Because of the volume of queries about Loglan/Lojban, I've devised a heavily
abridged version of our introductory brochure, suitable for posting here on
occasion. Comments are appreciated. Feel free to repost or redistribute.
Lojban (/LOZH-bahn/) is a constructed language. Originally called
"Loglan" by project founder Dr. James Cooke Brown, who started the language
development in 1955, the language goals were first described in the article
"Loglan" in Scientific American, June, 1960. Loglan/Lojban has been built
over three decades by dozens of workers and hundreds of supporters, led since
1987 by The Logical Language Group.
There are many artificial languages, but Loglan/Lojban has been engi-
neered to make it unique in several ways. The following are the main fea-
tures of Lojban:
o Lojban is designed to be used by people in communication with each other,
and possibly in the future with computers.
o Lojban is designed to be culturally neutral.
o Lojban grammar is based on the principles of logic.
o Lojban has an unambiguous grammar.
o Lojban has phonetic spelling, and unambiguous resolution of sounds into
words.
o Lojban is simple compared to natural languages; it is easy to learn.
o Lojban's 1300 root words can be easily combined to form a vocabulary of
millions of words.
o Lojban is regular; the rules of the language are without exception.
o Lojban attempts to remove restrictions on creative and clear thought and
communication.
o Lojban has a variety of uses, ranging from the creative to the scien-
tific, from the theoretical to the practical.
Why was Lojban developed? - Lojban was originally designed for the pur-
pose of supporting research on a concept known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis:
"the structure of a language constrains the thinking of people using that
language". Lojban allows the full expressive capability of a natural lan-
guage, but differs in structure from other languages in major ways. This al-
lows its use as a test vehicle for scientists studying the relationships be-
tween language, thought, and culture.
Other uses for Lojban - Lojban was designed as a human language, and not
as a computer language. It is therefore intended for use in conversation,
reading, writing, and thinking. However, since Lojban can be processed by a
computer much more easily than can a natural language, Lojban-based computer
applications are a natural expectation. Due to its unambiguous grammar and
simple structure, it can be easily parsed by computers, making it possible
for Lojban to be used in the future for computer-human interaction, and per-
haps conversation. Lojban's predicate structure is similar to AI, suggesting
it as a powerful tool in AI processing, especially in the storing and pro-
cessing of data about the world and people's conceptions of it. Linguists
are interested in Lojban's potential as an intermediate language in computer-
aided translation of natural languages. Other people are interested in Loj-
ban as an international language.
The Lojban design - Lojban's character set uses only standard keyboard
keys; capitalization is rare; punctuation is spoken as words. Written lan-
guage corresponds exactly to the sounds of the spoken language; spelling is
phonetic and unambiguous, and the flowing sounds of the language break down
uniquely into words. These features make computer speech recognition and
transcription more practical. Learning to write and spell Lojban is trivial.
Lojban's predicate grammar was derived from that of formal logic. Loj-
ban sentences are stated as sets of arguments tied together by predicates.
These predicate structures can be used to express 'non-logical' thought; lo-
gicians are able to analyze all manner of verbal expressions by converting
them into predicate notation. But while Lojban will already be expressed in
a predicate-based system, allowing easy logical analysis, it also contains
the wide variety of elements found in natural language for expression of at-
titudes, emotions, and rich metaphor.
Lojban has none of the standard parts of speech. Lojban's 'predicate
words' can serve as the equivalent of a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.
Action and existence are equally accessible to a speaker; the distinction can
be ignored, or can be explicitly expressed. A variety of operators deal with
abstractions such as events, states, properties, amounts, ideas, experience,
and truth, and with at least four pre-defined varieties of causality.
Lojban has no mandatory inflections and declensions on nouns, verbs, and
adjectives. Natural languages evolved such variations to reduce ambiguity as
to how words are related in a sentence. Evolutionary development made these
inflections and declensions highly irregular and thus difficult to learn.
The simple but flexible predicate relationship erases both the irregularity
and the declensions.
Tense and location markers (inflections), adverbs, and prepositions are
combined into one part of speech. New preposition-like forms can be built at
will from predicates; these allow the user to expand upon a sentence by at-
taching and relating clauses not normally implied in the meaning of a word.
Numbers and quantifiers are conceptually expanded from natural lan-
guages. "Many", "enough", "too much", "a few", and "at least" are among con-
cepts that are expressed as numbers in Lojban. Core concepts of logic, math-
ematics, and science are built into the root vocabulary. On top of the core
concepts of predicate logic, Lojban adds in non-logical constructs that do
not affect or obscure the logical structure, allowing communications that are
not amenable to logical analysis. For example, Lojban has a full set of emo-
tional indicators, similar to such ejaculations in English as "Oh!", "Aha!",
and "Wheee!", except that each has a specific meaning. Similarly, Lojban has
indicators of the speaker's relationship to what is said, similar to those
found in some American Indian languages.
Lojban supports metalinguistic discussion about the sentences being spo-
ken while remaining unambiguous. Lojban also supports a 'tense' logic that
allows extreme specificity of time and space relationships, even those im-
plied by time travel. Lojban's grammar is designed to support unambiguous
statement of mathematical expressions and relations in a manner compatible
both with international usage and Lojban's non-mathematical grammar.
Lojban is much simpler than natural languages. Its grammar is compara-
ble in complexity with the current generation of computer languages (such as
ADA). Lojban's pronunciation, spelling, word formation, and grammar rules
are fixed, and the language is free of exceptions to these rules.
Current status and usage - The language, then called "Loglan", was
first described in the 1950's, by Dr. James Cooke Brown. The 1960 Scientific
American article "Loglan" was his call for assistance in developing the lan-
guage. A revolution in linguistics was simultaneously taking place; the re-
sulting increase in knowledge of the nature of language changed the require-
ments for Loglan. The first widely distributed Loglan dictionary and lan-
guage description did not appear until 1975; this description was incomplete,
and continued development work discouraged learning the language. Computers
caught up with Loglan just then, making it possible to refine the grammar,
eliminate ambiguity and mathematically prove its absence; this work has just
been completed. For over 35 years, this work has been performed by volun-
teers, and without financial support. Now, after several versions of the
language, people are learning and using the current version, which is the
first called "Lojban" (from the roots "logical-language" in Lojban).
This version is the first version with a stable vocabulary, and the
first to have a stable and completely defined grammar (the grammar of mathe-
matical expressions, for example, was not developed until 1990). The basic
Lojban vocabulary was baselined (stabilized against change) in the last half
of 1988, and the grammar similarly stabilized in late-1990, after completion
of the first Lojban courses, actual usage of the language, and several itera-
tions of careful analysis. Thus, while the language was first started 35
years ago, Loglan/Lojban is a very new language.
To ensure Lojban remains stable while people learn it, the language def-
inition is prescribed and closely controlled. When the number of speakers
has grown significantly, and a Lojban literature has developed, Lojban will
be treated like a natural language and allowed to grow and flourish without
constraint, as do other natural languages.
Original text and poetry has been written in Lojban, and some has been
translated into the language. Lojban's powerful metaphor structure allows
building new concepts into words easily, as needed. A Lojban speaker doesn't
need a dictionary to use and understand millions of words that can poten-
tially exist in the language.
There are about 800 people on our mailing lists, including about 120
listed as actively trying to learn the language. One or two dozen of these
have demonstrated communicative ability to use the language in conversation,
translation, or original writing, although none are yet fluent. Several of
these regularly get together in the Washington DC area for conversation, and
an annual meeting/mini-convention is held there in late June. This progress
is remarkable since there is no dictionary for the current language, and a
textbook being written exists only in partial draft form; we've evolved meth-
ods of teaching the language at a distance that overcome this handicap.
Lojban's unambiguity - Lojban has an unambiguous grammar (proven by com-
puter analysis of a formal grammar with YACC), pronunciation, and morphology
(word forms). The person who reads or hears a Lojban sentence is never in
doubt as to what words it contains or what roles they play in the sentence.
Lojban has no words that sound alike but have different meanings (like "herd"
and "heard"), that have multiple unrelated meanings ("set"), or that differ
only in punctuation but not in sound (like the abominable "its" and "it's").
There is never any doubt about where words begin and end ("cargo shipment"
can be heard as 2, 3, or 4 words). The function of each word is clear; there
is nothing like the English "Time flies like an arrow.", in which any of the
first three words could be the verb. Precision in no way confines the mean-
ing of a Lojban sentence. It is possible to speak nonsense, to tell a lie,
or to be misunderstood. You can be very specific, or you can be intention-
ally vague. Your hearer may not understand what you meant, but will always
understand what you said.
Lojban is NOT entirely unambiguous; human beings occasionally desire to
be ambiguous in their expressions. In Lojban, this ambiguity is limited to
semantics, metaphor, and intentional omission of information (ellipsis). Se-
mantic ambiguity in language results because words in natural languages rep-
resent families of concepts rather than individual meanings, often with only
weak semantic relationships to each other. In addition, each individual's
personal experiences provide emotional connotations to words. By providing a
fresh, culturally-neutral start, Lojban attempts to minimize the transference
of these associations as people learn the language. By intention, most Loj-
ban words do not closely resemble corresponding words in other languages; the
differences aid in making this fresh start possible. Lojban's powerful
metaphor and word-building features make it easy to make fine distinctions
between concepts, discouraging individual words from having families of mean-
ings. Lojban metaphors are themselves ambiguous, specifying a relationship
between concepts, but not what the relationship is. That relationship can be
made explicit using unambiguous logical constructs if necessary, or can be
left vague as the speaker (usually) desires. Similarly, portions of the log-
ical structure of a Lojban expression can be omitted, greatly simplifying the
expression while causing some ambiguity. Unlike in the natural languages,
though, this ambiguity is readily identified by a reader or listener. Thus
all ambiguity in Lojban is constrained and recognizable, and can be clarified
as necessary by further interaction.
Lojban and Sapir-Whorf - This hypothesis states that the structure of a
language constrains thought in that language, and constrains and influences
the culture that uses it. In other words, if concepts or structural patterns
are difficult to express in a language, the society and culture using the
language will tend to avoid them. Individuals might overcome this barrier,
but the society as a whole will not. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is impor-
tant, and controversial; it can be used as a sociological argument to justify
or to oppose racism and sexism (and a variety of other 'isms'). For example,
the assertion that since genderless expressions in English use 'masculine'
forms, English is 'sexist', presumes the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is true. Un-
derstanding the potential for Sapir-Whorf effects could lead to better inter-
cultural understanding, promoting communication and peace.
It is known that people's ideas and thought change somewhat when they
learn a foreign language. It is not known whether this change is due to ex-
posure to a different culture or even just getting outside of ones own cul-
ture. It is also not known how much (if any) of the change is due to the na-
ture of the language, as opposed to the cultural associations.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was important in linguistics in the 1950's,
but interest fell off partially because properly testing it was so difficult.
Loglan/Lojban is a new approach to such testing. Obviously, if a culture-in-
dependent language could be taught to groups of people, the effects of lan-
guage could more easily be separated from those of culture.
Unique features of Lojban remove constraints on language in the areas of
logic, ambiguity, and expressive power, opening up areas of thought that have
not been easily accessible by human language before. Meanwhile, the formal
rigidity of the language definition allows speakers to carefully control
their expressions (and perhaps therefore their thought processes). This
gives some measure of predictive power that can be used in designing and
preparing for actual Sapir-Whorf experiments.
One of the prerequisites of a Sapir-Whorf experiment is an international
body of Lojban speakers. We need to be able to teach Lojban to subjects who
know only their native (non-English) tongue, and we need to know in advance
the difficulties that people from each language and culture will have in
learning Lojban. Thus, the Lojban community is actively reaching out to
speakers of languages other than English.
Lojban does not need to prove or disprove the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in
order to be successful. However, if evidence is produced supporting the
Sapir-Whorf effect, Lojban will likely be perceived as an outstanding tool of
analytical and creative thought.
Other linguistic applications - An artificial language is a simple model
of a natural language. It is used for communication like natural languages,
simpler, more regular, and relatively uncontaminated by culture effects. Un-
like most natural languages, an AL has not evolved through naturally pro-
cesses of internal change or contact with other languages. In addition, to
the extent to which details of an AL is pre-defined, the internal structure
of the language is far better known than that of any natural language.
Such a pre-definition, a language 'prescription', makes an AL a unique
tool for studying the nature of language. As people learn the language, the
way they 'acquire' understanding of that prescription can tell scientists how
'natural' the prescribed forms are. Actual usage of the language can be com-
pared to the prescription providing quantitative data on specific patterns of
usage. As the language evolves from its relatively pristine initial state,
it may deviate from its prescription. Such deviations will better inform re-
searchers as to the properties of a 'natural' language. The process of lan-
guage change itself will be open to investigation in a way never before pos-
sible. Finally, the existence of a relatively complete language prescription
at the birth of the language means that a 'description' of actual usage after
that initial state can be more simply created, maintained, and studied.
Lojban is undoubtedly the most carefully designed and defined AL ever
created. All aspects of its design have been carefully engineered by several
people encompassing expertise in a variety of disciplines, including linguis-
tics. The language prescription is similarly the most complete of any lan-
guage. As such, it serves as a unique basis for the study of language usage
and language change.
A new language like Lojban, with no native speakers, is a 'pidgin'. As
the language evolves, native speakers of other languages will learn it, and
will bring into their Lojban usage the perspective and patterns of their na-
tive language. This interaction process, called 'creolization', affects all
languages, and may be the principle cause of language change. As Lojban is
learned by speakers of a variety of natural languages, this process can be
studied directly in a way never before possible, with the language prescrip-
tion serving as a standard by which deviations associated with speaker ori-
gin, and evolution of usage, can be measured and described in detail.
An AL like Lojban has neither an associated 'native accent' nor a cul-
ture base. Being much simpler and more regular than a natural language, an
adult speaker should acquire a fluency seldom achieved when studying a natu-
ral language, and in a relatively short time. Lojban thus makes possible
relatively short-term studies of language learning and language change. Pro-
cesses that take generations in natural languages may be observed in a few
years in Lojban speakers.
With the learning of other languages acquiring critical importance in
today's international economy, Lojban provides a tool for research in lan-
guage acquisition. Again, Lojban's simplicity allows the results of such re-
search to be obtained more quickly than in similar studies of natural lan-
guage acquisition.
No claim is made that studying Lojban will tell 'all' about language.
Lojban, at least for several decades, will only be a 'model' of a language,
whose 'naturalness' will be suspect. However, to the extent that Lojban
serves the communicative and expressive functions of human language, any the-
ory about the nature of human language must apply to Lojban. Language fea-
tures and processes more easily identified in studying Lojban can then be
confirmed in natural languages. Similarly, theories of the nature of lan-
guage can be tested and refined against this simpler model of a language be-
fore facing the more difficult and time-consuming testing and analysis in-
volved in natural language research.
Because Lojban is relatively culture-free, and because of its prescribed
structure that is consistent with predicate logic, Lojban is an ideal medium
for the analysis and description of other languages. Currently, features in
language must be compared against other natural languages, and are usually
described in scientific literature by glossed translation into English. Loj-
ban is simple and regular enough to be acquired as a metalanguage for de-
scribing other languages; its structures allow clearer reflection of the pat-
terns of the language being described, without interference from the compet-
ing patterns of English.
Finally, Lojban's predicate grammar, makes it eminently suited for ongo-
ing computer research into natural languages. Lojban can be used for parsing
and analysis, as an internal medium of data storage, or as an intermediate
language for machine translation. Having a combination of logical and natu-
ral language structures, Lojban combines the best of both major structural
approaches to language processing in computers.
The exercise of trying to invent a language can teach us things about
language that probably can't be learned in any other way. Even if Lojban
should fail as a language, we will learn. However, to the extent Lojban suc-
ceeds, its potential as a basis for testing ideas about language, its struc-
ture, and usage, is unlimited. The invention of Lojban is the invention of
the science of experimental linguistics.
Lojban as an international language - Lojban may be the first artificial
language NOT in direct competition with Esperanto, in that Lojban's potential
success is not dependent on its immediate practical use as an international
language. Indeed, we hope to use Esperanto as a means of rapidly spreading
information about Lojban to non-English speakers, speeding a process that
would take decades using direct translation to all target languages. Lojban
has proven attractive to Esperantists interested in acquiring a new perspec-
tive on their own international language; these feel less threatened because
Lojban has different goals. Lojban's supporters recognize that it will take
decades for Lojban to acquire both the number and variety of speakers and the
extensive history of usage that marks Esperanto culture. Meanwhile, each
language community has much to learn from each other; this process has
started and is most active.
Several reasons for learning Lojban NOW - Those working with the lan-
guage now are actively consulted for their opinions on the language design,
and on how to teach and spread the language. People have joined the project
leadership within a few months of becoming involved.
Those with a computer background can lead development of the first com-
puter applications for the language. Expertise in the language will no doubt
be valuable as Lojban becomes recognized as a useful tool for computer appli-
cations by the computer industry. Computer-oriented Lojbanists can also aid
in developing computer-aided instruction tools or converting existing soft-
ware to run on new computers.
Regardless of background, learning Lojban is a mind-expanding experi-
ence. Learning any language other than your native tongue broadens your per-
spectives and allows you to transcend the limited viewpoints of your native
language culture. Lojban, being much simpler to learn than natural lan-
guages, provides this benefit much more quickly than does the study of other
languages. Being so strongly different, the intensity of the effect seems to
be heightened. When Lojbanists talk about language, the discussion has been
observed to be more sophisticated as well as qualitatively different from the
talk of students of second natural languages.
The logical organization embedded in Lojban aids in organizing and clar-
ifying thoughts. Having done so, your new perspective on language, ambigu-
ity, and communication will allow you to express those thoughts more clearly,
even when you use an ambiguous natural language.
A relatively short study of Lojban by high school (or younger) students
has been proposed, providing the linguistic understanding that was once asso-
ciated with studying Latin and other languages for much longer periods of
time. Such study can be tied in with concepts of logic, and possibly with
computer-related activities, helping to show the essential interrelated na-
ture of language and other human endeavor.
You needn't learn Lojban for any practical purpose, however. Many of
those learning Lojban are doing so because it is fun. Learning Lojban is in-
tellectually stimulating, and provides human interaction and mental chal-
lenge. Lojban has all the benefits of games designed for entertainment, with
the added prospect of developing useful skills as a side benefit. Learning
Lojban as an 'intellectual toy' means that you can get enjoyment from learn-
ing Lojban without nearly the effort needed to benefit from studying other
languages. While becoming fluent in Lojban will probably take hundreds of
hours over several months, you can feel some sense of accomplishment in the
language after just a few hours of study. You can use Lojban immediately for
fun, while gaining skill with greater experience.
How to learn Lojban - write to The Logical Language Group, Inc. at the
address found at the end of this brochure, and we will be happy to provide
them. We request a contribution of $4-5 to cover the costs of these materi-
als, but will send this package on speculation. Additional materials avail-
able total hundreds of pages, which are priced approximately at our costs; we
are a non-profit educational/scientific organization. Provide a postal ad-
dress; we have no materials prepared and approved for on-line distribution,
but expect to have some within the next couple of months. Contact us regard-
ing international payment; we offer several options. A limited policy exists
for providing materials to people who cannot afford payment.
We encourage new people to concentrate on vocabulary. Almost any use of
Lojban requires some mastery of the basic vocabulary (1000-2000 words). You
can learn enough Lojban grammar to support conversation in just a couple of
hours, but face many hours of vocabulary work in order to effectively use
that grammar. We distribute flash cards and have developed flash card tech-
niques that are extremely efficient in learning vocabulary. These techniques
have been automated into computer-aided-teaching programs sold under the name
"LogFlash", with MS-DOS and MacIntosh versions currently available.
You can learn the Lojban grammar in several ways, including study of ex-
amples in the quarterly journal "ju'i lobypli" or by inspection and analysis
of YACC and E-BNF formal grammar descriptions. Draft lesson materials (about
320 pages) are the best materials available for self-study. A Lojban text-
book is being written to reflect what is learned from the first learning ef-
forts, and is being designed so that it can be used for self-instruction,
classroom teaching, or group study. A formal 'Lojban dictionary' will
replace most of the existing word lists and language description materials,
probably about a year after the textbook is done, but present materials con-
tain the equivalent of a basic dictionary.
Approximately 6 months after the dictionary is published the Lojban lan-
guage definition will be baselined (frozen) for 5 years, and Lojban will
thereafter be solely controlled by speakers of the language.
Write or call
Bob LeChevalier
The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane
Fairfax, VA 22031
(703) 385-0273
Net mail can be sent to us at:
lojbab@grebyn.com
An active newsgroup/mail exchange is available on this network. To join,
send the message "subscribe lojban firstname lastname" to:
listserv@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
and send mailings to all newsgroup members via:
lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
Compuserve members can join this group, or can contact us, by preceding any
of the above addresses with "INTERNET:". Fidonet connects with the Internet
via a variety of nodes - contact your SYSOP.