gismu

gismu

Basic 5-letter lojban root word

the basic gismu list is available here

Gismu can be thought of as root words. They are always exactly five letters long, taking the form of either CVCCV or CCVCV (C = consonant, V = vowel).

Example 1.1 : gismu forms
word	form	gloss
bajra	CVCCV	to run
stuzi	CCVCV	location

In a Lojban sentence, gismu generally appear as either a selbri (verb relation, can be also translated to English with adjectives), or as a sumti (argument, something like a subject or an object). There is no single part of speech that gismu correspond to in English.

Example 1.2 : parts of speech
word	gloss	English part of speech
bajra	to run	transitive verb
stuzi	location	common noun

Many gismu have one or more three-letter abbreviations called rafsi for forming compound words, lujvo.

Example 1.3 : rafsi
word	abbreviation(s)
bajra	baj
stuzi	stu, tuz

Example 1.4: forming a compound word
running + site = track (for running on)
baj (bajra) + stu (stuzi) = bajystu

lo gismu cu jicmu traji lo lojbo brivla .i ro da poi gismu zo'u da porsi fi 5 lerfu .i ro da poi lujvo zo'u da se zbasu lo rafsi be lo gismu

Definitions elsewhere:

• http://www.lojban.org/files/brochures/gismu.html