- 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:
