Lesson 8
bimoi seltadni
Attitudinal Indicators
selcinmo selsku
8.1
Not everything expressed in Lojban is a bridi or a sumti or selbri
within one. There are other things that can be stuck into sentences
with varying amounts of freedom. We have actually seen several things
so far that are unrelated to bridi:
- vocatives, and vocative markers including:
- coi, co'o and coico'o;
- pe'u, fi'i, ki'e, and ke'o;
- doi;
- clarification request with ki'a;
- the eraser words si, sa, and su.
"vau" is considered part of a bridi (specifically, a terminator of
one), even though it is neither part of a selbri, nor is it a sumti.
We now introduce another type of insert called an 'attitudinal
indicator'. Attitudinal indicators are part of selma'o UI, named of
course after .ui, which is one of the common indicators.
Specifically, all cmavo of VV or V'V form are attitudinal indicators
within selma'o UI. (Indicators are usually written with the period
representing the pause that is always required before a vowel initial
word - unless you've already paused for another reason.) This is one
of the few cases where cmavo can be classified completely based on
their form.
Note that there are 39 of these attitudinal indicators: all 25
possible combinations of V'V, the four standard diphthong VV pairs
(.ai, .au, .ei, .oi), and the ten VV pairs that are permitted in
diphthongs only in these attitudinal indicators and in names (.ia,
.ie, .ii, .io, .iu, .ua, .ue, .ui, .uo, .uu).
Members of selma'o UI do not all express attitude, but all that will
be presented in this lesson either express attitudes or question
attitudes in others. ki'a is a member of selma'o UI because its
grammar is identical; while it indicates some type of confusion, it is
not really thought of as an attitude indicator because it is not of
the same form as the others.
As with all selma'os, however, all members of UI have identical
grammars - they can be used in the same way in the same places. In
the case of UI, there isn't a lot to say about the grammar. A member
of UI can go anywhere. UI is not allowed to interfere with a quote or
eraser word, which take precedence, but otherwise an individual UI is
virtually without grammar.
We aren't going to go through all 39 attitudinal indicators at this
time. You have plenty of vocabulary to work on. We will instead
limit ourselves to the 12 most useful indicators and the attitude
question word pei.
A list of the indicators for this lesson follow:
.ai (intent) indicates that the speaker intends
that the referent (have been true), be true or become
true; 'Aye aye!'
.au (desire) indicates that the speaker wants the referent to
have been true, to be true or to become true
.a'o (hope) indicates that the speaker hopes that the referent
was true, is true or becomes true
.ei (obligation) indicates that the speaker feels a sense of
obligation that the referent was true, is true or
becomes true
.e'a (permission) indicates that the speaker permits or allows
that the referent was true, is true or becomes true
.e'o (petition) indicates that the speaker is asking or
petitioning someone that the referent be true or
become true
.e'u (suggestion) indicates that the speaker suggests (to
someone) that the referent was true, is true or
becomes true
.ia (belief) indicates that the speaker has faith or believes,
with or without supporting evidence, experience, or
knowledge, that the referent was true, is true, or
will be true; German 'ja', 'yes'
.ie (agreement) indicates that the speaker agrees, regardless
of evidence, experience, knowledge, or belief, that
the referent was true, is true, or will be true; 'yes'
.i'e (approval) indicates that the speaker feels or wishes to
express approval (usually towards the listener but not
necessarily), inspired by the referent whether true or
not
.oi (pain/complaint) indicates that the speaker is in pain or
distress (physical or otherwise), or wishes to
complain about the referent having been true, being
true, or going to be true; 'Oy vay!'
.ua (discovery) indicates that the speaker has just discovered
the truth of the referent; 'Wow!', 'Wah!', 'Ah ha!'
.ue (surprise) indicates that the speaker is surprised that
the referent was, is, or will be true; 'Well!'
.ui (happiness) indicates that the speaker is happy that the
referent was, is, or will be true; 'Wheee!
.uu (pity) indicates that the speaker feels sorry for someone,
or is sorry that the referent was, is, or will be
true; 'Ooooh!'
.u'u (repentance) indicates that the speaker regrets or
repents that the referent was, is, or will be true;
'Ooooh!'
The definitions are probably a little confusing, so let us explore
what they mean, using .ui itself as an example.
First of all, we note that a sentence is generally (though not
always), a statement or assertion of truth. Lojban, as a logical
language, places great weight on being able to ease the determination
of truth or falsity of an assertion. It is assumed, therefore, that
unless modified in some way, a bridi sentence is always a statement or
assertion of truth.
Our emotions and attitudes are not always presumed to be subject to
logic in this manner. Truly, we can express emotions as statements or
assertions: "I am happy about ..."; for this purpose, there are brivla
corresponding to each attitudinal indicator. These assertions
indicate a real world manifestation of the attitude.
Often, however, the attitude just 'comes out'. In English, we have a
whole series of sounds or short expressions, as well as many clues
hidden in the intonation of the sentence, as to how we are feeling.
We can act out or fake these sounds and expressions, but they are not
assertions about the real world. When they aren't acted out, they are
manifestations of the world inside our minds, which is not necessarily
in agreement with reality. We can be happy about sad events,
surprised at the ordinary. A good actor/actress, in order to be
convincing, must internalize these attitudes as if they were actually
being felt.
Every language spoken by human beings has indicators of attitude that
are to some extent beyond grammar. Contrary to common belief, in most
cases these attitudes are expressed differently in different
languages. Lojban, which does not allow tone of voice to carry
information, must therefore use a slightly different set of indicators
than does English. A Lojban question need not be asked with rising
tone, nor does a rising tone necessarily indicate a question.
Because Lojban is a designed language, an attempt was made to
systematize the sounds and their usage. In actual usage, we probably
won't follow these rules exactly. But the system allows the
communication of internal emotion on a separate track from the logical
truth value of the statements we make. This is so natural to language
that it is believed that the rules can be internalized to some extent.
(Native Lojban speakers would presumably internalize them completely,
but there are none of these as of yet.)
While Lojban indicators are independent of grammar, the grammar,
however, affects how UI members must be interpreted. When a UI cmavo
appears at the beginning of a sentence (after the ".i" in a
continuation sentence), it is taken to indicate an attitude about, or
otherwise refer to, the whole sentence. If a UI cmavo appears
anywhere else in a sentence, it interacts with whatever is the
previous word, for purposes of interpretation. In most cases, this
means that the UI expresses an attitude about the individual word or
its meaning in the context of the surrounding sentence.
Thus:
.ui le prenu ku cu klama means that we are happy about:
the fact that the person is coming
le .ui prenu ku cu klama means that we are happy about:
the person that we have in mind, who
is coming
le prenu .ui ku cu klama means that we are happy about:
the personhood of the person who is
coming
le prenu ku .ui cu klama means that we are happy about:
the person who is coming
le prenu ku cu .ui klama means that we are happy about:
the fact that the person is coming
le prenu ku cu klama .ui means that we are happy about:
the coming-ness of the person who is
coming
An indicator attached to "ku", which marks the end of a grammatical
structure, applies to the entire grammatical structure. But "cu" does
not mark the end of a structure. Instead, an indicator attached to
"cu" applies to the entire selbri, which in this sentence is simply
the brivla "klama".
It perhaps can be seen that ".ia" and ".ie" benefit considerably more
from the capability to narrow the scope of an indicator to a piece of
a sentence instead of the whole sentence. But when it is desired, any
of the indicators can apply to any piece of the sentence, just as was
demonstrated for ".ui" above.
To get a better feel for indicators, it may be easier at first to
explore their English equivalent. You can see the effects of
attitudinal indicators in English by choosing the right English
indicators. For example, try a typical length English sentence,
inserting the phrase 'I hope', or 'God forbid (with emphasis)' in each
of the possible word slots in the sentence. The results will be
similar to the above ".ui" example.
Note that indicators must be assumed to match the bridi, which thus
far always has unspecified tense. Some of the interpretations become
strange with certain tenses, but are still permitted.
Some of the indicators have proven easier to learn or more natural for
English speakers, in some cases because we have a convenient cognate
or similar expression in our own language. The ones in this lesson
are among the easiest and most useful, and will allow you to start to
gain the flavor of these bits of language that we so seldom think
about, but which perform so much of human communication.
8.2
Attitudinal Questions
selcinmo preti
The attitudinal question "pei" is most simply translated as: "How do
you feel about?". However, if you look at the range of possible
attitudinal responses, some common sense must be used in determining
how to answer "pei". The answer, of course, should be one that goes
would go in the place of "pei" in the sentence and cover the scope
indicated by that position.
Beyond this, one must consider the circumstances of the conversation.
If someone is expressing a train of thought, "pei" indicates the range
of "Do you understand?", "Do you agree?", and "Do you like the way
this train of thought is leading?" Answering ".au" would be
irrelevant in most such cases, and somewhat distracting. More
appropriate would be ".ia", ".ie", "ki'a", or ".ui".
If someone brings a statement up without mentioning supporting
evidence, "pei" indicates "Did you know?" or "Would you believe?", and
would tend to be respond to with ".ia" or ".ie", or possibly ".ua" or
".ue".
Responding to an idea, suggestion, or proposal, on the other hand,
with ".ia" would be upsetting. ".ie" might sometimes be acceptable,
but ".ai", ".au", and ".a'o", or possibly ".oi" would be better
answers in most circumstances.
Experiment with the attitudinals and look at the examples that follow.
They are among the easiest words to learn in Lojban, and their
creative use can be most enriching.
8.3
Examples
mupli
8.3.1
la rik. cu cusku:
la .alis. cu pendo mi .i la'edi'u cu xamgu
Alice is-a-friend of me. The-referent-of-the-last-sentence is-good.
.i mi cu nelci la .alis. .i la fred. cu nelci la .alis.
I like Alice. Fred likes Alice.
.i mi cu xebni la fred. la'edi'u
I hate Fred for the-referent-of-the-last-sentence.
.i .i'a la'edi'u cu palci
(Belief) The-referent-of-the-last-sentence is-evil.
.i .ai mi cu na bradi la Fred.
(Intent) I am not an-enemy of Fred.
8.3.2
rik.: zo dinju cu valsi ma
"dinju" is-a-word meaning what?
.i .o'i mi cu na morji zo'e zo dinju
(Annoyance) I don't remember (something) about "dinju".
alis.: le dinju ku cu se kumfa .i le dinju ku cu se loldi
The building has-a-room [is be-roomed?]. The building has-a-floor.
rik.: .uu mi cu na jimpe di'u
(Regret) I don't understand the-previous-sentence.
alis.: .a'o mi cu ciksi .i pei ti cu kumfa ku
(Hopefully) I explain. How-do-you-feel-about this is-a-room?
rik.: .ie ti cu kumfa
Agreement: this is a room.
alis.: ti cu kumfa le dinju ku
This is-a-room of the building.
rik.: .ua mi cu jimpe .i ti cu loldi le dinju ku
(Eureka) I understand. This is-a-floor of the building.
.i ta cu bitmu le dinju ku
That is-a-wall of the building.
alis.: .ui do cu jimpe
(Happily) you understand.
rik.: .i tu cu vorme le dinju ku
That yonder is-a-door of the building.
.i ta cu canko le dinju ku
That is-a-window of the building.
alis.: .oi .i ko cu sisti le savru ku
(Complaint). Stop the noise!
8.3.3
djos.: ko cu lebna le bunre ku pe'u doi rik.
Take the brown-thing, please Rick.
rik.: mi cu na kakne .i le bunre ku cu vorme .i le bunre ku cu barda
I can't. The brown-thing is-a-door. The brown-thing is-big.
djos.: ko cu lebna le bunre ku pe'u doi .alis.
Take the brown-thing, please Alice.
alis.: le ki'a bunre
The (clarify which "the") brown-thing?
djos.: le bunre ku cu nenri le tanxe ku
The brown-thing is-in the box.
alis.: mi cu lebna le bunre ku .i le bunre ku cu cukta
I take the brown-thing. The brown-thing is-a-book.
djos.: ko cu dunda le bunre ku la Rik.
Give the brown-thing to Rick.
alis.: .u'u le cukta ku cu farlu .i le cukta ku cu cnita le stizu ku
(Regret) The book falls. The book is-beneath the chair.
rik.: le cukta ku cu jibni mi .i mi cu cpacu le cukta ku le loldi ku
The book is-near me. I get the book from the floor.