makes it easier to keep track of
which idea-role goes with which brivla. The sumti places will be
numbered and prefixed with a letter or letters that refer to the
brivla that governs their relation to others in the bridi. Thus:
(1.7-2)
blanu bl1 exhibits the color blue
botpi bo1 is a bottle, containing bo2, and made of material bo3
In a tanru, the more essential place structure is that of the final
brivla, in this case "botpi". If the tanru is used as a selbri of a
sentence, the place structure of the resulting bridi will be that of
"botpi". "blanu" modifies this relation, which involves, but is not
limited to, a bottle. Specifically, the first place of "blanu" (the
only place in this case) in some way restricts the relation, so that
"blanu botpi" does not just refer to any kind of bottle, contents, and
material, but to a combination of these that in some way involves
something exhibiting the color blue. With no context clues, we can
easily see at least three ways that "blanu botpi" could meet this
restriction:
- the bottle itself could exhibit a blue color; it could be partially
or completely colored blue;
- the contents of the bottle could exhibit the color blue;
- the material that the bottle is made from could exhibit
the color blue (even if the bottle itself does not).
In addition, there is a requirement that the modifying word be
significant to understanding the relation. A bottle of sand with one
almost invisible sand grain colored blue, and all of the rest some
other color, does not fit the relation "blanu botpi", unless the
listener somehow knows that one grain is there and that the one grain
is important to the relationship being described by the speaker.
Context of course determines which of the possible meanings are meant
by the speaker. The meanings of Lojban tanru are somewhat ambiguous
in being context-dependent. The meanings are however constrained, and
the grammar rules that govern their formation are quite restricted and
completely unambiguous. Lojban allows a variety of more complex
expressions to elaborate on which of these possible interpretations of
the tanru is the intended one, in case there is uncertainty. In fact,
much of the grammar of the language involves the removal of the
ambiguity in meaning this one construct introduces. As a result, in
practice, tanru are no more ambiguous than the speaker can tolerate
while still being clear to the listener. Let's look at another tanru
with more complex place structures to see how the components interact:
(1.7-3)
botpi bo1 is a bottle containing bo2, and made of material bo3
tanxe ta1 is a box/carton containing ta2, and made of material ta3
botpi tanxe ta1 is a (bottle containing bo2, and made of material bo3)
kind-of box/carton containing ta2, and made of material ta3
The bo1 place has disappeared, as if we were turning botpi into a
description sumti. There are many grammatical similarities between
descriptions and tanru. In the tanru, the first place of the left
brivla indicates how the brivla modifies the relation expressed by the
right brivla. The resulting place structure is that of the right
brivla. The ta1 place of "botpi tanxe" is thus still a kind of box;
ta2 is still a kind of box contents, and ta3 is still a kind of box
material. In addition, something about this relationship is
constrained by the "botpi" relationship. Some possibilities:
- the box is bottle-shaped, making ta1 both a bottle and a box;
- the box contains one or more bottles;
- the box is made of one or more bottles;
- the box is the contents of one or more bottles;
- the box is the material used for making one or more bottles.
Of these, some are more plausible than others (the second seems most
likely given no context), and the last is somewhat difficult to
imagine. The speaker must make sure that the tanru and the context of
the discussion are together sufficiently explicit that the listener
has enough information to determine what relationship is being
expressed. This can involve being more explicit about the values of
the various sumti involved. Thus, if the box is made of cardboard
(ta3) and the bottle is made of glass (bo3), then the listener knows
that neither the box is made of bottles nor the bottle(s) are made of
boxes. In practice of course, the speaker and listener will usually
be able to communicate with little or no expansion of the tanru.
tanru use the place structure of their right-most brivla. There is no
restriction in which brivla are allowed to modify which other brivla.
Looking at the same two words from the last example in reverse order,
"tanxe botpi" is a relationship built on the concept of "botpi", and
restricted by "tanxe". Some possible interpretations are:
- the bottle is box-shaped, making ta1 both a box and a bottle;
- the bottle contains one or more boxes;
- the bottle is made of one or more boxes;
- the bottle is the contents of one or more boxes;
- the bottle is the material used for making one or more boxes.
In this set, it is the fourth interaction that seems most plausible in
the absence of context, although with some imagination, you can
probably think of circumstances that would indicate the other
interactions. This feature of tanru, the freedom to order things to
most clearly suit the intended meaning, is quite unlike English. It
is significantly easier to accept the idea of a 'bottle box' than that
of a 'box bottle'. Even more significant, a 'blue bottle' is both
plausible and grammatical, while *'bottle blue' is generally not. In
Lojban, "botpi blanu" is a perfectly acceptable tanru, having one
sumti place:
(1.7-4) botpi blanu bl1 is a (bottle containing bo2, and made of
material bo3) kind-of thing exhibiting the color blue.
which seems quite similar to "blanu botpi". However, the place
structure of "blanu botpi" would be different, being based on "botpi":
(1.7-5) blanu botpi bo1 is a (exhibiting the color blue) kind-of
bottle containing bo2, and made of material bo3.
"blanu botpi", in addition to plausibly referring to a blue-colored
bottle, might also suggest that the contents are blue, or that the
material the bottle is made from might be blue. "botpi blanu" is a
blue object that is in some way defined by "botpi", most likely a
bottle that is colored blue, but possibly also a blue thing that is in
a bottle, or a blue thing used as a material for a bottle. One more
example emphasizes the importance of remembering that it is the first
sumti place of the left brivla that defines the modification, while
re-emphasizing how different brivla are from English words:
(1.7-6)
tavla ta1 talks to ta2 about ta3 in language ta4
karce ka1 is a car
tavla karce ka1 is a (talker to ta2 about ta3 in language ta4) kind-of car
The tanru has the place structure of "karce", so the resulting tanru
is most certainly a kind of car. It is not a *"talk car", though, as
might be suggested by the English words associated with the two
brivla. Because the modifying brivla has a talker in the first sumti
place, a better English equivalent is "talker-car", which is similar
in English, but broader in potential meaning than the incorrect
translation "talking car". A "tavla karce" could be any of:
- a car that is a talker (i.e. a talking car);
- a car owned by a talker;
- a car driven by a talker;
- a car ridden in by a talker.
Interpretations based on other places of "tavla" are possible, such as:
- a car that is talked about by a talker;
- a car that is talked to by a talker;
and most implausibly:
- a car that is part or all of a talker's language (not the word for
the car - the car itself).
The example shows, among other things, that the modifications are not
limited to those directly implied from the modifying brivla's place
structure. Three of the more plausible meanings draw on ownership,
drivership, and ridership, attributes of a car that are not part of
the place structure defining "karce". The example shows also, that
while the modification can involve other places of "tavla" indirectly,
a talker, the first place of "tavla" still has to be involved somehow.
Let's now return to those two English equivalent words for "tanru", to
clarify how they conceptually relate to tanru. The abstract concept
of metaphor makes an excellent word for a tanru, referring to the
expansion of possible meanings resulting from bringing in other
relationships. English metaphors, however, are often figurative, they
suggest rather than state the intended meaning, often by painting
mental pictures drawing on the connotations of words rather than their
actual meanings. Lojban tanru are seldom figurative; you most often
interpret a tanru by taking it literally. "blanu botpi" shouldn't be
taken to imply that the bottle is sad, because in Lojban, "blanu"
relates to color and not to emotion. (If indeed, a bottle can be sad,
and when doing so it becomes blue, "blanu botpi" is applicable, but
this circumstance happens only in dreams and hallucinations.)
Modification also makes a good word for tanru. In English, however,
modification is assumed to be one way, whereas in Lojban, the place
structures of the two components interact. From the standpoint of
sentence structure, of course, the left brivla is modifying the right
brivla; in terms of meaning, though, the places structures of both
brivla remain intact. Let us look at the grammatical structure of a
tanru to see how this works. A tanru incorporates more than just the
two brivla. It also incorporates the trailing places of the left
brivla. As in description sumti, these trailing sumti are usually
omitted through ellipsis. When they are to be expressed, the same
grammatical form is used: tight-binding of sumti using be/bei/be'o.
Thus one can say, pointing at a car:
ta cu tavla be mi be'o karce (1.7-7)
ta cu karce
/tah shoo,TAHV,lah,beh,mee,beh,hoh,KAHR,sheh/
That is a talker-to-me kind-of car.
Such a modification occurs rarely in natural English. One of the few
examples is the phrase "faster-than-light spaceship". Still, the
terminology of metaphor and modification are useful in talking about
tanru. Thus, when we talk about elaborating on the meaning of a vague
tanru, we can call it (in English) "expanding upon the metaphor", or
possibly "clarifying the metaphor". And when we talk of the two
components of a tanru, we can call the left one (again in English) the
"modifier" and the right one the "modificand".
tanru need not be limited to two brivla terms. However, when there
are more than two terms, the tanru is analyzed in meaning by
successive paired groupings. The order of this successive evaluation
is fixed in Lojban and is a key to Lojban's claim as an unambiguous
language. Similar English situations are not unambiguous - you have
no way to determine the order of grouping without using heavily
stilted language. Combining two of our examples from above, the
English:
blue bottle box (1.7-8)
is ambiguous. Which is blue - the bottle(s) or the box? The Lojban:
blanu botpi tanxe (1.7-9)
is not. tanru are always analyzed as modifier/modificand pairs. In
other words, there is always a left side and a right side of the
tanru, and the left side modifies the right side. When there are
three or more terms in the tanru, as in (1.7-9), this left-to-right
analysis 'groups from the left'. You take the first two words,
analyze them as a 2-word tanru, and then use the results as the left
side of another modification pair, with the 3rd word as the right
side. Thus (1.7-9) is evaluated as:
(blanu botpi) tanxe (1.7-9a)
In longer tanru, normal grouping for interpretation is from left to
right. This is called left grouping. You first make the tanru "blanu
botpi", then use the result (having the place structure of "botpi") as
a modifier for "tanxe". The place structure of the entire three-part
tanru is that of "tanxe"; i.e. we are dealing with some kind of box,
its contents, and its component material:
(1.7-9b)
blanu bl1 exhibits the color blue
botpi bo1 is a bottle containing bo2, and made of material bo3
blanu botpi bo1 is a (exhibiting the color blue) kind-of bottle
containing bo2, and made of material bo3.
tanxe ta1 is a box/carton containing ta2, and made of material ta3
blanu botpi tanxe ta1 is a <(exhibiting the color blue)
kind-of bottle containing bo2, and made
of material bo3> kind-of box/carton containing ta2, and made of material ta3
In Lojban, tanru grouping is ALWAYS from left-to-right, unless there
are certain cmavo present that explicitly modify the grouping order.
We will discuss the ways you can alter left-to- right grouping in
later lessons.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-7
larnuntoi papi'ezemoi (/lahr,NOON,toy PAH,pee,heh,ZEH,moy/)
Analyze the place structures of the following tanru after the manner
of example (1.7-3).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
For each of the tanru above, give at least three plausible
interpretations for the tanru.
Translate the following into understandable Lojban tanru.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
For each tanru above, give at least two alternative interpretations
besides the one you translated.
____________________________________________________________________________
1.8
Lojban - An Unambiguous Language
We have several times described Lojban as an 'unambiguous' language.
Yet we have just presented tanru, a construct that is basic to Lojban,
as a language feature that is extremely ambiguous in meaning. Let us
briefly explain what we mean in calling Lojban 'unambiguous'.
Far more than any other language, Lojban draws a firm line separating
the meaning of a word from its 'grammar', the way that it interacts
with other words to form sentences. With Lojban, you need not know
what a word 'means', in order to figure out those interactions. You
can tell by the word's position, and its membership in one of a small
number of categories of words (somewhat like the 'parts of speech'
that you were perhaps taught in learning English grammar). One of
these categories - indeed the largest one - is brivla, the words used
to express relations. If you know that a word is a brivla, you know
that it can form tanru, be used in selbri and descriptions based on
those selbri. You know that it has a fixed place structure. And you
know, even without knowing what each idea-role in the place structure
means, which sumti in a sentence go in each place. This is not true
for English or for any other language. There are so many interactions
among words and exceptions in how each English word relates to its
normal 'part of speech', that the rules for each word are subtly
different from every other word. Indeed, speakers of English in
different parts of the United States, or from other English speaking
countries, may have different rules from each other for the same word.
It is a wonder that people speaking English can understand each other.
(Indeed, English-speakers from some Asian and African countries
normally speak a variety of English that a North American or British
speaker would find extremely hard to understand.) Lojban grammar
rules operate without exception, and this makes it easier to
concentrate on the meanings of the words themselves. Using tanru it
is possible to express extremely subtle differences in meaning quite
clearly in spite of the ranges of interpretation of tanru. By
expressing additional place structure values within a tanru, or by
using certain forms that we will cover later, you can be as specific
as you wish, to avoid the problems of ambiguity. Yet even at its
worst, tanru ambiguity is mild compared to comparable ambiguities in
English. For example, given the English phrase "pretty little girls
school", you should be able to find several possible interpretations.
You will NOT, however, without considerable context, know whether it
is the girls or the school that is/are little (or both?). Moreover
you will not know whether the school is pretty, the girls are pretty,
or the word "pretty" is being used to modify "little" in a way totally
unrelated to beauty. It turns out that there are as many as two dozen
interpretations possible based solely on the interactions of the
words; you will be lucky to think of ten of these without some
systematic analysis. Allowing for the dual meaning of "pretty" when
it interacts with "little", the number of possibilities becomes much
larger. Imagine if the speaker has an interpretation in mind that is
not one that you naturally think of. You would fail to understand the
speaker's intent, but in addition might misunderstand by incorrectly
choosing the most plausible meaning among those that you do think of.
In Lojban, each of those two dozen interactions are expressed
differently. The simplest form, with no extra cmavo, groups in pairs
from the left as described in the last section. This gives:
<(pretty little) girls> school
a school for girls that are beautifully little
The special meaning of "pretty" interacting with "little" that does
not imply beauty would not even be possible using the normal Lojban
word for "pretty" - you would use a different Lojban word for that
different meaning.
Lojban is unambiguous in other ways beyond the grouping of tanru.
Within a sentence, you know exactly when partial-sentence phrases
(like selbri and sumti) start and end. As we earlier noted, all sumti
that start with "le" (descriptions) end with "ku". sumti attached to
a selbri in tightly-bound form with "be" end the construct with "bei".
Always knowing where all the pieces of a sentence start and end means
that you understand moderately complex sentences more easily without
confusion. As an example, you overhear part of an English sentence
spoken in another room:
"John walked over to the window by Mary and ..."
These more complex sentences in turn allows a Lojban speaker to
express finer distinctions in meaning clearly; such a speaker can also
express ideas that require much more complicated structure and expect
to be understood. Most of us have been confused in reading a
government regulation or a legal document that uses very precise
English and very complicated sentences. A Lojban sentence of equal
complexity would be much easier to understand.
1.9
Where's The selbri?
1.10
Conversion
1.11
Questions
1.12
Abstractions
1.13
What Comes Next?
1.14
Summary
1.15
Word List for this Lesson
bikla /BEE,klah/ x1 whips/lashes [a sudden violent motion]
birka /BEER,kah/ x1 is a/the arm [body-part] of x2;
[metaphor: branch with strength]
blanu /BLAH,noo/ x1 is blue [color adjective]
botpi /BOHT,pee/ x1 is a bottle/jar/urn/closable container for x2,
made of material x3 with lid x4
cmalu /SHMAH,loo/ x1 is small in property/dimension(s) x2 (ka)
as compared with standard/norm x3
cpana /SHPAH,nah/ x1 is upon/atop/resting on/lying on
[the upper surface of] x2 in frame of reference x3
cukta /SHOOK,tah/ x1 is a book about subject/theme x2
by author x3 for audience x4 preserved in medium x5
darxi /DAHR,xee/ x1 hits/strikes/[beats] x2 with instrument
[or body-part] x3 at locus x4
dunda /DOON,dah/ x1 [donor] gives/donates gift/present x2
to recipient/beneficiary x3
jubme /ZHOOB,meh/ x1 is a table/flat solid upper surface
of material x2, supported by legs/base/pedestal x3
karce /KAHR,sheh/ x1 is a car/truck [a wheeled motor vehicle]
for carrying x2, propelled by x3
klama /KLAH,mah/ x1 comes/goes to destination x2
from origin x3 via route x4 using means/vehicle x5
plise /PLEE,seh/ x1 is an apple [fruit] of species/strain x2
prenu /PREH,noo/ x1 is a person/people (noun)
[not necessarily human]; x1 displays personality/a persona
sanli /SAHN,lee/ x1 stands [is vertically oriented]
on surface x2 supported by limbs/support/pedestal x3
senci /SEN,shee/ x1 sneezes [intransitive verb]
stedu /STEH,doo/ x1 is a/the head [body-part] of x2;
[metaphor: uppermost portion]
stizu /STEE,zoo/ x1 is a chair/stool/seat/bench
tanxe /TAHN,kheh/ x1 is a box/carton/trunk for contents x2,
and made of material x3
tavla /TAHV,lah/ x1 talks/speaks to x2 about subject x3
in language x4
tuple /TOO,pleh/ x1 is a/the leg [body-part] of x2;
[metaphor: supporting branch]
xunre /KHOON,reh/ x1 is red/crimson/ruddy [color adjective]
zarci /ZAHR,shee/ x1 is a market/store/exchange/marketplace
selling x2, operated by/with participants x3
zutse /ZOO,tseh/ x1 sits [assumes sitting position] on surface x2
la djan. /lah,jahn./
la fred. /lah,frehd./
la suzn. /lah,SOO,znn./
la .alis. /lah .AH,lees./
la .iunaitydsteits. /lah .yoo,NAI,tuhd,steyts./
la DO'itclynt. /lah,DOH,heetch,luhnt./
la lojban. /lah,LOHZH,bahn./
la nu,IORK. /lah,noo,YOHRK./
la LNdn. /lah,LNN,dnn./
la CRlok. xolmz. /lah,SHRR,lohk. khohlmz./
la maRIS. .antuaNET. /lah,mah,REES. .ahn,twah,NEHT./
la carl. deGOL. /lah,shahrl. deh,GOHL./
la .astral,ias. /lah .ahs,TRAHL,yahs./
la nedrlynt. /lah,NEH,drr,luhnt./
mi /mee/ identifies the speaker (and sometimes others that
she/he is speaking for) as a sumti
do /doh/ identifies the person(s) being spoken to as a sumti
ko'a /ko,hah/ identifies some specific person or persons,
or some thing or things, as a sumti.
"ko'a" thus corresponds to English "he", "she", "it", and "they".
ko'e /ko,heh/ is identical to "ko'a", but is available
to identify a different sumti when "ko'a" is already in use.
ti /tee/ identifies this thing 'here' that the speaker
is pointing to (or otherwise specifically indicating)
as a sumti. "ti" can be used in several places in the
same sentence; you can indicate something different
each time you use it in a sentence.
ta /tah/ identifies that thing 'there' (usually further away from "mi"
than "ti") that the speaker is pointing to (or otherwise specifically
indicating) as a sumti. Like "ti", "ta" can be used in several places
in the same sentence, and you can indicate something different each
time you use it. You can also use "ti" and "ta" together to keep the
relative distance clear.
tu /too/ identifies that thing 'yonder' (usually further away from
both "mi" and "do" than both are from "ta") that the speaker is
pointing to (or otherwise specifically indicating) as a sumti. Like
"ti" and "ta", "tu" can be used in several places in the same
sentence.
la /lah/
le /leh/
ku /koo/
cu /shoo/
ke /keh/
ke'e /keh,heh/
zo'e /zoh,heh/ identifies the sumti as being filled by some
unspecified value, which is elliptically omitted; the speaker is
explicitly indicating that the sumti value is not being defined. The
actual value is plausible, but not necessarily a particular typical
value for the position.
zu'i /zoo,hee/ identifies the sumti as being filled by the typical
value for this idea-role that particularly fits the context, but which
is elliptically omitted.
be /beh/ Tightly binds following sumti up until a closing be'o to a
preceding selbri, to form a description usuable inside a sumti.
bei /bey/ Separates multiple sumti in a "be" construct.
be'o /beh,ho/ Marks the end of sumti in a "be"-marked set to be
tightly bound to a selbri.
Part II
Learning Lojban
nu cilre la lojban.
/noo,SHEEL,reh lah,LOHZH,bahn./
This part of the textbook contains 21 lessons. These lessons are
shorter than the initial lesson. Using a minimum of memorized
vocabulary, the basic concepts of the language and its grammar are
discussed in some depth. Part II goes into more depth on the basic
concepts of the language. Many examples are presented, with
explanations that show the variety of grammatical expressions that can
be elaborated from the basic sentence structure. The exercises are
more challenging than in Part I, requiring the student to look up
words in the Appendix, and produce sentences illustrating the points
covered.
Lesson 2 - Pronunciation
Lesson 3 - Names & Vocatives
Lesson 4 - Conversation
Lesson 5 - Place Structures
Lesson 6 - Place Structure Exercise
Lesson 7 - bridi
Lesson 8 - Attitudinal Indicators
Lesson 9 - Abstraction
Lesson 10 - Numbers
Lesson 11 - *** More Numbers
Lesson 12 - Questions
Lesson 13 - tanru
Lesson 14 - tanru and Metaphor
Lesson 15 - Tenses
Lesson 16 - Elision
Lesson 17 - Relative Clauses
Lesson 18 - *** More Relative Clauses
Lesson 19 - Descriptions
Lesson 20 - "The Date"
Lesson 21 - selgadri sumti
Lesson 22 - seltcita sumti
1 This can be seen by looking at the Lojban for the three examples:
la. .alis. cu catlu la djein. (1.1-1)
la. .alis. cu cmamau la djein. (1.1-2)
la .alis. cu mensi la djein. (1.1-3)
2 The asterisk in front of a block of text is used to mark an English
or Lojban sentence that is incorrect for some reason.
3 Examples include "I sit" vs. "John sits", the past tense "I sat",
the usually regular plural ending "-s" or "-es" (but "foot"/"feet" and
"mouse"/"mice", and "deer"/"deer"), and the possessive ending
"John"/"John's" (but differing for plurals "the cats"/"the cats'").
Lojban uses none of these inflections.
4 Not to be confused with the grammatical jargon term predicate, which
is something else entirely. This book uses Lojban terms instead of
English jargon precisely to avoid such confusion.
5 The period in the spelling and pronunciation guides means that you
must pause between the two adjacent syllables to make sure that they
don't slur together. The pause can be extremely short - in which case
it is called a glottal stop. A glottal stop is the break formed when
you say "go over" without slurring the words together.