me lu ju'i lobypli li'u 16 moi: Difference between revisions

From Lojban
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "<pre>...")
 
No edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
''For a full list of issues, see '''[[zo'ei la'e "lu ju'i lobypli li'u"]]'''.''<br/>
''Previous issue: '''[[me lu ju'i lobypli li'u 15 moi]]'''.''<br/>
''Next issue: '''[[me lu ju'i lobypli li'u 17 moi]]'''.''
__TOC__
<pre style="text-align: center">
Number 16 - May-June 1992
Copyright 1992, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031 USA (703)385-0273
Permission granted to copy, without charge to recipient, when for purpose of promotion of Loglan/Lojban.
DOUBLE YOUR LOJBAN FUN -- TWO LOGFESTS THIS YEAR
JUNE 26-28 AND AUGUST 14-17, 1992
NEW DC AREA LOJBAN CLASS STARTING -- SIGN UP NOW!
DETAILS IN NEWS SECTION
</pre>
ju'i lobypli (JL) is the quarterly journal of The Logical Language Group, Inc., known in these pages as la lojbangirz. la lojbangirz. is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of completing and spreading the logical human language "Lojban - A Realization of Loglan" (commonly called "Lojban"), and informing the community about logical languages in general.
la lojbangirz. is a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Your donations (not contributions to your voluntary balance) are tax-deductible on U.S. and most state income taxes. Donors are notified at the end of each year of their total deductible donations.
For purposes of terminology, "Lojban" refers to a specific version of a logical human language, the generic language and associated research project having been called "Loglan" since its invention by Dr. James Cooke Brown in 1954. Statements referring to "Loglan/Lojban" refer to both the generic language and to Lojban as a specific instance of that language. The Lojban version of Loglan was created as an alternative because Dr. Brown and his organization claims copyright on everything in his version, including each individual word of the vocabulary. The Lojban vocabulary and grammar and all language definition materials, by contrast, are public domain. Anyone may freely use Lojban for any purpose without permission or royalty. la lojbangirz. believes that such free usage is a necessary condition for an engineered language like Loglan/Lojban to become a true human language, and to succeed in the various goals that have been proposed for its use.
Page count this issue: 48 + 40 enclosures = 88 ($8.80 North America, $10.56 elsewhere). Press run for this issue of ju'i lobypli: 265. We now have about 726 people receiving our publications, and 240 more awaiting textbook publication.
''' Your Mailing Label '''
Your mailing label reports your current mailing status, and your current voluntary balance including this issue. Please notify us of changes in your activity/interest level. Balances reflect contributions received thru 30 May 1992. Mailing codes (and approximate balance needs) are:
<pre>
Activity/Interest Level:                        Highest Package       
Received (Price Each)                          Other flags:         
B - Observer    0 - Introductory Materials ($5)  JL JL Subscription 
($28/yr)                                                             
C - Active Supporter                            1 - Word Lists and   
Language Description ($15)                      (followed by         
expiration issue #)                                                   
D - Lojban Student                              2 - Language Design   
Information ($10)                              * indicates           
subscription prepaid                                                 
E - Lojban Practitioner                        3 - Draft Teaching   
Materials ($30)  LK LK Subscription ($5/yr)                           
                                                R  Review Copy (no   
charge)                                                               
                                                UP Automatic Updates 
(>$20)                                                               
</pre>
Please keep us informed of changes in your mailing address, and US subscribers are asked to provide ZIP+4 codes whenever you know them.
''' Contents of This Issue '''
Important: Due to financial constraints, ju'i lobypli is converting to a full subscription basis, starting with the next issue (JL17). Please read the section on subscriptions for details.
It's been a while since last issue, as we attempted to get our finances back on an even keel. Our financial health plan is taking effect, and we expect future issues of JL to resume quarterly appearance (if you are a subscriber, of course). (I also want to apologize to people who have had to wait an excessively long time for materials ordered during the last 6 months. Hopefully the order backlog will have been corrected when you get this issue.)
As will usually be the case, this issue contains much material derived from the Lojban List computer mailing list on the Internet. Nearly all such material has been edited, revised, and corrected from the original.
We continue to be flooded with Lojban text from several writers, and some of this material will be found in this issue.
Several pieces in this issue relate to Lojban and computer applications, and our first research proposal is reprinted.
The main body of this issue will be short, because we are including two long enclosures: a major paper by John Cowan on Lojban tense structures, and a major revision/improvement of the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban Grammar Forms, which is becoming the mainstay of our introductory materials. Some of the material originally prepared for this issue, including about 10 pages of discussion of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, will be delayed until JL17 (which, having this extra preparation done, is much more likely to come out on time!)
<pre>
<pre>
                                                                     
                          Table of Contents                       
                                 
                                                                 
                                 
Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms                                ---3
                                 
News                                                             
                                 
  Subscriptions and Finances                                  ---3
                                 
  Athelstan Injured                                          ---4
                                 
  Language Education                                          ---5
                                 
  Electronic Distribution                                    ---5
                                 
  Logfest 92                                                  ---7
                                 
  Language Development Status                                ---8
                                 
  Status of Products                                          --12
                                 
  Schedule                                                    --19
                                 
  Using the Language                                          --19
                                 
  Research Using Lojban                                      --20
                                 
  International News/Publicity                                --21
                                 
  News From the Institute                                    --21
                      Number 16 - May-June 1992
le lojbo se ciska                        --22, 25, 31, 35, 37, 41
          Copyright 1992, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
Text of the Court of Appeals Decision                        --23
          2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031 USA (703)385-0273
lei lojbo                                                    --26
  Permission granted to copy, without charge to recipient, when for
la lojbangirz.'s First Research Proposal                      --27
                purpose of promotion of Loglan/Lojban.
DLT - Esperanto-based Machine Translation                    --34
                                 
A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory                                  --36
Morphology Algorithm                                          --39
Translations of le lojbo se ciska                            --42
Next Issue                                                    --46
Sample Pages from Forthcoming Dictionary                      --46
 
</pre>
 
''' Computer Net Information '''
 
Via Usenet/UUCP/Internet, you can send messages and text files (including things for JL publication) to la lojbangirz./Bob at: lojbab@grebyn.com (This is a new address and supersedes the prior "snark" address.)
 
You can also join the Lojban List mailing list (currently around 80 subscribers). Send a single line message (automatically processed) containing only:
 
"subscribe lojban yourfirstname yourlastname" to: listserv@cuvmb. cc.columbia.edu
 
If you have problems needing human intervention, send to: lojban-list-request@snark.thyrsus.com
 
Send traffic for the mailing list to: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
 
Please keep us informed if your network mailing address changes.
 
Compuserve subscribers can also participate. Precede any of the above addresses with INTERNET: and use your normal Compuserve mail facility. If you want to participate on Lojban List, you should be prepared to read your mail at least every couple of days; otherwise your mailbox fills up and you are dropped from the mailing-list. FIDOnet subscribers can also participate, although the connection is not especially robust. Write to us for details if you don't know how to access the Internet network.
 
Whether you wish to participate in the news-group or not, it is useful for us to know your Compuserve or Usenet/Internet address.
 
We've been requested to more explicitly identify people who are referred to by initials in JL, and will regularly do so in this spot, immediately before the news section. Note that 'Athelstan' is that person's real name, used in his public life, and is not a pseudonym. 'pc' - Dr. John Parks-Clifford, Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri - St. Louis and Vice-President of la lojbangirz.; he is usually addressed as 'pc' by the community.
 
'Bob', 'lojbab' - Bob LeChevalier - President of la lojbangirz., and editor of ju'i lobypli and le lojbo karni.
 
'Nora' - Nora LeChevalier - Secretary/Treasurer of la lojbangirz., Bob's wife, author of LogFlash.
 
'JCB', 'Dr. Brown' - Dr. James Cooke Brown, inventor of the language, and founder of the Loglan project.
 
'The Institute', 'TLI' - The Loglan Institute, Inc., JCB's organization for spreading his version of Loglan, which we call 'Institute Loglan'.
 
'Loglan' - This refers to the generic language or language project, of which 'Lojban' is the most successful version, and 'Institute Loglan' another. 'Loglan/Lojban' is used in discussions about Lojban where we wish to make it particularly clear that the statement applies to the generic language as well.
 
'PLS' - The Planned Languages Server, a no-charge computer-network-accessed distribution center for materials on Lojban (and other artificial languages).
 
== Brief Glossary of Lojban ==
 
Terms Following are definitions of frequently used Lojban terms. More complete explanations of the following are in the Overview of Lojban.
 
cmavo - Lojban structure words
 
gismu - Lojban root words; currently 1337;
 
rafsi - affix combining forms for the gismu;
 
lujvo - compound words built from rafsi;
 
le'avla - words borrowed from other languages;
 
brivla - Lojban predicate words, consisting of gismu, lujvo. and le'avla.
 
tanru - Lojban metaphors, the most productive and creative expression form of the language;
 
sumti - the arguments of a logical predicate;
 
selbri - Lojban predicates which indicate a relation among one or more sumti. A selbri is most often a brivla or tanru; formerly called "kunbri" in error;
 
bridi - Lojban predications, the basic grammatical structure of the language; a bridi expresses a complete relationship: the selbri expresses the relation and the sumti express the various things being related;
 
selma'o - grammatical categories of Lojban words; the basis of the unambiguous formal grammar of the language. Traditionally and erroneously called "lexeme" in the Loglan community. These categories typically have a name derived from one word in that grammatical category; the name is all capitals, except that an apostrophe is replaced by a small letter 'h'.
 
== News ==
 
=== Subscriptions and Finances ===
 
This may be your last issue of ju'i lobypli.
 
We are converting JL to a subscription basis. This is the last issue sent to those not explicitly requesting (and in most cases paying for) a subscription.
 
At this point some 65 people have returned forms requesting a subscription. Perhaps half of these have sufficient balances to cover their subscription price.
 
Our new special fund for 'scholarship subscriptions' will not allow us to support more than a few people on a non-paying basis, and these free subscriptions will be reserved for those who are actively working in the language, but cannot pay (mostly international supporters).
 
So here's where things stand:
 
* For US and Canadian subscribers, the subscription price will be US$28 for 4 issues (hopefully 1 year - but our commitment will be for a number of issues rather than a date, just in case). For those in other countries, the subscription price will be US$35 for 4 issues.
* If you have not returned a subscription form, and have a negative balance worse than $-10 after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a "JL 16" on it indicating that your 'subscription' expires with the current issue. We must receive a signed subscription request form and enough money to cover the subscription price AND at least 1/2 of your negative balance. If you cannot afford this amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form, but you will be lowest priority for such subscriptions unless you are a very active volunteer. Contributing some of the amount required will raise your priority considerably.
* If you have not returned a subscription form, and have between $-10 and $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a "JL 16" on it indicating that your 'subscription' expires with the current issue. We must receive a signed subscription request form and enough money to cover the subscription price. If you cannot afford this amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form. Contributing some of the amount required will raise your priority considerably.
* If you have not returned a subscription form, and have more than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 20" on it indicating that your subscription expires with the indicated issue. Your balance will be deducted at a rate of $10 per issue (substantially above the subscription price for US and Canada recipients, less so for overseas recipients), for up to 4 issues, until your balance drops below $10, or until we receive a form and/or other instructions from you. You will be given the lower-priced 4-issue subscription rate when we receive your signed subscription request form (and preferably enough money to raise your balance above the subscription minimum). If you cannot afford the subscription amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form. You will receive highest priority after the most active volunteers to gain such assistance to fill out your balance to a 4-issue subscription.
* If you have returned a subscription form and have more than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 20" on it; your subscription expires with the indicated issue. You have either been given a full four-issue subscription (if there is enough in your balance to cover the price), or a partial-year subscription prorated to your balance amount ($7/issue for US/Canada). The subscription price has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you by direct mail prior to your last subscription issue for renewal.
* If you have returned a subscription form and have less than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), and you sent at least $40 in balance contributions between 1 Dec. 1991 and 15 April 1992, your mailing label will have "JL 20" on it. You have been given a full four-issue subscription. The subscription price has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you prior to your last subscription issue for renewal.
* If you have returned a subscription form and have less than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), and you have sent less than $40 in balance contributions since 1 December 1991, your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 19" on it indicating that your subscription expires with the indicated issue. You been given a part-year subscription. We have deducted the cost of this issue from your contribution (if any), and determined your prorated subscription period based on 1/2 of the remaining contribution (if any), with a minimum of 1 issue. The amount of the subscription has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you prior to your last subscription issue for renewal. However, we ask that you contribute to bring your balance positive if possible.
* If you have returned a subscription form and asked for scholarship support for your subscription: we have not yet decided who will get such support, but given the above policy, you will at least receive JL17.
* If you are an overseas recipient of JL, then you are slated to receive at least through "JL 17" since you have received no chance to send in a subscription request form until now. Your balance will be charged $10 for JL17 if we have not received a form prior to that issue.
* When you stop receiving JL after the subscription expiration issue, you will automatically be switched to a subscription to the newsletter le lojbo karni (LK - subscription price of around $5 per year). We expect to cull the LK mailing list after the next fund-raising mailer, dropping those people with balances less than $-30.
 
We haven't yet received enough subscription forms to justify applying for a 2nd class postage (though we are close). The highest subscription price has been selected because we'll have to pay 1st class/air mail postage rates for at least one issue, as well as at least $275 to obtain the 2nd class permit (about $4 for each subscriber) that will allow us to save postage costs thereafter.
 
 
Final financial results from last year - Our 1991 income totalled $14,462.59, with expenses of $14,746.31, for a net loss on the year of about $300. Of that amount $10,725.73 was donations (around $6000 of this was from Lojbab and Nora). In total, only $3700 was contributed toward balances from over 850 people on our mailing list. Only through our end-of-year fund-raiser did we even do this well. We received $2500 during the last 20 days of December, much of it as a result of the fund-raising drive, reducing us from a deficit of over $2000 for the year that might have crippled us.
 
At the end of 1991, we owed about $5800 in legal fees on the trademark battle, which we're repaying at $500 per month. This is taking every penny that Lojbab, Nora and Jeff Prothero, who are financing the legal fees, can contribute. We must count on the rest of you to keep the organization going financially.
 
Status this year - So far in 1992, we're losing money. Up to now, against some $2500 in income, we've spent around $2800; JL16 and LK16 will cost another $1200, and we have over $1500 precommitted towards future JL subscriptions. Thus, we expect to need another fund-raising drive within a couple of months. I hope to tie such a fund-raiser to the announcement of the first Lojban book. But please don't wait until then. Contribute now! We don't know yet how we will finance book publication, which will cost several thousand dollars.
 
Our Numbers - Support for Lojban continues to grow at an outstanding rate; we lose few people (mostly people who move and forget to tell us their new address), while averaging 1 new person every 2-3 days for the last year.
 
Following are our numbers by level of interest and subscription, as of this publication (numbers in parentheses include multiple persons per address):
 
Level E - Practitioner (people who have actually produced Lojban text, are actively working with the language, and receiving materials from us) - 13 (17)
<br />Level D - Lojban Student - 95 (113)
<br />Level C - Active Observer - 139 (149)
<br />Level B - Inactive Observer - 627 (663)
<br />JL16 subscribers - 241 (272)
<br />JL17 subscribers - 114 (130)
<br />JL subscription request returned - 66 (72)
<br />Prepaid beyond JL17 - 55 (61)
<br />LK subscribers
<br />Total active mailing list 897 (965)
 
=== Athelstan Injured ===
 
Our efforts on Lojban here in the Washington DC area were dealt a severe blow at the end of February. Athelstan, one of la lojbangirz.'s Directors, received a head injury in an auto accident, causing severe brain damage. He was in a coma for over 2 weeks, but has made good progress since. Early in April, he was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where he is slowly regaining memory and living skills; he is expected to remain in the hospital until at least mid-July. Regaining his full abilities is uncertain, and doing so will take many more months, if not years.
 
Athelstan was one of the most skilled of Lojbanists, and a major participant in our weekly conversation sessions here in the DC area. We have had to change from conversation sessions to teaching, reading, and translations sessions; the 3 remaining conversation-skilled people (Nora, Lojbab, and Sylvia Rutiser) are not enough 'critical mass' to keep conversations lively and interesting.
 
We've also lost Athelstan's contribution to the endless work that is being done around here. Athelstan had written up his oft-taught mini-lesson in text form, and was in the middle of revising it for publication when the accident occurred. I may be able to finish it, but not quickly - too much else to do. Athelstan was also one of the principal reviewers of ju'i lobypli and other la lojbangirz. publications that I and others write; we can only hope that the quality of our products is sustained without his excellent efforts at catching typos and more serious technical errors.
 
The good news is that it appears that the damage has not destroyed Athelstan's capacity for language, nor his interest in Lojban. In mid-April, he responded to my "coi. .atlstan." with a hearty "coi." in return. At the end of our otherwise English-language visit, I asked him if he remembered how to say goodbye; with only minimal hesitation, he came back with a confident "co'o."
 
Given my close friendship with Athelstan, I have had to undertake commitments in helping his family and other friends support his recovery; this has taken a fair amount of time away from Lojban, though I now seem to be back in control of my schedule. Indeed, the incentive of knowing how fragile our effort is while so few of us know the details of the language seems to have remotivated me to get the community of Lojbanists who are expert in the language up to a self-sustaining level. Even amidst tragedy, there can be growth and progress.
 
=== Language Education ===
 
DC Class - Even before Athelstan's accident, we needed to build up the activity of the local Lojban community. Now, local teaching activities are even more vital. As such, starting in June, we'll be trying to organize a new Lojban class here in the Washington DC area. The class will probably meet in Fairfax VA (although a Rockville MD location is also being considered), on a weekly basis starting near the end of June and last throughout the summer. A principal goal will be to raise the students' skill level so that they can confidently participate in in-language activities in the August LogFest, and be able to continue in Lojban conversation sessions or translation activities after the class ends.
 
Needless to say, if you will be in the DC area this summer, and are interested in participating in such a class, please contact me at the masthead address or telephone, or via electronic mail per page 2.
 
 
Other education efforts - Most of our education efforts in the last several months have been through electronic mail on the computer networks. I've been able to delegate much of this teaching effort out to other Lojbanists who are active on Lojban List, and the numbers and competency of those attempting to write on Lojban List has continued to grow with each passing month.
 
The network has also served as a testing ground for new teaching materials. Athelstan's draft text version of his mini-lesson (see below) was tried out by about 2 dozen people who returned comments and answers to exercises. These will be lead to a significantly revised and improved version for publication.
 
Similarly, a draft of the Diagrammed Examples paper enclosed with this issue has been extensively distributed on the networks (as well as to many new mail order Lojbanists) during the last 6 months. French-Australian linguist Jacques Guy finally culminated this review with some enormously detailed comments, leading to the major revision and expansion included with this issue.
 
Even before this final version, the Diagrammed Examples, with explanatory text, has proved in recent months to be the most significant learning aid to new Lojbanists actually attempting to learn to use the language. Several Lojbanists used only this paper and word lists (that were generally obtained by electronic distribution per the next section), to self-teach themselves to the level of being able to translate Lojban text written by more experienced Lojbanists. Then, with a few such efforts to give them experience, we have seen these Lojbanists start to write in Lojban, making relatively few and minor errors given the lack of a full teaching text. (Those who have study the draft textbook and/or used LogFlash have done still better, but the effectiveness of this relatively brief description has astounded several of us to the point of motivating this new version.)
 
=== Electronic Distribution ===
 
What is available and how - The electronic distribution policy announced last issue has been implemented, more-or-less. We have been unable to place JL and LK back-issues and a few other longer materials on the Planned Languages Server - our primary electronic distribution point. We have also been unable to implement the file verification program that we intended because of incompatibilities between computer systems that causes such techniques to fail.
 
In spite of this, there is now a lot of material available electronically, including most of the now public domain language definition materials like word lists and formal grammars. I've been told that some of this material has been transferred to Compuserve, and I'm hoping that more will be moved to that network, as well as to Genie and other public computer networks. (Let us know if you do so, and what stuff you are posting where, so we can report accurately to the community as to what is available).
 
Following is a list of all materials (and their filenames) available on the Planned Languages Server as of this publication date, and instructions for obtaining them from the Server.
 
----
 
This is an updated version of the file posted to the PLS entitled "readme" which includes an annotated and categorized index to all files on the list.
 
Following the "readme" file is an abbreviated set of instructions for obtaining files from the server. Send the one line message 'help' to:
 
langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu
 
to get the full help listing. While you can put multiple requests in a file, my experience has been that if there is any error on any command, the entire set is disregarded. I would therefore suggest getting 1 file at a time until you are sure what you are doing.
 
"gismu.lst" is the official, public domain baseline that many Lojbanists already possess in printed form. It has 40-character definitions of the Lojban gismu, and has been relatively unchanged for a few years now. Only minor corrections have been put into the posted file, and the 20 new words adopted last year were never added.
 
"logdata.raw" is a preliminary version of the new gismu list baseline. I intend the new baseline to take effect shortly after the publication of JL16, hopefully within a month. I would recommend using the current "logdata.raw" file, and ignoring the "gismu.lst" file, UNLESS it is vital to you to be using a public domain version. We won't object to any copying of the still copyrighted draft as long as the copyright notice and the notice that it is a draft stays intact with the file. To all intents and purposes, the old 40-character file is obsolete. I would recommend that any new text be written using the "logdata.raw" place structures. (All text in this issue probably presumes this newer version.)
 
Questions on any file? Contact Bob LeChevalier at the masthead address or via:
 
lojbab@grebyn.com
 
See the file "epolicy.txt" for a more complete explanation of la lojbangirz. electronic distribution policy. We ask that users of these files consider donating money for the support of The Logical Language Group, Inc. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and such donations are tax-deductible in the US, to the extent they exceed the price of things we send you. While it costs us little for you to get a copy of the files on this archive, the network is not free. la lojbangirz. spent some $2000 during 1991 on network access, supporting Lojban List, this archive, and responding to people like you. We do not make a profit on our printed materials, so it is your donations that will allow us to continue to serve the network community of Lojbanists and people curious about Lojban.
 
The files listed following are the official postings of The Logical Language Group, Inc. on this server. All other postings should be considered unsanctioned, and possibly incorrect.
 
Language design materials are explicitly listed here and in the documents themselves as being in the public domain. All other documents are copyrighted under the same heading listed above for this document.
 
Note on file names. All file names ending with ".unf" may contain lines up to about 120 characters long. Original documents published by la lojbangirz. are formatted using longer than 80 character lines, and this wider line-length was determined to give a more readable text when that formatting was removed. File names ending with ".txt" are generally under 80 characters in width. Other file name extensions have no implication.
 
Many files are compressed using a rather simplistic program that tabifies every 8 characters INCLUDING A SINGLE SPACE IN A 0 MOD 8 POSITION. We have since learned that some tab expanders will take a TAB in a 0 mod 8 position and expand it to 9 spaces instead of 1. This could cause you problems, which hopefully this notice will help you correct if it affects you. We consider this a failed experiment: when we next send data to PLS for uploading we will send files without the tab compression, but this may be a few months.
 
The PLS has very limited disk space. la lojbangirz. has convinced Mark and Jerry to post much of the material we sent them, but they do not have room for all of it. In particular, back issues of JL and LK, and a LOT of Lojban text could not be posted. I want to see some or all of this material available, if only on a limited time basis. Therefore, in about 3 months, I will be asking Mark and Jerry to tell me the rates of access for Lojban directory files. Seldom accessed files may be deleted to allow us to make room for new stuff, as listed at the end of this document. So please don't delay too long if you want to get a copy of a file listed here.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! File Name
! Bytes
! Date
! Description
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Control documents
|-
| readme
| 7668
| 01-09-92
| A version of this index.
|-
| epolicy.txt
| 2912
| 10-09-91
| The la lojbangirz. Electronic Distribution Policy
|-
| orderfrm.unf
| 9497
| 10-14-91
| Current la lojbangirz. Product List & Order Form; Include Paper Postal Address on any order, please.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Language Design Materials and Drafts
|-
| grammar.28
| 64552
| 10-11-91
| Baselined Lojban Grammar - YACC version; Public Domain. Without explanatory text included in printed versions.
|-
| bnf.28
| 7872
| 10-11-91
| EBNF form of the Baselined Lojban Grammar. Not verified. Public domain.
|-
| pronounc.unf
| 9718
| 10-14-91
| Pronunciation guide. Public domain.
|-
| gismu.lst
| 88717
| 01-09-92
| Baselined gismu list. Public domain. Expected to be superseded soon by a modified version of "logdata.raw", which will the be renamed "gismu.lst"
|-
| logdata.raw
| 115603
| 01-09-92
| Lojban gismu (root word) draft update >80 characters wide
|-
| roget.lst
| 40612
| 10-14-91
| gismu sorted by Roget category. Draft.
|-
| logdata3.cma
| 88312
| 10-14-91
| Lojban cmavo (structure word) list. Public domain. cmavo order >80 characters wide
|-
| logdata3.lex
| 88312
| 10-14-91
| Lojban cmavo (structure word) list. Public domain. selma'o (grammar category) order >80 characters wide
|-
| lehavla.alg
| 2326
| 10-14-91
| Draft proposal for borrowing words.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Introductory Materials in Suggested Order
|-
| loglan.txt
| 8598
| 10-14-91
| Introduction and history for those familiar with other Loglan versions
|-
| brochure.eng
| 62820
| 10-14-91
| Basic Lojban Brochure - formatted for electronic distribution
|-
| postbroc.txt
| 28312
| 10-14-91
| An edited version of brochure.eng abbreviated so as to be more suitable for electronic transmission.
|-
| minilsne.txt
| 30917
| 10-16-91
| Draft introductory Draft Lojban mini-lesson. Return answers to la lojbangirz. for correction.
|-
| overview.unf
| 63143
| 10-14-91
| Overview of the language and intro. to specialized terminology
|-
| diagexam.unf
| 10851
| 10-09-91
| Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Text (the original version of the one in JL16 - the new version will replace this file shortly, and is a much longer file)
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Teaching Materials and Detailed Discussion
|-
| useoldl1.txt
| 15233
| 10-14-91
| How to use 1975 Loglan 1 to study Lojban (partially correct for 1989 version)
|-
| newrafsi.unf
| 77773
| 10-14-91
| List of Lojban rafsi (combining forms) and how to make compounds (lujvo).
|-
| negation.unf
| 127903
| 10-14-91
| Negation in Lojban. Many examples.
|-
| scrabble.unf
| 6098
| 10-14-91
| Suggested game rules based on Lojban letter frequencies
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Why Lojban?
|-
| whylojb.txt
| 198651
| 10-14-91
| General discussion on 'Why Lojban?' extracted from ju'i lobypli, Includes JCB on Sapir Whorf. Many contributors.
|-
| mactrans.txt
| 12681
| 10-14-91
| Lojban and machine translation by Patrick Juola
|-
| moody.txt
| 18972
| 10-14-91
| Lojban and other planned languages by Todd Moody
|-
| lojb_esp.txt
| 180734
| 10-14-91
| Lojban and Esperanto - JL discussions including comments from Donald Harlow and Lojban's 'Answer' to the '16 Rules'
|-
| lojling.txt
| 18942
| 10-14-91
| Lojban's relevance to linguistics and linguistics research
|-
| reply.txt
| 38747
| 10-14-91
| 1991 Reply to Arnold Zwicky's 1969 "Language" Review of Loglan 1
|-
| netdisc.txt
| 178912
| 10-14-91
| Extracted Network Discussions of Lojban and Sapir-Whorf - mostly 8-9/90
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Lojban Text
|-
| lordpray.unf
| 7781
| 10-14-91
| Lojban Paternoster, updated to current language. A prosaic version.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Other materials
|-
| l1longrv.txt
| 70543
| 6-08-91
| unpublished draft review - Loglan 1
|}
 
---------------------------------- --------------
 
The following unofficial files are known to be in the lojban directory of the Planned Languages Server:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| brochure.french
| 49403
| 05-11-90
| A French translation of a somewhat earlier version of the Lojban brochure.
|-
| Description
| 2334
| 01-09-92
| The official PLS description file of all files in the Lojban directory. Not as detailed or as accurate as this file.
|-
| elecread.me
| 815
| 06-24-91
| An obsolete version of this file that should soon be deleted
|-
| Index
| 1280
| 01-03-92
| The file list you get in response to the command "index lojban"
|-
| lojbroch.e-o.tex
| 69755
| 09-12-91
| The draft Esperanto translation of the Lojban brochure in brochure.eng Comments and suggestions welcome.
|-
| metflidjimao-vedsia
| 23871
| 12-19-90
|
|-
| welding-shop
| 27415
| 12-19-90
| Jim Carter's 1984 Loglan short story and English translation - not Lojban compatible nor consistent with the current TLI language, it is still one of the longest Loglan texts written originally in Loglan rather than in translation.
|}
 
=== Forthcoming Material we hope to post this year ===
 
* 6 Draft Textbook Lessons - updated to 1992 language
* New Draft Textbook Lesson 1
* Esperanto Translation of Lojban Brochure - Official Release (the unofficial "lojbroch.e-o.tex" above is a draft version of this release)
* Glossary of Lojban/linguistic terminology
* Lojban and Sapir-Whorf Bibliography
* Lojban and Prolog demonstration example from JL16
* Lojban gismu etymologies
* Rebaselined gismu list
* Revisions to the Lojban mini-lesson
* the JL16 version of the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban
* Synopsis of Lojban Orthography, Phonology, Morphology - updated to 1992
* tense paper - introduction to Lojban tense structures
* attitudinal paper - updated to 1992
* logical connectives paper - introduction to logical and nonlogical connectives
* MEX paper - Lojban expression of mathematical text
* lerfu paper - expressing alphabets and special symbols in Lojban
* (papers are planned to cover other aspects of the Lojban grammar and will also be posted as available)
* All published Lojban text; Not updated to current language. Mostly translated & with commentary. Probably with some kind of difficulty and quality grading to help you choose appropriate materials.
 
=== Abbreviated instructions for the PLS server ===
 
To make the archive server do something you should send an electronic mail message to:
 
langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu
 
Use a null subject line. The body of the message should consist of one command per line. The case of the text does not matter. Note, however, that the server runs on a UNIX system, and thus, for filenames, the case DOES matter, so be sure the files you request are properly capitalized.
 
You can find out what files are available with the command "index lojban".
 
path <mail-path>
 
"Path" is used to override the mail path that the archive server chooses from the header of your mail message. You should use this whenever you know that the return address of your message will not be useful to the archive server. The archive server only knows about domain style address.
 
e.g. path jbaltz@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu
 
send <archive> <file..>
 
"Send" mails to you the files in the specified archive. All of the files that you request will be sent to you archived together possibly encoded and split up into messages that are small enough to be mailed. You may have as many "sends" in the body of your mail message as you wish.
 
e.g. send lojban logdata.raw
 
By default, files that are mailable are simply stuck together with the text "cut here" between files and; non-mailable files are archived via Unix "tar". Non-mailable files must be converted to something mailable. By default this is done with "uuencode". Some large or long-lined Lojban files may be considered non-mailable, and you will need to run the companion program "uudecode" which will decode a message that was encrypted using "uuencode". This is a standard Unix command; Unix users should see your system administrator if you don't know how to do this. On MS-DOS machines, there are a variety of utility versions of the decoding tool; we have no information about other computer system versions.  
 
=== Logfest 92 ===
 
Because of Athelstan's injury and other schedule problems, we have delayed LogFest 92, la lojbangirz.'s annual meeting and gathering of Lojbanists until August. The planned date for this gathering here in Fairfax VA, is August 14-17, 1992. If you're interested in coming, and especially if you will be travelling from out-of-town, please let us know. As usual, we can accommodate several out-of-town visitors as sleeping-bag guests here at Bob and Nora's house. You can get here via subway from all major transportation services into Washington DC, and you're unlikely to need a rental car. Thus, it's a cheap weekend of Lojban fun - we ask only that attendees donate around $25-$40 or whatever to cover food costs for the weekend.
 
Originally, LogFest was planned for the last weekend in June (June 26-28, 1992). Because some people already made plans to come in from out-of-town, we will dedicate that weekend to Lojban activities as well, and others are invited to come, too, making in effect a second LogFest this summer. This first gathering in June will be informal; since there will be no formal meeting, there should be plenty of time for a variety of Lojban activities, especially activities for new people who want to get started in learning the language. Let us know if you are planning to come, so we can make plans.
 
=== Language Development Status ===
 
The language has been quite stable in the last several months. With the breakup of the USSR, we have added cultural gismu for "Ukrainian" and "Slavic". There have been a few cmavo additions, and one or two deletions in connection with work by John Cowan on papers describing the Lojban tense system, mathematical language, and representation of foreign alphabets.
 
Far more significant has been those papers themselves, which have greatly refined the specificity of the language definition in three areas that have not been much used by people trying to use Lojban. John is continuing to work on papers, which, added to (updated versions of) the negation and attitudinal papers that were done before he started, will eventually amount to a complete and detailed description of the language.
 
People have been justifiably frustrated by the continuing delay in textbook and dictionary publication. However, this state should not stop most people from being able to learn and use Lojban. Indeed, with the possible exception of Esperanto (and only then because so much has been written about it in 100 years), it can safely be said that Lojban is by far the most thoroughly defined artificial language that has ever existed. And we continue to refine that definition - not so much because people need such details to learn the language, but because linguists and computer researchers seeking to use Lojban for applications need as much detail as possible to plan research activities.
 
The final development activities of significance are those that are tied to preparation of the first Lojban book, which is a proto-dictionary and reference book. Preparing this book has required a complete and detailed review of the gismu list place structures, trying to make them as clear and detailed as possible, given limited space. There also were some place structure changes needed as a result of the 'sumti-raising' change discussed last issue, and also as a result of other design decisions made over the last few years. We also wanted to add in multiple English synonyms where applicable, so that the English side of the resulting dictionary will no longer be limited to the sometimes-inaccurate unique English keywords that the gismu list currently is based on. In a few cases, actual usage has pointed up a need for change, either because the place structure was too vaguely defined for use, or because the sumti values that were required for some place structure places were too difficult to specify for 'real' language use. As a result, there are a lot of little changes to the working draft versions of the gismu list. The final draft is expected to go out for review within a couple of weeks after this issue is mailed (over 1100 of the 1400 Lojban entries were completed and verified at this writing). After a few weeks for that review, the first book will be assembled and published.
 
=== Weekend Meeting ===
 
We finally knew for sure that the design of the language was solidified after an all-weekend meeting that took place January 18-20, 1992. John Cowan came to town, and several of us met, settling nearly all open design questions. Following is a more thorough report on that meeting, what happened, and what design decisions took place. Attendees included Bob LeChevalier (lojbab), John Cowan, Nora LeChevalier, Athelstan, and Sylvia Rutiser, with pc joining in by phone a couple of times.
 
The original agenda included:
 
* A 2nd review of papers on the Lojban tense system and MEX (mathematical expressions) system, with the intent of having them ready, if possible, for publication with JL16.
* Nora and John have been working on a formal statement of the Lojban morphology algorithm, and some issues needed resolution and decision.
* Deciding on all open cmavo questions, to allow a baseline of that list.
* Reviewing all open comments on the place structures and definitions of gismu
* Review of the progress in switching JL over to a subscription basis and the current fundraising drive
* Preliminary decisions on book publishing
* Determining a policy on efforts by Dave Cortesi, Bob Chassell, and others to put together Lojban reference books.
* Including John in a Lojban conversation session (he has never before been able to participate in one, since no one else in the NYC area seems to be actively studying).
 
John arrived late Friday night, and we started the weekend right by talking till 4 AM. Athelstan arrived about 2 AM to join the party. Most of Saturday was spent socializing and discussing business matters, and various minor issues, and reviewing the tense paper. Saturday night, we again quit late, around 5 AM this time, with everyone rising in time to be fully awake for the Lojban conversation session. That ended up starting late, but the 5 of us participated in fairly lively discussion for about 2 hours. John had no real trouble following what was said, and throwing his own comments in. We then talked in English for about an hour until Sylvia and Athelstan had to leave.
 
After dinner, we started on place structures, and kept going until 5 AM again. We resumed around 11 AM, and kept cranking till 5 AM Tues. morning. Athelstan was there for all of Monday's discussions, Nora lasted until 10:30 PM, since she had to work on Tuesday. There was a long conversation with pc in the afternoon to resolve issues that he needed a voice/vote in. Monday evening, we took a break from the x1's and x2's of place structures to work on the x's and y's of MEX.
 
On Tuesday, John and I woke around 11 AM, and kept talking till I dropped him at the bus station around 1 PM. Whew! Everything accomplished.
 
Now here is the summary of effects:
 
==== Grammar ====
 
The grammar is of course baselined and frozen until we make updates and republish it in the Lojban books. Because we want the books to reflect the grammar after the books are done, we do our writing based on that next revision of the grammar. There are now 15 minor changes planned for that revision, all but 4 being extensions to the language. When we write and publish materials in JL, they should be in accordance with the current baseline. Next- baseline grammar changes will only be used in the unlikely circumstance that something needs to be phrased using a construct that is now illegal, but which would be allowed under the new grammar. Because we want people to stick with the current baseline, we are not going to distribute or talk much more about the next one until it is ready for adoption (at the time of publication of the first book), but people who have an early need for the information can request it. I will summarize the changes in store so people know what is going on:
 
# correction of a precedence error, so that EK+KE and GIhEK+KE bind more tightly than other connective structures;
# adding JEK+BO to parallel BO connective structures for other logical connectives;
# permitting free modifiers in several new places;
# adding selma'o ZEI to support a morphology algorithm change (see below);
# permitting "GEK sentence GI observative";
# in the current baseline grammar, it is impossible to use a PA+MAI free-modifier after a number even though it is apparently grammatically legal: the number will absorb the added PA values because there is no implicit "BOI" at the end of these numbers. The problem was fixed by reworking the rules specifying how free modifiers attach to numbers so that BOI can be added to separate them.
# after long analysis, the relative-modifier logical connective selma'o ZIhE was determined not to be especially useful as a logical connective, and the group has been stripped down to the single word "zi'e", which now simply indicates the attachment of multiple relative modifiers to a single sumti. The multiple logical connective grammar rules that were present for ZIhE were stripped down to a single rule supporting simple connection;
# allowing I+BO-initial sentences at the beginning of text;
# allowing NAI at the beginning of text;
# allowing any kind of JOI non-logical connectives to be used in forethought, in parallel with forethought causal connectives: JOI GI construct GI construct;
# POhO, which has been required at the end of incomplete sentences, will be eliminated; POhO was added at one point due to problems found in some versions of YACC (including the one we were using) that caused a parser to falsely declare an ambiguity in such incomplete sentences. POhO has been shown to no longer be necessary;
# NIhE, one of the converters used to integrate MEX with the rest of the grammar, now permits an entire complex selbri construct to be converted;
# NAhE is disallowed in forethought 'termsets'. The rule permitting it had been erroneously generated from a similar structure. Contrary negation of a termset is not defined in the negation paper.
# Multiple I and/or I+BO are permitted at the beginning of text (a benefit primarily for those who stutter);
# Allow SE conversions of abstract and negated selbri without KE/KEhE parentheses.
 
If that list doesn't make a lot of sense, don't worry about it. These truly are abstruse 'little' changes in the grammar that are unlikely to affect anyone's conversation and writing very much, if at all.
 
==== Morphology ====
 
John and Nora have resolved all open issues regarding the morphology algorithm, and it is included in JL16 for final review before publication in the reference book. Problems included strings of vowels and lujvo involving le'avla. Since the morphology is baselined, technically any change is a baseline change, but all changes being considered are in areas not well-defined in the existing informal 'Synopsis' that describes the morphology. Highlights (again, these are post-book baseline features.):
 
* Adding selma'o ZEI, with only cmavo "zei", will eliminate various other schemes of making lujvo using le'avla, all of which involved either tricky stress/- pronunciation problems or had potential breakdowns of a nature similar to the 'Tosmabru test' used in regular lujvo. The result would have been rules so unintuitively complicated as to make them impractical to use on-the-fly, when most such compounds will be made. ZEI is processed in advance of lexer rules (as is BU for lerfu and ZO, LOhU, ZOI, SI, SA, and SU) as part of the metalinguistic grammar. It causes one word immediately before it and one word immediately after it to be considered joined into a single construct equivalent to a BRIVLA. With the exception of some of those metalinguistic cmavo just listed, any Lojban word can be so joined to any other, allowing lujvo to be based on cmavo that have no rafsi, as well as le'avla. Many-part le'avla lujvo will have a ZEI between each pair of terms. Regular gismu and lujvo may also be used as terms in a ZEI lujvo.
* cmavo space is now recognized to include certain structures with 0 or 1 consonant, followed by more than two vowels, with apostrophe used between every pair (except when diphthongs occur). Thus "zo'o'o'o" could be a legal cmavo (with an obvious meaning of a more intense humor?) These will not be considered for defined use, but are added to the experimental cmavo space. The grammar will treat all experimental and undefined cmavo as if they were members of UI.
* When one word ends in a vowel, and the following begins with one, a pause, and not a glide, must be used to pronounce them. This confirms the original design decision. Actual usage has been that some UI members have not been separated from each other and other vowels by pauses, and this was determined to be too difficult for the resolver to handle, so it remains forbidden. An example is ".ua.ui" which has been pronounced "/wah,wee/", but must be pronounced as "/wah.wee/". An example showing the problems that can result is ".ui.iu", which if pronounced without a pause is indistinguishable from ".ui,u".
* Names will be permitted to have "la", "lai", and "doi" in them WHEN PRECEDED BY A CONSONANT. This means that the 'd' or 'l' must be the at-least-2nd in a consonant cluster such that the preceding letter and the d/l form a permissible cluster, or are initial at the beginning of a word. This means that a name "zdoil." or "jdoil." is legal, and every consonant except another "l" is permitted before "la" and "lai". Thus while "*nort.kerolainas." remains illegal, it can easily be changed to "nort.kerlainas.". This will then allow a certain erroneous comic strip to be corrected, by naming the cat "mlat.", "*lat." remaining illegal. It also corrects the embarrassment that the other English name of the language - "loglan." - has been an illegal name in "lojban."
* Names are formally restricted from having impermissible medial consonant clusters in them. The most significant effect of this is to require the name "*djeimz." to be changed, since "mz" is not a permissible medial. "djeimyz." is acceptable.
 
==== cmavo ====
 
The following cmavo changes are made. Note that one the cmavo, "zei", has grammar contingent upon the next baseline. It will be in the next draft of the cmavo list anyway, even though the current grammar will not handle it.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| zei
| ZEI
| lujvo glue
| joins preceding and following word into a lujvo
|-
| ne'o
| VUhU
| factorial
| reassigned from "zei" to make room for above
|-
| bu'u
| FAhA
| coincident with
| space/time tense equivalent of CA
|-
| be'a
| FAHA
| north of
| from "berti"
|-
| ne'u
| FAhA
| south of
| from "snanu"
|-
| du'a
| FAhA
| east of
| from "stuna"
|-
| vu'a
| FAhA
| west of
| parallel with "du'a"
|}
 
(these are added for compatibility with languages/cultures that use a fixed reference frame for directions instead of a speaker-based one. A secondary if trivial advantage is that a Lojban wind-vane is more interesting, instead of having the letters B-S-S-S for the four cardinal points.)
 
{|
|-
| voi
| NOI
| descriptive
| clause non-veridical restrictive clause used to form complicated le- like descriptions using "ke'a"
|}
 
This is in a way similar to "goi"/GOI, but used with clauses (bridi) on the right. It defines a sumti on the left as being the thing the speaker has in mind which fills "ke'a" in the clause. Nick Nicholas asked for this in connection with an alternate approach to sumti-raising that he prefers to "tu'a". Example:
 
{|
|-
| ko'a
| voi
| lenu ke'a cisma
| cu
| pluka
| mi
| cu
| zutse
|-
| The it1
| whose
| smiling
|
| pleases
| me
|
| sits.
|-
| colspan="8" | The one whose smile pleases me is sitting down.
|}
 
{| class="wikitable
|-
| to'a
| BY
| lower case shift
| reassigne d from current "voi"; from "tordu"
|-
| ma'e
| BAI
| of material
| used to add a material to a bridi more specific than the existing "seta'i"; from "marji"
|-
| de'a
| ZAhO
| pausitive event contour
| for a temporary halt and ensuing pause in a process; from "denpa"
|-
| di'a
| ZAhO
| resumptive even t contour
| for resumption of a paused process
|}
 
Example:
 
{|
|-
| mi
| de'a
| citka
| ca
| lenu la
| noras.
| tavla
|-
| I
| pausitively
| eat
| while
|
| Nora
| talks.
|-
| colspan="7" | I stop eating while Nora talks.
|}
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| vu'i
| LUhI
| the sequence
| converts other sumti types to sequences, even if the order is vague
|-
| va'u
| BAI
| benefited by
| indication of a beneficiary when formulated as "seva'u" = "for the benefit of"; from "xamgu" (replaces a useful function of the word "du'a", deleted last year as an English-biased member of BAI)
|-
| bi'u
| BAhE
| de-emphasize next
| the reverse of "ba'e" which emphasizes the next word - added in emulation of a similar function word in the Mongolian language Dagur
|-
| ce'a
| LAU
| font shift
| change of selma'o; indicates that the following character specifies a new font (e.g. italic, block print, or manuscript). Supersedes old "ce'a" and "pe'e" which were too limited; the latter is now unassigned.
|}
 
(In addition, the grammar changes described above also freed up po'o, zi'a, zi'i, zi'o, and zi'u.)
 
remaining unassigned (27):
 
bi'a bi'e bu'o (bo'a bo'e bo'i bo'o bo'u) ce'e ce'u ci'a do'i ja'u ju'e mi'i na'a ne'e pe'e po'o re'u te'i va'e vu'o zi'a zi'i zi'o zi'u
 
==== gismu ====
 
The following two gismu are proposed for addition to the baselined list, and will be adopted pending no objection:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| vukro
| vuk vu'o
| Ukrainian
| x1 pertains to the Ukrainian language/- culture/nation in aspect x2
|-
| slovo
| lov
| Slavic
| x1 pertains to Slavic languages/culture/- ethnos in aspect x2
|-
| (lovle'u
|
| Cyrillic
| x1 is a letter of Cyrillic alphabet symbolizing x2)
|}
 
These have been reviewed by Ivan Derzhanski, as our only active native-Slavic Lojbanist. The breakup of the Soviet Union, has made Ukraine a large country with a Russian speaker base, one with a Slavic language of its own and a nationalistic interest in being clearly distinct from Russia and the ex-Soviet Union. (The definition of "softo" is being broadened to cover the old Russian empire and the new Commonwealth, but remains tied to the keyword 'Soviet' because there really is no other distinct word.) Our standards for cultural gismu clearly put Ukraine in the group that should have a gismu. (The other republics, except Russia itself, will be covered with le'avla.)
 
With two Slavic peoples represented, the family name also requires a gismu (as "semto" exists to cover Hebrew and Arabic commonalties). As shown, this gismu will also be used to generate a lujvo for "Cyrillic", a better choice than "rusko" or "softo" for making a lujvo for that concept, anyway.
 
==== Keyword changes ====
 
The following constitute baseline changes, even though there is no significant change of meaning. They will be considered adopted unless there is objection.
 
All metric prefixes currently have keywords of the form:
 
megdo    10E6
 
It has been pointed out that this does not conform to most exponential notations. The keywords will be globally changed to use "1" instead of "10" giving:
 
megdo    1E6
 
The following are being changed to make them consistent with other culture words by referring to the culture rather than to the defining element of the culture.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| budjo
| Buddhist
| x1 pertains to the Buddhist culture/- religion/nation in aspect x2
|-
| dadjo
| Taoist
| x1 pertains to the Taoist culture/religion/nation in aspect x2
|-
| jegvo
| Jehovist
| x1 pertains to culture/religion of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity in aspect x2
|-
| xriso
| Christian
| x1 pertains to the Christian culture/- religion/nation in aspect x2
|}
 
The change in keyword of "mukti" to "motive", part of the last baseline change, did not get into the Planned Languages Server file for some reason, along with appropriate definition wording changes. Some copies of LogFlash were distributed with this change omitted.
 
==== rafsi ====
 
"du" will be added to the list as a result of being assigned the rafsi "dub" and "du'o". "selci" is being given "sle" from "selfu", which in turn will be given "sef" from "sefta". (Since the January meeting, we have compiled a list of all lujvo used thus far in Lojban text. This will be used to generate a more accurate tuning of the rafsi assignments to reflect expected usage. A few additional rafsi changes are likely to result, and will appear in the completed book.
 
==== Place structures ====
 
We cannot list all of the place structure changes and definition changes being made for the new baselined list. Based on decisions at the weekend meeting, about 20% of the words will have some change from the draft "logdata.raw" list posted to the PLS and distributed to advance recipients of the new LogFlash (We were BUSY!). Most of these are minor and clarifying. (The complete review that Bob is doing while typing in these changes has resulted in many more minor changes, mostly clarifications in wording).
 
Some general notes:
 
* Bob Chassell proposed a large set of synonyms be listed; these are being added to the definition field to make computer searches of the list easier. These synonyms will also show up in the dictionary as additional English entries.
* A clarification of sets and masses and sequences and their roles as place holders in bridi caused many changes in wording. All places where these have been identified as likely placeholders have been examined and will be identified if space permits.
* Several 'properties' gismu which are generally considered subjective, have gained a 'by standard' place. The standard may only the personal one of the observer, whatever that may be. Colors are NOT included in this change.
* More care is being taken with 'under conditions' places. In many cases, an 'under conditions' place may be appropriate to some event/state within a single place of a bridi, rather than applying to the main bridi itself.
* The use of "du'u" abstractions is clearly distinguished in place structures dealing with truths. Some places dealing with knowledge and truth have been cleft paralleling the "djuno" place structure change in JL15.
* All known cleft place structures have been reviewed, with more than half eliminated by putting an event clause in x1. A few, such as "simlu", are remaining cleft, but are worded so as to suggest "ka" property abstractions instead of events in the cleft abstraction place.
 
The following are particularly significant changes in meaning. Since there is no keyword change, these are not considered relevant to the baseline; place structures have never been frozen. The wording is abbreviated and approximate, and there may be further changes before the list is finally frozen. For now, however, this will clarify the meanings of many words, and should give a good idea as to the nature of the most major changes being made.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| balvi
| x1 is in the future of/- later than/after x2 in time (ONLY; cf. lidne)
|-
| bilni
| x1 is military/- regimented/strongly organized/prepared by system x2 for purpose x3
|-
| caxno
| (paralleling condi below)
|-
| cfari
| x1 (nu) commences/- begins/initiates/starts (intransitive) [no change, but cf. sisti)
|-
| cimde
| x1 is a dimension of space/object x2 according to rules/model x3
|-
| clupa
| x1 is a loop/circuit in/of material x2 defined by (set of points) x3
|-
| cmavo
| x1 is a structure word having grammar exemplified by word x2 with meaning function x3 in language x4
|-
| condi
| x1 is deep in extent in x2 (ka) at locus x3 away from observation point x4 by standard x5
|-
| cpare
| x1 climbs/clambers/- crawls/creeps on surface x2 in direction x3 using x4 (tools, limbs)
|-
| danfu
| x1 is the answer/- response to question x2
|-
| dargu
| x1 is a road with route x2
|-
| fancu
| x1 is a function/single- value mapping from domain x2 to range x3 defined by rules x4
|-
| fasnu
| x1 is an event that happens/occurs
|-
| flalu
| x1 is a law specifying x2 (nu) for community x3 (mass) under conditions x4 by law-giver x5
|-
| funca
| x1 (nu) is determined by the luck/fortune of/for x2
|-
| gasnu
| x1 is agent in event x2; x1 'does' x2
|-
| gradu
| x1 (magnitude) is a unit/degree of/on scale/- reference standard x2 (idea/- si'o) measuring x3 (ka)
|-
| gunma
| x1 is a mass/team/is together, of components x2 considered jointly
|-
| jbini
| x1 is between/among set of boundaries x2 in x3 (ka)
|-
| jdika
| x1 is decreased/reduced in x2 (ka) by amount x3 (no change but cf. zenba)
|-
| kancu
| x1 counts the number in set x2 to be x3 (ni/number) in units x4
|-
| karli
| x1 is a collar surrounding x2 of material x3
|-
| krefu
| x1 is a recurrence/- repetition of x2 (nu) for the x3th (ni/number) time; x1 happens again
|-
| kusru
| x1 (person) is cruel/- mean to x2
|-
| lacpu
| x1 pulls/tugs/drags x2 by handle at locus x3
|-
| lafti
| x1 lifts/applies lift to x2 at locus x3
|-
| lidne
| x1 leads/precedes x2 in sequence x3
|-
| naxle
| (paralleling dargu above)
|-
| pajni
| x1 judges/is a judge determining/deciding matter x2 (ka/ni/jei abstraction) (estimate/evaluate)
|-
| panra
| x1 is parallel to x2 in property/pattern x3 by standard/geometry x4
|-
| pikta
| x1 is a ticket entitling x2 to privilege/entitlement x3 (nu) under conditions x4
|-
| platu
| x1 plans/designs/plots plan/plot/arrangement x2 for state/process x3
|-
| porsi
| x1 (sequence) is sequenced/ordered by comparison/rules x2 on set (unordered) x3
|-
| prami
| (paralleling xebni below)
|-
| prina
| x1 (agent) prints x2 on x3 using tool x4
|-
| purci
| (paralleling balvi above)
|-
| ritli
| x1 is a rite/ceremony/- ritual/is formal(legal) for purpose x2 under custom x3, under rules/form x4
|-
| selci
| x1 is a cell/atom/- molecule/unit of x2; x1 is an indivisible basic subunit of x2 (cf. English 'atom')
|-
| simlu
| x1 appears to have property x2 to x3 under conditions x4
|-
| sirji
| x1 is straight/direct/- line segment/interval between x2 and x3
|-
| sisti
| x1 (agent) ceases/- stops/halts doing/being x2 (cf. cfari WHICH IS DIFFERENT)
|-
| skiji
| x1 is a ski/skid/skate/- runner for surface x2 (for) supporting skier/skater/sled/- cargo x3
|-
| suksa
| x1 (nu) is sudden/abrupt at stage/achievement x2 in process x3; x1 (ka) suddenly changes at point x2 over interval x3
|-
| talsa
| x1 (person) challenges x2 in x3 (ka)
|-
| trene
| x1 is a train (segmented-vehicle) of cars/- units (mass/sequence) in system/railroad/of owners x3
|-
| trina
| x1 attracts/lures x2 (person/action) with x3 (ka)
|-
| venfu
| x1 (person(s)) takes revenge on/retaliates against x2 (person(s)) for wrong x3 (nu) with vengeance x4 (nu)
|-
| vorme
| x1 is a door/gate between x2 and x3 of/in/- through structure x4
|-
| xamsi
| x1 is an ocean/sea/- gulf/atmosphere of planet x2 of fluid x3
|-
| xanri
| x1 (si'o) exists in the imagination of/is imagined by/is imaginary/unreal to x2
|-
| xebni
| x1 hates x2 (object/- abstract)
|-
| xendo
| (paralleling kusru above)
|-
| xlura
| x1 (agent) influences x2 into action/event/state x3 by influence/threat/lure x4 (cf. trina)
|-
| xrani
| x1 (nu) injures/harms/- damages victim x2 in property x3 resulting in injury x4 (za'i/ka)
|-
| zarci
| x1 is a market/store/- exchange/marketplace selling x2 operated by x3/with participants x3 (mass agent)
|-
| zenba
| x1 is increased/- augmented in x2 (ka/ni) by amount x3 (parallels with jdika)
|-
| zukte
| x1 is an 'entity' employing means x2 for/towards end/purpose/goal x3
|}
 
John Cowan writes the following as further explanation of the set/mass/sequence/individuals changes:
 
One of the aims of the place structure review was to examine all the place structures that were labeled "(plural/set)" to see whether an actual set was wanted, or merely one or more individuals. In addition, sometimes a mass seemed to be the right thing. The new place structures which Lojbab is typing up will contain a good deal of clarification.
 
Essentially, a true set is required if the relationship does not hold of each member but only of the totality. For example, "kampu", "cnano", and "fadni" are all relationships between a set and one of its members (or a property thereof). If I am typical of ("cnano") the set of persons, that doesn't mean that the relation "typical-of" holds between me and every individual person -- indeed, the idea of one person being typical of another makes no sense.
 
On the other hand, we decided that "casnu" should have a mass, rather than either a set or plural individuals, in its x1 place. People may "casnu", or participate in a discussion, even though not all of them say anything.
 
In many cases, "(plural/set)" came up where "between" or "among" was involved. Most of these we tried to reword to avoid the problem, which often resulted from excess generality. Thus a wall now separates exactly two things, and a door connects exactly two. (A wall may separate multiple pairs of things - my house from yours, my property from yours, Country 1 from Country 2 - all at once, but the relationship is still pairwise.)
 
In addition, the phrase "ordered set" was changed throughout to "sequence", and the place structure of "porsi" is now something like "x1 is a sequence of the members of set x2 ordered by rules x3". Sequences do not have the same level of support in Lojban as individuals, masses, and sets; however, we have long had the non-logical connective "ce'o" which constructs them item by item. In addition, we added "vu'i", a converter of selma'o LUhI, transforming a set into a sequence, as well as individuals into a sequence-in-extension.
 
It now seems that "fa'u", the non-logical connective for "respectively", may be taken to generate a sequence-in-extension, thus:
 
{|
|-
| mi
| fa'u
| do
| se
| cmene
| zo
| djan.
| fa'u
| zo
| lojbab.
|-
| (I
| respectively-with
| you)
| are-
| benamed
|
| ("John"
| respectively-with
|
| "Lojbab").
|}
 
Using ".e" logical connection will not do, as that would claim that each of us is named both "John" and "Lojbab".
 
=== Status of Products ===
 
We have a lot of products in the works, and a few of them are done or nearly done. More significantly perhaps, several new products have been identified, and are in progress and in some cases near completion. The variety of Lojban products continues to multiply as new people get involved in its development.
 
One is of course the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban Grammar, included as an insert in this issue. This will form the major language explanatory text about the language for our introductory package. The Overview will be recast to talk mostly about the ideas of the language and not the grammar, and a glossary will be added. Eventually, this package will be assembled into one of our several book publications. Now for the other products:
 
Mini-Lesson - Athelstan set the material of his "Lojban Mini-Lesson", an hour-long presentation, down in text last summer and fall before his accident. We distributed draft copies electronically (the draft is available on the PLS - see above), and some two dozen people from 6 different countries have tried it and sent comments. Alas the revision effort was only partially done when the accident occurred, so the mini-lesson, planned for this issue and at one time an excuse for its delay, isn't yet ready.
 
People have in general found the mini-lesson to be a very good introduction to the language, as they found Athelstan's oral presentation similarly useful. Alas, on paper it takes a good deal more than an hour to work through. People have generally said that there are too many exercises and too few examples. A few of the examples and explanations are perhaps too oriented to English-native speakers, but we haven't figured a good way to correct that.
 
Given the accident, it is likely that I (Bob) will have to finish the revision, and it will thus not be ready until JL17 or even JL18. The revised mini-lesson will also form part of the introductory package.
 
LogFlash - We have released the new version of LogFlash described in the last several issues. Both LogFlash 1 (gismu) and LogFlash 3 (cmavo) are being successfully used by several people.
 
For those who want to learn rafsi, the older combined LogFlash 1/2 will continue to be available (LogFlash 2 teaches rafsi) until a new version is created - a new version of LogFlash 2 will be more difficult to develop than the other programs because the type of testing used in lessons is more diverse. The lujvo-making program will also be incorporated into the next revision of LogFlash 2. The priority of this revision depends primarily on people being interested in obtaining it - if you are ready to start using this program, or expect that you will be within 6 months, let us know and Nora will put more effort into this upgrade. The files for the old version are not being updated, hence several newly-added rafsi assignments and the couple of changes that have been made are not reflected in this old version. This has not proven to be a significant limitation.
 
There are two 'problems' with the current release, neither of which prevents effective use. The first is that we've had no time to rewrite the user documentation. There are now an enormously increased number of user-selectable features in LogFlash, and documentation is needed to intelligently choose among them. You can experiment or ask - most of these functions are self-explanatory as to how they work, and playing around is not damaging to your learning effectiveness (though it can be time consuming given the number of options). However, explaining when and why each option is intended to be used takes a bit of work. Luckily, Nora has made the program effectively self-channelled - the default option at each menu choice progresses you through fairly optimal usage. I'd like to promise the documentation soon, but I'll have to admit that it keeps getting shoved off for other priorities. When more people start buying the program, we will of course put high priority on completing the support documentation, and it will be available free-of-charge to those of you who have done without until then.
 
The other 'problem' is that because of the above-mentioned revision of the gismu list, especially affecting place structures, the version of the list we are giving out at any particular time is subject to changes. These changes don't generally affect the learning process since place structures are provided for information purposes only, but since the lists being distributed are unofficial, people receiving them need to be fore-warned. Again, we will make updated files available to those who purchase copies now, probably at the time the first book is released.
 
The instability of the word files affects LogFlash 3 a bit more significantly because we are more freely changing words and keywords, as well as making a small number of additions and deletions to the cmavo list. The changes being made are typically minor, however, enough that we can finally feel comfortable in recommending that people use LogFlash 3 without too much fear of having to do a lot of relearning due to changes.
 
 
MacLojFlash - Both versions of LogFlash for the Apple MacIntosh are being updated for the new data files. Each version already had some of the features now incorporated into the original MS-DOS version, and will probably add new ones to keep the different versions roughly comparable in capabilities. The Hypercard Mac version by Dave Cortesi is being upgraded to Hypercard II; Richard Kennaway's original MAC version doesn't use Hypercard, is somewhat faster, but does not have voice synthesis of the words, and supports both the gismu and cmavo lists in one program. Richard's program is basically ready, awaiting only reasonably final word files. (Our difficulties in supporting the Mac continue, and we aren't going to release incremental in-progress Mac versions of the word-lists as we are doing with the original program.) The Mac programs are liable to be cheaper than the MS-DOS versions, partly because of the lower quality of support that we have been able to provide.
 
Serious Volunteers Sought for LogFlash Research - The new version of LogFlash (MS-DOS version only) is instrumented for research into how well people learn Lojban words. This finally allows testing of the 'word recognition scores' that were the basis of Loglan/Lojban word-making ever since the project started in the 1950s, as well as formally verifying the effectiveness of the LogFlash technique.
 
We are looking for volunteers to use LogFlash in learning the Lojban vocabulary. At this point we have no constraint on who can volunteer, as long as you can state more or less honestly that you don't yet know much of the Lojban gismu vocabulary. Later on, we will have to add restrictions to ensure that our statistics are valid, but for now we are looking for patterns in the learning of individuals.
 
We have no funding for this experiment - we can't pay anyone to participate. You will even have to buy the copy of LogFlash that you use to learn the words, because we need the money to stay in business right now. What we can promise is that someone who volunteers AND STICKS WITH THE EXPERIMENT ENOUGH TO GIVE US USEFUL RESULTS will be credited afterwards for the price of LogFlash and any other Lojban teaching materials you buy to study while participating in the experiment. We'll also give priority (subject to our limited funds) for volunteers who need financial assistance to obtain Lojban materials.
 
This isn't a lot to offer for a commitment of 3-7 hours a week for 4-8 months (probably 100-150 hours total, about the same as the homework time for a typical college class), but the work isn't hard, and you will be doing it anyway if you are planning on learning the language. We need is people who will use LogFlash more or less daily for at least 1/2 hour a day (preferably an hour - learning may go 3 times as fast or better, at this more intense study rate; you learn quicker, and the experiment is shorter and more likely to show expected results.)
 
Other teaching products - We have contacted two firms that commercially produce language learning materials and gotten interest in assisting the Lojban project from each of them. One produces software that teaches you words and structures as you read a story or stories in Lojban (not a simplified text - you would learn to read most any Lojban text you come across). The other, International Learning Corporation, produces a series of materials called "The Learnables (tm)", which are books of cartoons and pictures associated with extensive tapes. These materials are used effectively in college classes.
 
Both products have been recommended to us by more than one Lojbanist. Both organizations have indicated that they would be willing to license us to develop Lojban versions of their products at no cost to us other than the effort of developing the materials. The resulting materials should be extremely effective in teaching Lojban and offer the confidence of having been used effectively with other languages. The down-side of these materials is that they will probably be more expensive than our self-developed materials (for existing languages, the software package costs around $100 plus a small amount per story, while The Learnables costs around $45 for a book and 6 tapes, with 4 beginning and 4 advanced books covering the typical language - we can't promise to be able to sell Lojban materials for any less than the prices these organizations charge for other languages).
 
These are significant opportunities to get awareness of Lojban out to a much larger audience, but we cannot justify the time to produce the materials unless there is some significant interest in the community in buying and using the resulting products. So we need to hear from you if you think you would buy the materials.
 
Interlinear Glosser (and Parser) - This new project of Nora's stems from four unrelated problems. Because of the massive volume of Lojban text now being produced, Nora and I can no longer read and check it all - our own command of the language is not thorough enough for us to quickly check words and place structures, much less to comment the results thoroughly.
 
People writing Lojban text tend to make word choice errors (e.g. lujvo-making errors, misspellings), and find it hard to catch these errors before 'inflicting' them on others. A simple computerized spelling checker cannot fully solve this (even if you can build a dictionary file easily) because nearly all possible cmavo and lujvo word-forms are plausibly valid words.
 
In addition, people using the Lojban parser to check their work have found the outputs to be hard to use in an odd way. When there is an error, the parser tells you (approximately) where the error occurred, and you know where to look. If it finds no errors, the rather lengthy fully-parenthesized output contains complete grammatical structure information. Unfortunately, a lot of simple errors, including misspellings (noted above) and omitted terminators can lead to grammatically perfect text that means something quite different from what you intended. Reading the parser output to find such errors requires great care, as well as a certain sense of what types of errors to look for. It isn't being done too well, and people have found errors in text that seemed perfectly valid, even to the parser, when read carefully. (Though this might seem to be a threat to Lojban's viability as a understandable and logical language, the types of errors that are occurring seem to be of the types that fluent speakers wouldn't often make.)
 
Finally, one of the easiest first steps towards the computer applications for which Lojban is especially suitable is a Lojban-to-English translator. Nora has long been interested in producing a simple form of such a translator, both for study of the problems of machine translation, and as an effective teaching tool. She first did a rudimentary translator, handling a subset of the grammar of single Loglan sentences, on a tiny TRS-80 home computer back in 1981. Updating this program to use with Lojban has been difficult, because the varieties of sentences that are typical for Lojban are much more numerous than for earlier Loglan versions.
 
A few months ago, we discovered a free-ware program called "Shoebox" (Summer Institute of Linguistics) that produces interlinear glosses from one language to another, using a simple word look-up technique and a specially designed word database. Mark Shoulson and others have set up this program to produce quite pretty glosses for Lojban text, but the translation is rather difficult to read, even when you know Lojban grammar - the words that are substituted are the keywords of our word-lists, which are not intended necessarily to be good translations; there is no provision for lujvo compounds, even though they are quite regular; several cmavo have no valid English gloss because they serve purely grammatical roles; and finally, Lojban's predicate grammar means that you need to analyze the grammatical situation to know whether to interpret the English equivalent of a Lojban word as a noun, a verb, and adjective, or an adverb - Shoebox is not sufficiently tailored to Loglan/Lojban's unique regularities to take advantage of them to produce a readable output.
 
Inspired by this, Nora started designing a grammar-smart interlinear glosser. Carl Burke has aided with some good design ideas, and the project is well underway. Indeed, the program already produces better glosses than the comparable Shoebox versions, even without many 'grammar smarts', because it recognizes Lojban word types, disassembles lujvo, recognizes numbers as a unit, and other simple Lojban-specific functions. It processes outputs from John Cowan's Lojban parser, separating a long text into separate sentences and other logical chunks for easier reading, and optionally retaining or deleting the structure bracketing and inserted elidable marker words that the parser provides in its output. We also have developed a 'dictionary' suited for this program.
 
If there is demand, we can make the program available fairly shortly in its in-development form bundled with the parser (which it requires). We'll set a tentative price of $50 for the combination, partly because the program is incomplete; the final program may be more expensive. John Cowan's parser by itself is available for $25 (and may be available for some UNIX machines as well as MS-DOS). People who are writing a LOT of Lojban text, and sending it to us or posting it onto Lojban List, can probably convince us to provide a test version of either or both for free (especially if you cannot afford to pay for it) - we'd rather have you be checking your text before we get it rather than be doing it ourselves. The user documentation and support on these programs will be quite limited until the glosser is completed.
 
We are making these programs available primarily because some people are already finding them useful, not because we believe they are optimal products yet - if you are working often with the language, the program limitations will not much hinder their usefulness. Also, frankly, we need people to contribute more for our support, and having new products to sell gives you something for your money besides the good feeling of contributing to keeping this project alive.
 
The Cowan Papers, or "The Lojban Textbook Effort Grows Up" - 3 1/2 years ago (October 1988) I started to write a technical description and reference for Lojban. 40 pages and the first descriptive cmavo list were completed. Reviewers at that point basically told me that the text was not working - most people did not know the language well enough to use a reference that presumed basic knowledge of the grammar. The format was very poor as a teaching text. The result was the recommendation that I write a Lojban textbook.
 
From January through June 1989, I wrote 6+ draft chapters of such a textbook while teaching the first Lojban class. About 150 people have gotten those lessons now, and a couple of dozen of these have studied the language well enough to write fairly effectively in the language. These draft lessons remain available and are the most thorough teaching materials we have for those trying to learn the language.
 
Alas, the draft lessons, though they've 'aged well', remain incomplete. I stopped writing when we realized that the basic structure of the course was not working in the way we intended and it was getting harder and harder to write lessons that built constructively on what had gone before. The completed textbook would be over 1000 pages, and simply wasn't good enough to justify that much effort.
 
I started a new draft in 1990, but it got only to page 50. Throughout 1990 and 1991, as others learned the language, the advances in teaching technique outstripped my writing ability. Indeed, under the able leadership of Nick Nicholas, the last year has shown a truly outstanding increase in the sophistication of our knowledge of Lojban expression, its style, and its semantics. But that evolution, and the dozens of little tiny changes in the corners of the language were stresses that hurt my confidence that I was teaching the language appropriately to the ways it is coming to be used. I've also spent too much time dealing with our unending financial problems and simply coordinating the rapid expansion of our organization.
 
The reference materials of the language continued to evolve as well, and, although the language itself is quite stable, our published descriptions of the language have edged towards obsolescence. The gismu list place structures were too short and vague, but the words themselves were quite stable, as were the rafsi affixes. The cmavo list was nearly as stable, but incessant little changes in the grammar coupled with major advances of our knowledge of how to communicate in Lojban have made a simple list of cmavo inadequate. The YACC-based formal grammar has similarly been quite stable; there were little changes and we had to update the baseline a year later, and a new baseline will take place when the first book comes out (though the number of grammar change proposals in the second baseline year have been less than half of those in the first year).
 
Since every example in the textbook must be accurate and consistent with the reference lists, the more examples I've put into the text, the shakier the result has become. Simply checking every example in the existing 6 chapters requires hours of work - the new textbook has several times as many examples for each key grammar point.
 
In addition, the YACC grammar is not too well understood by those who aren't used to that type of grammar definition. There are a lot of trees, with no sense of the forest. The shorter EBNF form of the grammar is better for some people, but it is still formalized and difficult for non-computer people. An especial lack is a series of examples showing all the various structures of the grammar, and discussing why they were present.
 
This lack of examples was a big hang-up in textbook writing, as well. I spent endless time trying to concoct meaningful examples of sentences that exemplified the points I was trying to make, which were limited in vocabulary, but still interesting. This is NOT my strong skill. Still, the 50 pages of the new draft textbook has dozens of examples and even more exercises.
 
When John Cowan first became involved in Lojban, 2 years ago, his first promised goal was the rather ambitious one of writing an example sentence for every gismu. He then decided instead to write one sentence for every cmavo, covering every variety of grammatical usage.
 
A nice ideal, but far too ambitious, as John found out. Some cmavo are permitted in a variety of usages but aren't pragmatically useful in most of them - at least not in a way that we English speakers can easily recognize. For example, it seems rather odd to contemplate the mathematical number "pi" treated like all other numbers and used as a digit, or to enumerate objects or events: "pi events of Mary going to the store" is irrational in more than one sense of the word.
 
John's continuing work with the grammar has made him even more expert in its details than I am. He has performed the modifications to the YACC grammar for all the little changes of the last two years. In developing that expertise, he learned how thoroughly the language is defined, while how little of that design is yet set down on paper. He set to remedy this problem in the context of his previous goal, choosing to write a "selma'o catalog" that would list all the grammatical components of the language, giving explanations and examples of the use of each of them. Maybe he wouldn't find one example for every word in every grammatical context, but at least there would be an example of each such grammatical form, and the result would show how the rules of the grammar interacted in actual usage (as opposed to the arcane formulae of the YACC grammar).
 
John spent several months on the selma'o catalog, and created a very nice document that a few people have used effectively to learn about the language structures. The document has remained a draft, though, for several reasons. Basically, though, John realized that his goal remained far beyond what he was capable of writing. I'm going to exaggerate the negatives to make the reasons clear - as I said, the document proved quite useful and informative for the limited audience of reviewers who already knew a bit about the language. Everyone who read it, including me, learned a lot from John's explanations.
 
The draft selma'o catalog is a couple of hundred paragraphs, with a couple of hundred cross-references; but the latter is not nearly enough. It turns out that so many of the structures are redundant to each other that it is difficult to write about individual word categories without referring to what is said elsewhere, or without repeating the same thing many times over. John also had to make use of so many technical jargon terms that a explanatory glossary was going to be needed that was fully as large as the catalog text, in order for the catalog to be understood by a beginner. Finally, because John wrote the catalog from start to end, it reads fairly well as a textual explanation of the selma'o.
 
However, as a catalog reference work not intended to be read from start to finish, the document failed. Individual entries are hard to understand - even with all the cross-references, too much of the text presumes that the reader has read and understood what comes 'before it' in the catalog. The result is like a dictionary wherein you must know and understand almost every word in the 'A' section before trying to understand the 'B' words, while 'C' requires knowledge of both 'A' and 'B', etc.
 
Finally, although John created over a hundred example sentences for the selma'o catalog, this is not nearly enough to exemplify the entire Lojban grammar.
 
The selma'o catalog will appear in print, probably in the first book to be published (see below). However, it needs to be integrated with other materials in that book, which will take a bit of work. It unfortunately cannot serve the purpose John originally set out for it - to exemplify the variety of cmavo and their usages in the grammar.
 
To accomplish the latter, John has undertaken and made excellent progress on a new approach. He has divided the grammar of Lojban into some 15 topics. There will be a paper on each topic, covering the cmavo used in the portion of the grammar that addresses that topic. A half dozen of these papers are done or nearly complete.
 
The topics are not an even division of the grammar - some topics can be covered in very few pages, while others need a lot of explanation and examples. On the average, the topics are being covered to at least the level of detail as the "On Lojban Negation" paper, which was published a couple of years ago with JL and is now distributed with "Package 3" for active language students. (John's writing in these new papers seems to me to be much more readable then my own in the negation paper.) Each paper has dozens of examples; in some of them, over a hundred examples may be found.
 
The most important of the papers completed thus far is the tense paper included with this issue. One of the most thoroughly analyzed and designed aspects of Lojban, as distinguished from earlier versions of Loglan, the tense system benefits from pc's expertise in tense logic and its expression in the languages of the world.
 
I've said that the Lojban tense system is overdesigned - it allows the entire variety of tense-related expressions used by any of the world's languages, without particularly favoring any one approach. But each natural language has evolved a highly specialized and often idiomatic approach to expressing tense. The English speaker tackling Russian or Greek or Irish, all Indo-European languages, must learn elaborate tense systems involving perfective tenses that work entirely unlike those of English. Making the matter even worse, most English speakers are ill-educated as to the complexity of the tense structures of their own language, and the subtleties of nuance implicit in various forms of expression. As a result, a major failing people have in learning foreign languages is that they are unable to grasp the new ways of relating time and space embodied in the foreign language, and speak in a very stilted dialect that is difficult for natives to understand. (Most artificial languages have little or no thought put into their tense system, and probably never achieve the subtleties of meaning conveyed by natural language tenses.)
 
The tense paper included in this issue will likely stretch your mind to envision new relationships in time and space as expressed in language, relationships that are not easily conveyed in English, if at all.
 
For example, at the moment I am writing this, I say that "I am writing JL16". But since JL16 is not yet published, it doesn't yet exist while I write it (except as a figment of my imagination). In Lojban, we can make this clear by stating that I am writing the inchoative JL16.
 
Another example, long my favorite, was coined by pc. Suppose X has a dog which he hits in punishment whenever it chews X's clothes. Indeed, he hits it so long that it sustains lasting injury, though a trip to the vet remedies much of this damage. Now suppose over a period of time, X continues this cruel behavior, the dog's condition deteriorates, and it dies. In English, we might say that "X kept on: kept on hitting the dog too long, too long." But without the long-winded explanation, you would almost certainly consider that sentence both ungrammatical and nonsense, when it is neither. (And there is no way to clearly punctuate the sentence, either, as I just found out.) Lojban expresses this situation easily.
 
Now think of one of those cartoons where the main character drives a motorboat across the lake, then continues up on shore and across the land. This situation is expressed in Lojban using a tense quite similar to that of the last example: the character kept on driving the motorboat too far 'on' the lake.
 
There are all manner of other tense structures permitted in Lojban, some of which have no parallel in natural language. Lojban's tenses are symmetrical with respect to time - you can talk about future events in as elaborate detail as you can talk about past ones, whereas some natural languages (including English) have only a very degenerate grammar for talking about things to come.
 
Will people find Lojban's tense grammar enabling? Or will its many unusual forms never find use, and fall by the wayside. We'll only come to know after people have a chance to learn from a thorough explanation of the tense system, such as John has now provided us.
 
Here is a list of the papers currently planned, and their status:
 
* morphology, phonology, and orthography (written and published, needs stylistic rewrite to match later papers);
* negation (written and published, needs minor update and reworking to be stylistically consistent with later papers);
* attitudinals/metalinguistics (written and published, needs major rewrite adding many examples);
* tense (written and published with this issue);
* MEX: mathematical expressions (written and internally reviewed - to be published with JL17);
* logical connectives (written and in internal review);
* text structure (written and in internal review);
* lerfu (written and in internal review);
 
Not yet written (though in some cases planned in considerable detail) are:
 
* abstraction;
* logical quantification;
* sumti structures - anaphora, descriptions, names, quotes, numbers;
* places and place structures;
* selbri structures;
* tanru making;
* anaphora;
* elidable terminators;
 
John will write most of these papers. I (Lojbab) will probably do a couple of them, possibly including the major rewrite of the attitudinal paper, a lesser rewrite of the negation paper, and writing some or all of the papers on tanru, elidables, and abstraction. These papers will probably take another year to be completed, reviewed, and integrated for publishing, but the resulting book will be a detailed explanation of all aspects of the Lojban grammar (called a 'reference grammar' by linguists).
 
These papers will be an invaluable resource in creating examples and exercises to enrich the long-delayed Lojban textbook. Teaching of the intermediate and advanced aspects of the language that were not covered in the 6 draft lessons already written will be especially helped.
 
As I went to describe John's papers, and the role that they fit in the documentation of the Lojban design, I realized that these collected papers will be nothing other than the Lojban technical description that I started back in 1988, before the textbook was conceived.
 
We have come full circle. In a year, when the papers are complete and published, Lojban will be well-documented, and the language and its community will be much the richer for it.
 
 
Bob and Nora Studying Russian - Nora and I have started an intensive study of Russian. We are trying to adopt one or more young children from Russia, and will have to travel to that country, deal with children who have likely started to understand or even to speak Russian, and also to teach those children about their heritage as they grow up. (Yes, we also plan to teach our kids Lojban.)
 
What does this have to do with Lojban?
 
Our learning efforts started in April, and have already had a significant effect on the future textbook. Our situation in learning Russian is not too unlike the typical Lojbanist who wants to learn Lojban - we want to very quickly acquire as much competency in the language as we can, but have minimal opportunity to take formal classes or interact with native speakers.
 
We've spent a good chunk of money on textbooks, tapes, and other learning aids; we've adapted LogFlash to the study of Russian vocabulary (surprisingly easy due to Nora's excellent program design foresight, even though Russian uses a keyboard and alphabet rather different from what normally appears on your computer screen).
 
Only a month into the effort, I'm learning what methods work for rapid self-teaching, and which do not.
 
When Nora and I learned Loglan/- Lojban, we acquired it slowly, over several years, without prepared materials to work from, and our level of skill until the last couple of years did not approach a useful level. Our experience was unlike what the new Lojbanist faces in trying to learn the language, and even more strongly different from the way we hope Lojbanists will learn the language in the future after the books and other materials are complete.
 
However, our experience in studying Russian from prepared materials in a short time will more closely approximate the typical Lojbanist's situation.
 
What have we learned? We need many more examples and exercises - each of the books we are using gives dozens of very simple exercises for each point taught, several exercises requiring use of each vocabulary word to be added to the learner's 'active' vocabulary, and an incremental approach that adds new grammar features quickly (at least at our study pace) but only one at a time. We have also found that tapes are useful and indeed important to giving students confidence that they can actually speak the language, as they copy what is being said. Tape exercises give practice in listening to the language, as well as correction of the errors and other problems that creep into the self-teaching student's pronunciation.
 
I am also getting specifically helpful samples of style: how much explanation is appropriate and useful, and what type of wording is clearest. Indeed, some specific Russian pronunciation explanations will prove quite useful in explaining similar points about Lojban.
 
I've spent a lot of thought on the textbook writing problem, and sent out a questionnaire to potential Lojban students on the computer networks. The problems I've had in writing the textbook have included a lack of time, too many things to do, instability in the details of the language, and low morale. But the real problem was that I was trying to write a textbook with no real understanding of what a language textbook needs to contain.
 
I've spent a lot of time over the last 5 years examining language textbooks, their structure, and teaching techniques. I've read over a dozen books on standard and unorthodox language teaching methodologies and on textbook writing for both commonly studied languages and for little-known languages for which native speaker materials are hard to acquire.
 
(You would be surprised how little agreement there is on teaching methodologies among language teaching professionals. Simply speaking, there is no methodology that has proven to work effectively for the wide variety of student backgrounds and goals. The best materials are those for learning English, but English-speaking natives like me cannot look at these materials and truly understand the methods being used, and how they might relate to designing materials for other languages - the best materials are quite unlike the ones native speakers study in English grammar class.)
 
This reading means that I actually understand the techniques being used by the Russian textbook writers as they use them on me (the best Russian textbooks on the market were written in Russia by professionals there, and then translated and adapted for English-speaking audiences). I can see which techniques work well with a self-teaching student, and which would need two or more people, or even a class, to be effective.
 
It is no big surprise that the techniques that work best on me are quite similar to the LogFlash flash card technique. It IS significant, both to me, and potentially to people who design materials for other languages, how valuable an understanding of WHY I am doing an exercise helps me do that exercise better - I concentrate on what is important, and don't worry about the rest (I can tell this benefit because I can see the problems that Nora is having, not having had this background in language teaching theory.)
 
It turns out that this new information will not affect the textbook writing I've done thus far. We decided a long time ago to totally rewrite the materials in the draft 6 lessons in the new textbook, which will have a different organization, as well as a different style. The draft lessons, updated to the current language with minimal stylistic changes, will still be put out as a book later this year, because we can get it done quickly and because people have proven able to learn from the book.
 
The rewritten textbook has been stalled near the end of Chapter 1 for over a year - partly from lack of time, more recently from reduced priority. Chapter 1 is an overview of the entire language, a big-picture summary that attempts to get across the fundamental differences between Lojban and other languages in hopes that when we turn to a detailed, incremental buildup of language skills in succeeding chapters, people will have a framework to build upon. (It is rather difficult to properly teach about Lojban sentence features without knowing that Lojban sentences themselves are conceptually unlike English sentences.) It will take little work to adapt Lesson 1 for this new approach, but I now, finally, have some idea how to write Lesson 2 - which has been a significant hindrance on my writing.
 
 
Book Plans - Last issue, I expected that we would have one or two books completed by the end of the year, those books being composed of updated versions of already published materials.
 
Surprising few people, the books haven't yet happened. The distractions of the financial situation hurt both morale and concrete progress. More important, the documents that we intended to incorporate into book form have lots of elusive little inconsistencies which are taking a long time to resolve and document so that we don't introduce new errors as we correct the old. The January weekend meeting discussed above led to a lot of changes in the gismu list place structures, and all other documents have to be reconciled with those changes. A lot of progress has been made, though, and I can surely state that, except for the time I'm taking to produce this JL issue, la lojbangirz. is decidedly in a book-producing mode.
 
The number of books planned has increased as we produce the two originally identified. Here's the current plan:
 
 
Textbook - The existing draft textbook lessons will be updated to the current language and minor changes put in to reflect specific difficulties that people had with an explanation. This revision will take time, but isn't too difficult. Some added tutorial materials, dealing with topics not covered in the 6 lessons that are important to new Lojbanists will be appended, and the first chapter of the new draft textbook will serve as an overview at the beginning.
 
Thereafter, work will commence on writing the 'real' textbook, using some of the ideas I've learned from teaching the language since the first draft textbook was started in 1989, as well as from our learning Russian, as described above. This writing may take a year or two, so that the revised draft textbook is what there will be until then. The full textbook may run to 2 volumes - I haven't yet seen a textbook that gives conversational fluency in a language in even two books.
 
Lojban, while simpler than most languages, still has a large vocabulary to learn. There is a minimum amount of vocabulary that must be mastered to converse fluently in any language. We have had little success in convincing people to get that head start on the vocabulary needed to make textbook learning flow smoothly. The draft lessons averaged 100 new words per lesson, and people in the first class did not do enough self-study of this vocabulary to have the vocabulary keep up with their grammar learning. The answer is smaller, shorter lessons, and some additional work on vocabulary teaching and drilling techniques. But language textbooks seem to set a target of around 1000-1200 words for a typical textbook, and this is only enough for rudimentary communication in most languages, including Lojban. Thus we will need 2 books to get people to active use vocabularies of 2000+ words, which is almost certainly the minimum needed for any real comfort in communicating.
 
Of course people using LogFlash can get to that 2000 word level much more quickly, and without a book, since the gismu and cmavo in LogFlash 3 together amount to around 2000 words, and most of these have some use in conversation and writing.
 
 
Reference Book/Dictionary - Originally the dictionary was going to come after the textbook. This has changed. As indicated last issue, we decided to assemble the various draft reference materials into a single book replacing our motley collection of printed handouts and reference lists with a single cheaper volume that is also up-to-date.
 
Because we need up-to-date references in order to revise the draft textbook, we decided last year that this book was to come first. It has turned out that producing it was not a simple assembly of old documents because bringing those documents into consistency with the current language has taken a lot of time. However, the added time has provided insights that will make the new document better than originally expected. The revised gismu list, for example, now typically has 2 or more English glosses for each Lojban word, and the English order list will be much more useful for those looking up words. We've had side projects going on regarding Lojbanization of names, and are even starting to assemble some of the lujvo used in Lojban text so far into lists (there have been over 2000 such lujvo actually used in Lojban text, which can be added to some 5000 proposed words that are on paper and computer disk from earlier Loglan work). I expect that the slow production process will allow me enough time to put a non-trivial sampling of these into the book. The resulting lists will be less thoroughly checked and standard than the well-analyzed gismu and cmavo lists, but the reference book is now looking more like the dictionary that people really want to see.
 
It won't be the dictionary I WANT to produce, but it will have more to it than most first dictionaries of artificial languages, and will serve as a good start.
 
I have been calling this book the 'proto-dictionary'.
 
The proto-dictionary will also have the formal grammar in both YACC and BNF forms, a glossary of Lojban and technical/linguistic jargon that often appears in discussion of Lojban, the morphology rules, and other useful reference material. I plan to include a form of the selma'o catalog started by John Cowan (described above).
 
A more complete dictionary will be built after this one is done, but it again will take a couple of years - I've always known this was a big project for one person, and without funding for more than myself to work on it, it will take a lot of time.
 
Nora has found a purse-sized gismu list that I prepared for her as an experiment to be very useful. therefore, we are considering putting out a tiny pocket version of the protodictionary with word lists only. If you think such a book would be useful enough for you to buy in addition to the full protodictionary, let us know - the market for this book will determine whether it is produced in this generation of Lojban materials, rather than waiting until there are more Lojbanists to buy it.
 
 
Grammar Description - John Cowan's papers, described above, along with the ones I have written and will write in the future, will form the third basic Lojban book.
 
 
Introduction to Lojban - The cost to us of our introductory package is quite high, and only some 10-20% of the people who ask for information send us payment. By assembling the introductory package into a small book, we can get better postal rates for mailing it, as well as reducing our printing costs. The savings is only a few hundred dollars a year, but every little bit helps, and a lower price might encourage more to pay.
 
 
Lojban Phrase Book - We started doing a phrase book for LogFest last year, and a few dozen pages of materials have been assembled. The concept is similar to the standard 'Berlitz' phrase-books for travellers, recognizing that the phrases a Lojbanist needs are not quite the same as those that a traveller to a foreign country would want.
 
Lojban Reader - We are still talking about this book, though it will likely be delayed because the other books are more important and the market for a reader is still small. The amount of Lojban text that has been written or translated is now enormous. However, checking the translations are slow and inefficient; even small changes in the language require a rechecking. We are also hoping that more Lojbanists will start writing new things in the language rather than translating. Most things people wish to translate are covered by copyright, and tracking down of permissions to reproduce such translations commercially is something we haven't figured out how to do efficiently (along with the fact that we might have to pay royalties).
 
=== Schedule ===
 
We may not be too good lately at meeting our schedules, being too dependent on both time and money that are not under our control, but having a schedule helps us keep priorities straight, and helps you know what he are doing to bring the language to you.
 
Here are the current plans:
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
(June 92)
</pre>
 
LogFest 92A
 
Printed:
<br />JL16
<br />LK16
<br />Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Sentences
<br />Tense Paper
 
Electronic postings to PLS:
<br />Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Sentences
<br />Tense Paper
<br />Mex Paper
<br />lerfu Paper draft
<br />Text Structure Paper draft
<br />Logical Connectives Paper draft
<br />Revised cmavo list
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
(August 92)
</pre>
 
LogFest 92B - Annual Meeting
 
Printed:
<br />JL17
<br />LK17
<br />Lojban Mini-Lesson
<br />Mex Paper
<br />What is Lojban - la lojban. mo Brochure (Esperanto version)
 
Electronic postings to PLS.:
<br />lerfu Paper
<br />Text Structure Paper
<br />What is Lojban - la lojban. mo Brochure (Esperanto version) - updated
<br />A comparison of Lojban and 1989 Institute Loglan (Cowan)
<br />Glossary of Lojban/linguistic terminology
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
(September 92)
</pre>
Books:
<br />Lojban Reference Materials/- Proto-Dictionary
<br />Lojban Pocket Dictionary
 
Software:
<br />Hypercard LogFlash/Mac - (Revised and New versions)
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
(November 92)
</pre>
 
Printed:
<br />JL18
<br />LK18
<br />Lojban Learning Materials (Book)
 
Electronic postings to PLS.:
<br />Revised Draft Lessons 1-6
<br />Negation paper (updated)
<br />Attitudinal Paper (updated)
<br />Synopsis of Lojban Orthography, Phonology, and Morphology (updated)
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
(Dec 92)
</pre>
 
Software
<br />Lojban Parser (PC and some UNIX versions)
<br />Lojban Parser/Glosser
<br />Logflash 2 - rafsi (Revision 7)
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
Unscheduled But Planned
</pre>
 
Printed:
<br />Lojban Textbook
<br />Lojban Dictionary
<br />Lojban Reader
<br />Lojban Phrase Book
 
Printed and Electronic:
<br />Lojban gismu Etymologies
 
Software:
<br />Lojban Adventure Game
 
=== Using the Language ===
 
The most heartening development of the last several months has been the spread of regular and active Lojban work to several people outside of the DC area. These people, primarily in contact with each other through the computer networks, are doing a variety of translations and other writings, games, and discussions. The activities being undertaken often rely on advanced Lojban skills. That people are able to do these activities without direction or instruction from those of us who did the language design proves that the language has now been defined well enough that it is no longer totally dependent on Nora, pc, John Cowan and myself for survival.
 
Even more significantly, the people participating in these activities come from a variety of language backgrounds. Ivan Derzhanski, in Scotland, is native Bulgarian. Nick Nicholas, in Australia, is native Greek/English. Colin Fine, in the UK, of course uses British English, while Mark Shoulson uses American English (though he does most of his translating to Lojban from Hebrew). A new Lojbanist, Veijo Vilva is Finnish.
 
 
Lojban Conversation Group - Before Athelstan's accident in February, the Lojban conversation group here in DC passed its first anniversary of regular weekly conversation sessions in Lojban. Without Athelstan, we have shifted to non-conversation activities such as translations to and from Lojban of simple texts, while teaching new Lojbanist David Young enough of the language that he can comfortably participate in conversation. As described above, we expect to merge the conversation group into a new Lojban class here in the DC area that will swell our numbers of conversant speakers.
 
 
On the Net - Lojban List has remained steady at around 60-80 members, though the last few weeks have shown a new group of people joining in. While most of the subscribers to this list are 'lurkers' in net terminology (they read what's posted but seldom contribute), the number who contribute to discussions has grown to a couple of dozen.
 
The intensity of discussion varies. Earlier this year, the list was averaging a dozen messages a day, some of considerable length. Lately, things have been quiet, with only one or two messages a day.
 
The technical level of discussions has increased. Indeed, we've had a little problem in that new subscribers who haven't received our materials tend to be a bit lost in the details of the fairly advanced discussions, and very little is posted for beginning Lojbanists. I keep urging beginners to post questions, but few participate.
 
 
Phone Game - The old party game called variously "the phone game" or "whisper down the line" has found a new incarnation in Lojban. Originally started by Jack Bennetto, this game is just completing its 3rd 'round'. Lojbanists are each given a message, originally in English. They translate it into Lojban and pass it to the next person, who translates it back to English, then the next back to Lojban, etc. until the message has gone full circle. The requirement is to translate about two lines once a week, so the time commitment is rather small.
 
Participants in the latest 5 message round include Ivan Derzhanski, Sylvia Rutiser, Mark Shoulson, Colin Fine, and Nora LeChevalier, with Nick Nicholas coordinating things and assembling the results.
 
At the end of the game, Nick collects comments from everyone on the obvious and not-so-obvious errors that creep into the translations, and they are posted to Lojban List. Two sample messages from the 2nd round, with post-game commentary, appear in le lojbo se ciska below. People participating in the game learn much from trying to find ways to rephrase what they receive. Nick is hoping to increase the number of participants in the next round.
 
Translations and other Writings - The volume of Lojban text, mostly translations, continues to grow. So does the diversity of translators and sources. Nick Nicholas is still by far the leading translator into Lojban, with about 10 new efforts of length comparable to that in JL15 since that issue was published. Some of these translations are from Greek, both ancient and modern, some are from Esperanto, and even a couple from English. Nick has also completed translating the text of the original 'Adventure' computer game, known as 'Colossal Cave' (badbarda kevna), and we hope to have a Lojban version of this game available by the end of the year.
 
Ivan Derzhanski has translated two stories from Bulgarian into Lojban. One of these will probably appear in the next issue, unless we get the final review done in time for this issue's deadline. Ivan has been complimented for his 'natural' Lojban use that is very easy to read.
 
Mark Shoulson has translated sections of Genesis from the original Hebrew, as well as some traditional Hebrew songs. Colin Fine has translated the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea", and several songs, including one of his own. John Cowan has translated a short tale from Hakka, a rural Chinese dialect. Veijo Vilva and And Rosta have each translated haiku poetry, and Lojbab translated a Gilbert and Sullivan song. Jamie Bechtel revised his translation of an Ursula Leguin science fiction story, which we will print if we can get copyright release. And of course the DC group has done a variety of translations, mostly of simple texts from the 19th century schoolbooks called "McGuffy's Readers".
 
Michael Helsem recently sent a new poem written in Lojban, after several months of inactivity while relocating to Seattle. Thus far he's the only one emphasizing original writing in Lojban.
 
Discussions - Lojban List has had discussions on innumerable topics, and space is forcing us to leave most of these out of this issue. These discussions have been very helpful in resolving some of the issues that come up as we clean up the loose ends in the language documentation. Some of the discussions are excerpted in this issue, and more will appear in later issues, but we can hardly start to include the volume of material appearing on Lojban List.
 
 
Linguist List - John Cowan and Lojbab have also been active in "Linguist List", a mailing list for professional linguists who are conducting research. Our activity has earned us, and Lojban, name recognition in this critical community, and we have garnered considerable respect for Lojban's potential value in linguistics research (see research news below).
 
Conlang - A third mailing list exists for people interested in constructed languages in general as opposed to Lojban or some other particular language. Many of the participants are people inventing their own languages, often for fun or for use in fiction. Lojbanists contribute frequently on this forum, and we have gained several new supporters as a result.
 
=== Research Using Lojban ===
 
As we have gained respect in the linguistics community, a few linguists have offered ideas for how Lojban would be useful in their work. I'll highlight three key contacts.
 
Alexis Manaster-Ramer - Alexis is a noted linguist at Wayne State University in Michigan. He is active in a variety of linguistics arenas, and leads in international relations with the Russian linguistics community, computational linguistics, and historical linguistics (he has a forthcoming paper that will be the first in-depth technical review by American linguists of the 'Nostratic' theory of language evolution, which has been much-discussed in the popular press.
 
Alexis has suggested that Lojban may be well-suited for use in semantic analysis of differing natural languages. Specifically, if you have, for example, a word in Polish, and a word in English, they might be translated into two separate words in Lojban, but then using some of Lojban's features to serve as a metalanguage for talking about the relationships between the meanings. He says that linguists often make nonsensical claims/errors because in dealing with glosses of words from other languages, they often forget that the gloss is not necessarily identical in meaning.
 
(He cites as an example a guy who did his thesis demonstrating that English "if" was not a logical connection by examining how translations of "if" s sentences into Tagalog were not logical connectives because the word used in Tagalog definitely doesn't ever act like such a connective. Alexis notes that this argument is silly - the Tagalog word was not necessarily identical in meaning to the English word, even if it WAS used in translation. Ideally you want to never assume that two words in different language map to exactly the same semantic space.
 
Another example, from Polish (which is Alexis' native language). 'Orange' in its Polish incarnation is not as primary a color as it is in English. Even though the archetype orange may be similar or identical in the two languages, the word for the concept covers a narrower band in Polish, so some things English calls 'orange' Alexis sees as a flavor of yellow and more rarely as red. Lojban has the capability, independent of the vaguely defined Lojban narju, to add words glinarju and polskrnarju for the two source language "oranges". Having different words, a Lojban-using analyst wouldn't assume them to be identical in meaning, and would perhaps also have the metalanguage capability through adding BAI places and the like, to clearly distinguish the meanings and the transformations needed to relate the two. Each word would have an archetype and a range in both hue and saturation - the limits between orange and other colors being different in Polish than in English.
 
Alexis thus sees in Lojban the basis for a general or universal semantic theory after the concept that none other than Whorf had (Whorf apparently thought that gestalt psychology could serve as the basis of an independent universal semantic theory). Lojban's cultural independence (whether neutral or not, it is relatively independent of other cultures through the need to reformulate and reanalyze virtually every concept for both syntactic and semantic place structure values when you translate into Lojban), and its extensibility allow for a lot of power in semantic analysis.
 
While the goal is some kind of universal semantic analysis capability, just the ability to use Lojban to tackle small problems, like the color words, or Nootka sentence words or 57 Inuit words for snow, would be a boon to linguists doing their work. The longer term goal need not even be dealt with at first.
 
It is interesting that an opportunity like this comes up in semantics, the area where we have done the least work in Lojban, and yet the lack of work done is not a handicap for the research Alexis has in mind.
 
For the technically minded, linguist David Elworthy attempted to reformulate my description in more formal terms. In some ways his version seems more clear than my presentation. David writes:
 
We are considering lexical translation between two languages lg1 and lg2. Such a translation will only rarely be an isomorphism, in the sense that the words (or whatever) in the language will have identical meanings; most of the time we have a homomorphism, i.e. in going from lg1 to lg2 we discard some of the meaning and add in some extra bits of meaning. The problem is that linguists and others who work with translations forget that they are using a homomorphism and treat it as an isomorphism: hence the "if" in English and Tagalog example. The picture of what happens at the moment is thus:
 
lg1 -----------------> lg2
            h
 
(using h for the homomorphism).
 
The proposal is to use a three stage process: lg1 to the nearest object (word, phrase) in Lojban, some object in Lojban to lg2, and something to link the two Lojban objects, i.e.:
 
lg1 ----> Lojban ----> Lojban ---- > lg2
      h1          h2          h3
 
such that composing the three homomorphisms h1, h2 and h3 gives you h.
 
The suggestion is that Lojban is a good tool for this because we can produce objects for the middle stages which have a very precise meaning (so we get h1 and h3 right), and furthermore that these meanings can be reduced to members of a small collection of primitive objects joined with well-defined connective. Hence we should be able to get h2. So we have reduced h to simpler terms, and so we can get a more precise understanding of the original translation.
 
When I started to write this I was trying to work out why I felt skeptical about it, and I think I now find that I am less skeptical than I thought! The major difficulty is in h1 and h3. To know whether you have got these right, i.e. found or constructed the right Lojban objects, you have to make reference to something outside the languages involved, and this might just mean that you have replaced the need to do this once (in h) with a need to do it twice (h1 and h3). But perhaps this is really the aim: to reduce one hard problem to two easier ones.
 
 
Ivan notes further that Lojban may be most helpful where it is important to forget about cultural concepts or about the Indo-Europeanish concept of parts of speech. He also mentions family relationship words and tenses as fruitful areas of investigation.
 
Anyone interested in actively keeping abreast of this research project should let us know. If you have access to the computer nets, this is helpful, since that is likely where most discussion will take place as we attempt to focus this into a more formal research proposal. We will of course keep people generally aware of how this develops in JL.
 
 
Ivan Derzhanski - Ivan is pursuing his own research interests at the University of Edinburgh. He plans to use Lojban significantly in his research. Among other activities, Ivan has written and submitted a paper addressing the variety of modification strategies that languages use in tanru (modifier/- modificand pairings). He includes some Lojban examples.
 
Alan Libert - Alan is a linguist at McGill University in Canada. In April he gave a presentation at the International Linguistics Association meeting in Washington DC, which I attended. Alan's paper was on the use of artificial languages, especially those (like Lojban) which do not attempt to copy the structures of some other language or group of languages (a priori languages) to research in language universals. He hypothesizes that those who invent languages will unconsciously incorporate true universals in their language design even when they are trying to depart from their native language constraints.
 
His initial efforts, dealing with the well-known analyses of word order in languages, were inconclusive. However, we noted in discussion of the paper that such 'obvious' features of language design are too well-known and hence likely to be an intentional choice on the part of the language inventor. For example, the recently publicized "Klingon" language used in the Star Trek movies was explicitly invented to have Object before Subject order, a rare feature found only in a few Amazon-region languages.
 
=== International News/Publicity ===
 
There is not much news in these areas that isn't already covered elsewhere. With active Lojbanists now scattered around the world (indeed, while our mailing list is heavily concentrated in the US, the people actually learning and using the language seem exceptionally spread out), news about Lojban is often 'international'.
 
In the publicity arena, we have had some useful international developments. The major international Esperanto monthly Monato had a short article mentioning Lojban and giving our mail and computer addresses. A couple of dozen have responded, almost all from outside the US, and we hope to encourage this development into a further spurt of international Lojban use.
 
The second development is Nora and my eventual trip to Russia as part of our adopting a child. The nature of that process is such that we will not be able to do much lead planning of the trip, but I certainly intend to take advantage of our visit to promote Lojban in that country, noted for its diverse ethnic and linguistic heritage. (I'm hoping to have a Russian translation of the Lojban brochure and perhaps other materials before leaving).
 
There is a good possibility that la lojbangirz. will lose its capability to accept credit card orders/contributions, which we started primarily for the benefit of non-US supporters. We are now paying US$15/month minimum and no annual fee; this will rise in October to US$50 per year and US$25/month minimum. We will be paying more in fees most months than we gain in income from credit cards. Unless we find a new, cheaper avenue for processing credit cards, this service will have to be dropped. We will still be able to process non-US denominated cheques using Thomas Cook, for a US$3.50 fee. If you are planning a credit card contribution, though, I recommend that you do so before summer ends.
 
=== News From the Institute ===
 
The Loglan Institute (TLI) continues to survive, though this remains fairly invisible on the forums that we see. Since our last issue, two more issues of Lognet have appeared. Each contains a short piece of Loglan text, and discussions of various technical issues. Lognet seems to look like some of our early JL issues, only much smaller.
 
Most entertaining is how users of the TLI version are discovering many of the improvements we made in creating Lojban 5 years ago, or have added since. Indeed, almost every change reported in TLI Loglan was already part of Lojban. Given the wide overlap between TLI supporters and readers of this publication and our computer net discussions, there may be a reason for this.
 
JCB has been especially invisible the last several months. Having moved TLI to San Diego when he relocated there last summer, JCB has apparently spent the time since last November preparing and sailing his yacht from Florida around to his new home.
 
 
TLI Legal Appeal Rejected - As reported last issue, TLI appealed the US Patent and Trademark Office ruling in our favor that 'Loglan' was not a valid trademark for TLI's "dictionaries and grammars" because it is a generic name for a language and not an indication that the source of those products is TLI. This ruling, the result of a long dispute between us and TLI, would allow us to use 'Loglan' freely in our promotion of our materials, especially in attempting to reach the people who have heard of Loglan through the 1960 Scientific American article, Heinlein's reference in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and other such instances that predate or are otherwise unrelated to TLI and its products. The legal battle was started in 1988 after TLI threatened legal action over our use of the term 'Loglan' in JL in ways they did not approve.
 
Oral arguments on the appeal were held on 7 November 1991, before three judges of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Bill Herbert of Staas and Halsey argued for la lojbangirz., while Wesley Parsons argued for TLI. JCB was present in the courtroom, as were Athelstan and myself.
 
Oral arguments lasted only about a half hour; then a long wait for the decision, which was finally issued on 28 April. The decision was clearly and strongly in our favor, and makes further likelihood that our position will be refuted quite remote. Mr. Parsons has filed a request for rehearing, as is often done, but the appeals court rarely grants such requests.
 
The Circuit Court of Appeals is normally the court of last resort for trademark and other intellectual property cases. The only higher court is the U. S. Supreme Court, and they take perhaps one such case every several years; the grounds for such a Supreme Court appeal have to typically require some particular controversy, a significant constitutional issue, or disagreement between lower courts (which cannot happen in trademark cases, since there is now only one appeals court that handles trademark issues). These grounds are going to be particularly difficult to find in the Loglan decision. A Supreme Court case is also quite expensive to file for such a low chance of success, and with this appeal decision, the courts have started requiring TLI to pay some of our costs in refuting their appeals.
 
In discussing the appeal in Lognet, JCB made statements suggesting that he was confident of victory and that it was just a matter of time until this occurred. As a result of these statements, our attorney has urged that we publish the Appeals decision in full so that there is no question that TLI's case has little on which to stand. We are doing so below, omitting only legal case citations that wouldn't mean much except to lawyers (we'll supply a copy of the decision, and of the original trademark cancellation decision to those wanting these details, at reproduction cost).
 
 
One more settlement attempt rejected - While we continue to defend our right to use the term "Loglan" in promoting the language, we have continued, whenever avenues present themselves, to pursue more productive resolutions of our disputes with TLI. Discovering on short notice that JCB was coming to Washington to attend the hearing, we initiated contact through our attorneys to set up a mediated discussion of differences leading to a resolution of those differences. When TLI seemed to show interest, we hurriedly drafted a lengthy proposal to serve as an agenda for such a meeting, indicating several options that could be pursued. However, TLI quickly rejected the proposal/agenda without comment, and indicated that they found no basis for mutual discussions. Thus, even though JCB and I were in the same courtroom in November, at his choice no meeting occurred.
 
== le lojbo se ciska ==
 
<pre style="text-align: center">
Excerpt from the 2nd Round of the Phone Game
</pre>
 
Here is the first of two sample sentences from the phone game played on the computer nets. This one communicated very well. Commentary courtesy of Nick Nicholas.
 
The original phrase was:
 
Hot?! Man, it was so hot, if you cracked an egg on the sidewalk, it'd fry in ten seconds flat! Honest!
 
Mark Shoulson translated this as:
 
xu pu glare paunai .i leni glare zo'u lenu karpo'i da'i lo sovda vi lo dzuklaji cu rinka lenu ra bazi binxo lo se jukpa ba'o lo snidu be li pano sa'e .i ba'ucu'i
<br />(Was it hot? (This is not a question). For the amount of heat, (something) open-breaking (suppose) into an egg (pieces) at a walk-street causes that it (the egg pieces) become a cooked-thing after 10 seconds (exactly!). (Accuracy!))
 
Mark justified not explicitly flagging exaggeration by saying: A little strange, in that the speaker claims not to be exaggerating, but then that's the most common form of exaggeration. It hardly seems likely to expect Lojban speakers to be honest with their attitudinals and lose the power their hyperbole. Then again, we can assume that the sentence really is true, so that's okay.
 
The main blunder is with the place structure of porpi: it has x1 breaking into pieces x2, not agent x1 breaking x2 into pieces x3 (this is popygau or some variant of popri'a). I like prenexes too, but I would put leni glare into an explicit BAI place (ki'u...).


          DOUBLE YOUR LOJBAN FUN -- TWO LOGFESTS THIS YEAR
What I was in fact looking for is the translation of "so hot that..." suggested by Lojbab in a past JL: ".i glare seja'e lenu co'eli'o". Are we sure that, if the breaking of the egg is hypothetical, that its effect (it's being cooked) is also hypothetical; ie. the Lojban doesn't necessarily imply "If you were to break the egg, it will ca'a cook"? I suppose so.


                  JUNE 26-28 AND AUGUST 14-17, 1992
One may debate whether Mark's translation was good Lojban (personally, I think it was). In any case, it was excellent English :), as Colin's translation shows:


          NEW DC AREA LOJBAN CLASS STARTING -- SIGN UP NOW!
WAS IT HOT! The heat - if you cracked an egg on the pavement it would be cooked in ten seconds, no more, really!
                      DETAILS IN NEWS SECTION


    ju'i lobypli  (JL)  is  the  quarterly  journal  of  The  Logical
(I don't have any comment to make: this is the first almostfully successful message relay in this game).
Language Group,  Inc., known  in these  pages as  la lojbangirz.    la
lojbangirz. is a non-profit  organization formed  for the  purpose of
completing and  spreading the  logical  human  language  "Lojban  -  A
Realization of  Loglan" (commonly  called "Lojban"), and informing the
community about logical languages in general.
    la  lojbangirz.  is  a  non-profit  organization  under  Section
501(c)(3) of  the U.S.  Internal Revenue  Code.  Your donations  (not
contributions to  your voluntary  balance) are  tax-deductible on U.S.
and most  state income  taxes.  Donors are notified at the end of each
year of their total deductible donations.
    For purposes  of  terminology,  "Lojban"  refers  to  a  specific
version  of  a  logical  human  language,  the  generic  language  and
associated research  project having  been called  "Loglan"  since  its
invention by  Dr. James  Cooke Brown in 1954.  Statements referring to
"Loglan/Lojban" refer  to both the generic language and to Lojban as a
specific instance  of that language.  The Lojban version of Loglan was
created as  an alternative  because Dr.  Brown  and  his  organization
claims  copyright  on  everything  in  his  version,  including  each
individual word  of the vocabulary.  The Lojban vocabulary and grammar
and all language definition materials, by contrast, are public domain.
Anyone may  freely use  Lojban for  any purpose  without permission or
royalty.  la lojbangirz. believes that such free usage is a necessary
condition for  an engineered  language like  Loglan/Lojban to become a
true human  language, and  to succeed  in the  various goals that have
been proposed for its use.
    Page count  this issue:  48 +  40 enclosures  = 88  ($8.80  North
America, $10.56 elsewhere).  Press run for this issue of ju'i lobypli:
                                  2
265.  We now have about 726 people receiving our publications, and 240
more awaiting textbook publication.


                          Your Mailing Label
Sylvia came up with:


Your mailing  label reports  your current  mailing  status,  and  your
.u'e glare .ije da'i lo sovda cu selporpi di'o le dagysfe seri'a seljukpa snidu ja'e li su'e pa no
current voluntary  balance including  this issue. Please notify us of
<br />((Wonder!) Heat. And (suppose) an egg is broken at the locus of the road-surface causing (that: {lenu} omitted) (something) is- cooked lasting- -(some)-seconds result the number at most 10.)
changes in  your activity/interest  level.   Balances reflect  contri-
butions received  thru 30  May 1992.   Mailing  codes (and approximate
balance needs) are:


Activity/Interest Level:                       Highest Package
This has me a bit worried. The place of da'i in the sentence can be argued about, but the seljukpa snidu ja'e sequence doesn't make much sense to me. Well it does, but it circuitous. What's happening is: "it's a being-cooked lasting-n-seconds thing" which makes sense, sorta, but you're waiting to find out what n is, and instead of n being the second place (seljukpa snidu li su'epano), it shows up as a ja'e place: "resulting in the number 10". Now this could mean "it's an n-second cook ending up being 10 seconds" (cf.: it's a ten-second wait) which is fine, but it in fact ends up as "it's an n-second cook resulting in the number ten." In Lojban, of course, it's easier to deduce from the second phrase that the first was meant. I would still, however, regard this use of ja'e as anomalous, and dangerously vague.
Received (Price Each)                          Other flags:
B - Observer    0 - Introductory Materials ($5)  JL JL Subscription
($28/yr)
C - Active Supporter                            1 - Word Lists and
Language Description ($15)                     (followed by
expiration issue #)
D - Lojban Student                              2 - Language Design
Information ($10)                               * indicates
subscription prepaid
E - Lojban Practitioner                        3 - Draft Teaching
Materials ($30)  LK LK Subscription ($5/yr)
                                                R  Review Copy (no
charge)
                                                UP Automatic Updates
(>$20)


  Please keep us informed of changes in your mailing address, and US
None the less, the meaning is still retrievable, and there hasn't been any significant distortion, as in other sentences.
subscribers are asked to provide ZIP+4 codes whenever you know them.


                                  3
[Another phone game extract will be found below.]
                        Contents of This Issue


    Important:    Due  to  financial  constraints,  ju'i  lobypli  is
== Text of the Court of Appeals Decision ==
converting to  a full subscription basis, starting with the next issue
(JL17).  Please read the section on subscriptions for details.
    It's been  a while  since last  issue, as we attempted to get our
finances back  on an  even keel.  Our financial health plan is taking
effect, and  we  expect  future  issues  of JL  to  resume  quarterly
appearance (if  you are  a subscriber,  of course).  (I  also want to
apologize to  people who have had to wait an excessively long time for
materials ordered  during the  last 6  months.  Hopefully  the  order
backlog will have been corrected when you get this issue.)
    As will  usually be  the case,  this issue contains much material
derived from  the Lojban  List computer  mailing list on the Internet.
Nearly all  such material has been edited, revised, and corrected from
the original.
    We continue  to be flooded with Lojban text from several writers,
and some of this material will be found in this issue.
    Several pieces  in this  issue  relate  to  Lojban  and  computer
applications, and our first research proposal is reprinted.
    The main  body of  this issue  will  be  short,  because  we  are
including two  long enclosures:  a major paper by John Cowan on Lojban
tense structures,  and a  major revision/improvement of the Diagrammed
Summary of Lojban Grammar Forms, which is becoming the mainstay of our
introductory materials.  Some of the material originally prepared for
this issue,  including about 10 pages of discussion of the Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis, will  be delayed  until JL17  (which,  having  this  extra
preparation done, is much more likely to come out on time!)


                                 
As stated above, this is the text of the decision by the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in TLI's appeal of our successful petition for cancellation of TLI's registered trademark for 'Loglan'. The text is printed verbatim, except for asterisks in brackets substituting for multitudinous legal citations that mean little to the average reader.


                          Table of Contents
<pre style="text-align: center">
92-1254
Cancellation No. 18,026
THE LOGLAN INSTITUTE, INC., Appellant,
v.
THE LOGICAL LANGUAGE GROUP, INC., Appellee.


Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms                                ---3
DECIDED: April 28, 1992
News
</pre>
  Subscriptions and Finances                                  ---3
  Athelstan Injured                                          ---4
  Language Education                                          ---5
  Electronic Distribution                                    ---5
  Logfest 92                                                  ---7
  Language Development Status                                ---8
  Status of Products                                          --12
  Schedule                                                    --19
  Using the Language                                          --19
  Research Using Lojban                                      --20
  International News/Publicity                                --21
  News From the Institute                                    --21
le lojbo se ciska                        --22, 25, 31, 35, 37, 41
Text of the Court of Appeals Decision                        --23
lei lojbo                                                    --26
la lojbangirz.'s First Research Proposal                      --27
DLT - Esperanto-based Machine Translation                    --34
A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory                                  --36
Morphology Algorithm                                          --39
Translations of le lojbo se ciska                            --42
Next Issue                                                    --46
Sample Pages from Forthcoming Dictionary                      --46


                      Computer Net Information
Before PLAGER, Circuit Judge, SKELTON, Senior Circuit Judge, and LOURIE, Circuit Judge.


LOURIE, Circuit Judge.


                                  4
The Loglan Institute, Inc. (Institute), appeals the final decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) in Cancellation No. 18,026 (February 4, 1991). The Board granted The Logical Language Group, Inc.'s (Language Group) motion for summary judgement, holding that the Institute's mark, LOGLAN, is generic and ordered the registration cancelled. We affirm.
    Via Usenet/UUCP/Internet, you can  send messages  and text files
(including things  for  JL  publication) to  la  lojbangirz./Bob  at:
lojbab@grebyn.com      (This is a new address and supersedes the prior
"snark" address.)
    You can  also join the Lojban List mailing list (currently around
80 subscribers). Send a single line message (automatically processed)
containing only:
"subscribe lojban yourfirstname yourlastname"  to:    listserv@cuvmb.
cc.columbia.edu
If you have problems needing human intervention, send to:  lojban-
list-request@snark.thyrsus.com
Send traffic for the mailing list to:  lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu
    Please keep us informed if your network mailing address changes.
    Compuserve subscribers  can also participate.  Precede any of the
above addresses  with INTERNET:  and  use your normal Compuserve mail
facility.  If you  want to  participate on Lojban List, you should be
prepared to  read your  mail at  least every couple of days; otherwise
your mailbox  fills up  and you  are dropped  from  the  mailing-list.
FIDOnet subscribers  can also  participate, although the connection is
not especially  robust.  Write to us for details if you don't know how
to access the Internet network.
    Whether you  wish to  participate in the news-group or not, it is
useful for us to know your Compuserve or Usenet/Internet address.


                                  5
=== BACKGROUND ===
  We've  been  requested  to  more    rafsi -  affix  combining  forms
explicitly identify people who are  for the gismu;
referred to by initials in JL, and    lujvo  -  compound  words  built
will regularly do so in this spot,  from rafsi;
immediately before  the news  sec-    le'avla -  words  borrowed  from
tion.  Note that  'Athelstan'  is  other languages;
that person's  real name,  used in    brivla - Lojban predicate words,
his public  life,  and  is  not  a  consisting of  gismu,  lujvo.  and
pseudonym.                          le'avla.
                                      tanru -  Lojban  metaphors,  the
  'pc' -  Dr. John Parks-Clifford,  most  productive  and  creative
Professor of  Logic and Philosophy  expression form of the language;
at the  University of  Missouri  -    sumti  -  the  arguments  of  a
St. Louis and Vice-President of la  logical predicate;
lojbangirz.;  he    is    usually    selbri - Lojban predicates which
addressed as  'pc' by  the  commu-  indicate a  relation among  one or
nity.                              more sumti.    A  selbri  is  most
  'Bob',    'lojbab'    -    Bob  often a  brivla or tanru; formerly
LeChevalier  -  President  of  la  called "kunbri" in error;
lojbangirz., and  editor  of  ju'i    bridi - Lojban predications, the
lobypli and le lojbo karni.        basic grammatical structure of the
  'Nora'  -  Nora  LeChevalier  -  language;  a  bridi  expresses  a
Secretary/Treasurer of  la lojban-  complete relationship:  the selbri
girz.,  Bob's  wife,  author  of  expresses  the  relation  and  the
LogFlash.                          sumti express  the various  things
  'JCB', 'Dr.  Brown' -  Dr. James  being related;
Cooke  Brown,  inventor  of  the    selma'o - grammatical categories
language,  and  founder  of  the  of Lojban  words; the basis of the
Loglan project.                    unambiguous formal  grammar of the
  'The  Institute',  'TLI'  -  The  language.      Traditionally  and
Loglan  Institute,  Inc.,  JCB's  erroneously called "lexeme" in the
organization  for  spreading  his  Loglan    community.        These
version of  Loglan, which  we call  categories typically  have a  name
'Institute Loglan'.                derived  from  one  word  in  that
  'Loglan' -  This refers  to  the  grammatical category;  the name is
generic  language  or  language  all  capitals,  except  that  an
project, of  which 'Lojban' is the  apostrophe is  replaced by a small
most  successful  version,  and  letter 'h'.
'Institute    Loglan'    another. 
'Loglan/Lojban'  is    used    in                News
discussions about  Lojban where we
wish to make it particularly clear      Subscriptions and Finances
that the  statement applies to the
generic language as well.            This may be your last issue of
  'PLS' -  The  Planned  Languages            ju'i lobypli.
Server,  a  no-charge  computer-    We are  converting JL  to a sub-
network-accessed      distribution  scription basis.  This is the last
center  for  materials  on  Lojban  issue sent to those not explicitly
(and other artificial languages).  requesting  (and  in  most  cases
                                    paying for) a subscription.
  Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms      At this  point  some  65  people
                                    have returned  forms requesting  a
  Following  are  definitions  of  subscription.    Perhaps  half  of
frequently  used  Lojban  terms.  these have  sufficient balances to
More complete  explanations of the  cover their subscription price.
following are  in the  Overview of    Our  new  special  fund  for
Lojban.                            'scholarship  subscriptions'  will
  cmavo - Lojban structure words    not allow  us to support more than
  gismu  -  Lojban  root  words;  a  few  people  on  a  non-paying
currently 1337;                    basis,    and      these    free


                                  6
In 1955, Dr. James Brown invented a "logical language" which was designed to test the theory that natural languages limit human thought. It has been described by Dr. Brown as "symbolic logic made speakable" which "derives its word-stock impartially from the eight most widely spoken natural languages and so is culturally and politically neutral as well as suitable for cross-cultural linguistic experimentation." Dr. Brown coined the word "Loglan" (derived from logical language) to designate the new language. He first used the term Loglan in a publication in 1956; several years later, in 1962, he formed the Institute to promote the development and use of Loglan. On August 17,1987, the Institute applied for registration of Loglan as a mark for "Dictionaries and Grammars." The registration issued on April 12, 1988.
subscriptions will be reserved for  deducting for  JL16 (this  issue),
those who  are actively working in  your mailing  label  will  have  a
the  language,  but  cannot  pay  number between "JL 17" and "JL 20"
(mostly international supporters).  on it  indicating that  your  sub-
  So here's where things stand:    scription  expires    with    the
                                    indicated  issue.    Your  balance
- For US and Canadian subscribers,  will be  deducted at a rate of $10
the  subscription  price  will  be  per issue (substantially above the
US$28 for  4 issues  (hopefully  1  subscription  price  for  US  and
year -  but our commitment will be  Canada  recipients,  less  so  for
for a number of issues rather than  overseas recipients),  for up to 4
a date,  just in case).  For those  issues, until  your balance  drops
in  other  countries,  the  sub- below $10,  or until  we receive a
scription price  will be US$35 for  form  and/or  other  instructions
4 issues.                           from you.   You  will be given the
                                    lower-priced 4-issue  subscription
-  If  you  have  not  returned  a  rate when  we receive  your signed
subscription  form,  and  have  a  subscription  request  form  (and
negative balance  worse than  $-10  preferably enough  money to raise
after  deducting  for  JL16  (this  your    balance    above    the
issue), your  mailing  label  will  subscription  minimum).   If  you
have a "JL 16"  on it  indicating  cannot  afford  the  subscription
that your  'subscription'  expires  amount,   you    may    request
with the current issue.  We must  scholarship  assistance  on  the
receive  a  signed  subscription  subscription  form.    You  will
request form  and enough  money to  receive highest priority after the
cover the  subscription price  AND  most  active  volunteers  to  gain
at  least  1/2  of your  negative  such assistance  to fill  out your
balance.   If  you  cannot  afford  balance to a 4-issue subscription.
this  amount,   you  may  request
scholarship assistance on the sub-  -    If  you  have  returned  a
scription form,  but you  will  be  subscription form  and  have  more
lowest  priority  for such  sub-  than $10  in  your  balance  after
scriptions unless  you are  a very  deducting for JL16 (this  issue),
active  volunteer.    Contributing  your mailing  label  will  have  a
some of  the amount  required will  number between "JL 17" and "JL 20"
raise your priority considerably.   on it;  your subscription  expires
                                    with the  indicated  issue.    You
-  If  you  have  not  returned  a  have  either  been  given  a  full
subscription  form,    and  have  four-issue subscription  (if there
between  $-10  and  $10  in  your  is enough in your balance to cover
balance after  deducting for  JL16  the price), or a partial-year sub-
(this issue),  your mailing  label  scription prorated to your balance
will  have  a  "JL  16"  on  it  amount ($7/issue  for  US/Canada).
indicating        that        your  The subscription  price  has  been
'subscription'  expires  with  the  deducted from your balance, and an
current issue.  We must receive a  "*" on the mailing label indicates
signed subscription  request  form  that your  subscription  has  been
and  enough  money  to  cover  the  paid.  You  need  do  nothing  to
subscription price.  If you cannot  continue  receiving  JL;  we  will
afford  this  amount,   you  may  notify you by direct mail prior to
request scholarship  assistance on  your last  subscription issue  for
the  subscription  form.    Con-  renewal.
tributing  some  of  the  amount
required will  raise your priority
considerably.


-  If you  have  not  returned  a
Apparently unhappy with the Institute's progress in developing the language, a member of the Institute left and in November 1988 founded the Language Group. In February 1989, the Language Group published a newsletter regarding the progress of its logical language. In the newsletter, several references were made to Loglan, prompting the Institute to threaten the Language Group with a trademark infringement suit.
subscription form,  and have  more
than $10  in your  balance  after


                                  7
On May 23, 1989, the Language Group petitioned the Board to cancel the Institute's registration of the mark Loglan, alleging that Loglan is merely a contraction of, or generic name for a logical language. The Language group also contended that the application for registration had been fraudulently made, or, if a trademark ever existed for Loglan, the mark had been abandoned. After both parties moved for summary judgment, the Board granted the Language Group's motion and ordered cancellation on the ground that Loglan is "a generic designation identifying a language rather than a trademark to indicate the source of goods." Additionally, the Board found that the application had not been fraudulently made and that the abandonment issue was moot. The Board refused to consider the affirmative defenses raised by the Institute, stating that some were not within the Board's jurisdiction and others were not good defenses against a charge of genericness. The Institute argues here that the Board erred in holding that Loglan was a generic term and in refusing to consider the affirmative defenses.
-    If  you  have  returned  a  "JL 17" since you have received no
subscription form  and  have  less  chance to  send in  a subscription
than $10  in  your  balance  after  request  form  until  now.    Your
deducting for  JL16 (this  issue), balance will  be charged  $10  for
and  you  sent  at  least  $40  in  JL17 if  we have  not  received  a
balance  contributions  between  1  form prior to that issue.
Dec. 1991  and 15 April 1992, your
mailing label will have "JL 20" on  -  When  you  stop  receiving  JL
it.  You have  been given  a full  after the subscription expiration
four-issue  subscription.      The  issue, you  will automatically  be
subscription price  has  been  de-  switched to  a subscription to the
ducted from  your balance,  and an  newsletter le  lojbo karni  (LK  -
"*" on the mailing label indicates  subscription price  of around  $5
that your  subscription  has  been  per year).  We expect to cull the
paid.  You  need  do  nothing  to  LK mailing  list  after  the  next
continue  receiving  JL;  we  will  fund-raising  mailer,   dropping
notify  you  prior  to  your  last  those people  with  balances  less
subscription issue for renewal.    than $-30.
                                      We haven't  yet received  enough
-    If  you  have  returned  a subscription  forms  to  justify
subscription form  and  have  less  applying for a 2nd  class postage
than $10  in  your  balance  after  (though  we  are  close).     The
deducting for JL16 (this  issue),  highest  subscription  price  has
and you have sent less than $40 in  been selected  because we'll  have
balance  contributions  since  1  to pay  1st class/air mail postage
December 1991, your mailing label  rates for  at least  one issue, as
will have a number between "JL 17"  well as  at least  $275 to  obtain
and "JL  19" on it indicating that  the 2nd class permit (about $4 for
your subscription expires with the each subscriber)  that will  allow
indicated issue.  You been given a  us to  save postage  costs  there-
part-year subscription.   We  have  after.
deducted the cost of  this  issue 
from your  contribution (if  any),    Final  financial  results  from
and   determined  your  prorated  last  year  -  Our  1991  income
subscription period  based on 1/2  totalled $14,462.59, with expenses
of the remaining contribution (if  of $14,746.31,  for a net loss on
any), with  a minimum  of 1 issue. the year  of about  $300.  Of that
The amount of the subscription has  amount  $10,725.73  was  donations
been deducted  from your  balance,  (around $6000  of  this  was  from
and an  "*" on  the mailing  label  Lojbab and  Nora).  In total, only
indicates that  your  subscription  $3700 was contributed toward bal-
has  been  paid.   You  need  do  ances from  over 850 people on our
nothing to continue receiving JL;  mailing list.  Only  through  our
we will  notify you  prior to your  end-of-year  fund-raiser  did  we
last  subscription    issue  for  even do  this well.  We  received
renewal.  However, we ask that you  $2500 during  the last  20 days of
contribute to  bring your  balance  December, much  of it  as a result
positive if possible.               of  the  fund-raising  drive,  re-
                                    ducing us  from a  deficit of over
-    If  you  have  returned  a  $2000 for the year that might have
subscription form  and  asked  for  crippled us.
scholarship  support  for  your    At the end  of  1991,  we  owed
subscription:  we  have  not  yet  about $5800  in legal  fees on the
decided who will get such support,  trademark  battle,  which  we're
but given  the above  policy,  you  repaying at  $500 per month.  This
will at least receive JL17.        is taking every penny that Lojbab,
                                    Nora and Jeff Prothero,  who  are
-    If  you  are  an  overseas  financing the legal fees, can con-
recipient  of  JL,  then  you  are  tribute.   We must  count  on  the
slated to receive at least through


                                  8
=== DISCUSSION ===
rest of  you  to  keep  the  orga-    Status this  year -  So  far  in
nization going financially.        1992, we're  losing money.  Up to
                                    now, against some $2500 in income,
                                    we've spent around $2800; JL16 and
                                    LK16 will  cost another $1200, and
                                    we have  over  $1500  precommitted
                                    towards future  JL  subscriptions.
                                    Thus, we  expect to  need  another
                                    fund-raising drive within a couple
                                    of months.  I  hope to tie such a
                                    fund-raiser to the announcement of
                                    the first Lojban book.  But please
                                    don't wait until then.  Contribute
                                    now!  We don't  know yet  how  we
                                    will  finance  book  publication,
                                    which will  cost several  thousand
                                    dollars.
                                      Our Numbers - Support for Lojban
                                    continues  to    grow    at    an
                                    outstanding  rate;  we  lose  few
                                    people (mostly people who move and
                                    forget  to  tell  us  their  new
                                    address), while  averaging  1  new
                                    person every 2-3 days for the last
                                    year.
                                      Following  are  our  numbers  by
                                    level  of  interest  and  sub-
                                    scription, as  of this publication
                                    (numbers  in  parentheses  include
                                    multiple persons per address):
                                   
                                      Level E  - Practitioner  (people
                                    who have  actually produced Lojban
                                    text, are  actively  working  with
                                    the  language,    and  receiving
                                    materials from us) - 13 (17)
                                      Level D  - Lojban  Student -  95
                                    (113)
                                      Level C  - Active Observer - 139
                                    (149)
                                      Level B  - Inactive  Observer  -
                                    627 (663)
                                      JL16 subscribers - 241 (272)
                                      JL17 subscribers - 114 (130)
                                      JL subscription request returned
                                    - 66 (72)
                                      Prepaid beyond JL17 - 55 (61)
                                      LK subscribers
                                      Total active  mailing  list  897
                                    (965)
                                                   
                                            Athelstan Injured
                                                   
                                      Our efforts  on Lojban  here  in
                                    the Washington  DC area were dealt
                                    a  severe  blow  at  the  end  of
                                    February.  Athelstan, one  of  la
                                    lojbangirz.'s Directors,  received
                                    a head injury in an auto accident,
                                    causing severe  brain damage.  He


                                  9
==== A. Summary Judgment ====
was in  a coma  for over  2 weeks,    Given my  close friendship  with
but has  made good progress since.  Athelstan, I have had to undertake
Early in April, he was transferred  commitments in  helping his family
to  a  rehabilitation  hospital,  and  other  friends  support  his
where  he  is  slowly  regaining  recovery; this  has taken  a  fair
memory and  living skills;  he  is  amount of  time away  from Lojban,
expected to remain in the hospital  though I  now seem  to be  back in
until    at    least    mid-July.  control of  my schedule.  Indeed,
Regaining his  full  abilities  is  the  incentive  of  knowing  how
uncertain, and  doing so will take  fragile our effort is while so few
many more months, if not years.    of us  know  the  details  of  the
  Athelstan was  one of  the  most  language seems to have remotivated
skilled of Lojbanists, and a major  me  to  get  the  community  of
participant    in    our    weekly  Lojbanists who  are expert  in the
conversation sessions  here in the  language up  to a  self-sustaining
DC area.  We  have had  to change  level.  Even amidst tragedy, there
from  conversation  sessions  to  can be growth and progress.
teaching,  reading,  and  transla-                 
tions sessions;  the  3  remaining          Language Education
conversation-skilled people (Nora,                 
Lojbab, and  Sylvia  Rutiser)  are    DC  Class    -  Even    before
not enough 'critical mass' to keep  Athelstan's accident, we needed to
conversations      lively      and  build up the activity of the local
interesting.                        Lojban  community.    Now,  local
  We've  also  lost  Athelstan's  teaching activities  are even more
contribution to  the endless  work  vital.  As such, starting in June,
that is  being done  around  here.  we'll be  trying to organize a new
Athelstan had  written up his oft-  Lojban  class    here  in    the
taught mini-lesson  in text  form,  Washington DC  area.    The  class
and was  in the middle of revising  will probably  meet in  Fairfax VA
it  for  publication  when  the  (although a  Rockville MD location
accident occurred.  I may be able  is also  being considered),  on  a
to finish  it, but  not quickly  -  weekly basis starting near the end
too much  else to  do.  Athelstan  of June  and last  throughout  the
was  also  one  of  the  principal  summer.  A principal goal will be
reviewers  of  ju'i  lobypli  and  to raise the students' skill level
other la  lojbangirz. publications  so  that  they  can  confidently
that I  and others  write; we  can  participate    in    in-language
only hope  that the quality of our  activities in  the August LogFest,
products is  sustained without his  and be  able to continue in Lojban
excellent  efforts  at  catching  conversation      sessions      or
typos and  more serious  technical  translation activities  after  the
errors.                            class ends.
  The good news is that it appears    Needless to  say, if you will be
that the  damage has not destroyed  in the  DC area  this summer,  and
Athelstan's capacity for language,  are interested in participating in
nor his  interest in  Lojban.  In  such a class, please contact me at
mid-April,  he  responded  to  my  the masthead address or telephone,
"coi.  .atlstan."  with  a  hearty  or via electronic mail per page 2.
"coi." in  return.  At the end of 
our  otherwise  English-language    Other education  efforts -  Most
visit, I  asked him  if he  remem-  of our  education efforts  in  the
bered how  to  say  goodbye;  with  last  several  months  have  been
only minimal  hesitation, he  came  through  electronic  mail  on  the
back with a confident "co'o."      computer networks. I've been able
                                    to delegate  much of this teaching
                                    effort out to other Lojbanists who
                                    are active on Lojban List, and the
                                    numbers and  competency  of  those
                                    attempting to write on Lojban List


                                  10
The requirements for granting summary judgment in a trademark cancellation proceeding are the same as in any other case, viz., that there be no genuine issue of material fact and the movant be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. [*]. We review the propriety of summary judgment de novo. [*]
has continued  to grow  with  each      Electronic Distribution
passing month.                                     
  The network has also served as a  What is  available and  how -  The
testing ground  for new  teaching  electronic  distribution  policy
materials.  Athelstan's draft text  announced  last  issue  has  been
version of  his  mini-lesson  (see  implemented,  more-or-less.    We
below) was  tried out  by about  2  have been  unable to  place JL and
dozen people who returned comments  LK back-issues  and  a few  other
and answers  to exercises.  These  longer materials  on  the  Planned
will be  lead to  a  significantly  Languages  Server  -  our  primary
revised and  improved version  for  electronic distribution point.  We
publication.                        have also been unable to implement
  Similarly,  a  draft  of  the  the file verification program that
Diagrammed Examples paper enclosed  we    intended    because    of
with  this    issue  has    been  incompatibilities between computer
extensively  distributed  on  the systems    that    causes    such
networks (as well as  to many new  techniques to fail.
mail order  Lojbanists) during the    In spite of this, there is now a
last 6  months. French-Australian  lot    of    material    available
linguist  Jacques  Guy  finally  electronically, including  most of
culminated this  review with  some  the  now  public  domain  language
enormously  detailed    comments,  definition  materials  like  word
leading to  the major revision and  lists and  formal grammars.  I've
expansion  included  with  this  been  told  that some  of this
issue.                              material has  been transferred  to
  Even before  this final version,  Compuserve, and I'm  hoping  that
the Diagrammed  Examples,  with  more  will  be moved  to  that
explanatory text,  has  proved  in  network, as  well as  to Genie and
recent  months  to  be  the  most  other  public  computer  networks.
significant learning  aid  to  new  (Let us  know if  you do  so,  and
Lojbanists actually  attempting to  what stuff  you are posting where,
learn  to  use  the  language.  so we can report accurately to the
Several Lojbanists  used only this  community as to  what  is  avail-
paper and  word lists  (that  were  able).
generally obtained  by  electronic    Following  is  a  list  of  all
distribution  per  the  next  sec-  materials  (and  their  filenames)
tion), to self-teach themselves to  available on the Planned Languages
the  level  of  being  able  to  Server  as  of  this  publication
translate Lojban  text written  by  date,  and    instructions    for
more    experienced    Lojbanists.  obtaining them from the Server.
Then, with  a few  such efforts to  __________________________________
give them experience, we have seen            _____________
these Lojbanists start to write in 
Lojban, making  relatively few and    This is  an updated  version  of
minor errors  given the  lack of a  the  file  posted  to  the  PLS
full teaching  text.   (Those  who  entitled "readme"  which  includes
have  study  the  draft  textbook  an annotated and categorized index
and/or  used  LogFlash  have  done  to all files on the list.
still  better,  but  the   effec-    Following the  "readme" file  is
tiveness of this relatively brief  an abbreviated set of instructions
description has  astounded several  for  obtaining  files  from  the
of us  to the  point of motivating  server.  Send the one line message
this new version.)                  'help' to:


                                    langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu
The parties agree that the factual issues underlying genericness are undisputed. Though genericness itself has been categorized as a question of fact [*], the parties have each moved for summary judgment on that question. The Board considered the lengthy affidavits and numerous exhibits each party submitted in support of its motion, and concluded that Loglan was generic. Our review requires us to determine whether, based on the evidence of record, the Board was correct in that conclusion. After examining the record, we do not believe the Board erred in concluding that the Language Group was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.


                                    to  get  the  full  help  listing.
==== B. Genericness ====
                                    While you  can  put  multiple  re-
                                    quests in  a file,  my  experience
                                    has been  that  if  there  is  any


                                  11
The Lanham Act provides for the cancellation of a mark which is or has become the generic name for goods or services [*]. While a trademark registration has a presumption of validity, in a cancellation proceeding that presumption may be rebutted by evidence from the party seeking cancellation [*]. Before the Board, the Language Group presented numerous pieces of evidence to show that Loglan is used generically to designate a logical language.
error on  any command,  the entire  the  network  is  not  free.    la
set  is  disregarded.    I  would  lojbangirz.  spent  some  $2000
therefore suggest  getting 1  file  during  1991  on  network  access,
at a time until you are sure what  supporting  Lojban  List,  this
you are doing.                      archive, and  responding to people
  "gismu.lst"  is   the official,  like you. We do not make a profit
public domain  baseline that  many  on our printed materials, so it is
Lojbanists  already  possess  in  your donations  that will allow us
printed form.  It has 40-character  to continue  to serve  the network
definitions of  the Lojban  gismu,  community of Lojbanists and people
and has  been relatively unchanged  curious about Lojban.
for a few years  now.  Only minor    The files  listed following  are
corrections have been put into the  the  official  postings  of   The
posted file, and the 20 new words  Logical Language  Group,  Inc.  on
adopted  last  year  were  never  this server.  All  other postings
added.                              should be considered unsanctioned,
  "logdata.raw" is  a  preliminary  and possibly incorrect.
version  of  the  new  gismu  list    Language  design  materials  are
baseline.    I  intend  the  new  explicitly listed  here and in the
baseline to  take  effect  shortly  documents themselves  as being  in
after  the  publication  of  JL16,  the  public  domain.    All  other
hopefully within a month.  I would  documents  are  copyrighted  under
recommend  using    the  current  the same  heading listed above for
"logdata.raw" file,  and  ignoring  this document.
the "gismu.lst" file, UNLESS it is    Note on  file names.  All  file
vital to  you to be using a public  names  ending  with  ".unf"  may
domain version.  We  won't object  contain  lines  up  to  about  120
to  any  copying  of  the  still  characters  long.        Original
copyrighted draft  as long  as the  documents    published    by   la
copyright notice  and  the notice  lojbangirz. are  formatted  using
that it  is a  draft stays  intact  longer than  80  character  lines,
with the file.  To all intents and  and this wider line-length was de-
purposes, the   old  40-character  termined to  give a  more readable
file is  obsolete.  I would  rec-  text  when  that  formatting  was
ommend  that  any  new  text  be  removed.  File names  ending with
written  using  the  "logdata.raw"  ".txt"  are  generally  under  80
place structures.  (All  text  in  characters in  width.  Other file
this issue  probably presumes this  name    extensions    have    no
newer version.)                    implication.
  Questions on  any file?  Contact    Many files  are compressed using
Bob LeChevalier  at  the  masthead  a rather  simplistic program  that
address or via:                    tabifies  every    8  characters
                                    INCLUDING A  SINGLE SPACE  IN A  0
lojbab@grebyn.com                  MOD 8  POSITION.  We  have  since
                                    learned that  some  tab  expanders
  See the file "epolicy.txt" for a  will take  a TAB  in  a  0  mod  8
more complete  explanation  of la  position and expand it to 9 spaces
lojbangirz.            electronic  instead of 1. This could cause you
distribution policy.  We ask that problems, which hopefully this no-
users  of  these  files  consider  tice will  help you  correct if it
donating money  for the support of  affects you.  We  consider this a
The Logical  Language Group,  Inc.  failed experiment:  when  we next
We  are  a  501(c)(3)  non-profit  send data  to PLS for uploading we
organization  and  such  donations  will send  files without  the  tab
are tax-deductible  in the  US, to  compression, but this may be a few
the extent  they exceed  the price  months.
of things  we send  you.  While it    The PLS  has very  limited  disk
costs us  little for  you to get a space.   la lojbangirz.  has  con-
copy of the files on this archive,  vinced Mark and Jerry to post much


                                  12
The parties do not dispute that if Loglan is used generically to designate a language, the term cannot properly be registered as a trademark for "dictionaries and grammars" any more than English can be registered for a dictionary. That Loglan is not as well known as English is immaterial. Because a language is not "goods" or "services" under the Act [*], a name originated for a new language is inherently not registrable for the language. By the same token, a generic name of a language alone cannot function as a trademark to indicate origin of a dictionary describing that language. Thus, our determination hinges on whether the Board was correct in concluding that the term Loglan is, "a generic designation identifying a language."
of the  material we sent them, but  pronounc.unf  9718    10-14-91
they do not have  room for all of    Pronunciation  guide.    Public
it.  In particular, back issues of    domain.
JL and LK, and  a LOT  of  Lojban  gismu.lst    88717  01-09-92
text could  not be posted.  I want    Baselined  gismu  list. Public
to see  some or  all of this mate-    domain.      Expected  to  be
rial  available,  if  only  on  a   superseded soon  by  a  modified
limited time basis.  Therefore, in    version of  "logdata.raw", which
about 3  months, I  will be asking    will the be renamed "gismu.lst"
Mark and  Jerry  to  tell  me  the logdata.raw  115603  01-09-92
rates  of  access  for   Lojban    Lojban gismu  (root word)  draft
directory files.  Seldom accessed    update  >80 characters wide
files may  be deleted  to allow us  roget.lst    40612  10-14-91
to make  room for new  stuff,  as    gismu sorted  by Roget category.
listed at  the end  of  this  doc-    Draft.
ument.  So please don't delay too  logdata3.cma  88312  10-14-91
long if  you want to get a copy of   Lojban  cmavo  (structure  word)
a file listed here.                  list.    Public  domain.  cmavo
                                      order  >80 characters wide
File Name    Bytes  Date          logdata3.lex  88312  10-14-91
  Description                        Lojban  cmavo  (structure  word)
                                      list.  Public  domain.  selma'o
        Control documents            (grammar  category)  order  >80
                                      characters wide
readme        7668    01-09-92      lehavla.alg  2326    10-14-91
  A version of this index.            Draft  proposal  for  borrowing
epolicy.txt  2912    10-09-91        words.
  The  la  lojbangirz.  Electronic 
  Distribution Policy                  Introductory Materials in
orderfrm.unf  9497    10-14-91              Suggested Order
  Current la  lojbangirz.  Product 
  List & Order Form; Include Paper  loglan.txt    8598    10-14-91
  Postal  Address  on  any  order,    Introduction  and  history  for
  please.                            those familiar with other Loglan
                                      versions
  Language Design Materials and    brochure.eng  62820  10-14-91
              Drafts                  Basic    Lojban    Brochure    -
                                      formatted  for  electronic  dis-
grammar.28    64552  10-11-91        tribution
  Baselined Lojban  Grammar - YACC  postbroc.txt  28312  10-14-91
  version; Public Domain.  Without    An    edited    version    of
  explanatory  text  included  in    brochure.eng abbreviated  so  as
  printed versions.                  to   be    more  suitable  for
bnf.28        7872    10-11-91        electronic transmission.
  EBNF  form  of the  Baselined  minilsne.txt  30917  10-16-91
  Lojban Grammar.  Not  verified.    Draft introductory  Draft Lojban
  Public domain.                      mini-lesson.  Return answers to
                                      la lojbangirz. for correction.
                                    overview.unf  63143  10-14-91
                                      Overview  of  the  language and
                                      intro.   to  specialized  ter-
                                      minology
                                    diagexam.unf  10851  10-09-91
                                      Diagrammed  Examples  of  Lojban
                                      Text (the  original  version  of
                                      the one  in JL16  -  the new
                                      version will  replace this  file
                                      shortly, and  is a much  longer
                                      file)
                                   


                                  13
The Institute argues that the relevant public does not perceive Loglan as generic, but rather sees it as indicating a single source of the language. The public's perception is the primary consideration in a determination of genericness [*].
Teaching Materials and Detailed      unpublished  draft  review  -
            Discussion                Loglan 1
                                   
useoldl1.txt  15233  10-14-91      ----------------------------------
  How to  use  1975  Loglan  1  to            --------------
  study Lojban  (partially correct    The following  unofficial  files
  for 1989 version)                  are known  to be  in the lojban
newrafsi.unf  77773  10-14-91        directory  of    the    Planned
  List of  Lojban rafsi (combining    Languages Server:
  forms) and how to make compounds 
  (lujvo).                          brochure.french      49403  05-
negation.unf  127903  10-14-91        11-90
  Negation  in    Lojban.    Many    A  French  translation  of  a
  examples.                          somewhat earlier  version of the
scrabble.unf  6098    10-14-91        Lojban brochure.
  Suggested game  rules  based  on  Description  2334    01-09-92
  Lojban letter frequencies          The  official  PLS  description
                                      file of  all files in the Lojban
          Why Lojban?                directory.  Not as detailed or
                                      as accurate as this file.
whylojb.txt  198651  10-14-91      elecread.me  815    06-24-91
  General  discussion  on  'Why    An obsolete version of this file
  Lojban?'  extracted  from  ju'i    that should soon be deleted
  lobypli, Includes  JCB on  Sapir  Index        1280    01-03-92
  Whorf.  Many contributors.          The  file  list  you  get  in
mactrans.txt  12681  10-14-91        response to  the command  "index
  Lojban and  machine  translation    lojban"
  by Patrick Juola                  lojbroch.e-o.tex      69755  09-
moody.txt    18972  10-14-91        12-91
  Lojban  and    other    planned    The draft  Esperanto translation
  languages by Todd Moody            of  the  Lojban  brochure  in
lojb_esp.txt  180734  10-14-91        brochure.eng      Comments  and
  Lojban  and  Esperanto  -  JL    suggestions welcome.
  discussions  including  comments  metflidjimao-vedsia  23871  12-
  from Donald  Harlow and Lojban's    19-90
  'Answer' to the '16 Rules'        welding-shop  27415  12-19-90
lojling.txt  18942  10-14-91        Jim Carter's  1984 Loglan  short
  Lojban's     relevance      to    story and  English translation -
  linguistics and  linguistics re-    not  Lojban    compatible  nor
  search                              consistent with  the current TLI
reply.txt    38747  10-14-91        language, it is still one of the
  1991 Reply  to  Arnold  Zwicky's    longest  Loglan  texts  written
  1969 "Language" Review of Loglan    originally in Loglan rather than
  1                                  in translation.
netdisc.txt  178912  10-14-91     
  Extracted Network Discussions of  Forthcoming Material we hope to
  Lojban and  Sapir-Whorf - mostly            post this year
  8-9/90                           
                                    -    6 Draft  Textbook  Lessons  -
          Lojban Text                updated to 1992 language
                                    -    New Draft Textbook Lesson 1
lordpray.unf  7781    10-14-91      -    Esperanto  Translation    of
  Lojban Paternoster,  updated  to    Lojban Brochure  - Official  Re-
  current  language.    A  prosaic    lease      (the      unofficial
  version.                            "lojbroch.e-o.tex"  above  is  a
                                      draft version of this release)
        Other materials            -    Glossary of Lojban/linguistic
                                      terminology
l1longrv.txt  70543  6-08-91      -    Lojban    and    Sapir-Whorf
                                      Bibliography


                                  14
The Institute concedes that the relevant public is "the small group of persons who have written about the language or have been involved in the invented language research effort as well as those to whom the Loglan language has been or is being marketed." The Institute's definition of "relevant public" is consistent with this court's reading of the term as encompassing both "actual [and] potential purchasers of ... goods or services." [*]. Evidence of what the relevant public understands the term to mean may come from direct consumer testimony, surveys, dictionary listings, newspapers, and other publication [*]. Although in many situation a survey is desirable to establish the public's perception, given the limited size of the relevant group here, the numerous examples submitted by the parties are sufficient to determine how the relevant group perceives the term Loglan.
-    Lojban      and      Prolog    "Path" is  used to  override the
  demonstration example from JL16  mail path  that the archive server
-    Lojban gismu etymologies      chooses from  the header  of your
-    Rebaselined gismu list        mail message.  You should use this
-    Revisions to the Lojban mini-  whenever you  know that the return
  lesson                            address of  your message  will not
-    the  JL16  version  of  the  be useful  to the  archive server.
  Diagrammed Summary of Lojban      The  archive  server  only  knows
-    Synopsis      of      Lojban  about domain style address.
  Orthography, Phonology, Morphol-
  ogy - updated to 1992              e.g.                        path
-    tense paper - introduction to  jbaltz@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu
  Lojban tense structures         
-    attitudinal paper  -  updated  send <archive> <file..>
  to 1992                         
-    logical connectives  paper  -    "Send" mails to you the files in
  introduction to logical and non-  the specified archive.  All of the
  logical connectives              files that  you  request  will  be
-    MEX paper - Lojban expression  sent  to  you  archived  together
  of mathematical text              possibly encoded and split up into
-    lerfu  paper  -  expressing  messages that  are small enough to
  alphabets and special symbols in  be mailed.  You  may have as many
  Lojban                            "sends" in the body  of your mail
-    (papers are  planned to cover  message as you wish.
  other  aspects  of  the  Lojban
  grammar and  will also be posted    e.g.    send lojban logdata.raw
  as available)
-    All  published  Lojban  text;    By  default,  files  that  are
  Not updated to current language. mailable are simply stuck together
  Mostly  translated    &    with  with the  text "cut  here" between
  commentary.  Probably with some  files and;  non-mailable files are
  kind of difficulty and  quality  archived  via  Unix  "tar".  Non-
  grading  to  help  you  choose  mailable files  must be  converted
  appropriate materials.            to something mailable.  By default
                                    this  is   done  with "uuencode".
Abbreviated instructions for the  Some large  or  long-lined  Lojban
            PLS server              files  may  be  considered  non-
                                    mailable, and you will need to run
  To make  the archive  server  do  the companion  program  "uudecode"
something  you  should  send  an  which will  decode a  message that
electronic mail message to:        was  encrypted  using  "uuencode".
                                    This is  a standard  Unix command;
langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu    Unix users  should see your system
                                    administrator if  you  don't  know
  Use a  null subject  line.  The  how  to  do  this.     On  MS-DOS
body of the message should consist  machines, there  are a  variety of
of one command per line.  The case  utility versions  of the  decoding
of  the  text  does  not  matter.  tool; we have no information about
Note, however, that  the  server  other computer system versions.
runs on  a UNIX  system, and thus,                 
for  filenames,  the case  DOES              Logfest 92
matter, so  be sure  the files you                 
request are properly capitalized.    Because  of  Athelstan's injury
                                    and other  schedule  problems, we
  You can  find out what files are  have  delayed  LogFest  92,  la
available with  the command "index  lojbangirz.'s annual  meeting  and
lojban".                            gathering  of   Lojbanists  until
                                    August.  The planned date for this
path <mail-path>                    gathering here in Fairfax  VA, is
                                    August 14-17,  1992.   If  you're


                                  15
The evidence indicates the Dr. Brown himself has used the term Loglan only in a generic sense. For example, in 1984, Brown stated to the Institute's membership:
interested in  coming,  and  espe-  started, will eventually amount to
cially if  you will  be travelling  a    complete    and    detailed
from out-of-town,  please  let  us  description of the language.
know.      As  usual,  we  can    People  have  been  justifiably
accommodate  several  out-of-town  frustrated by the continuing delay
visitors  as  sleeping-bag  guests  in  textbook    and    dictionary
here at Bob and Nora's house.  You  publication.  However, this state
can get  here via  subway from all  should not  stop most  people from
major transportation services into  being  able  to  learn  and  use
Washington DC, and you're unlikely  Lojban.  Indeed, with the possible
to need  a rental car.  Thus, it's  exception of  Esperanto (and  only
a cheap weekend of Lojban fun - we  then  because  so  much  has  been
ask  only  that  attendees  donate  written about it in 100 years), it
around  $25-$40  or  whatever  to  can safely  be said that Lojban is
cover food costs for the weekend.  by far the most thoroughly defined
  Originally, LogFest  was planned  artificial language  that has ever
for the last weekend in June (June  existed.    And  we  continue  to
26-28, 1992).  Because some people  refine that  definition -  not  so
already made plans to come in from  much  because  people  need  such
out-of-town, we will dedicate that  details to learn the language, but
weekend to  Lojban  activities  as  because linguists and computer re-
well, and  others are  invited  to  searchers seeking  to  use  Lojban
come,  too,  making  in  effect  a  for  applications  need  as  much
second LogFest  this summer.  This  detail as  possible  to  plan  re-
first gathering  in June  will  be  search activities.
informal; since  there will  be no    The final development activities
formal meeting,  there  should  be  of significance are those that are
plenty of  time for  a variety  of  tied to  preparation of  the first
Lojban  activities,    especially  Lojban book,  which  is  a  proto-
activities for new people who want  dictionary  and  reference  book.
to get  started  in  learning  the  Preparing this book has required a
language.  Let us know if you are  complete and  detailed  review  of
planning to  come, so  we can make  the gismu  list place  structures,
plans.                              trying to  make them  as clear and
                                    detailed  as    possible,  given
  Language Development Status      limited space.  There  also  were
                                    some  place  structure  changes
  The  language  has  been  quite  needed as  a result of the 'sumti-
stable in the last several months.  raising'  change  discussed  last
With the  breakup of  the USSR, we  issue, and  also as  a result  of
have  added  cultural  gismu  for  other design  decisions made  over
"Ukrainian" and  "Slavic".   There  the  last  few  years.    We  also
have been  a few  cmavo additions, wanted to  add in multiple English
and  one  or  two  deletions  in synonyms where applicable, so that
connection with work by John Cowan  the English  side of the resulting
on papers  describing  the  Lojban  dictionary  will  no  longer  be
tense    system,     mathematical  limited    to   the    sometimes-
language,  and  representation  of  inaccurate unique English keywords
foreign alphabets.                  that the  gismu list  currently is
  Far more  significant  has  been  based on.  In a few cases, actual
those  papers  themselves,  which  usage has  pointed up  a need  for
have    greatly    refined    the change, either  because the  place
specificity  of    the  language  structure was  too vaguely defined
definition  in  three  areas  that  for  use,  or  because  the  sumti
have not  been much used by people  values that were required for some
trying to  use Lojban.    John  is  place structure  places  were  too
continuing  to  work  on  papers,  difficult to  specify  for  'real'
which, added  to (updated versions  language use.  As a result, there
of) the  negation and  attitudinal  are a lot of little changes to the
papers that  were done  before  he  working  draft  versions  of  the


                                  16
<blockquote>
gismu list.  The  final draft  is          Weekend Meeting
I'm insisting on moving in the right direction for Loglan whether this means losing control of the institute I founded or not... Your can always write me if you still want to talk to me about Loglan, or to help me in putting it to use. As a private person I shall always be available to my old Loglandian friends... Loglan may not suffer very much... Health permitting I'll still write those couple of books. Perhaps with my example others will too.
expected  to  go  out  for review 
</blockquote>
within a  couple  of  weeks  after    We finally  knew for  sure  that
this issue is mailed (over 1100 of the design  of  the  language  was
the  1400  Lojban  entries  were  solidified  after  an  all-weekend
completed  and  verified  at  this  meeting that  took  place  January
writing).   After a  few weeks for  18-20, 1992.   John  Cowan came to
that review, the first  book will  town,  and  several  of  us  met,
be assembled and published.         settling nearly  all  open  design
                                    questions.   Following is  a  more
                                    thorough report  on that  meeting,
                                    what  happened,  and  what  design
                                    decisions took  place.   Attendees
                                    included Bob LeChevalier (lojbab),
                                    John  Cowan,  Nora  LeChevalier,
                                    Athelstan,  and  Sylvia  Rutiser,
                                    with pc  joining  in  by  phone  a
                                    couple of times.


                                      The original agenda included:
His encouragement for others to write Loglan books or books in Loglan negates the claim now asserted of proprietary rights in Loglan.
                                    - A  2nd review  of papers  on the
                                      Lojban  tense  system  and  MEX
                                      (mathematical      expressions)
                                      system,  with  the  intent  of
                                      having them  ready, if possible,
                                      for publication with JL16.
                                    - Nora  and John have been working
                                      on a  formal  statement  of  the
                                      Lojban morphology algorithm, and
                                      some  issues  needed  resolution
                                      and decision.
                                    -  Deciding  on  all  open  cmavo
                                      questions, to  allow a  baseline
                                      of that list.
                                    - Reviewing  all open  comments on
                                      the  place    structures    and
                                      definitions of gismu
                                    -  Review  of  the  progress  in
                                      switching JL over to a subscrip-
                                      tion basis and the current fund-
                                      raising drive
                                    - Preliminary  decisions  on  book
                                      publishing
                                    - Determining  a policy on efforts
                                      by Dave  Cortesi, Bob  Chassell,
                                      and  others   to put  together
                                      Lojban reference books.
                                    -  Including  John  in a  Lojban
                                      conversation  session  (he  has
                                      never  before  been  able  to
                                      participate in one, since no one
                                      else in the NYC area seems to be
                                      actively studying).


                                      John arrived  late Friday night,
Also, the Institute published a book, entitled "Loglan (1): A Logical Language." Included in the 1989 version is the statement
                                    and we  started the weekend right
                                    by talking  till 4  AM. Athelstan
                                    arrived about  2 AM  to  join  the
                                    party.  Most of Saturday was spent
                                    socializing    and    discussing


                                  17
<blockquote>
business  matters,   and   various  would be  allowed  under  the  new
In my English idiolect, as in Loglan and French, words like "loglanist", "loglandic" and "loglandical" are general terms like "cat" and "dog" (i.e., common nouns or adjectives) and therefore uncapitalized, whereas words like "Loglan" and "Loglandia" are singular terms (words with single designata, like "John" or "Greenland") and therefore capitalized. Both Loglan and French are more fastidious about such logical matters than Standard English.
minor issues, and reviewing  the  grammar.  Because we  want people
</blockquote>
tense paper.  Saturday  night, we  to  stick    with  the  current
again quit  late, around 5 AM this  baseline,  we  are not  going  to
time, with everyone rising in time  distribute or talk much more about
to be  fully awake  for the Lojban  the next one until it is ready for
conversation session.  That ended  adoption  (at    the  time    of
up starting  late, but the 5 of us  publication of  the  first  book),
participated  in  fairly  lively  but people  who have an early need
discussion  for  about  2  hours. for the  information  can  request
John had no real trouble following  it.   I will summarize the changes
what was  said, and  throwing  his  in store  so people  know what  is
own comments  in.  We then talked  going on:
in English for about an hour until 
Sylvia and Athelstan had to leave.  1) correction  of  a  precedence
  After  dinner,  we  started  on  error, so  that EK+KE and GIhEK+KE
place structures, and kept  going  bind  more  tightly  than  other
until 5  AM  again.    We  resumed  connective structures;
around 11  AM, and  kept  cranking  2) adding  JEK+BO to  parallel  BO
till  5    AM  Tues.    morning.  connective  structures  for  other
Athelstan was  there  for  all  of  logical connectives;
Monday's discussions,  Nora lasted  3) permitting  free  modifiers  in
until 10:30  PM, since  she had to  several new places;
work on Tuesday.  There was a long  4) adding selma'o ZEI to support a
conversation  with   pc  in  the  morphology algorithm  change  (see
afternoon to  resolve issues  that  below);
he needed a voice/vote in.  Monday  5)  permitting  "GEK  sentence  GI
evening, we  took a break from the  observative";
x1's and  x2's of place structures  6) in  the current  baseline gram-
to work on the x's and y's of MEX.  mar, it  is impossible  to  use  a
  On  Tuesday,  John and  I  woke  PA+MAI  free-modifier  after  a
around 11  AM,  and  kept  talking  number  even    though  it    is
till I  dropped  him  at  the  bus  apparently  grammatically  legal:
station  around  1  PM.    Whew!  the number  will absorb  the added
Everything accomplished.            PA  values  because  there  is  no
  Now  here  is  the  summary  of  implicit "BOI" at the end of these
effects:                            numbers.  The problem was fixed by
                                    reworking the rules specifying how
            Grammar                free modifiers  attach to  numbers
                                    so  that  BOI  can  be  added  to
  The  grammar  is  of  course  separate them.
baselined and frozen until we make  7) after  long  analysis,  the
updates and republish it  in  the  relative-modifier logical  connec-
Lojban books. Because we want the  tive selma'o  ZIhE was  determined
books to reflect the grammar after  not to  be especially  useful as a
the books  are  done,  we  do  our  logical connective,  and the group
writing based  on that  next revi-  has  been  stripped  down  to  the
sion of  the grammar.  There  are single word "zi'e", which now sim-
now 15  minor changes  planned for  ply indicates  the  attachment  of
that revision,  all  but  4  being  multiple relative  modifiers to  a
extensions to  the language.  When  single  sumti.      The  multiple
we write  and publish materials in  logical connective  grammar  rules
JL, they  should be  in accordance  that were  present for  ZIhE  were
with the  current baseline. Next-  stripped down  to  a  single  rule
baseline grammar changes will only  supporting simple connection;
be  used    in    the    unlikely  8) allowing I+BO-initial sentences
circumstance that  something needs  at the beginning of text;
to be  phrased using  a  construct  9) allowing  NAI at  the beginning
that is  now  illegal,  but  which  of text;


                                  18
As he stated, Loglan is a name for a language like French or English. Based on all this evidence, the Board had adequate basis to conclude that both Brown and the Institute adopted the term Loglan as the generic name of a language.
10) allowing  any kind of JOI non-              Morphology
logical connectives  to be used in 
forethought, in  parallel  with    John and  Nora have resolved all
forethought  causal  connectives:  open    issues    regarding    the
JOI GI construct GI construct;      morphology algorithm,  and  it  is
11) POhO,  which has been required  included in  JL16 for final review
at  the    end  of    incomplete  before    publication    in    the
sentences,  will  be  eliminated;  reference book. Problems included
POhO was added at one point due to  strings  of  vowels  and  lujvo
problems found in some versions of  involving  le'avla.    Since  the
YACC (including  the one  we  were  morphology      is      baselined,
using) that  caused  a  parser  to  technically  any  change  is  a
falsely declare  an  ambiguity  in  baseline change,  but all changes
such incomplete  sentences.  POhO  being considered  are in areas not
has been  shown to  no  longer  be  well-defined in  the existing  in-
necessary;                          formal 'Synopsis'  that  describes
12) NIhE, one of  the converters  the  morphology.      Highlights
used to  integrate  MEX  with  the  (again,  these    are  post-book
rest of  the grammar,  now permits  baseline features.):
an entire complex selbri construct 
to be converted;                    - Adding  selma'o ZEI,  with  only
13)  NAhE    is  disallowed  in  cmavo  "zei",    will  eliminate
forethought 'termsets'.  The rule  various other  schemes  of  making
permitting it had been erroneously  lujvo using  le'avla, all of which
generated    from    a    similar  involved  either  tricky  stress/-
structure.  Contrary negation of a  pronunciation  problems  or  had
termset  is  not  defined  in  the  potential breakdowns  of a  nature
negation paper.                    similar  to the  'Tosmabru  test'
14) Multiple  I  and/or  I+BO  are  used in regular lujvo.  The result
permitted at the beginning of text  would  have  been  rules  so  un-
(a benefit primarily for those who  intuitively complicated as to make
stutter);                          them impractical  to  use  on-the-
15)  Allow  SE  conversions  of  fly, when most such compounds will
abstract  and    negated  selbri  be made.    ZEI  is  processed  in
without KE/KEhE parentheses.        advance of  lexer rules  (as is BU
                                    for lerfu  and ZO,  LOhU, ZOI, SI,
  If that  list doesn't make a lot  SA, and  SU) as part of  the met-
of sense,  don't worry  about  it.  alinguistic grammar.    It  causes
These truly  are abstruse 'little'  one word immediately before it and
changes in  the grammar  that  are  one word  immediately after  it to
unlikely  to    affect  anyone's  be considered joined into a single
conversation  and  writing  very  construct equivalent  to a BRIVLA.
much, if at all.                    With  the exception  of  some  of
                                    those  metalinguistic  cmavo  just
                                    listed, any  Lojban word can be so
                                    joined  to  any  other,  allowing
                                    lujvo to  be based  on cmavo  that
                                    have no rafsi, as well as le'avla.
                                    Many-part le'avla  lujvo will have
                                    a ZEI  between each pair of terms.
                                    Regular gismu  and lujvo  may also
                                    be used as terms in a ZEI lujvo.
                                   
                                    - cmavo space is now recognized to
                                    include certain  structures with 0
                                    or 1  consonant, followed  by more
                                    than two  vowels, with  apostrophe
                                    used between  every  pair  (except
                                    when  diphthongs  occur).   Thus
                                    "zo'o'o'o" could  be a legal cmavo


                                  19
The Institute argues that no one else has used the term Loglan in a generic fashion and that by capitalizing Loglan in its newsletter, the Language Group itself treats the term in a non-generic manner. We disagree. Capitalization is the correct form for the name of a language, e.g., English, French, or German [*]; this it is compatible with generic use. Moreover, the Language Group's own logical language, "Lojban", is referred to as a type of Loglan. The Language Group refers to "[Brown's] version of 'Loglan'" and states that "Lojban is indeed a Loglan."
(with an obvious meaning of a more  be changed,  since "mz"  is not  a
intense humor?)  These will not be  permissible medial.  "djeimyz." is
considered for  defined  use,  but  acceptable.
are  added  to  the  experimental 
cmavo space.    The grammar  will                cmavo
treat  all    experimental    and 
undefined cmavo  as if  they  were  The following  cmavo  changes  are
members of UI.                      made.  Note that one the cmavo,
                                    "zei", has grammar contingent upon
- When  one word  ends in a vowel, the next  baseline. It will be in
and the following begins with one,  the next  draft of the cmavo list
a pause, and not a glide, must be  anyway, even  though  the  current
used to pronounce them.  This con-  grammar will not handle it.
firms the  original  design  deci- 
sion.  Actual usage has been that  zei ZEI lujvo glue joins preceding
some  UI  members  have  not  been                    and  following
separated  from  each  other  and                    word  into  a
other vowels  by pauses, and this                     lujvo
was determined to be too difficult 
for the  resolver to handle, so it ne'o    VUhU      factorial  reas
remains forbidden.  An example is                     signed    from
".ua.ui" which has been pronounced                    "zei"  to  make
"/wah,wee/", but  must  be  pro-                    room for above
nounced  as  "/wah.wee/".      An 
example showing  the problems that  bu'u    FAhA      coincident with
can result  is ".ui.iu", which if                    space/time
pronounced  without  a  pause  is                     tense  equiva-
indistinguishable from ".ui,u".                        lent of CA
                                   
- Names  will be permitted to have  be'a   FAHA      north of   from
"la", "lai",  and  "doi"  in  them                    "berti"
WHEN  PRECEDED  BY  A  CONSONANT. ne'u    FAhA      south of  from
This means  that the  'd'  or  'l'                    "snanu"
must be the at-least-2nd in a con-  du'a    FAhA      east of   from
sonant  cluster  such  that  the                    "stuna"
preceding letter  and the d/l form  vu'a    FAhA      west of    para
a  permissible  cluster,  or  are                    llel      with
initial  at  the  beginning  of  a                    "du'a"
word.  This  means  that  a  name  (these are added for compatibility
"zdoil." or "jdoil." is legal, and with languages/cultures that use a
every consonant except another "l"  fixed    reference    frame    for
is  permitted  before  "la"  and  directions instead  of a  speaker-
"lai".            Thus      while  based one.  A secondary if trivial
"*nort.kerolainas."        remains  advantage is  that a  Lojban wind-
illegal, it  can easily be changed  vane is more interesting, instead
to "nort.kerlainas.".  This  will  of having  the letters B-S-S-S for
then  allow  a  certain  erroneous  the four cardinal points.)
comic strip  to be  corrected,  by 
naming the  cat  "mlat.",  "*lat."  voi NOI descriptive clause    non-
remaining  illegal.    It    also                    veridical
corrects  the  embarrassment  that                    restrictive
the  other  English  name  of  the                    clause used  to
language -  "loglan."  - has been                    form      com-
an illegal name in "lojban."                          plicated    le-
                                                      like  descrip-
- Names  are  formally  restricted                    tions    using
from having  impermissible  medial                    "ke'a"
consonant clusters  in them.   The  This  is  in  a  way  similar  to
most significant effect of this is  "goi"/GOI, but  used with  clauses
to require  the name "*djeimz." to  (bridi) on  the right.  It defines


                                  20
In addition to generic use of the term Loglan by the Institute and the Language Group, others have so used the term. Numerous letters have been written to the Language Group inquiring about Loglan, requesting to be maintained on its Loglan mailing lists, and even inquiring about the status of the Loglan language being developed by the Language Group. The fact that the "consuming public" would write to someone other than the Institute regarding the Loglan language indicates that third parties understand Loglan to be a generic term; this understanding did not arise only from actions of the Language Group. Rather, the Language Group and the public merely followed the generic usage of the Institute.
a sumti  on the left as being the va'u    BAI        benefited by   
thing  the speaker  has  in  mind                    indication of a
which fills  "ke'a" in the clause.                     beneficiary
Nick Nicholas  asked for  this  in                    when formulated
connection with  an alternate  ap-                    as  "seva'u"  =
proach to sumti-raising  that  he                    "for        the
prefers to "tu'a".                                    benefit    of";
                                                      from    "xamgu"
Example:                                              (replaces    a
ko'a    voi      lenu ke'a cisma                      useful function
cu pluka mi      cu zutse                            of  the   word
The it1  whose    smiling pleases                      "du'a", deleted
me  sits.                                             last year as an
The one  whose smile pleases me is                    English-biased
sitting down.                                          member of BAI)
                                   
to'a    BY        lower      case  bi'u    BAhE      de-emphasize
                  shift reassigne                    next  the
                  d from  current                    reverse      of
                  "voi";    from                    "ba'e"    which
                  "tordu"                             emphasizes  the
                                                      next  word  -
ma'e    BAI        of material                        added        in
                  used to add  a                    emulation of  a
                  material  to  a                    similar
                  bridi      more                    function  word
                  specific  than                     in  the   Mon-
                  the   existing                    golian language
                  "seta'i";  from                    Dagur
                  "marji"         
                                    ce'a    LAU        font shift chan
de'a    ZAhO      pausitive  even                    ge of  selma'o;
                  t contour for a                    indicates that
                  temporary  halt                    the  following
                  and    ensuing                    character
                  pause  in    a                    specifies a new
                  process;   from                     font      (e.g.
                  "denpa"                            italic,   block
di'a    ZAhO      resumptive even                    print, or manu-
                  t  contour  for                    script). Super-
                  resumption of a                    sedes      old
                  paused process                      "ce'a"      and
Example:                                              "pe'e"    which
mi      de'a    citka    ca  lenu                    were        too
la noras.    tavla                                    limited;    the
I pausitively    eat      while                        latter  is  now
  Nora  talks.                                        unassigned.
I stop eating while Nora talks.   
                                    (In addition,  the grammar changes
vu'i    LUhI      the sequence    described  above  also  freed  up
                  converts  other  po'o, zi'a, zi'i, zi'o, and zi'u.)
                  sumti types  to 
                  sequences, even  remaining unassigned (27):
                  if the order is  bi'a bi'e bu'o (bo'a    bo'e bo'i
                  vague            bo'o bo'u)    ce'e ce'u ci'a do'i
                                    ja'u ju'e mi'i na'a ne'e pe'e po'o
                                    re'u te'i va'e vu'o zi'a zi'i zi'o
                                    zi'u
                                   
                                                  gismu


                                  21
==== C. Equitable Defenses ====
                                            Keyword changes
The  following  two  gismu  are                 
proposed  for  addition  to  the    The    following    constitute
baselined  list,  and  will  be  baseline  changes,  even  though
adopted pending no objection:      there is  no significant change of
                                    meaning.   They will be considered
vukro    vuk vu'o  Ukrainian x1    adopted unless there is objection.
                  pertains to  the 
                  Ukrainian          All  metric  prefixes  currently
                  language/-        have keywords of the form:
                  culture/nation
                  in aspect x2      megdo    10E6
slovo    lov    Slavic x1       
                  pertains      to  It has  been pointed out that this
                  Slavic      lan-  does  not    conform  to    most
                  guages/culture/-  exponential  notations.      The
                  ethnos in aspect  keywords will  be globally changed
                  x2                to use "1" instead of "10" giving:
(lovle'u          Cyrillic    x1
                  is a  letter  of  megdo    1E6
                  Cyrillic    al- 
                  phabet              The following  are being changed
                  symbolizing x2)  to make them consistent with other
                                    culture words  by referring to the
These have  been reviewed  by Ivan  culture  rather  than  to  the
Derzhanski,  as  our  only  active  defining element of the culture.
native-Slavic  Lojbanist.      The 
breakup of  the Soviet  Union, has  budjo    Buddhist  x1 pertains to
made Ukraine  a large country with            the  Buddhist  culture/-
a Russian speaker base, one with a            religion/nation      in
Slavic language  of its  own and a            aspect x2
nationalistic  interest  in  being  dadjo    Taoist    x1 pertains to
clearly distinct  from Russia  and            the Taoist culture/reli-
the  ex-Soviet  Union.      (The            gion/nation in aspect x2
definition  of  "softo"  is  being  jegvo    Jehovist  x1 pertains to
broadened to cover the old Russian            culture/religion of  the
empire and  the new  Commonwealth,            Judeo-Christian-Islamic
but remains  tied to  the  keyword            deity in aspect x2
'Soviet' because  there really  is  xriso    Christian x1 pertains to
no  other  distinct  word.)    Our            the Christian  culture/-
standards  for  cultural  gismu            religion/nation      in
clearly put  Ukraine in  the group            aspect x2
that should  have a  gismu.  (The 
other  republics,  except  Russia    The change in keyword of "mukti"
itself,  will  be  covered  with  to  "motive",  part  of  the  last
le'avla.)                          baseline change,  did not get into
                                    the Planned  Languages Server file
With    two    Slavic    peoples  for  some  reason,  along  with
represented, the  family name also  appropriate  definition  wording
requires  a  gismu  (as  "semto"  changes.  Some copies of LogFlash
exists to  cover Hebrew and Arabic  were distributed  with this change
commonalties).    As  shown,  this  omitted.
gismu  will  also  be  used  to                 
generate a lujvo for "Cyrillic", a                rafsi
better  choice  than  "rusko"  or 
"softo" for  making  a  lujvo  for  "du" will  be added to the list as
that concept, anyway.              a result  of  being  assigned  the
                                    rafsi "dub"  and "du'o".  "selci"
                                    is being given "sle" from "selfu",
                                    which in  turn will be given "sef"


                                  22
As part of its answer, the Institute alleged various affirmative defenses, including the equitable defenses of unclean hands, estoppel, fraud, acquiescence, and waiver. The Board found that the unclean hands, fraud and estoppel defenses were based on allegation of trade secret theft and infringement and therefore were not within the jurisdiction of the Board. Further, the Board stated that the equitable defense of acquiescence was not valid against the claim that the mark was generic. We affirm.
from "sefta".  (Since the January  - More  care is  being taken  with
meeting, we  have compiled  a list  'under  conditions'  places.    In
of all  lujvo  used  thus  far  in  many cases,  an 'under conditions'
Lojban text.  This will be used to  place may  be appropriate  to some
generate a more accurate tuning of  event/state within  a single place
the rafsi  assignments to  reflect  of a  bridi, rather  than applying
expected usage.  A few additional  to the main bridi itself.
rafsi  changes  are  likely  to
result, and  will  appear  in  the - The  use of "du'u" abstractions
completed book.                    is clearly  distinguished in place
                                    structures  dealing  with  truths.
        Place structures          Some places dealing with knowledge
                                    and truth  have been  cleft paral-
We cannot  list all  of the  place  leling the "djuno" place structure
structure changes  and  definition  change in JL15.
changes being  made  for  the  new
baselined  list.      Based  on  - All known cleft place structures
decisions at  the weekend meeting, have been reviewed, with more than
about 20%  of the  words will have  half  eliminated  by  putting  an
some  change  from  the  draft  event clause  in x1.  A few, such
"logdata.raw" list  posted to  the as "simlu",  are remaining  cleft,
PLS  and distributed  to  advance  but are  worded so  as to  suggest
recipients of the new LogFlash (We  "ka" property abstractions instead
were BUSY!).  Most  of these  are  of events in the cleft abstraction
minor  and   clarifying.      (The  place.
complete review  that Bob is doing
while typing  in these changes has  The  following  are  particularly
resulted  in  many  more  minor  significant  changes  in  meaning.
changes, mostly  clarifications in  Since there  is no keyword change,
wording).                          these are  not considered relevant
  Some general notes:              to the baseline; place structures
                                    have  never  been  frozen.    The
- Bob  Chassell proposed  a  large  wording is abbreviated and approx-
set of synonyms be  listed; these  imate, and  there may  be  further
are being  added to the definition  changes before the list is finally
field to make computer searches of  frozen.   For now,  however, this
the list  easier.  These synonyms  will clarify  the meanings of many
will  also  show  up  in  the words, and should give a good idea
dictionary as  additional  English  as to the nature of the most major
entries.                           changes being made.


-  A  clarification  of sets  and  balvi    x1 is in the future of/-
Application of these defenses must be considered in light of the clear purposes of the Trademark Act that a registered mark may be cancelled at any time on the ground that it is generic [*], and also in light of the Board's discretionary power to apply the defenses.
masses  and  sequences  and  their      later than/after  x2  in  time
roles as  place holders  in  bridi      (ONLY; cf. lidne)
caused many  changes  in  wording.  bilni    x1    is    military/-
All places  where these have been      regimented/strongly
identified as  likely placeholders      organized/prepared  by  system
have been  examined  and  will  be     x2 for purpose x3
identified if space permits.        caxno    (paralleling      condi
                                        below)
- Several 'properties' gismu which  cfari    x1  (nu)    commences/-
are      generally      considered     begins/initiates/starts
subjective,  have  gained  a  'by      (intransitive) [no change, but
standard' place.  The standard may      cf. sisti)
only  the   personal  one  of the cimde    x1  is  a dimension  of
observer, whatever  that  may be.      space/object x2  according  to
Colors are  NOT included  in  this      rules/model x3
change.                            clupa    x1  is   a  loop/circuit
                                        in/of material  x2 defined  by
                                        (set of points) x3


                                  23
To support the defenses of unclean hands, estoppel, and fraud, the Institute pleaded that the Language Group "wrongfully acquired the trade secrets of the [Institute]..., and has converted and used such trade secrets to [Language Group]'s benefit... [and that the Language Group] wrongfully used the mark 'Loglan' in interstate commerce..., thereby infringing on [the Institute's] trademark." As pleaded, these defenses are essentially claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition premised on the Institute's assertion of trademark rights in Loglan. The Institute also alleges that after it demanded that the Language Group stop using its "mark," the latter acquiesced and ceased using Loglan to designate its logical language.
cmavo    x1 is  a structure  word  naxle    (paralleling      dargu
    having grammar  exemplified by      above)
    word x2  with meaning function  pajni    x1  judges/is  a  judge
    x3 in language x4                  determining/deciding matter x2
condi    x1 is  deep in extent in      (ka/ni/jei        abstraction)
    x2 (ka)  at locus x3 away from      (estimate/evaluate)
    observation  point    x4  by  panra    x1 is  parallel to x2 in
    standard x5                        property/pattern x3  by  stan-
cpare    x1    climbs/clambers/-      dard/geometry x4
    crawls/creeps on surface x2 in  pikta    x1 is a ticket entitling
    direction x3  using x4 (tools,     x2 to privilege/entitlement x3
    limbs)                              (nu) under conditions x4
danfu    x1  is  the   answer/-  platu    x1  plans/designs/plots
    response to question x2            plan/plot/arrangement  x2  for
dargu    x1 is  a road with route      state/process x3
    x2                              porsi    x1    (sequence)    is
fancu    x1 is a function/single-      sequenced/ordered by  compari-
    value mapping  from domain  x2      son/rules    x2    on    set
    to range  x3 defined  by rules      (unordered) x3
    x4                              prami    (paralleling      xebni
fasnu    x1  is  an  event  that     below)
    happens/occurs                  prina    x1 (agent)  prints x2 on
flalu    x1 is  a law  specifying      x3 using tool x4
    x2  (nu)  for  community  x3  purci    (paralleling      balvi
    (mass) under  conditions x4 by      above)
    law-giver x5                    ritli    x1 is  a rite/ceremony/-
funca    x1 (nu) is determined by      ritual/is  formal(legal)  for
    the luck/fortune of/for x2          purpose x2  under  custom  x3,
gasnu    x1 is agent in event x2;      under rules/form x4
    x1 'does' x2                    selci    x1  is  a  cell/atom/-
gradu    x1  (magnitude)  is  a      molecule/unit of  x2; x1 is an
    unit/degree  of/on    scale/-      indivisible basic  subunit  of
    reference standard  x2 (idea/-      x2 (cf. English 'atom')
    si'o) measuring x3 (ka)        simlu    x1  appears  to  have
gunma    x1  is  a  mass/team/is      property  x2  to  x3  under
    together, of   components  x2      conditions x4
    considered jointly              sirji    x1 is  straight/direct/-
jbini    x1 is  between/among set      line segment/interval  between
    of boundaries x2 in x3 (ka)        x2 and x3
jdika    x1 is  decreased/reduced  sisti    x1  (agent)    ceases/-
    in x2  (ka) by  amount x3  (no      stops/halts  doing/being  x2
    change but cf. zenba)              (cf. cfari WHICH IS DIFFERENT)
kancu    x1 counts  the number in  skiji    x1 is a ski/skid/skate/-
    set x2 to be x3 (ni/number) in      runner for  surface  x2  (for)
    units x4                            supporting skier/skater/sled/-
karli    x1    is    a    collar      cargo x3
    surrounding x2 of material x3  suksa    x1 (nu) is sudden/abrupt
krefu    x1  is  a  recurrence/-      at  stage/achievement  x2  in
    repetition of  x2 (nu) for the     process x3;  x1 (ka)  suddenly
    x3th  (ni/number)  time;  x1      changes  at  point  x2  over
    happens again                      interval x3
kusru    x1 (person)  is  cruel/-  talsa    x1  (person)  challenges
    mean to x2                          x2 in x3 (ka)
lacpu    x1  pulls/tugs/drags  x2  trene    x1    is    a    train
    by handle at locus x3              (segmented-vehicle) of  cars/-
lafti    x1 lifts/applies lift to      units    (mass/sequence)    in
    x2 at locus x3                      system/railroad/of owners x3
lidne    x1 leads/precedes  x2 in  trina    x1  attracts/lures  x2
    sequence x3                        (person/action) with x3 (ka)


                                  24
The Lanham Act specifically provides that "[i]n all inter partes proceedings equitable principles of laches, estoppel, and acquiescence, where applicable may be considered and applied" [*]. While the Board must consider such defenses, we determine that it properly exercised its discretion in not allowing the defenses to prevail here. As the Board stated, these defenses cannot override the controlling fact that Loglan is the generic name for a language and that it cannot therefore be a trademark for dictionaries. The Board did not err in declining to apply the defenses, as the public interest in a cancellation proceeding to rid the register of a generic mark transcends them. The Board may have erred in stating that it lacked jurisdiction over the defenses, but that error was harmless under the circumstances.
venfu    x1  (person(s))  takes    John Cowan  writes the following
    revenge on/retaliates  against  as  further  explanation  of  the
    x2 (person(s))  for  wrong  x3  set/mass/sequence/individuals
    (nu) with vengeance x4 (nu)    changes:
vorme    x1  is    a  door/gate
    between  x2  and  x3  of/in/-    One of  the aims  of  the  place
    through structure x4            structure review  was  to  examine
xamsi    x1  is  an  ocean/sea/-  all the place structures that were
    gulf/atmosphere of  planet  x2  labeled  "(plural/set)"  to  see
    of fluid x3                    whether an  actual set was wanted,
xanri    x1 (si'o)  exists in the  or merely one or more individuals.
    imagination  of/is  imagined  In  addition,   sometimes  a  mass
    by/is imaginary/unreal to x2    seemed to be the right thing.  The
xebni    x1  hates  x2  (object/-  new place  structures which Lojbab
    abstract)                      is typing  up will  contain a good
xendo    (paralleling      kusru  deal of clarification.
    above)                            Essentially,  a  true  set  is
xlura    x1 (agent) influences x2  required if  the relationship does
    into action/event/state  x3 by  not hold  of each  member but only
    influence/threat/lure x4  (cf. of the totality.    For  example,
    trina)                          "kampu", "cnano",  and "fadni" are
xrani    x1 (nu)  injures/harms/-  all relationships  between  a  set
    damages victim  x2 in property  and  one  of  its members  (or  a
    x3  resulting  in injury  x4  property  thereof).     If  I  am
    (za'i/ka)                      typical of  ("cnano") the set  of
zarci    x1 is  a  market/store/-  persons, that doesn't  mean  that
    exchange/marketplace  selling  the relation  "typical-of"  holds
    x2  operated    by    x3/with  between me  and every  individual
    participants x3 (mass agent)    person --  indeed, the idea of one
zenba    x1    is    increased/-  person being  typical  of  another
    augmented  in  x2  (ka/ni)  by  makes no sense.
    amount  x3  (parallels  with    On the  other hand,  we  decided
    jdika)                          that "casnu"  should have  a mass,
zukte    x1  is    an  'entity'  rather than either a set or plural
    employing means x2 for/towards  individuals,  in   its  x1  place.
    end/purpose/goal x3            People may "casnu", or participate
                                    in a discussion, even  though not
                                    all of them say anything.
                                      In  many  cases,  "(plural/set)"
                                    came up where "between" or "among"
                                    was involved.  Most  of these  we
                                    tried  to   reword  to  avoid  the
                                    problem, which often resulted from
                                    excess generality.  Thus  a wall
                                    now separates  exactly two things,
                                    and a  door connects  exactly two.
                                    (A  wall  may separate  multiple
                                    pairs of  things -  my house  from
                                    yours,  my  property  from  yours,
                                    Country 1  from Country 2 - all at
                                    once, but   the  relationship  is
                                    still pairwise.)
                                      In addition, the phrase "ordered
                                    set"  was changed  throughout  to
                                    "sequence",    and    the   place
                                    structure  of  "porsi"  is  now
                                    something like  "x1 is  a sequence
                                    of the  members of  set x2 ordered
                                    by rules  x3".   Sequences do  not
                                    have the  same level of support in


                                  25
We, of course, do not rule on whether the Institute may have an action against the Language Group on any matters of unfair competition. The record here simply show that the term Loglan has never been a trademark, but rather entered the public domain as a generic name from the time of its inception.
Lojban as individuals, masses, and    Mini-Lesson -  Athelstan set the
sets; however, we have  long  had  material  of   his  "Lojban  Mini-
the non-logical  connective "ce'o"  Lesson",       an        hour-long
which  constructs  them  item  by  presentation, down  in  text  last
item.    In  addition,  we  added  summer  and  fall  before  his
"vu'i",  a  converter  of  selma'o  accident.  We  distributed  draft
LUhI, transforming  a set  into  a  copies electronically  (the  draft
sequence, as  well as  individuals  is available  on the PLS  -  see
into a sequence-in-extension.      above), and  some two dozen people
  It now  seems that  "fa'u",  the  from 6  different  countries  have
non-logical    connective    for  tried it  and sent comments.  Alas
"respectively", may  be  taken  to  the  revision  effort  was  only
generate a  sequence-in-extension,  partially done  when the  accident
thus:                              occurred,  so  the  mini-lesson,
                                    planned for  this issue and at one
mi fa'u  do se cmene zo djan. fa'u  time  an excuse  for  its  delay,
zo lojbab.                          isn't yet ready.
(I  respectively-with  you)  are-    People have in general found the
benamed ("John"  respectively-with  mini-lesson  to  be  a  very  good
"Lojbab").                          introduction to  the language,  as
                                    they  found    Athelstan's  oral
  Using  ".e"  logical  connection  presentation  similarly  useful.
will not  do, as  that would claim  Alas, on paper it  takes  a  good
that each  of us  is  named  both  deal more  than an  hour  to  work
"John" and "Lojbab".               through.  People  have  generally
                                    said  that   there  are  too  many
        Status of Products          exercises and too few examples.  A
                                    few of  the examples  and explana-
  We have a lot of products in the  tions are  perhaps too oriented to
works, and  a few of them are done  English-native  speakers, but we
or nearly  done.    More  signifi-  haven't  figured  a  good  way  to
cantly  perhaps,    several  new  correct that.
products have been identified, and    Given the accident, it is likely
are in  progress and in some cases  that I  (Bob) will  have to finish
near completion.  The  variety of  the revision, and it will thus not
Lojban  products  continues  to  be ready  until JL17 or even JL18.
multiply as new  people  get  in-  The revised  mini-lesson will also
volved in its development.          form  part  of  the  introductory
  One is  of course the Diagrammed  package.
Summary  of    Lojban    Grammar, 
included  as  an  insert  in  this    LogFlash -  We have released the
issue.  This will  form the major  new version  of LogFlash described
language  explanatory  text  about  in the  last several issues.  Both
the language  for our introductory  LogFlash 1  (gismu) and LogFlash 3
package.  The  Overview  will  be  (cmavo)  are  being  successfully
recast to  talk mostly  about  the  used by several people.
ideas of  the language and not the    For  those  who  want  to  learn
grammar, and  a glossary  will  be  rafsi, the older combined LogFlash
added.  Eventually, this  package  1/2 will  continue to be available
will be  assembled into one of our  (LogFlash 2 teaches rafsi) until a
several book  publications.   Now  new version  is created  -  a  new
for the other products:            version of LogFlash 2 will be more
                                    difficult  to  develop  than  the
                                    other programs because the type of
                                    testing used  in lessons  is  more
                                    diverse.  The lujvo-making program
                                    will also be incorporated into the
                                    next revision  of LogFlash 2.  The
                                    priority of  this revision depends
                                    primarily  on  people  being  in-


                                  26
=== CONCLUSION ===
terested in  obtaining it - if you  only, but  since the  lists  being
are  ready  to  start  using  this  distributed are unofficial, people
program, or  expect that  you will  receiving them  need to  be  fore-
be within  6 months,  let us  know  warned.    Again,  we  will  make
and Nora will put more effort into  updated files  available to  those
this upgrade.  The  files for the  who purchase  copies now, probably
old version are not being updated,  at the  time  the  first  book  is
hence  several  newly-added  rafsi  released.
assignments  and  the  couple  of    The  instability  of  the  word
changes that  have been  made  are  files affects  LogFlash  3  a  bit
not reflected in this old version.  more significantly  because we are
This has  not proven  to be a sig-  more  freely  changing  words  and
nificant limitation.                keywords,  as  well  as  making  a
  There are  two  'problems'  with  small  number  of  additions  and
the current  release,  neither  of  deletions to  the cmavo list.  The
which prevents effective use.  The  changes being  made are  typically
first is that we've had no time to  minor, however, enough that we can
rewrite  the  user  documentation.  finally feel comfortable in recom-
There  are  now  an  enormously  mending that people use LogFlash 3
increased    number    of    user-  without too much fear of having to
selectable features  in  LogFlash,  do a  lot  of  relearning  due  to
and  documentation  is  needed  to  changes.
intelligently choose  among  them. 
You can  experiment or  ask - most    MacLojFlash -  Both versions  of
of these  functions  are  self-ex-  LogFlash for  the Apple  MacIntosh
planatory as to how they work, and  are being updated for the new data
playing around  is not damaging to  files.  Each version  already had
your    learning    effectiveness  some of  the features  now  incor-
(though it  can be  time consuming  porated into  the original  MS-DOS
given  the  number  of  options).  version, and will probably add new
However, explaining  when and  why  ones  to  keep  the  different
each option is intended to be used  versions  roughly  comparable  in
takes a  bit of  work.    Luckily,  capabilities.  The Hypercard  Mac
Nora  has    made  the  program  version by  Dave Cortesi  is being
effectively self-channelled  - the  upgraded to  Hypercard II; Richard
default option at each menu choice  Kennaway's  original  MAC  version
progresses  you  through  fairly  doesn't use Hypercard, is somewhat
optimal  usage.    I'd  like  to  faster, but  does not  have  voice
promise  the  documentation  soon,  synthesis  of  the  words,  and
but I'll  have to  admit  that  it  supports both  the gismu and cmavo
keeps getting shoved off for other  lists in  one program.  Richard's
priorities.    When  more  people  program  is    basically  ready,
start buying  the program, we will  awaiting  only  reasonably  final
of course  put  high  priority  on  word files.  (Our difficulties in
completing      the      support  supporting the  Mac continue,  and
documentation,  and  it  will  be  we  aren't  going  to  release
available free-of-charge  to those  incremental in-progress  Mac  ver-
of you who have done without until  sions of  the word-lists as we are
then.                              doing with  the original program.)
  The  other  'problem'  is  that  The Mac  programs are liable to be
because  of  the  above-mentioned  cheaper than  the MS-DOS versions,
revision  of  the  gismu  list,  partly  because  of  the  lower
especially    affecting    place  quality of  support that  we  have
structures,  the  version  of  the  been able to provide.
list we  are  giving  out  at  any 
particular  time  is  subject  to    Serious  Volunteers  Sought  for
changes.    These  changes  don't  LogFlash  Research  -  The  new
generally  affect  the  learning  version  of    LogFlash  (MS-DOS
process since place structures are  version only)  is instrumented for
provided for  information purposes  research  into  how  well  people


                                  27
The decision of the Board is therefore
learn Lojban  words.  This finally    Other  teaching  products  -  We
allows  testing  of  the  'word  have  contacted  two  firms  that
recognition scores'  that were the  commercially  produce    language
basis of Loglan/Lojban word-making  learning  materials  and  gotten
ever since  the project started in  interest in  assisting the  Lojban
the 1950s,  as  well  as  formally  project from  each of  them.  One
verifying the effectiveness of the  produces software that teaches you
LogFlash technique.                words and structures as you read a
  We are looking for volunteers to  story or  stories in Lojban (not a
use  LogFlash  in  learning  the  simplified text  - you would learn
Lojban vocabulary.  At this point  to read  most any  Lojban text you
we have  no constraint  on who can  come  across).    The other,  In-
volunteer,  as  long  as  you  can  ternational Learning  Corporation,
state more  or less  honestly that  produces  a  series  of materials
you don't  yet know  much  of  the called  "The  Learnables  (tm)",
Lojban gismu  vocabulary.    Later  which are  books of  cartoons  and
on,  we  will  have  to  add  re-  pictures associated with extensive
strictions  to  ensure  that  our  tapes.  These materials  are used
statistics are  valid, but for now  effectively in college classes.
we are looking for patterns in the    Both    products    have    been
learning of individuals.            recommended to us by more than one
  We  have  no  funding  for  this  Lojbanist.    Both  organizations
experiment -  we can't  pay anyone  have indicated  that they would be
to participate.    You  will  even  willing to  license us  to develop
have to  buy the  copy of LogFlash  Lojban versions  of their products
that you  use to  learn the words,  at no  cost to  us other  than the
because we  need the money to stay  effort    of    developing    the
in business  right now.  What  we  materials.  The resulting materi-
can promise  is that  someone  who  als should  be extremely effective
volunteers  AND  STICKS  WITH  THE  in teaching  Lojban and  offer the
EXPERIMENT  ENOUGH  TO  GIVE  US  confidence  of  having  been  used
USEFUL RESULTS  will  be  credited  effectively with  other languages.
afterwards  for  the  price  of  The down-side  of these  materials
LogFlash  and  any  other  Lojban  is that they will probably be more
teaching  materials  you  buy  to  expensive than  our self-developed
study while  participating in  the  materials (for existing languages,
experiment.    We'll  also  give  the software  package costs around
priority (subject  to our  limited  $100  plus  a  small  amount  per
funds)  for  volunteers  who  need  story, while  The Learnables costs
financial  assistance  to  obtain  around $45 for a book and 6 tapes,
Lojban materials.                  with 4  beginning and  4  advanced
  This isn't  a lot to offer for a  books covering  the  typical  lan-
commitment of 3-7 hours a week for  guage -  we can't  promise  to  be
4-8 months (probably 100-150 hours  able to  sell Lojban materials for
total,  about  the  same  as  the  any less  than  the  prices  these
homework  time  for  a  typical  organizations  charge  for  other
college class), but the work isn't  languages).
hard, and  you will  be  doing  it    These      are      significant
anyway  if  you  are  planning  on  opportunities to  get awareness of
learning the language.  We need is  Lojban  out  to  a  much  larger
people who  will use LogFlash more  audience, but  we  cannot  justify
or less  daily for  at  least  1/2  the time  to produce the materials
hour a  day (preferably  an hour -  unless there  is some  significant
learning may go 3 times as fast or  interest  in  the  community  in
better, at this more intense study  buying  and  using  the  resulting
rate; you  learn quicker,  and the  products.  So we need to hear from
experiment  is  shorter  and  more  you if you think you would buy the
likely to show expected results.)  materials.
                                   


                                  28
AFFIRMED
  Interlinear Glosser (and Parser)  applications for  which Lojban  is
- This new project of Nora's stems  especially suitable  is a  Lojban-
from four unrelated problems.      to-English translator.  Nora  has
  Because of the massive volume of  long been  interested in producing
Lojban text  now  being  produced,  a  simple    form  of  such  a
Nora and  I can no longer read and  translator, both  for study of the
check it  all - our own command of  problems of  machine  translation,
the  language  is  not  thorough  and as an effective teaching tool.
enough for  us  to  quickly  check  She first did a rudimentary trans-
words and  place structures,  much  lator, handling  a subset  of  the
less  to  comment  the  results  grammar    of    single    Loglan
thoroughly.                        sentences, on  a tiny  TRS-80 home
  People writing  Lojban text tend  computer back  in 1981.  Updating
to make  word choice  errors (e.g.  this program  to use  with  Lojban
lujvo-making              errors,  has been  difficult,  because  the
misspellings), and find it hard to  varieties of  sentences  that  are
catch    these    errors    before  typical for  Lojban are  much more
'inflicting' them  on others.    A  numerous than  for earlier  Loglan
simple    computerized    spelling  versions.
checker cannot  fully  solve  this    A few  months ago, we discovered
(even  if  you  can  build  a  a  free-ware    program    called
dictionary  file  easily)  because  "Shoebox"  (Summer  Institute  of
nearly  all  possible  cmavo  and  Linguistics)    that    produces
lujvo  word-forms  are  plausibly  interlinear  glosses  from  one
valid words.                        language  to  another,  using  a
  In addition,  people  using  the  simple word  look-up technique and
Lojban parser  to check their work  a specially  designed  word  data-
have found  the outputs to be hard  base.  Mark Shoulson  and  others
to use  in an odd way.  When there  have  set  up  this  program  to
is an  error, the parser tells you  produce quite  pretty glosses  for
(approximately)  where  the  error  Lojban text,  but the  translation
occurred, and  you know  where  to  is rather  difficult to read, even
look.  If it finds no errors, the  when you know Lojban grammar - the
rather lengthy fully-parenthesized  words that are substituted are the
output      contains      complete  keywords of  our word-lists, which
grammatical structure information.  are not intended necessarily to be
Unfortunately, a lot of simple er-  good  translations;  there  is  no
rors,    including    misspellings  provision  for  lujvo  compounds,
(noted  above)  and  omitted  ter-  even  though  they  are  quite
minators can lead to grammatically  regular;  several  cmavo  have  no
perfect text  that means something  valid English  gloss because  they
quite  different  from  what  you  serve  purely  grammatical  roles;
intended.    Reading  the  parser  and  finally,  Lojban's  predicate
output  to  find  such  errors  grammar means  that  you  need  to
requires great  care, as well as a  analyze the  grammatical situation
certain sense of what types of er-  to know  whether to  interpret the
rors to  look for.  It isn't being  English  equivalent  of  a  Lojban
done too  well,  and  people  have  word  as  a  noun,  a  verb,  and
found errors  in text  that seemed  adjective, or  an adverb - Shoebox
perfectly  valid,  even  to  the  is not  sufficiently  tailored  to
parser,  when  read  carefully.  Loglan/Lojban's            unique
(Though this  might seem  to be  a  regularities to  take advantage of
threat to  Lojban's viability as a  them to produce a readable output.
understandable    and    logical    Inspired by  this, Nora  started
language, the types of errors that  designing    a      grammar-smart
are occurring  seem to  be of  the  interlinear glosser.  Carl  Burke
types  that    fluent    speakers  has aided  with some  good  design
wouldn't often make.)              ideas, and  the  project  is  well
  Finally,  one  of  the  easiest  underway.    Indeed,  the  program
first steps  towards the  computer  already  produces  better  glosses


                                  29
----
than  the    comparable  Shoebox    The Cowan Papers, or "The Lojban
versions, even without many 'gram- Textbook Effort  Grows Up" - 3 1/2
mar smarts', because it recognizes  years ago (October 1988) I started
Lojban  word  types,  disassembles  to write  a technical  description
lujvo,  recognizes  numbers  as  a  and  reference  for  Lojban.    40
unit,  and  other  simple  Lojban- pages and  the  first  descriptive
specific functions.  It processes  cmavo  list    were    completed.
outputs from  John Cowan's  Lojban  Reviewers at  that point basically
parser,  separating  a  long  text  told me  that  the  text  was  not
into separate  sentences and other  working - most people did not know
logical chunks for easier reading,  the language  well enough to use a
and  optionally    retaining  or  reference  that  presumed  basic
deleting the  structure bracketing  knowledge of  the  grammar.    The
and inserted elidable marker words  format was very poor as a teaching
that the  parser provides  in  its  text.    The  result  was  the
output.  We also have developed a  recommendation  that  I  write  a
'dictionary' suited  for this pro-  Lojban textbook.
gram.                                From January  through June 1989,
  If there  is demand, we can make  I wrote  6+ draft chapters of such
the  program  available  fairly  a  textbook  while  teaching  the
shortly in its in-development form  first Lojban  class.    About  150
bundled with  the parser (which it  people have  gotten those  lessons
requires).  We'll set a tentative  now, and  a  couple  of  dozen  of
price of  $50 for the combination,  these have  studied  the  language
partly  because  the  program  is  well  enough  to  write  fairly
incomplete; the  final program may  effectively  in  the  language.
be more  expensive.  John Cowan's  These  draft    lessons    remain
parser by  itself is available for  available and  are the  most  tho-
$25 (and may be available for some  rough teaching  materials we  have
UNIX machines  as well as MS-DOS).  for those trying to learn the lan-
People who  are writing  a LOT  of  guage.
Lojban text,  and sending it to us    Alas, the  draft lessons, though
or posting  it onto  Lojban  List,  they've  'aged    well',  remain
can  probably  convince  us  to  incomplete.    I  stopped  writing
provide a  test version  of either  when we  realized that  the  basic
or both  for free  (especially  if  structure of  the course  was  not
you cannot afford to pay for it) -  working in the way we intended and
we'd rather  have you  be checking  it was  getting harder  and harder
your text  before we get it rather  to  write  lessons  that  built
than be  doing it  ourselves.  The  constructively on  what  had  gone
user documentation  and support on  before.  The  completed  textbook
these  programs  will  be  quite  would be over 1000 pages, and sim-
limited  until  the  glosser  is  ply wasn't  good enough to justify
completed.                          that much effort.
  We  are  making  these  programs    I started  a new  draft in 1990,
available primarily  because  some  but  it  got  only  to  page  50.
people are  already  finding  them  Throughout  1990  and  1991,  as
useful,  not  because  we  believe  others learned  the language,  the
they are optimal products yet - if  advances  in  teaching  technique
you are  working  often  with  the  outstripped  my  writing  ability.
language, the  program limitations  Indeed, under  the able leadership
will  not  much  hinder  their  of Nick  Nicholas, the  last  year
usefulness.    Also,  frankly,  we  has  shown  a  truly  outstanding
need people to contribute more for  increase in  the sophistication of
our  support,  and  having  new  our    knowledge    of    Lojban
products  to  sell  gives  you  expression,  its  style,  and  its
something for  your money  besides  semantics.  But  that  evolution,
the good  feeling of  contributing  and  the  dozens  of  little  tiny
to keeping this project alive.      changes  in  the  corners  of  the
                                    language were  stresses that  hurt


                                  30
== le lojbo se ciska (cont.) ==
my confidence  that I was teaching    This lack  of examples was a big
the language  appropriately to the  hang-up in  textbook  writing,  as
ways it  is  coming  to  be  used.  well.  I spent endless time trying
I've  also  spent  too  much  time  to concoct  meaningful examples of
dealing  with  our  unending  fi-  sentences  that  exemplified  the
nancial  problems    and  simply  points I was trying to make, which
coordinating the  rapid  expansion  were limited  in  vocabulary,  but
of our organization.                still interesting.  This is NOT my
  The reference  materials of  the  strong skill.  Still, the 50 pages
language continued  to  evolve  as  of  the  new  draft  textbook  has
well, and,  although the  language  dozens of  examples and  even more
itself  is  quite  stable,  our  exercises.
published  descriptions  of  the    When  John  Cowan  first  became
language  have    edged  towards  involved in  Lojban, 2  years ago,
obsolescence.    The  gismu  list  his first  promised goal  was  the
place structures  were  too  short  rather ambitious one of writing an
and  vague,    but  the    words  example sentence  for every gismu.
themselves were  quite stable,  as  He then  decided instead  to write
were the rafsi affixes.  The cmavo  one  sentence  for  every  cmavo,
list was  nearly  as  stable,  but  covering    every    variety    of
incessant little  changes  in  the  grammatical usage.
grammar  coupled    with    major    A  nice  ideal,  but  far  too
advances of  our knowledge  of how  ambitious,  as  John  found  out.
to communicate in Lojban have made  Some  cmavo  are  permitted  in  a
a simple list of cmavo inadequate.  variety  of  usages  but  aren't
The YACC-based  formal grammar has  pragmatically useful  in  most  of
similarly been quite stable; there  them -  at least not in a way that
were little  changes and we had to  we  English  speakers  can  easily
update the  baseline a year later,  recognize.   For example, it seems
and a new baseline will take place  rather  odd  to  contemplate  the
when  the  first  book  comes  out  mathematical number  "pi"  treated
(though  the  number  of  grammar  like all other numbers and used as
change  proposals  in  the  second  a digit,  or to  enumerate objects
baseline year  have been less than  or  events:  "pi  events  of  Mary
half of those in the first year).  going to  the store" is irrational
  Since  every  example  in  the  in more  than  one  sense  of  the
textbook  must  be  accurate  and  word.
consistent  with  the  reference    John's continuing  work with the
lists, the  more examples I've put  grammar has  made  him  even  more
into the  text,  the  shakier  the  expert in  its details  than I am.
result  has  become.      Simply  He has performed the modifications
checking  every  example  in  the  to the  YACC grammar  for all  the
existing 6 chapters requires hours  little changes  of  the  last  two
of work  - the  new  textbook  has  years.      In  developing  that
several times as many examples for  expertise,    he    learned    how
each key grammar point.            thoroughly  the    language    is
  In addition, the YACC grammar is  defined, while  how little of that
not too  well understood  by those  design is  yet set  down on paper.
who aren't  used to  that type  of  He set  to remedy  this problem in
grammar definition.  There  are a  the context  of his previous goal,
lot of trees, with no sense of the  choosing  to  write  a  "selma'o
forest.  The shorter EBNF form of  catalog" that  would list  all the
the grammar  is  better  for  some  grammatical components of the lan-
people, but it is still formalized  guage,  giving  explanations  and
and  difficult  for  non-computer  examples of  the use  of  each  of
people.  An especial  lack  is  a  them.  Maybe he wouldn't find one
series of examples showing all the  example for  every word  in  every
various structures of the grammar,  grammatical context,  but at least
and  discussing  why  they  were  there would  be an example of each
present.                            such  grammatical  form,  and  the


                                  31
Back when I was writing the draft textbook lessons, Nora was busily inventing examples for me. I never finished writing draft Lesson 7, but Nora had plenty of examples. Here are those examples, without the textual explanation that was never finished. As with most of Nora's examples, they stand quite well on their own, anyway. The primary topics are abstraction, logical connection, and the mathematical selbri words.
result would show how the rules of  understand the  'B'  words,  while
the grammar  interacted in  actual  'C' requires knowledge of both 'A'
usage (as  opposed to  the  arcane  and 'B', etc.
formulae of the YACC grammar).        Finally, although  John  created
  John spent several months on the  over a  hundred example  sentences
selma'o  catalog,  and  created  a  for the  selma'o catalog,  this is
very  nice  document  that  a  few  not nearly enough to exemplify the
people have  used  effectively  to  entire Lojban grammar.
learn    about    the    language    The selma'o  catalog will appear
structures.    The  document  has  in print,  probably in  the first
remained  a  draft, though,  for  book to  be published (see below).
several  reasons.      Basically,  However, it needs to be integrated
though,  John  realized  that  his  with other materials in that book,
goal remained  far beyond  what he  which will take a bit of work.  It
was capable of writing.  I'm going  unfortunately  cannot  serve  the
to  exaggerate  the  negatives  to  purpose John  originally  set  out
make the  reasons  clear  -  as  I  for it  - to exemplify the variety
said, the  document  proved  quite  of cmavo  and their  usages in the
useful  and  informative  for the  grammar.
limited audience  of reviewers who    To accomplish  the latter,  John
already  knew  a  bit  about  the  has undertaken  and made excellent
language.  Everyone who  read it,  progress on  a new  approach.  He
including me,  learned a  lot from  has divided  the grammar of Lojban
John's explanations.               into some  15 topics.  There will
  The draft selma'o catalog  is a  be a paper on each topic, covering
couple of hundred paragraphs, with  the cmavo  used in  the portion of
a  couple  of  hundred  cross-  the grammar  that  addresses  that
references; but the latter is not  topic.  A  half  dozen  of these
nearly enough.   It turns out that  papers  are   done  or  nearly
so  many  of  the  structures  are  complete.
redundant to each other that it is    The  topics  are  not  an  even
difficult    to    write    about  division of  the  grammar  -  some
individual word categories without  topics can  be covered in very few
referring  to    what  is  said  pages, while  others need a lot of
elsewhere, or  without repeating  explanation and  examples.  On the
the same  thing many  times  over.  average,  the  topics  are  being
John also  had to  make use  of so  covered to  at least  the level of
many technical jargon terms that a  detail as the "On Lojban Negation"
explanatory glossary  was going to  paper,  which  was  published  a
be needed  that was fully as large  couple of years ago with JL and is
as the  catalog text, in order for  now distributed  with "Package  3"
the catalog  to be understood by a  for  active  language  students.
beginner.  Finally, because  John  (John's writing  in  these  new
wrote the  catalog from  start  to  papers seems to me to be much more
end, it  reads fairly  well as  a  readable  then  my  own   in  the
textual  explanation    of    the  negation paper.)  Each  paper has
selma'o.                            dozens of  examples;  in  some  of
  However, as  a catalog reference  them, over  a hundred examples may
work not  intended to be read from  be found.
start  to  finish,  the  document    The most important of the papers
failed.  Individual  entries  are completed thus  far is  the  tense
hard to understand - even with all  paper included  with  this  issue.
the cross-references,  too much of  One  of  the  most  thoroughly
the text  presumes that the reader  analyzed and  designed aspects  of
has read and understood what comes  Lojban, as  distinguished  from
'before it'  in the  catalog.  The  earlier versions  of  Loglan, the
result  is  like  a  dictionary  tense system  benefits  from  pc's
wherein  you    must  know  and  expertise in  tense logic  and its
understand almost  every  word  in  expression in the languages of the
the 'A'  section before  trying to  world.


                                  32
=== Examples of bridi logical connection ===
  I've said  that the Lojban tense  suppose over  a period  of time, X
system is overdesigned - it allows  continues this cruel behavior, the
the  entire  variety  of  tense-  dog's condition  deteriorates, and
related expressions used by any of  it dies.  In English, we might say
the  world's  languages,  without  that "X  kept on:  kept on hitting
particularly  favoring  any  one  the dog  too long, too long."  But
approach.  But each  natural lan-  without      the      long-winded
guage  has  evolved  a  highly  explanation,  you  would  almost
specialized  and  often  idiomatic  certainly consider  that  sentence
approach to expressing tense.  The  both ungrammatical  and  nonsense,
English speaker  tackling  Russian  when it is neither.  (And there is
or Greek  or Irish,  all  Indo-Eu-  no way  to clearly  punctuate  the
ropean  languages,  must  learn  sentence, either,  as I just found
elaborate tense  systems involving  out.)    Lojban  expresses  this
perfective  tenses    that  work  situation easily.
entirely unlike  those of English.    Now  think  of  one  of  those
Making the matter even worse, most  cartoons where  the main character
English speakers  are ill-educated  drives  a  motorboat  across  the
as to  the complexity of the tense  lake, then  continues up  on shore
structures of  their own language,  and  across  the  land.      This
and  the  subtleties  of  nuance  situation is  expressed in  Lojban
implicit in  various forms  of ex-  using a  tense  quite  similar  to
pression.  As a  result, a  major  that of  the last  example:    the
failing people  have  in  learning  character  kept  on  driving  the
foreign languages is that they are  motorboat too far 'on' the lake.
unable to  grasp the  new ways  of    There are  all manner  of  other
relating time  and space  embodied  tense  structures  permitted  in
in the foreign language, and speak  Lojban,  some  of  which  have  no
in a  very stilted dialect that is  parallel  in  natural  language.
difficult    for    natives    to  Lojban's  tenses  are  symmetrical
understand.    (Most  artificial  with respect  to time  -  you  can
languages  have  little  or  no  talk about  future  events  in  as
thought  put  into  their  tense  elaborate detail  as you  can talk
system, and probably never achieve  about  past  ones,  whereas  some
the subtleties of meaning conveyed  natural    languages    (including
by natural language tenses.)        English) have  only a  very degen-
  The tense paper included in this  erate grammar  for  talking  about
issue  will  likely  stretch  your  things to come.
mind to envision new relationships    Will people  find Lojban's tense
in time  and space as expressed in  grammar enabling?    Or  will  its
language, relationships  that  are  many unusual forms never find use,
not easily conveyed in English, if  and fall  by the  wayside.  We'll
at all.                            only come  to  know  after  people
  For example,  at the moment I am  have a  chance  to  learn  from  a
writing this,  I say  that  "I  am  thorough explanation  of the tense
writing JL16".  But since JL16 is  system,  such  as  John  has  now
not yet  published, it doesn't yet  provided us.
exist while  I write it (except as    Here is  a list  of  the  papers
a figment  of my imagination).  In  currently  planned,  and  their
Lojban, we  can make this clear by  status:
stating  that  I  am  writing  the  -  morphology,  phonology,  and
inchoative JL16.                      orthography    (written    and
  Another  example,    long    my    published,    needs    stylistic
favorite,  was  coined  by  pc.    rewrite to match later papers);
Suppose X  has a dog which he hits  - negation (written and published,
in punishment  whenever  it  chews    needs minor update and reworking
X's clothes.  Indeed,  he hits it    to be  stylistically  consistent
so long  that it  sustains lasting    with later papers);
injury, though  a trip  to the vet  -    attitudinals/metalinguistics
remedies much of this damage.  Now    (written  and  published,  needs


                                  33
mi dansu gi'e sanga
  major  rewrite    adding  many  1988,  before  the  textbook  was
<br />I dance and sing.
  examples);                        conceived.
-  tense  (written  and  published    We have  come full circle.  In a
  with this issue);                year, when the papers are complete
-  MEX:  mathematical  expressions  and  published,  Lojban  will  be
  (written and internally reviewed  well-documented, and  the language
  - to be published with JL17);    and its community will be much the
- logical connectives (written and  richer for it.
  in internal review);             
- text  structure (written  and in    Bob and  Nora Studying Russian -
  internal review);                Nora  and  I  have  started  an
- lerfu  (written and  in internal  intensive study  of Russian.    We
  review);                          are trying  to adopt  one or  more
                                    young children  from  Russia,  and
Not yet  written (though  in  some  will  have  to  travel  to  that
cases  planned  in  considerable  country, deal  with  children  who
detail) are:                        have likely  started to understand
- abstraction;                      or even to speak Russian, and also
- logical quantification;          to  teach  those  children  about
-  sumti  structures  -  anaphora,  their heritage  as they  grow  up.
  descriptions,  names,  quotes,  (Yes, we  also plan  to teach  our
  numbers;                          kids Lojban.)
- places and place structures;        What does  this have  to do with
- selbri structures;                Lojban?
- tanru making;                      Our learning  efforts started in
- anaphora;                        April,  and  have  already  had  a
- elidable terminators;            significant effect  on the  future
                                    textbook.    Our  situation  in
  John will  write most  of  these  learning Russian is not too unlike
papers.  I (Lojbab) will probably  the typical Lojbanist who wants to
do  a  couple  of  them,  possibly  learn Lojban  - we  want  to  very
including the major rewrite of the  quickly acquire as much competency
attitudinal  paper,    a  lesser  in the  language as  we  can,  but
rewrite of the negation paper, and  have minimal  opportunity to  take
writing some  or all of the papers  formal classes  or  interact  with
on  tanru,  elidables,  and  ab-  native speakers.
straction.    These  papers  will    We've  spent  a  good  chunk  of
probably take  another year  to be  money  on  textbooks,  tapes,  and
completed,      reviewed,      and  other learning aids; we've adapted
integrated for publishing, but the  LogFlash to  the study  of Russian
resulting book  will be a detailed  vocabulary (surprisingly  easy due
explanation of  all aspects of the  to Nora's excellent program design
Lojban    grammar    (called    a  foresight,  even  though  Russian
'reference grammar' by linguists).  uses  a  keyboard  and  alphabet
  These  papers    will  be  an  rather  different    from    what
invaluable  resource  in  creating  normally appears  on your computer
examples and  exercises to  enrich  screen).
the long-delayed  Lojban textbook.    Only a  month into  the  effort,
Teaching of  the intermediate  and  I'm learning what methods work for
advanced aspects  of the  language  rapid self-teaching,  and which do
that were  not covered  in  the  6  not.
draft lessons already written will    When Nora and I learned Loglan/-
be especially helped.              Lojban,  we  acquired  it  slowly,
  As I went  to  describe  John's  over  several    years,  without
papers, and the role that they fit  prepared materials  to work  from,
in the documentation of the Lojban  and our  level of  skill until the
design,  I  realized  that  these  last  couple  of  years  did  not
collected papers  will be  nothing  approach  a  useful  level.   Our
other than  the  Lojban  technical  experience was unlike what the new
description that I started back in  Lojbanist faces in trying to learn


                                  34
.i lenu mi dansu gi'e sanga cu nibli lenu mi dansu
the  language,  and  even  more  language    textbooks,      their
<br />(The event that I dance and sing) logically necessitates (the event that I dance).
strongly different from the way we  structure,  and  teaching  tech-
<br />My dancing and singing necessarily implies my dancing.
hope  Lojbanists  will  learn  the  niques.   I've read  over a  dozen
language in  the future  after the  books on  standard and  unorthodox
books  and  other  materials  are  language  teaching  methodologies
complete.                          and on  textbook writing  for both
  However,  our  experience  in  commonly studied languages and for
studying  Russian  from  prepared  little-known languages  for  which
materials in  a  short  time  will  native speaker  materials are hard
more  closely  approximate  the  to acquire.
typical Lojbanist's situation.        (You  would  be  surprised  how
  What have  we learned?  We need  little  agreement  there  is  on
many more examples and exercises -  teaching    methodologies    among
each of  the books  we  are  using  language  teaching  professionals.
gives  dozens  of  very  simple  Simply  speaking,  there  is  no
exercises for  each point  taught,  methodology  that  has  proven  to
several exercises requiring use of  work  effectively  for  the  wide
each vocabulary  word to  be added  variety of student backgrounds and
to    the    learner's    'active'  goals.  The best  materials  are
vocabulary, and an incremental ap-  those for  learning  English,  but
proach  that   adds  new  grammar  English-speaking natives  like  me
features quickly  (at least at our  cannot look at these materials and
study pace) but  only  one  at  a  truly understand the methods being
time.  We have  also  found  that  used, and how they might relate to
tapes are  useful and  indeed  im-  designing  materials  for  other
portant  to    giving    students  languages - the best materials are
confidence that  they can actually  quite  unlike  the  ones  native
speak the language, as  they copy  speakers study  in English grammar
what  is  being  said.      Tape  class.)
exercises  give    practice    in    This  reading  means  that   I
listening to the language, as well  actually understand the techniques
as correction  of the  errors  and  being used by the Russian textbook
other problems that creep into the  writers as  they use  them  on  me
self-teaching            student's  (the best Russian textbooks on the
pronunciation.                      market were  written in  Russia by
  I am  also getting  specifically  professionals  there,  and  then
helpful samples  of  style:    how  translated  and    adapted    for
much  explanation  is  appropriate  English-speaking  audiences).   I
and  useful,  and  what  type  of  can see which techniques work well
wording is clearest.  Indeed, some  with a  self-teaching student, and
specific  Russian  pronunciation  which  would  need  two  or  more
explanations  will  prove  quite  people, or  even a  class,  to  be
useful  in  explaining  similar  effective.
points about Lojban.                  It is  no big  surprise that the
  I've spent  a lot  of thought on  techniques that  work best  on  me
the textbook  writing problem, and  are quite  similar to the LogFlash
sent  out  a  questionnaire  to  flash  card  technique.    It  IS
potential Lojban  students on  the  significant,  both  to  me,  and
computer networks.  The  problems  potentially to  people who  design
I've had  in writing  the textbook  materials for other languages, how
have included  a lack of time, too  valuable an understanding of WHY I
many things  to do, instability in  am doing  an exercise  helps me do
the details  of the  language, and  that  exercise    better  -    I
low morale.  But the real problem  concentrate on  what is important,
was that  I was  trying to write a  and don't  worry about the rest (I
textbook    with      no    real  can tell  this benefit  because  I
understanding of  what a  language  can see  the problems that Nora is
textbook needs to contain.          having,  not  having  had  this
  I've spent  a lot  of time  over  background  in  language  teaching
the  last  5  years  examining  theory.)


                                  35
.i lenu mi dansu gi'e sanga cu nibli lenu mi sanga
  It  turns  out  that  this  new  January weekend  meeting discussed
<br />(The event that I dance and sing) logically necessitates (the event that I sing).
information will  not  affect  the  above led  to a  lot of changes in
<br />My dancing and singing necessarily implies my singing.
textbook writing  I've  done  thus  the gismu  list place  structures,
far.  We decided  a long time ago  and all other documents have to be
to totally  rewrite the  materials  reconciled with  those changes. A
in the  draft 6 lessons in the new  lot of  progress  has  been  made,
textbook,  which  will  have  a  though, and  I  can  surely  state
different organization, as well as  that,  except  for  the  time  I'm
a  different  style.    The  draft  taking to  produce this  JL issue,
lessons, updated  to  the  current  la lojbangirz.  is decidedly  in a
language  with  minimal  stylistic  book-producing mode.
changes, will  still be put out as    The number  of books planned has
a book later this year, because we  increased as  we produce  the  two
can  get  it  done  quickly  and  originally identified.  Here's the
because people have proven able to  current plan:
learn from the book.               
  The rewritten  textbook has been    Textbook -  The  existing  draft
stalled near  the end of Chapter 1  textbook lessons  will be  updated
for over a year - partly from lack  to the  current language and minor
of  time,  more  recently  from  changes put in to reflect specific
reduced priority.  Chapter 1 is an  difficulties that people had with
overview of the entire language, a  an  explanation.    This  revision
big-picture summary  that attempts  will  take  time,  but  isn't  too
to  get  across  the  fundamental  difficult.  Some  added  tutorial
differences  between  Lojban  and materials, dealing with topics not
other languages in hopes that when  covered in  the 6 lessons that are
we turn to a detailed, incremental  important to  new Lojbanists  will
buildup of language skills in suc-  be appended, and the first chapter
ceeding chapters, people will have  of the  new  draft  textbook  will
a framework to build upon.  (It is  serve as an overview at the begin-
rather difficult to properly teach  ning.
about  Lojban  sentence  features    Thereafter, work  will  commence
without  knowing    that   Lojban  on writing  the  'real'  textbook,
sentences      themselves      are  using  some  of  the  ideas  I've
conceptually    unlike    English  learned from teaching the language
sentences.)   It will  take little  since the first draft textbook was
work to  adapt Lesson  1 for  this  started in  1989, as  well as from
new approach,  but I now, finally,  our learning Russian, as described
have some idea how to write Lesson  above.   This writing  may take  a
2 -  which has  been a significant  year or  two, so  that the revised
hindrance on my writing.            draft textbook  is what there will
                                    be until  then. The full textbook
  Book  Plans  -  Last  issue,  I  may run  to 2  volumes - I haven't
expected that we would have one or  yet seen  a  textbook  that  gives
two books  completed by the end of  conversational  fluency    in  a
the  year,  those  books  being  language in even two books.
composed of  updated  versions  of    Lojban, while  simpler than most
already published materials.        languages,  still  has  a  large
  Surprising few people, the books  vocabulary to  learn.  There is a
haven't  yet  happened.      The  minimum amount  of vocabulary that
distractions  of  the  financial  must  be  mastered  to  converse
situation  hurt  both  morale  and  fluently in any language.  We have
concrete    progress.        More  had little  success in  convincing
important, the  documents that  we  people to  get that  head start on
intended to  incorporate into book  the  vocabulary  needed  to  make
form have  lots of  elusive little  textbook learning  flow  smoothly.
inconsistencies which are taking a  The draft lessons averaged 100 new
long time  to resolve and document  words per  lesson, and  people  in
so that  we  don't  introduce  new  the first  class did not do enough
errors as we correct the old.  The  self-study of  this vocabulary  to


                                  36
do limna gi'a bajra
have the  vocabulary keep  up with  text so far into lists (there have
<br />You swim or run.
their  grammar  learning.    The  been over 2000 such lujvo actually
answer  is    smaller,    shorter  used in  Lojban text, which can be
lessons, and  some additional work  added to  some 5000 proposed words
on  vocabulary    teaching    and  that are  on  paper  and  computer
drilling techniques.  But language  disk from earlier Loglan work).  I
textbooks seem  to set a target of  expect that  the  slow  production
around  1000-1200  words  for  a  process will  allow me enough time
typical textbook, and this is only  to put  a non-trivial  sampling of
enough      for      rudimentary  these  into  the  book.      The
communication in  most  languages,  resulting  lists  will  be  less
including Lojban.  Thus  we  will  thoroughly  checked  and  standard
need 2  books to get people to ac-  than the  well-analyzed gismu  and
tive  use  vocabularies  of  2000+  cmavo  lists,  but  the  reference
words, which  is almost  certainly  book is  now looking more like the
the minimum  needed for  any  real  dictionary that people really want
comfort in communicating.          to see.
  Of course  people using LogFlash    It won't  be  the  dictionary  I
can get  to that  2000 word  level  WANT to  produce, but it will have
much more  quickly, and  without a more  to  it  than  most  first
book, since the gismu and cmavo in  dictionaries    of    artificial
LogFlash  3  together  amount  to  languages, and  will  serve  as  a
around 2000  words,  and  most  of  good start.
these    have    some    use    in    I have  been calling  this  book
conversation and writing.          the 'proto-dictionary'.
                                      The proto-dictionary  will  also
  Reference  Book/Dictionary    -  have the  formal grammar  in  both
Originally  the  dictionary  was  YACC and  BNF forms, a glossary of
going to  come after the textbook.  Lojban  and  technical/linguistic
This has  changed.  As  indicated  jargon that  often appears in dis-
last issue, we decided to assemble  cussion of  Lojban, the morphology
the  various    draft  reference  rules, and  other useful reference
materials into  a single  book re-  material.  I plan  to  include  a
placing our  motley collection  of  form  of  the  selma'o  catalog
printed  handouts  and  reference  started by  John Cowan  (described
lists with a single cheaper volume  above).
that is also up-to-date.              A more  complete dictionary will
  Because  we  need  up-to-date  be built  after this  one is done,
references in  order to revise the  but it again will take a couple of
draft textbook,  we  decided  last  years - I've always known this was
year that  this book  was to  come  a big  project for one person, and
first.  It has  turned  out  that  without  funding  for  more  than
producing  it  was  not  a  simple  myself to work on it, it will take
assembly of  old documents because  a lot of time.
bringing  those  documents  into      Nora has  found a purse-sized
consistency  with  the  current  gismu list that I prepared for her
language has  taken a lot of time.  as  an  experiment  to  be  very
However, the  added time  has pro-  useful.      therefore,  we  are
vided insights  that will make the  considering  putting  out  a  tiny
new document  better  than  origi-  pocket  version  of  the  proto-
nally expected.  The revised gismu  dictionary with  word lists  only.
list, for  example, now  typically  If you  think such a book would be
has 2  or more English glosses for  useful enough  for you  to buy  in
each Lojban  word, and the English  addition  to  the  full  proto-
order  list  will  be  much  more  dictionary,  let  us  know  -  the
useful for those looking up words. market  for    this  book  will
We've had  side projects  going on  determine whether  it is  produced
regarding Lojbanization  of names,  in  this  generation  of  Lojban
and are  even starting to assemble  materials,  rather  than  waiting
some of  the lujvo  used in Lojban


                                  37
.i la'edi'u goi ko'a cu na nibli lenu do limna
until there are more Lojbanists to 
<br />The event of the last sentence (ko'a) doesn't logically necessitate (the event of you swimming).
buy it.                               Schedule -  We may  not  be  too
<br />This doesn't necessarily imply that you swim.
                                    good  lately  at  meeting  our
  Grammar  Description  -  John  schedules, being  too dependent on
Cowan's papers,  described  above,  both time  and money  that are not
along with the ones I have written  under our  control, but  having  a
and will write in the future, will  schedule helps  us keep priorities
form the third basic Lojban book.  straight, and  helps you know what
                                    he are doing to bring the language
  Introduction  to  Lojban  -  The to you.
cost to  us  of our  introductory    Here are the current plans:
package is  quite high,  and  only
some 10-20%  of the people who ask              (June 92)
for information  send us  payment.  LogFest 92A
By  assembling  the  introductory  Printed:
package into  a small book, we can    JL16
get  better  postal  rates  for    LK16
mailing it,  as well  as  reducing    Diagrammed  Examples  of  Lojban
our printing  costs.  The savings  Sentences
is only  a few  hundred dollars  a    Tense Paper
year, but  every little bit helps,  Electronic postings to PLS:
and a  lower price might encourage    Diagrammed  Examples  of  Lojban
more to pay.                        Sentences
                                      Tense Paper
  Lojban Phrase  Book - We started    Mex Paper
doing a  phrase book  for  LogFest    lerfu Paper draft
last year,  and a  few dozen pages    Text Structure Paper draft
of materials  have been assembled.    Logical Connectives Paper draft
The  concept  is  similar  to  the    Revised cmavo list
standard  'Berlitz'  phrase-books
for travellers,  recognizing  that            (August 92)
the phrases  a Lojbanist needs are  LogFest 92B - Annual Meeting
not quite the same as those that a  Printed:
traveller  to  a  foreign  country    JL17
would want.                          LK17
                                      Lojban Mini-Lesson
  Lojban Reader  -  We  are  still    Mex Paper
talking about this book, though it    What is  Lojban -  la lojban. mo
will likely be delayed because the      Brochure (Esperanto version)
other books are more important and  Electronic postings to PLS.:
the market  for a  reader is still    lerfu Paper
small.  The amount of Lojban text    Text Structure Paper
that has  been  written  or  tran-    What is  Lojban -  la lojban. mo
slated is  now enormous.  However,      Brochure (Esperanto  version)
checking the translations are slow      - updated
and  inefficient;    even  small    A comparison  of Lojban and 1989
changes in  the language require a      Institute Loglan (Cowan)
rechecking.  We are  also  hoping    Glossary  of  Lojban/linguistic
that more  Lojbanists  will  start      terminology
writing new things in the language
rather  than  translating.   Most            (September 92)
things people  wish  to  translate  Books:
are  covered  by  copyright,  and    Lojban  Reference  Materials/-
tracking down  of  permissions  to      Proto-Dictionary
reproduce    such    translations    Lojban Pocket Dictionary
commercially  is  something  we  Software:
haven't figured  out  how  to  do    Hypercard    LogFlash/Mac    -
efficiently (along  with the  fact      (Revised and New versions)
that we  might  have  to  pay
royalties).                                   (November 92)


                                  38
.i ko'a cu na nibli lenu do bajra
Printed:                                    Using the Language
<br />It doesn't logically necessitate (the event of you running).
  JL18                                             
<br />It also doesn't necessarily imply that you run.
  LK18                                The most  heartening development
  Lojban Learning Materials (Book)  of the  last  several  months  has
Electronic postings to PLS.:        been the  spread  of  regular  and
  Revised Draft Lessons 1-6        active  Lojban  work  to  several
  Negation paper (updated)          people outside  of  the  DC  area.
  Attitudinal Paper (updated)      These people, primarily in contact
  Synopsis of  Lojban Orthography,  with each  other through  the com-
    Phonology,  and  Morphology  puter  networks,  are  doing  a
    (updated)                      variety of  translations and other
                                    writings, games,  and discussions.
            (Dec 92)              The  activities  being  undertaken
Software                            often  rely  on  advanced  Lojban
  Lojban Parser  (PC and some UNIX  skills.  That people  are able to
    versions)                      do   these    activities  without
  Lojban Parser/Glosser            direction  or  instruction  from
  Logflash 2 - rafsi (Revision 7)  those of  us who  did the language
                                    design proves  that  the  language
    Unscheduled But Planned        has now  been defined  well enough
Printed:                            that  it  is  no  longer  totally
  Lojban Textbook                  dependent on  Nora, pc, John Cowan
  Lojban Dictionary                and myself for survival.
  Lojban Reader                      Even  more  significantly,  the
  Lojban Phrase Book                people participating  in these ac-
Printed and Electronic:            tivities come  from a  variety  of
  Lojban gismu Etymologies          language  backgrounds.      Ivan
Software:                          Derzhanski, in Scotland, is native
  Lojban Adventure Game            Bulgarian.    Nick  Nicholas,  in
                                    Australia,  is  native  Greek/Eng-
                                    lish.    Colin Fine, in the UK, of
                                    course uses British English, while
                                    Mark  Shoulson    uses  American
                                    English (though  he does  most  of
                                    his  translating  to  Lojban  from
                                    Hebrew).   A new  Lojbanist, Veijo
                                    Vilva is Finnish.
                                   
                                      Lojban  Conversation  Group  -
                                    Before  Athelstan's  accident  in
                                    February, the  Lojban conversation
                                    group here  in DC passed its first
                                    anniversary  of  regular  weekly
                                    conversation sessions  in  Lojban.
                                    Without Athelstan, we have shifted
                                    to  non-conversation  activities
                                    such as  translations to  and from
                                    Lojban  of  simple  texts,  while
                                    teaching new Lojbanist David Young
                                    enough of the language that he can
                                    comfortably    participate    in
                                    conversation. As described above,
                                    we    expect    to    merge    the
                                    conversation  group  into  a  new
                                    Lojban class  here in  the DC area
                                    that will  swell  our  numbers  of
                                    conversant speakers.
                                   
                                      On the  Net -  Lojban  List  has
                                    remained steady  at  around  60-80


                                  39
mi djica lenu sipna gi'a citka
members, though the last few weeks  post-game commentary, appear in le
<br />I desire (the event of sleeping or eating).
have shown  a new  group of people  lojbo se ciska below.  People par-
<br />I want to sleep or eat.
joining in.  While  most  of  the  ticipating in  the game learn much
subscribers  to  this  list  are  from  trying  to  find  ways  to
'lurkers' in net terminology (they  rephrase what  they receive.  Nick
read  what's  posted  but  seldom  is hoping  to increase  the number
contribute),  the    number  who  of participants in the next round.
contribute  to  discussions  has 
grown to a couple of dozen.          Translations and  other Writings
  The  intensity  of  discussion  -  The  volume  of  Lojban  text,
varies.  Earlier this  year,  the  mostly translations,  continues to
list  was  averaging  a  dozen  grow.  So does  the diversity  of
messages a  day, some  of consid-  translators  and  sources.    Nick
erable  length.    Lately,  things  Nicholas  is  still  by  far  the
have been  quiet, with only one or leading  translator  into  Lojban,
two messages a day.                 with  about  10  new  efforts  of
  The    technical    level    of  length comparable  to that in JL15
discussions has  increased.    In-  since that  issue  was  published.
deed, we've  had a  little problem  Some  of  these  translations  are
in  that  new  subscribers  who  from  Greek,  both  ancient  and
haven't  received  our  materials  modern, some  are from  Esperanto,
tend to  be  a  bit  lost  in  the  and even  a couple  from  English.
details  of  the  fairly  advanced  Nick    has    also    completed
discussions, and  very  little  is  translating  the  text  of  the
posted for  beginning  Lojbanists.  original  'Adventure'    computer
I keep  urging beginners  to  post  game,  known  as  'Colossal  Cave'
questions, but few participate.    (badbarda kevna),  and we  hope to
                                    have a Lojban version of this game
  Phone Game  - The old party game  available by the end of the year.
called variously  "the phone game"    Ivan Derzhanski  has  translated
or "whisper  down  the  line"  has  two stories  from  Bulgarian  into
found a new incarnation in Lojban. Lojban.    One  of  these  will
Originally  started    by    Jack  probably appear in the next issue,
Bennetto,  this  game  is  just  unless we  get  the  final  review
completing  its    3rd  'round'.  done  in  time  for  this  issue's
Lojbanists  are  each  given  a  deadline.      Ivan  has    been
message,  originally  in  English.  complimented  for  his  'natural'
They translate  it into Lojban and  Lojban use  that is  very easy  to
pass it  to the  next person,  who  read.
translates  it  back  to  English,    Mark  Shoulson  has  translated
then the next back to Lojban, etc.  sections  of  Genesis  from  the
until the  message has  gone  full  original Hebrew,  as well  as some
circle.  The  requirement  is  to  traditional Hebrew  songs.  Colin
translate about  two lines  once a  Fine has translated the fairy tale
week, so  the time  commitment  is  "The Princess  and the  Pea",  and
rather small.                      several songs,  including  one  of
  Participants in  the  latest  5-  his  own.      John  Cowan  has
message  round    include    Ivan  translated  a  short  tale  from
Derzhanski, Sylvia  Rutiser,  Mark  Hakka, a  rural  Chinese  dialect.
Shoulson,  Colin  Fine,  and  Nora  Veijo Vilva  and  And  Rosta  have
LeChevalier,  with  Nick  Nicholas  each translated  haiku poetry, and
coordinating things and assembling  Lojbab translated  a  Gilbert  and
the results.                        Sullivan song.  Jamie Bechtel re-
  At the  end of  the  game,  Nick  vised his translation of an Ursula
collects comments from everyone on  Leguin  science  fiction  story,
the  obvious  and  not-so-obvious  which we  will print if we can get
errors  that  creep  into  the  copyright release.  And of course
translations, and  they are posted  the DC group has done a variety of
to  Lojban  List.    Two  sample  translations,  mostly  of  simple
messages from  the 2nd round, with  texts  from  the  19th  century


                                  40
.i do djica lenu sipna ku gi'a citka
schoolbooks  called    "McGuffy's        Research Using Lojban
<br />I desire the event of sleeping, or eat.
Readers".                                           
<br />I either want to sleep, or I eat.
  Michael Helsem  recently sent  a   As we have gained respect in the
new poem  written in Lojban, after  linguistics  community,  a  few
several months of inactivity while  linguists have  offered ideas  for
relocating to  Seattle.  Thus far  how  Lojban  would  be  useful  in
he's  the  only  one  emphasizing  their work.  I'll highlight three
original writing in Lojban.        key contacts.
                                      Alexis Manaster-Ramer  -  Alexis
  Discussions -  Lojban  List  has  is a noted linguist at Wayne State
had  discussions  on  innumerable  University in  Michigan.    He  is
topics, and space is forcing us to  active in a variety of linguistics
leave most  of these  out of  this  arenas, and leads in international
issue.    These  discussions  have  relations  with    the   Russian
been  very  helpful  in  resolving  linguistics  community,  computa-
some of the issues that come up as  tional linguistics, and historical
we clean  up the loose ends in the  linguistics (he  has a forthcoming
language documentation.  Some  of  paper that  will be  the first in-
the discussions  are excerpted  in  depth technical review by American
this issue,  and more  will appear  linguists  of  the  'Nostratic'
in later issues, but we can hardly  theory  of  language  evolution,
start to  include  the  volume  of  which has  been much-discussed  in
material appearing on Lojban List.  the popular press.
                                      Alexis has suggested that Lojban
  Linguist List  - John  Cowan and  may  be  well-suited  for  use  in
Lojbab have  also been  active  in  semantic  analysis  of  differing
"Linguist List",  a  mailing  list  natural languages.  Specifically,
for professional linguists who are  if you  have, for  example, a word
conducting research. Our activity  in Polish,  and a word in English,
has earned  us, and  Lojban,  name  they might  be translated into two
recognition in  this critical com-  separate words in Lojban, but then
munity,  and  we  have  garnered  using some of Lojban's features to
considerable respect  for Lojban's  serve  as  a  metalanguage  for
potential  value  in  linguistics  talking  about  the  relationships
research  (see    research  news  between the  meanings.    He  says
below).                            that    linguists    often    make
                                    nonsensical claims/errors  because
  Conlang -  A third  mailing list  in dealing  with glosses  of words
exists for  people  interested  in  from other  languages, they  often
constructed languages  in  general  forget  that  the  gloss  is  not
as opposed to Lojban or some other  necessarily identical in meaning.
particular language.  Many of the    (He cites  as an  example a  guy
participants are  people inventing  who did  his thesis  demonstrating
their own languages, often for fun  that  English  "if"  was  not  a
or for use in fiction.  Lojbanists  logical  connection  by  examining
contribute  frequently  on  this  how  translations  of  "if"  s
forum, and  we have gained several  sentences into  Tagalog  were  not
new supporters as a result.        logical  connectives  because  the
                                    word used  in  Tagalog  definitely
                                    doesn't  ever  act  like  such  a
                                    connective.    Alexis  notes  that
                                    this  argument  is  silly  -  the
                                    Tagalog word  was not  necessarily
                                    identical  in  meaning  to  the
                                    English word,  even if it WAS used
                                    in translation.  Ideally you want
                                    to never  assume that two words in
                                    different language  map to exactly
                                    the same semantic space.


                                  41
ti berti ta gi'o se snanu ta
  Another  example,  from  Polish  longer term  goal need not even be
<br />This is north of that if-and-only- if be-southed by that.
(which    is    Alexis'   native  dealt with at first.
<br />This is north of that if-and-only- if that is south of it.
language).  'Orange' in its Polish    It  is   interesting  that   an
incarnation is  not as  primary  a  opportunity like  this comes up in
color as  it is  in English.  Even  semantics, the  area where we have
though the archetype orange may be  done the least work in Lojban, and
similar or  identical in  the  two  yet the lack of work done is not a
languages,  the  word  for  the  handicap for  the research  Alexis
concept covers  a narrower band in  has in mind.
Polish,  so  some  things  English    For  the  technically  minded,
calls 'orange'  Alexis sees  as  a  linguist David  Elworthy attempted
flavor of  yellow and  more rarely  to reformulate  my description  in
as  red.      Lojban  has  the  more formal  terms.  In some ways
capability,  independent  of  the  his version  seems more clear than
vaguely defined  Lojban narju,  to  my presentation.  David writes:
add words glinarju and polskrnarju    We  are  considering  lexical
for  the  two  source  language  translation between  two languages
"oranges".      Having  different  lg1 and lg2.  Such a translation
words,  a  Lojban-using  analyst  will    only   rarely    be   an
wouldn't  assume  them  to  be  isomorphism, in the sense that the
identical in  meaning,  and  would  words  (or  whatever)  in  the
perhaps also have the metalanguage  language  will  have  identical
capability  through  adding  BAI  meanings; most of the time we have
places and  the like,  to  clearly  a homomorphism, i.e. in going from
distinguish the  meanings and  the  lg1 to  lg2 we discard some of the
transformations needed  to  relate  meaning and add in some extra bits
the two.  Each word would have an  of meaning.  The  problem is that
archetype and  a range in both hue  linguists and others who work with
and  saturation  -   the  limits  translations forget  that they are
between orange  and other  colors  using a  homomorphism and treat it
being different  in Polish than in  as an isomorphism:  hence the "if"
English.                            in English  and  Tagalog  example.
  Alexis thus  sees in  Lojban the  The picture of what happens at the
basis for  a general  or universal  moment is thus:
semantic theory  after the concept 
that none  other  than  Whorf  had      lg1 -----------------> lg2
(Whorf  apparently  thought  that                 h
gestalt psychology  could serve as 
the  basis  of   an  independent  (using h for the homomorphism).
universal    semantic    theory). 
Lojban's  cultural  independence    The proposal  is to  use a three
(whether neutral  or  not,  it is  stage process:  lg1 to the nearest
relatively  independent  of  other  object (word,  phrase) in  Lojban,
cultures  through  the  need  to  some object  in Lojban to lg2, and
reformulate    and      reanalyze  something to  link the  two Lojban
virtually every  concept for  both  objects, i.e.:
syntactic  and  semantic  place 
structure    values    when    you  lg1 ----> Lojban ----> Lojban ----
translate into  Lojban),  and  its  > lg2
extensibility allow  for a  lot of      h1          h2          h3
power in semantic analysis.       
  While the  goal is  some kind of  such  that  composing  the  three
universal    semantic    analysis  homomorphisms h1,  h2 and h3 gives
capability, just  the  ability  to  you h.
use  Lojban  to  tackle  small    The suggestion is that Lojban is
problems, like the color words, or  a good  tool for  this because  we
Nootka sentence  words or 57 Inuit  can produce objects for the middle
words for snow, would be a boon to  stages which  have a  very precise
linguists doing  their work.  The  meaning  (so  we  get  h1  and  h3
                                    right), and furthermore that these


                                  42
.i ti ta berti gi'o se snanu
meanings can be reduced to members 
<br />This, of that, is north if-and- only-if be-southed.
of a small collection of primitive    Alan Libert - Alan is a linguist
objects joined  with  well-defined  at McGill  University  in  Canada.
connective.  Hence we  should  be  In April he gave a presentation at
able  to  get  h2.    So  we  have  the  International    Linguistics
reduced h to simpler terms, and so  Association meeting  in Washington
we can  get a  more precise under-  DC,  which  I  attended.    Alan's
standing of  the  original  trans-  paper was on the use of artificial
lation.                            languages, especially  those (like
  When I  started to  write this I  Lojban) which  do not  attempt  to
was trying  to work out why I felt  copy the  structures of some other
skeptical about  it, and I think I  language or  group of languages (a
now find  that I am less skeptical  priori languages)  to research  in
than  I  thought!    The  major  language    universals.        He
difficulty is  in h1  and h3.  To  hypothesizes that those who invent
know whether  you have  got  these  languages    will    unconsciously
right, i.e.  found or  constructed  incorporate  true  universals  in
the right Lojban objects, you have  their language  design  even  when
to  make  reference  to  something  they are  trying  to  depart  from
outside  the  languages  involved,  their native language constraints.
and this  might just mean that you    His  initial  efforts,  dealing
have replaced  the need to do this  with the  well-known  analyses  of
once (in  h) with  a need to do it  word  order  in  languages,  were
twice (h1  and h3).  But  perhaps  inconclusive.  However, we  noted
this is really the aim:  to reduce  in discussion  of the  paper  that
one hard  problem  to  two  easier  such  'obvious'    features    of
ones.                              language design are too well-known
                                    and hence  likely  to  be  an
  Ivan notes  further that  Lojban  intentional choice  on the part of
may be  most helpful  where it  is  the  language  inventor.      For
important to forget about cultural  example, the  recently  publicized
concepts  or  about  the  Indo- "Klingon"  language  used  in  the
Europeanish concept  of  parts  of  Star Trek  movies  was  explicitly
speech.  He also  mentions family  invented  to  have  Object  before
relationship words  and tenses  as  Subject  order,  a  rare  feature
fruitful areas of investigation.    found only in a few Amazon-region
  Anyone  interested  in  actively  languages.
keeping abreast  of this  research 
project should  let us  know.  If    International News/Publicity
you have  access to  the  computer                 
nets, this  is helpful, since that    There is  not much news in these
is likely  where  most  discussion  areas that  isn't already  covered
will take  place as  we attempt to  elsewhere.  With active Lojbanists
focus  this  into  a  more  formal  now  scattered  around  the  world
research proposal.    We  will  of  (indeed, while our mailing list is
course keep people generally aware  heavily concentrated  in  the  US,
of how this develops in JL.        the people  actually learning  and
                                    using    the    language    seem
  Ivan  Derzhanski  -  Ivan  is  exceptionally  spread  out),  news
pursuing  his  own  research  in-  about    Lojban      is    often
terests  at  the  University  of  'international'.
Edinburgh.  He plans to use Lojban    In the  publicity arena, we have
significantly  in  his  research.  had  some  useful  international
Among other  activities, Ivan  has  developments.        The    major
written  and  submitted  a  paper  international  Esperanto  monthly
addressing    the    variety    of  Monato  had  a  short  article
modification    strategies    that  mentioning Lojban  and giving  our
languages use in tanru (modifier/- mail and  computer addresses.    A
modificand pairings). He includes  couple of  dozen  have  responded,
some Lojban examples.              almost all  from outside  the  US,


                                  43
ro da jetnu gi'o na jitfa
and  we  hope  to  encourage  this  Given the wide overlap between TLI
<br />All-somethings are true if-and- only-if not false
development into  a further  spurt  supporters  and  readers  of  this
of international Lojban use.        publication and  our computer  net
  The second  development is  Nora  discussions, there may be a reason
and my  eventual trip to Russia as  for this.
part of our adopting a child.  The    JCB    has    been    especially
nature of  that  process  is  such  invisible the last several months.
that we  will not  be able  to  do  Having moved TLI to San Diego when
much lead  planning of  the  trip,  he relocated  there  last  summer,
but I certainly intend to take ad-  JCB has  apparently spent the time
vantage of  our visit  to  promote  since last  November preparing and
Lojban in  that country, noted for  sailing  his  yacht  from  Florida
its diverse  ethnic and linguistic  around to his new home.
heritage.  (I'm hoping  to have a 
Russian translation  of the Lojban    TLI Legal  Appeal Rejected  - As
brochure  and    perhaps    other  reported last  issue, TLI appealed
materials before leaving).          the US Patent and Trademark Office
  There is a good possibility that  ruling in  our favor that 'Loglan'
la lojbangirz.  will lose  its ca-  was  not  a  valid  trademark  for
pability  to  accept  credit  card  TLI's "dictionaries  and grammars"
orders/contributions,  which  we  because it is a generic name for a
started primarily  for the benefit  language  and  not  an  indication
of non-US  supporters.  We are now  that the  source of those products
paying US$15/month  minimum and no  is TLI.  This  ruling, the result
annual  fee;  this  will  rise  in  of a  long dispute  between us and
October  to  US$50  per  year  and  TLI, would  allow us  to use 'Log-
US$25/month minimum.  We  will be  lan' freely  in our  promotion  of
paying more  in fees  most  months  our  materials,  especially  in
than we gain in income from credit  attempting to reach the people who
cards.  Unless  we  find  a  new,  have heard  of Loglan  through the
cheaper  avenue  for  processing  1960 Scientific  American article,
credit cards,  this  service  will  Heinlein's reference  in The  Moon
have to be dropped.  We will still  is a Harsh Mistress and other such
be  able    to  process  non-US  instances  that  predate  or  are
denominated cheques  using  Thomas  otherwise unrelated to TLI and its
Cook, for  a US$3.50  fee.  If you  products.  The legal  battle  was
are  planning  a  credit  card  started  in    1988  after  TLI
contribution, though,  I recommend  threatened legal  action over  our
that you do so before summer ends.  use of  the term 'Loglan' in JL in
                                    ways they did not approve.
    News From the Institute          Oral  arguments  on  the  appeal
                                    were  held  on  7  November  1991,
  The  Loglan  Institute  (TLI)  before three judges of the Circuit
continues to  survive, though this  Court of  Appeals for  the Federal
remains fairly  invisible  on  the  Circuit.  Bill Herbert  of  Staas
forums that  we see.    Since  our  and  Halsey    argued  for    la
last issue,  two  more  issues  of  lojbangirz., while  Wesley Parsons
Lognet  have  appeared.      Each  argued for  TLI.  JCB was present
contains a  short piece  of Loglan  in the  courtroom, as  were Athel-
text, and  discussions of  various  stan and myself.
technical issues.  Lognet seems to    Oral arguments lasted only about
look like  some of  our  early  JL  a half  hour; then a long wait for
issues, only much smaller.          the decision,  which  was  finally
  Most entertaining  is how  users  issued on  28 April.  The decision
of the TLI version are discovering  was clearly  and strongly  in  our
many of  the improvements  we made  favor,    and    makes    further
in creating Lojban 5 years ago, or  likelihood that  our position will
have added  since.  Indeed, almost  be refuted quite remote.  Mr. Par-
every  change  reported  in  TLI  sons has  filed a  request for re-
Loglan was already part of Lojban.  hearing, as is often done, but the


                                  44
ro da jetnu gi'onai jitfa
appeals court  rarely grants  such  through our  attorneys to set up a
<br />All-somethings are true exclusive- or false.
requests.                          mediated discussion of differences
<br />All-somethings are true or false (but not both).
  The Circuit  Court of Appeals is  leading to  a resolution  of those
<br />All-somethings are true if-and- only-if not false.
normally the  court of last resort  differences.  When TLI  seemed to
for    trademark    and    other  show  interest,    we  hurriedly
intellectual property  cases.  The  drafted  a  lengthy  proposal  to
only higher  court is  the  U.  S.  serve as  an  agenda  for  such  a
Supreme  Court,  and  they  take  meeting,    indicating    several
perhaps  one  such  case  every  options  that  could  be  pursued.
several  years;  the  grounds  for  However, TLI  quickly rejected the
such a  Supreme Court  appeal have  proposal/agenda  without  comment,
to    typically    require    some  and indicated  that they  found no
particular controversy, a signifi- basis  for  mutual  discussions.
cant  constitutional  issue,  or Thus, even  though JCB  and I were
disagreement between  lower courts  in the same courtroom in November,
(which cannot  happen in trademark  at his choice no meeting occurred.
cases, since there is now only one                 
appeals court  that handles trade-         le lojbo se ciska
mark issues).  These  grounds are
going to be particularly difficult  Excerpt from the 2nd Round of the
to find in the Loglan decision.  A              Phone Game
Supreme Court  case is  also quite                 
expensive to  file for  such a low    Here is  the first of two sample
chance of  success, and  with this  sentences  from  the  phone  game
appeal decision,  the courts  have  played on the computer nets.  This
started requiring  TLI to pay some  one  communicated    very  well.
of our  costs  in  refuting  their  Commentary  courtesy    of  Nick
appeals.                            Nicholas.
  In  discussing  the  appeal  in 
Lognet,  JCB    made  statements    The original phrase was:
suggesting that  he was  confident    Hot?! Man, it was so hot, if you
of victory  and that it was just a    cracked an  egg on the sidewalk,
matter  of    time  until  this    it'd fry  in ten  seconds  flat!
occurred.  As a  result of  these    Honest!
statements, our attorney has urged 
that  we  publish  the  Appeals    Mark  Shoulson  translated  this
decision in  full so that there is  as:
no question  that TLI's  case  has    xu pu  glare  paunai    .i  leni
little on  which to stand.  We are    glare zo'u  lenu karpo'i da'i lo
doing  so  below,  omitting  only    sovda vi  lo dzuklaji  cu  rinka
legal case citations that wouldn't    lenu ra  bazi binxo  lo se jukpa
mean much except to lawyers (we'll    ba'o lo snidu be li pano sa'e .i
supply a copy of the decision, and    ba'ucu'i
of the  original trademark cancel-   
lation decision  to those  wanting    (Was it  hot?  (This is  not a
these  details,  at  reproduction    question).   For the  amount  of
cost).                                heat, (something)  open-breaking
                                      (suppose) into  an egg  (pieces)
  One  more  settlement  attempt    at a  walk-street causes that it
rejected - While we  continue  to    (the  egg  pieces)  become  a
defend our  right to  use the term    cooked-thing  after  10  seconds
"Loglan"    in    promoting    the    (exactly!).  (Accuracy!))
language,  we  have  continued,
whenever      avenues      present    Mark  justified  not explicitly
themselves,  to    pursue    more  flagging exaggeration by saying:
productive  resolutions  of  our    A little  strange, in  that  the
disputes with TLI.  Discovering on    speaker claims  not  to  be  ex-
short notice  that JCB  was coming    aggerating, but  then that's the
to  Washington  to  attend  the    most    common      form    of
hearing,  we  initiated  contact    exaggeration.   It hardly  seems


                                  45
ko gasnu gi'o se minde
  likely to expect Lojban speakers  snidu ja'e  sequence doesn't  make
<br />(Imperative!) You! do if-and-only- if as-commanded.
  to  be    honest  with  their  much sense  to me.  Well it does,
<br />(Imperative!) You! Do equivalently-to as-commanded.
  attitudinals and lose the power  but  it  circuitous.      What's
<br />Do as you are told, and ONLY as you are told!
  their hyperbole.  Then again, we  happening is: "it's a being-cooked
  can  assume  that  the  sentence  lasting-n-seconds  thing"  which
  really is true, so that's okay.   makes  sense,  sorta,  but  you're
                                    waiting to find out what n is, and
  The main  blunder  is  with  the  instead  of  n  being  the  second
place structure  of porpi:  it has  place    (seljukpa    snidu    li
x1 breaking  into pieces  x2,  not  su'epano), it  shows up  as a ja'e
agent x1  breaking x2  into pieces  place:  "resulting in  the number
x3  (this  is  popygau  or  some  10".  Now this could mean "it's an
variant  of  popri'a).    I  like  n-second cook  ending up  being 10
prenexes too, but I would put leni  seconds" (cf.:  it's a ten-second
glare into  an explicit  BAI place  wait) which  is fine,  but  it  in
(ki'u...).                          fact ends  up as "it's an n-second
  What I  was in  fact looking for  cook resulting in the number ten."
is  the  translation  of  "so  hot  In Lojban,  of course, it's easier
that..." suggested  by Lojbab in a  to deduce  from the  second phrase
past JL:  ".i  glare  seja'e  lenu  that the first was meant.  I would
co'eli'o".  Are we  sure that, if  still, however, regard this use of
the  breaking  of  the  egg  is  ja'e as anomalous, and dangerously
hypothetical,  that  its  effect  vague.
(it's  being  cooked)  is  also    None the  less, the  meaning  is
hypothetical;  ie.  the  Lojban  still  retrievable,  and  there
doesn't necessarily  imply "If you  hasn't  been    any  significant
were to  break the  egg,  it  will  distortion, as in other sentences.
ca'a cook"?  I suppose so.         
  One may  debate  whether  Mark's  [Another phone  game extract  will
translation  was    good  Lojban  be found below.]
(personally, I  think it was).  In 
any case, it was excellent English    Text of the Court of Appeals
:), as Colin's translation shows:                Decision
                                                   
  WAS IT  HOT!  The heat - if you   As stated  above,  this  is  the
  cracked an  egg on  the pavement  text of  the decision  by  the  US
  it  would  be  cooked  in  ten  Circuit Court  of Appeals  for the
  seconds, no more, really!        Federal Circuit in TLI's appeal of
                                    our  successful    petition  for
  (I don't  have  any  comment  to  cancellation of  TLI's  registered
make:  this is  the first almost-  trademark for  'Loglan'.  The text
fully successful  message relay in  is printed  verbatim,  except  for
this game).                        asterisks in brackets substituting
  Sylvia came up with:              for multitudinous  legal citations
                                    that mean  little to  the  average
  .u'e glare .ije da'i lo sovda cu  reader.
  selporpi di'o  le dagysfe seri'a 
  seljukpa snidu  ja'e li  su'e pa              92-1254
  no                                    Cancellation No. 18,026
                                      THE LOGLAN INSTITUTE, INC.,
  ((Wonder!)  Heat.  And (suppose)              Appellant,
  an egg is broken at the locus of                  v.
  the road-surface  causing (that:  THE LOGICAL LANGUAGE GROUP, INC.,
  {lenu} omitted)  (something) is-              Appellee.
  cooked lasting-  -(some)-seconds                 
  result the number at most 10.)        DECIDED:  April 28, 1992
                                                   
  This has  me a bit worried.  The  Before  PLAGER,  Circuit  Judge,
place of  da'i in the sentence can  SKELTON, Senior Circuit Judge, and
be argued  about, but the seljukpa  LOURIE, Circuit Judge.


                                  46
le bloti cu marce gi'u spofu
                                      On May  23, 1989,  the  Language
<br />The boat is a vehicle, whether-or- not broken.
LOURIE, Circuit Judge.              Group  petitioned  the  Board  to
                                    cancel      the      Institute's
  The   Loglan  Institute,  Inc.  registration of  the mark  Loglan,
(Institute),  appeals  the  final  alleging that  Loglan is merely a
decision of  the  Trademark  Trial  contraction of, or generic  name
and  Appeal  Board  (Board)  in  for  a  logical  language.    The
Cancellation No.  18,026 (February  Language group also contended that
4, 1991).  The  Board granted The  the application  for  registration
Logical  Language  Group,  Inc.'s  had been fraudulently made, or, if
(Language  Group)    motion  for  a  trademark  ever  existed  for
summary  judgement,  holding  that  Loglan,  the    mark  had  been
the Institute's  mark, LOGLAN,  is  abandoned.    After  both  parties
generic  and  ordered  the  regis- moved for  summary  judgment,  the
tration cancelled.  We affirm.      Board granted the Language Group's
                                    motion and ordered cancellation on
BACKGROUND                          the  ground  that  Loglan  is  "a
                                    generic designation  identifying a
  In  1955,  Dr.  James  Brown  language rather  than a  trademark
invented  a  "logical  language"  to indicate  the source of goods."
which was  designed  to  test  the  Additionally, the Board found that
theory  that  natural  languages  the  application  had  not   been
limit human  thought. It has been  fraudulently  made  and  that  the
described  by    Dr.  Brown  as  abandonment issue  was moot.  The
"symbolic  logic  made  speakable"  Board  refused  to  consider  the
which  "derives  its  word-stock  affirmative defenses raised by the
impartially from  the  eight  most  Institute, stating  that some were
widely  spoken  natural  languages  not    within    the    Board's
and so  is culturally  and politi-  jurisdiction and  others were  not
cally neutral  as well as suitable  good defenses  against a charge of
for  cross-cultural    linguistic  genericness.  The Institute argues
experimentation."      Dr.  Brown  here  that  the  Board  erred  in
coined the  word "Loglan" (derived  holding that  Loglan was a generic
from    logical    language)    to  term and  in refusing  to consider
designate the  new language.    He  the affirmative defenses.
first used  the term  Loglan in  a 
publication in 1956; several years  DISCUSSION
later,  in  1962,  he  formed  the 
Institute    to    promote    the  A.  Summary Judgment
development and use of Loglan.  On 
August  17,1987,  the  Institute    The  requirements  for  granting
applied for registration of Loglan  summary judgment  in  a  trademark
as a  mark for  "Dictionaries  and  cancellation  proceeding  are  the
Grammars."      The  registration  same as  in any  other case, viz.,
issued on April 12, 1988.          that there  be no genuine issue of
  Apparently  unhappy  with  the  material fact  and the  movant  be
Institute's progress in developing  entitled to  judgment as  a matter
the  language,  a  member  of  the  of  law.  [*].    We  review  the
Institute  left  and  in  November  propriety of  summary judgment  de
1988 founded  the Language  Group.  novo. [*]
In  February  1989,  the  Language    The  parties  agree  that  the
Group  published  a  newsletter  factual    issues      underlying
regarding  the  progress  of  its  genericness    are    undisputed.
logical  language.      In  the  Though genericness itself has been
newsletter,  several  references  categorized as  a question of fact
were made to Loglan, prompting the  [*], the  parties have  each moved
Institute to threaten the Language  for  summary  judgment  on  that
Group    with    a    trademark  question.  The  Board  considered
infringement suit.                  the  lengthy    affidavits    and
                                    numerous  exhibits  each  party


                                  47
le ka prane cu se troci gi'u se kakne
submitted  in  support  of  its  consideration in  a  determination
<br />The quality of perfection is attempted, whether-or-not within-the-ability.
motion, and  concluded that Loglan  of genericness [*].
was generic.  Our review requires    The Institute  concedes that the
us to  determine whether, based on  relevant  public  is  "the  small
the evidence  of record, the Board  group of  persons who have written
was correct  in  that  conclusion.  about the  language or  have  been
After examining  the record, we do  involved in  the invented language
not believe  the  Board  erred  in  research effort  as well  as those
concluding that the Language Group  to whom  the Loglan  language  has
was  entitled  to  judgment  as  a  been or  is being  marketed."  The
matter of law.                      Institute's    definition      of
                                    "relevant  public"  is  consistent
B.  Genericness                    with this  court's reading  of the
                                    term as  encompassing both "actual
  The Lanham  Act provides for the  [and] potential  purchasers of ...
cancellation of a mark which is or  goods or services." [*].  Evidence
has become  the generic  name  for  of  what  the  relevant  public
goods or  services [*].  While  a  understands the  term to  mean may
trademark  registration  has  a  come    from    direct    consumer
presumption  of  validity,  in  a  testimony,  surveys,  dictionary
cancellation    proceeding    that  listings,  newspapers,  and  other
presumption  may  be  rebutted  by  publication [*].  Although in many
evidence from  the  party  seeking  situation a survey is desirable to
cancellation  [*].    Before  the  establish the public's perception,
Board,    the    Language    Group  given  the  limited  size  of  the
presented  numerous  pieces  of relevant group  here, the numerous
evidence to  show that  Loglan  is  examples submitted  by the parties
used generically  to  designate  a  are sufficient  to  determine  how
logical language.                  the relevant  group perceives  the
  The parties  do not dispute that  term Loglan.
if Loglan  is used  generically to    The evidence  indicates the  Dr.
designate  a  language, the  term  Brown himself  has used  the  term
cannot properly be registered as a  Loglan only  in a  generic  sense.
trademark  for  "dictionaries  and  For example, in 1984, Brown stated
grammars" any  more  than  English  to the Institute's membership:
can  be    registered    for    a
dictionary.  That Loglan is not as    I'm insisting  on moving  in the
well  known    as  English    is    right  direction  for  Loglan
immaterial.  Because a language is    whether   this    means  losing
not "goods"  or  "services"  under    control  of  the  institute  I
the Act [*], a name originated for    founded  or  not...    Your  can
a new  language is  inherently not    always write  me  if  you  still
registrable for  the language.  By    want to talk to me about Loglan,
the same  token, a generic name of    or to  help me  in putting it to
a language  alone cannot  function    use.  As  a  private  person  I
as a  trademark to indicate origin    shall always  be available to my
of a  dictionary  describing  that    old    Loglandian    friends...
language.  Thus, our determination    Loglan  may  not  suffer  very
hinges on  whether the  Board  was    much...  Health permitting I'll
correct  in  concluding  that  the    still  write  those  couple  of
term  Loglan  is,  "a  generic    books.  Perhaps with my example
designation    identifying      a    others will too.
language."
  The Institute  argues  that  the  His encouragement  for  others  to
relevant public  does not perceive  write Loglan  books  or  books  in
Loglan as generic, but rather sees  Loglan  negates  the claim  now
it as  indicating a  single source  asserted of  proprietary rights in
of the  language.   The  public's  Loglan.
perception    is    the    primary    Also, the  Institute published a
                                    book, entitled  "Loglan  (1):    A


                                  48
ti vinji nagi'a vofli
Logical Language."    Included  in  understand Loglan  to be a generic
<br />This is-an-airplane Not! or flies.
the 1989 version is the statement  term; this  understanding did  not
<br />This is-an-airplane only-if (it) flies.
                                    arise only  from  actions  of  the
<br />If this is an airplane, then it flies.
  In my  English idiolect,  as  in  Language  Group.    Rather,  the
  Loglan and  French,  words  like  Language  Group  and  the  public
  "loglanist",  "loglandic"  and  merely followed  the generic usage
  "loglandical" are  general terms  of the Institute.
  like  "cat"  and  "dog"  (i.e., 
  common nouns  or adjectives) and  C.  Equitable Defenses
  therefore uncapitalized, whereas 
  words    like    "Loglan"    and    As  part  of  its  answer,  the
  "Loglandia" are  singular  terms  Institute  alleged  various  af-
  (words  with  single  designata,  firmative defenses,  including the
  like "John"  or "Greenland") and  equitable  defenses  of  unclean
  therefore  capitalized.     Both  hands,      estoppel,      fraud,
  Loglan  and  French  are  more  acquiescence,  and  waiver.    The
  fastidious  about  such  logical  Board  found  that  the  unclean
  matters than Standard English.    hands, fraud and estoppel defenses
                                    were based  on allegation of trade
As he stated, Loglan is a name for  secret theft  and infringement and
a language like French or English.  therefore  were  not  within  the
Based on  all this  evidence,  the  jurisdiction  of    the    Board.
Board  had  adequate  basis  to  Further, the Board stated that the
conclude that  both Brown  and the  equitable defense  of acquiescence
Institute adopted  the term Loglan  was not  valid against  the  claim
as the generic name of a language.  that the  mark was  generic.    We
  The Institute argues that no one  affirm.
else has used the term Loglan in a    Application  of  these  defenses
generic  fashion  and  that  by  must be considered in light of the
capitalizing  Loglan    in    its  clear purposes  of  the  Trademark
newsletter,  the  Language  Group  Act that  a registered mark may be
itself treats  the term  in a non- cancelled  at  any  time  on  the
generic  manner.    We  disagree.  ground that it is generic [*], and
Capitalization is the correct form  also  in  light  of  the  Board's
for the  name of a language, e.g.,  discretionary power  to apply  the
English, French,  or  German  [*];  defenses.
this it is compatible with generic    To  support  the  defenses  of
use.    Moreover, the  Language  unclean  hands,  estoppel,  and
Group's  own  logical  language,  fraud, the  Institute pleaded that
"Lojban", is referred to as a type  the  Language  Group  "wrongfully
of Loglan.    The  Language  Group  acquired the  trade secrets of the
refers to  "[Brown's]  version  of  [Institute]..., and  has converted
'Loglan'" and  states that "Lojban  and used  such  trade  secrets  to
is indeed a Loglan."                [Language Group]'s benefit... [and
  In addition  to generic  use  of  that the  Language  Group]  wrong-
the term  Loglan by  the Institute  fully used  the mark  'Loglan'  in
and  the  Language  Group,  others  interstate  commerce...,  thereby
have so  used the  term.  Numerous  infringing  on  [the  Institute's]
letters have  been written  to the  trademark."    As  pleaded,  these
Language  Group  inquiring  about  defenses are essentially claims of
Loglan,  requesting  to  be  main-  trademark infringement  and unfair
tained  on  its  Loglan  mailing  competition premised on the Insti-
lists, and  even  inquiring  about  tute's  assertion  of  trademark
the status  of the Loglan language  rights in  Loglan.  The Institute
being developed  by  the  Language  also alleges  that  after  it de-
Group.    The  fact  that  the  manded  that  the  Language  Group
"consuming public"  would write to  stop using  its "mark," the latter
someone other  than the  Institute  acquiesced and ceased using Loglan
regarding  the  Loglan  language  to designate its logical language.
indicates  that  third  parties


                                  49
mi klama le lalxu nagi'a limna
  The  Lanham  Act  specifically  nection,  and  the  mathematical
<br />I go-to the lake Not!, or swim/am- a-swimmer.
provides  that  "[i]n  all  inter  selbri words.
<br />I go to the lake only if a swimmer.
partes    proceedings    equitable
<br />If I go to the lake, then I'm a swimmer
principles  of  laches,  estoppel,  **********************************
and acquiescence, where applicable  **************
may  be  considered  and  applied"  Examples    of    bridi    logical
[*].  While the  Board must  con-  connection
sider such  defenses, we determine  **********************************
that  it  properly  exercised  its  **************
discretion  in  not  allowing  the  mi dansu gi'e sanga
defenses to  prevail here.  As the  I dance and sing.
Board  stated,  these  defenses  .i lenu  mi dansu  gi'e  sanga  cu
cannot  override  the  controlling    nibli lenu mi dansu
fact that  Loglan is  the  generic  (The event  that I dance and sing)
name for  a language  and that  it    logically  necessitates    (the
cannot therefore  be  a  trademark    event that I dance).
for dictionaries.  The  Board did  My dancing and singing necessarily
not err  in declining to apply the   implies my dancing.
defenses, as  the public  interest  .i lenu  mi dansu  gi'e  sanga  cu
in a  cancellation  proceeding  to    nibli lenu mi sanga
rid the register of a generic mark  (The event  that I dance and sing)
transcends them.  The  Board  may    logically  necessitates    (the
have  erred  in  stating  that  it    event that I sing).
lacked jurisdiction  over the  de- My dancing and singing necessarily
fenses,  but  that  error  was    implies my singing.
harmless under the circumstances.  do limna gi'a bajra
  We, of  course, do  not rule  on  You swim or run.
whether the  Institute may have an  .i la'edi'u  goi ko'a  cu na nibli
action against  the Language Group    lenu do limna
on  any    matters  of    unfair  The event  of  the  last  sentence
competition.    The  record  here    (ko'a)  doesn't  logically  ne-
simply show  that the  term Loglan    cessitate  (the  event  of  you
has never  been a  trademark,  but    swimming).
rather entered  the public  domain  This  doesn't  necessarily  imply
as a generic name from the time of    that you swim.
its inception.                      .i ko'a cu na nibli lenu do bajra
                                    It doesn't  logically  necessitate
CONCLUSION                            (the event of you running).
                                    It also  doesn't necessarily imply
The  decision  of  the  Board  is    that you run.
therefore                          mi djica lenu sipna gi'a citka
                                    I desire (the event of sleeping or
AFFIRMED                              eating).
__________________________________  I want to sleep or eat.
              _____                .i do  djica lenu  sipna  ku  gi'a
                                      citka
    le lojbo se ciska (cont.)      I desire the event of sleeping, or
                                      eat.
  Back  when  I  was  writing  the I either want to sleep, or I eat.
draft textbook  lessons, Nora  was  ti berti ta gi'o se snanu ta
busily inventing  examples for me.  This is north of that if-and-only-
I  never  finished  writing  draft    if be-southed by that.
Lesson 7,  but Nora  had plenty of  This is north of that if-and-only-
examples.      Here  are  those    if that is south of it.
examples, without  the textual ex-  .i ti ta berti gi'o se snanu
planation that was never finished.  This, of  that, is  north  if-and-
As with  most of  Nora's examples,    only-if be-southed.
they stand  quite  well  on  their  ro da jetnu gi'o na jitfa
own, anyway.  The  primary topics  All-somethings  are  true  if-and-
are  abstraction,  logical  con-    only-if not false


                                  50
ti blaci nagi'a ralci .i ti ralci gi'anai blaci
ro da jetnu gi'onai jitfa          mi ba  cuxna le  xunre .a le xekri
<br />This is glass Not!, or delicate. And this is delicate or not: glass.
All-somethings are true exclusive-    .i mi ba na cuxna le xunre .e le
<br />This is glass only-if delicate. And this is delicate if glass.
  or false.                          xekri
All-somethings are  true or  false  I  will  choose  the  red  or  the
  (but not both).                    black.  And I  will not  choose
All-somethings  are  true  if-and-    the red and the black.
  only-if not false.                .iseni'ibo mi  ba cuxna  le  xunre
ko gasnu gi'o se minde                .onai le xekri
(Imperative!) You! do if-and-only-  Therefore-logically I  will choose
  if as-commanded.                    the red exclusive-or the black.
(Imperative!)      You!        Do  Therefore I will choose the red or
  equivalently-to as-commanded.      the black, but not both.
Do as  you are  told, and  ONLY as  mi djica loi ladru .anai loi ckafi
  you are told!                      .i mi  na  nelci  loi  na  ladru
le bloti cu marce gi'u spofu          ckafi
The boat is a vehicle, whether-or-  I want  Milk, or not: Coffee.  And
  not broken.                        I  not:  fond-of  not:  Milky-
le ka  prane cu  se troci  gi'u se    coffee.
  kakne                            I want  milk, if  coffee.  I'm not
The  quality  of  perfection  is    fond  of  things  that  aren't
  attempted,        whether-or-not    milked-coffee.
  within-the-ability.              do ba  viska la  rik. .o la .alis.
ti vinji nagi'a vofli                ni'i lenu  la rik.  ba kansa  la
This is-an-airplane Not! or flies.    .alis.
This is-an-airplane  only-if  (it)  You will  see Rick  if-and-only-if
  flies.                              Alice,  logically-because  (the
If this  is an  airplane, then  it    event  of  Rick  will  be-with
  flies.                              Alice.)
mi klama le lalxu nagi'a limna      You  will  see  Rick  when  Alice,
I go-to the lake Not!, or swim/am-    because Rick will be with Alice.
  a-swimmer.                        la djos.  na.a la  rut.  ba  zvati
I  go  to  the  lake  only  if  a    mu'i lenu ri nelci ra
  swimmer.                          (Joe  Not!  or  Ruth)  will  be
If I  go to  the lake,  then I'm a    present-at,  motivated  by  (the
  swimmer                            event of  the latter  is fond of
ti blaci nagi'a ralci .i ti ralci   the former).
  gi'anai blaci                     Joe,  only-if  Ruth,  will  be
This is glass Not!, or delicate.   present, because  she is fond of
  And this is delicate or not:   him.
  glass.                           If Joe (will be present) then Ruth
This is glass only-if delicate.   will be  present, because she is
  And this is delicate if glass.      fond of him.
do kakne  lenu  cilre  ku  gi'anai 
  troci                            lenu ti  jubme gi'e bunre cu nibli
You are  able  at  (the  event-of-    lenu ti jubme .e lenu ti bunre
  learning) or not: trying.        (The event  of this is-a-table and
You are  able to  learn  if  (you)    is-brown) logically necessitates
  try.                                (the event that this is-a-table)
                                      and (the  event  that  this  is-
**********************************    brown).
  **************                    That this  is a  table  and  brown
Examples    of    sumti    Logical    logically necessitates that this
  Connection                          is a  table  AND  that  this  is
**********************************    brown.
  **************                   
la rik.  .e la  .alis. cu klama le  More examples below.
  cilre nu penmi                                   
Rick and  Alice go-to the learner-
  (event-of-meeting).
Rick and Alice go to class.


                                  51
do kakne lenu cilre ku gi'anai troci
<br />You are able at (the event-of- learning) or not: trying.
<br />You are able to learn if (you) try.


=== Examples of sumti Logical Connection ===


                                  52
la rik. .e la .alis. cu klama le cilre nu penmi
la lojbangirz.'s First Research    91-15 for  innovative research  in
<br />Rick and Alice go-to the learner- (event-of-meeting).
            Proposal              linguistics and  natural  language
<br />Rick and Alice go to class.
                                    processing (NLP).   We propose re-
  Following is  the  text  of  our  search and  development towards  a
first  research    proposal,    a  prototype NLP system based on Loj-
preliminary  project  description  ban,      a      human-speakable,
made  to  the  US  defense  agency  syntactically          unambiguous
DARPA last  August.   DARPA is the  predicate language.
major  funding  organization  for    Lojban's  design  has  numerous
natural language processing within  possibilities for  enormous impact
the US  government.  Our proposal  on  the  processing  of  natural
was rejected  as being unlikely to  languages.      LLG  proposes  a
win  funding  at  this  time;  we  research approach, using Lojban as
obtained  no  other  information.  both  tool  and  target  language,
The  competition  drew  dozens  of  that maximizes  the  applicability
proposals, and  ours was  probably  of our  results to  potential  DOD
weeded out  as being  particularly  applications,  and   advances  the
high risk  or likely  to need  too  state of  the art by making Lojban
much of  the  very  limited  money  available to other NLP efforts.
available  for  'seed  projects'.    Research into  NLP  applications
The project  description  is  very  of Lojban  suits DARPA's  mission,
brief,  in  accordance  with  the  and is the type of research sought
constraints  of  the  Request  for  under this  BAA.  The BAA is well-
Proposal,  but  should  give  some  timed for LLG; we are now ready to
idea of  how we envision approach-  undertake  such  research,  having
ing the use of  Lojban in natural  just completed  the prototype Loj-
language processing.  We welcome,  ban  parser    after  years  of
and  indeed  strongly  encourage,  research.  Meanwhile,  our  novel
comments on  how  we  can  improve  approach  makes  obtaining  tradi-
this proposal,  and also commit to  tional funding  for this next step
support as best we can others that  in Lojban  NLP research difficult.
wish to  submit research proposals  Applying Lojban  to NLP  is beyond
to  DARPA  and  other  funding  the  scope  of  our  current  all-
sources.                            volunteer  effort,  though  such
                                    application has  been a  long-term
Lojban Natural Language Processing  research goal.
                                      LLG is  proud of its efforts to
  PROPOSAL ABSTRACT 19 July 1991    date.  What we  have accomplished
    Submitted to: DARPA/SISTO,      without funding speaks for itself,
    Arlington VA 22203-1714 In      and we've  demonstrated an ability
  Response To: BAA 91-15, by:      to deliver  a product  on  a  very
The Logical Language Group, Inc.  tight  budget.      Several  key
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax, VA 22031-  personnel, including  myself,  are
              1303                experienced  in  military  systems
Technical/Administrative Point  of  development and  familiar with the
Contact: Robert  LeChevalier, 703-  standards and  practices expected.
385-0273                            LLG has  access to  personnel with
                                    NLP    experience    and    with
                      19 July 1991  demonstrated  skill  at  producing
Mr. Charles L. Wayne, DARPA/SISTO  complete, working  systems  within
Virginia Square Plaza              schedule and budget constraints.
3701 N. Fairfax Drive                I will  be managing  the overall
Arlington VA 22203-1714            project and will technically lead
                                    several tasks,  closely monitoring
Subject:  The  Logical  Language  the others.  I  am confident that
Group, Inc., Response to BAA 91-15  the  results  of  this  promising
                                    effort      will      contribute
Dear Mr. Wayne:                    substantially to  the state of the
  The Logical Language Group, Inc.  art    in    natural    language
(LLG) is pleased to respond to BAA  processing.


                                  53
mi ba cuxna le xunre .a le xekri .i mi ba na cuxna le xunre .e le xekri
                Very truly yours,    While being used to develop such
<br />I will choose the red or the black. And I will not choose the red and the black.
    Robert LeChevalier, President  practical NLP  systems, Lojban can
  The Logical Language Group, Inc.  be  viewed    as  a  simplified
                                    linguistic 'model'  of  a  natural
Section 1 - Innovative Claims      language, providing  insights that
                                    will enhance development of other-
  Lojban,  an  artificial  human-  language NLP systems.
speakable  (and  hence  'natural')    LLG's  proposes  proving  our
language  with  an  unambiguous  concept  in  a  relatively  small
syntax based  on predicate  logic,  effort  that  provides  further
has several potential applications  innovative benefits  that  can  be
in  natural  language  processing  applied to other NLP efforts:
(NLP).   No prior attempt has been    1. Lojban's analytical semantics
made to design such a language and  allows LLG  to  research  semantic
apply it  to  NLP.   The  Logical  regularities in word structures of
Language  Group,  Inc. (LLG)  has  a language,  such as  the compound
unique  expertise  in  Lojban's  morphemes of  Chinese (similar  to
design and applications; its corps  Lojban's    compounds),    seeking
of  volunteers    will  multiply  patterns  that  will allow  rapid
efforts by funded researchers.      expansion of  the data  base.  LLG
  LLG  plans  to  research  and  will  investigate  a  variety  of
implement  an  NLP  system  that  texts, and  both English  and non-
processes Lojban,  but which  also  English words  and word-forms,  in
uses Lojban  as a  tool  for  NLP.  building its data base.
Using  a  highly  regular  yet    2.    Because    of    Lojban's
'natural'  language  reduces  the unambiguous  syntax,  a  Lojban
difficulty  of  NLP  processing,  parser is  much simpler and faster
resulting  in  a  faster,  more  than  parsers  for  other  human
accurate NLP system.                languages.   LLG  will produce  a
  Specific  applications  for  a  fast, portable parser for Lojban.
Lojban NLP  system include:  using    3. Lojban's  simple, unambiguous
Lojban  as  an  interface  control  isomorphism  between  spoken  and
medium for  NLP engineers  to more  written forms  make Lojban  speech
easily and  accurately input know-  recognition at  least an  order of
ledge and  dictionary  information  magnitude easier  than  for  other
into an  NLP system;  using Lojban  human languages,  allowing faster,
as  a  systems  requirements  and  higher  accuracy  real  time  pro-
design  language  and  using  NLP  cessing.  LLG  will  implement  a
deduction to detect and query sys-  module  for  its  parser  that
tem design  flaws;  and  partially  converts phoneme  and stress data,
translating mass text from English  derivable from  a  digital  signal
or  other  languages  into  an  processor, into parsed text.
unambiguous  Lojban  interlingua,    4.  LLG  will  prove  its  NLP
using NLP  to intelligently select  concept  in  a  restricted,  much-
text and speech for detailed human  researched application:  designing
analysis.                          and implementing  a  NLP  text-to-
  Using  Lojban  in  such  systems  data-base module  to  serve  as  a
offers the unique  potential  for  front-end for  the dictionary data
the  system  to  understandably  base; in  this case,  however, the
explain  decisions,  interacting  interface module will use the data
with analysts  in  'natural'  lan-  base it interfaces with.  The mod-
guage (not  requiring intermediary  ule will  be expandable, by adding
engineers or programmers) to heur-  a knowledge engine and interactive
istically evolve  better criteria.  heuristics, into the complete con-
Lojban allows  natural  expression  trol interface  for NLP  engineers
in  such    interactions    while  or text analysts described above.
enforcing non-ambiguity in the in-    5. A  Lojban-interlingua machine
put,        simplifying        NLP  translator  modelled  after  the
implementation.                     Netherlands DLT effort would offer
                                    advantages over that system due to


                                  54
.iseni'ibo mi ba cuxna le xunre .onai le xekri
Lojban's unambiguous syntax and implementation     of     speech
<br />Therefore-logically I will choose the red exclusive-or the black.
special      structures       for  recognition of Lojban.
<br />Therefore I will choose the red or the black, but not both.
metalinguistics  and   discursive 
 
comments, tense  and modality, and Task 4  - Parsed-Text-to-Data-Base
mi djica loi ladru .anai loi ckafi .i mi na nelci loi na ladru ckafi
speaker attitude and emotion. LLG NLP
<br />I want Milk, or not: Coffee. And I not: fond-of not: Milky- coffee.
will build   a Lojban-to-English
<br />I want milk, if coffee. I'm not fond of things that aren't milked-coffee.
translator based on its parser,   a)  A  technical  report  will
 
which will ease verification of  document the  design of the  data
do ba viska la rik. .o la .alis. ni'i lenu la rik. ba kansa la .alis.
inputs via the data base interface base interface  module.  LLG will
<br />You will see Rick if-and-only-if Alice, logically-because (the event of Rick will be-with Alice.)
just mentioned.                     discuss problems  encountered, and
<br />You will see Rick when Alice, because Rick will be with Alice.
                                    conclusions    regarding      the
 
Section 2 - Deliverables           practicality of Lojban as an input
la djos. na.a la rut. ba zvati mu'i lenu ri nelci ra
                                    language    for    NLP    control
<br />(Joe Not! or Ruth) will be present-at, motivated by (the event of the latter is fond of the former).
  LLG will produce the following interfaces.    LLG  will  identify
<br />Joe, only-if Ruth, will be present, because she is fond of him.
formal deliverables, subject to  other NLP  systems found  to have
<br />If Joe (will be present) then Ruth will be present, because she is fond of him.
funding   of   the   corresponding commonalties  allowing  a  Lojban
 
tasks.   Implementations of more control interface  processor to be
lenu ti jubme gi'e bunre cu nibli lenu ti jubme .e lenu ti bunre
advanced applications described in integrated  with  those  systems,
<br />(The event of this is-a-table and is-brown) logically necessitates (the event that this is-a-table) and (the event that this is- brown).
Section 1 are options partially thus  reducing  the  effort  of
<br />That this is a table and brown logically necessitates that this is a table AND that this is brown.
dependent on   initial   results. incorporating    Lojban      into
 
Formal   delivery   of   software practical applications.
More examples below.
produced   during   the   research
 
effort is also an option.           Task  5    -    Lojban-to-English
== la lojbangirz.'s First Research Proposal ==
                                    Translator
 
Task 1 - Lojban Dictionary Data
Following is the text of our first research proposal, a preliminary project description made to the US defense agency DARPA last August. DARPA is the major funding organization for natural language processing within the US government. Our proposal was rejected as being unlikely to win funding at this time; we obtained no other information. The competition drew dozens of proposals, and ours was probably weeded out as being particularly high risk or likely to need too much of the very limited money available for 'seed projects'. The project description is very brief, in accordance with the constraints of the Request for Proposal, but should give some idea of how we envision approach- ing the use of Lojban in natural language processing. We welcome, and indeed strongly encourage, comments on how we can improve this proposal, and also commit to support as best we can others that wish to submit research proposals to DARPA and other funding sources.
Base                                 a)  A  technical  report  will
 
                                    document the design of the Lojban-
<pre style="text-align: center">
  a) A Lojban dictionary data base to-English translator.  LLG  will
Lojban Natural Language Processing
will contain all root concepts and describe  conventions  used,  and
PROPOSAL ABSTRACT 19 July 1991
selected supplementary data sets identify prospects  for  producing
Submitted to: DARPA/SISTO,
supporting     specific       NLP refined English translations as an
Arlington VA 22203-1714 In
applications.                       enhancement.
Response To: BAA 91-15, by:
  b) A   technical report   will
The Logical Language Group, Inc.
describe the dictionary data base
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax, VA 22031- 1303
design, and the nature of the
Technical/Administrative Point of Contact: Robert LeChevalier, 703-385-0273
concepts included.     LLG   will
</pre>
report on patterns found in the
 
analysis that provide insight into
<pre style="text-align: right">
the process   of NLP,   or that
19 July 1991
suggest methods of accelerating or
</pre>
automating   the   building   of
 
dictionaries.
Mr. Charles L. Wayne, DARPA/SISTO
<br />Virginia Square Plaza
<br />3701 N. Fairfax Drive
<br />Arlington VA 22203-1714
 
Subject: The Logical Language Group, Inc., Response to BAA 91-15
 
Dear Mr. Wayne:
 
The Logical Language Group, Inc. (LLG) is pleased to respond to BAA 91-15 for innovative research in linguistics and natural language processing (NLP). We propose research and development towards a prototype NLP system based on Lojban, a human-speakable, syntactically unambiguous predicate language.
 
Lojban's design has numerous possibilities for enormous impact on the processing of natural languages. LLG proposes a research approach, using Lojban as both tool and target language, that maximizes the applicability of our results to potential DOD applications, and advances the state of the art by making Lojban available to other NLP efforts.
 
Research into NLP applications of Lojban suits DARPA's mission, and is the type of research sought under this BAA. The BAA is well-timed for LLG; we are now ready to undertake such research, having just completed the prototype Lojban parser after years of research. Meanwhile, our novel approach makes obtaining traditional funding for this next step in Lojban NLP research difficult. Applying Lojban to NLP is beyond the scope of our current all-volunteer effort, though such application has been a long-term research goal.
 
LLG is proud of its efforts to date. What we have accomplished without funding speaks for itself, and we've demonstrated an ability to deliver a product on a very tight budget. Several key personnel, including myself, are experienced in military systems development and familiar with the standards and practices expected. LLG has access to personnel with NLP experience and with demonstrated skill at producing complete, working systems within schedule and budget constraints.
 
I will be managing the overall project and will technically lead several tasks, closely monitoring the others. I am confident that the results of this promising effort will contribute substantially to the state of the art in natural language processing.
 
<pre style="text-align: right">
Very truly yours,
Robert LeChevalier, President
The Logical Language Group, Inc.
</pre>
 
=== Section 1 - Innovative Claims ===
 
Lojban, an artificial human-speakable (and hence 'natural') language with an unambiguous syntax based on predicate logic, has several potential applications in natural language processing (NLP). No prior attempt has been made to design such a language and apply it to NLP. The Logical Language Group, Inc. (LLG) has unique expertise in Lojban's design and applications; its corps of volunteers will multiply efforts by funded researchers.
 
LLG plans to research and implement an NLP system that processes Lojban, but which also uses Lojban as a tool for NLP. Using a highly regular yet 'natural' language reduces the difficulty of NLP processing, resulting in a faster, more accurate NLP system.
 
Specific applications for a Lojban NLP system include: using Lojban as an interface control medium for NLP engineers to more easily and accurately input knowledge and dictionary information into an NLP system; using Lojban as a systems requirements and design language and using NLP deduction to detect and query system design flaws; and partially translating mass text from English or other languages into an unambiguous Lojban interlingua, using NLP to intelligently select text and speech for detailed human analysis.
 
Using Lojban in such systems offers the unique potential for the system to understandably explain decisions, interacting with analysts in 'natural' language (not requiring intermediary engineers or programmers) to heuristically evolve better criteria. Lojban allows natural expression in such interactions while enforcing non-ambiguity in the input, simplifying NLP implementation.
 
While being used to develop such practical NLP systems, Lojban can be viewed as a simplified linguistic 'model' of a natural language, providing insights that will enhance development of other-language NLP systems.
 
LLG's proposes proving our concept in a relatively small effort that provides further innovative benefits that can be applied to other NLP efforts:
 
# Lojban's analytical semantics allows LLG to research semantic regularities in word structures of a language, such as the compound morphemes of Chinese (similar to Lojban's compounds), seeking patterns that will allow rapid expansion of the data base. LLG will investigate a variety of texts, and both English and non-English words and word-forms, in building its data base.
# Because of Lojban's unambiguous syntax, a Lojban parser is much simpler and faster than parsers for other human languages. LLG will produce a fast, portable parser for Lojban.
# Lojban's simple, unambiguous isomorphism between spoken and written forms make Lojban speech recognition at least an order of magnitude easier than for other human languages, allowing faster, higher accuracy real time processing. LLG will implement a module for its parser that converts phoneme and stress data, derivable from a digital signal processor, into parsed text.
# LLG will prove its NLP concept in a restricted, much-researched application: designing and implementing a NLP text-to-data-base module to serve as a front-end for the dictionary data base; in this case, however, the interface module will use the data base it interfaces with. The module will be expandable, by adding a knowledge engine and interactive heuristics, into the complete control interface for NLP engineers or text analysts described above.
# A Lojban-interlingua machine translator modelled after the Netherlands DLT effort would offer advantages over that system due to Lojban's unambiguous syntax and special structures for metalinguistics and discursive comments, tense and modality, and speaker attitude and emotion. LLG will build a Lojban-to-English translator based on its parser, which will ease verification of inputs via the data base interface just mentioned.
 
=== Section 2 - Deliverables ===
 
LLG will produce the following formal deliverables, subject to funding of the corresponding tasks. Implementations of more advanced applications described in Section 1 are options partially dependent on initial results. Formal delivery of software produced during the research effort is also an option.
 
Task 1 - Lojban Dictionary Data Base
 
a) A Lojban dictionary data base will contain all root concepts and selected supplementary data sets supporting specific NLP applications.
 
b) A technical report will describe the dictionary data base design, and the nature of the concepts included. LLG will report on patterns found in the analysis that provide insight into the process of NLP, or that suggest methods of accelerating or automating the building of dictionaries.


Task 2 - Lojban Parser
Task 2 - Lojban Parser


  a) A   technical report   will
a) A technical report will document the design of the Lojban parser, and the formal grammar of Lojban as implemented therein.
document the design of the Lojban
 
parser, and the formal grammar of
Task 3 - Lojban Speech-Recognition Stub
Lojban as implemented therein.
 
a) A technical report will document the design of a Lojban speech recognition stub for the Lojban parser, and the Lojban morphology algorithm. LLG will report on analysis of identified issues that affect the practical implementation of speech recognition of Lojban.


Task 3 - Lojban Speech-Recognition
Task 4 - Parsed-Text-to-Data-Base NLP
Stub


  a) A   technical report   will
a) A technical report will document the design of the data base interface module. LLG will discuss problems encountered, and conclusions regarding the practicality of Lojban as an input language for NLP control interfaces. LLG will identify other NLP systems found to have commonalties allowing a Lojban control interface processor to be integrated with those systems, thus reducing the effort of incorporating Lojban into practical applications.
document the design of a  Lojban
speech recognition  stub  for  the
Lojban  parser,   and the Lojban
morphology algorithm.   LLG will
report on  analysis of identified
issues that  affect the  practical


                                  55
Task 5 - Lojban-to-English Translator
Task 6 - Final Technical Report     - *Task 2  technical report  -  10
 
                                      MAC
a) A technical report will document the design of the Lojban-to-English translator. LLG will describe conventions used, and identify prospects for producing refined English translations as an enhancement.
  a) A   technical report   will
 
summarize the research completed Task 3 - Start - 9 MAC
Task 6 - Final Technical Report
as an integrated effort. LLG will - Lojban morphology algorithm - 10
 
report conclusions regarding the   MAC
a) A technical report will summarize the research completed as an integrated effort. LLG will report conclusions regarding the practicality of Lojban's use in NLP of other languages as well as the capability for NLP of Lojban text, and suggest options for further research.
practicality of Lojban's use in - Implementation    of    speech
 
NLP of other languages as well as   recognition front-end  stub - 12
Task 7 - Cost and Management Reports
the capability for NLP of Lojban   MAC
 
text, and   suggest options for - Front-end stub high-level design
a) Formal progress reports will be submitted every 2 months.
further research.                     document - 13 MAC
 
                                    - *Task 3  technical report  -  14
b) Formal cost reports will be submitted every 2 months.
Task 7   - Cost and Management   MAC
 
Reports                            
=== Section 3 - Schedule and Milestones ===
                                    Task 4 - Start - 4 MAC
 
  a) Formal progress reports will - Implementation  of  data  base
Deliverables are marked with an asterisk.
be submitted every 2 months.         interface NLP processor - 16 MAC
 
  b) Formal cost reports will be - Data base  interface  high-level
Task 1 - Start - 0 Months after start of contract (MAC)
submitted every 2 months.             design document - 17 MAC
* Preliminary data base design - 1 MAC
                                    - *Task 4  technical report  -  18
* 1337 Lojban root predicates in data base - 4 MAC
Section   3   -   Schedule   and   MAC
* 4000 commonly used predicates in data base - 14 MAC
Milestones                        
* 1000 new predicates from American newspaper text - 16 MAC
                                    Task 5 - Start - 12 MAC
* 1000 new predicates from foreign English-language newspaper text - 18 MAC
  Deliverables are marked with an - Lojban-to-English  translator  -
* 1000 new predicates from selected Chinese or other-language text - 22 MAC
asterisk.                             22 MAC
* *Task 1 technical report: Preliminary - 15 MAC, Final - 23 MAC
                                    - Translator  users  manual  and
* *Data base delivery - 24 MAC
Task 1 - Start - 0 Months after   high-level design  document - 23
start of contract (MAC)               MAC
- Preliminary data base design - 1 - *Task 5  technical report  -  24
  MAC                                MAC
- 1337 Lojban root predicates in
  data base - 4 MAC                 Task 6
- 4000 commonly used predicates in - *Final technical report - 24 MAC
  data base - 14 MAC              
- 1000   new   predicates   from
  American newspaper text - 16 MAC
- 1000 new predicates from foreign
  English-language newspaper text
  - 18 MAC
- 1000   new   predicates   from
  selected Chinese or other-lan-
  guage text - 22 MAC
- *Task   1   technical   report:
  Preliminary - 15 MAC, Final - 23
  MAC
- *Data base delivery - 24 MAC


Task 2 - Start - 0 MAC
Task 2 - Start - 0 MAC
- Enhancement of existing parser
* Enhancement of existing parser for error reporting - 2 MAC
  for error reporting - 2 MAC
* Enhancement of speed of parser - 4 MAC
- Enhancement of speed of parser -
* Enhanced output reporting for parser - 6 MAC
  4 MAC
* Investigation of error-detection/correction techniques for parser - 8 MAC
- Enhanced output reporting for
* Parser user's manual and high-level design document - 9 MAC
  parser - 6 MAC
* *Task 2 technical report - 10 MAC
- Investigation     of     error-
 
  detection/correction techniques
Task 3 - Start - 9 MAC
  for parser - 8 MAC
* Lojban morphology algorithm - 10 MAC
- Parser user's manual and high-
* Implementation of speech recognition front-end stub - 12 MAC
  level design document - 9 MAC
* Front-end stub high-level design document - 13 MAC
* *Task 3 technical report - 14 MAC
 
Task 4 - Start - 4 MAC
* Implementation of data base interface NLP processor - 16 MAC
* Data base interface high-level design document - 17 MAC
* *Task 4 technical report - 18 MAC
 
Task 5 - Start - 12 MAC
* Lojban-to-English translator - 22 MAC
* Translator users manual and high-level design document - 23 MAC
* *Task 5 technical report - 24 MAC
 
Task 6
* *Final technical report - 24 MAC
 
Task 7
* Weekly or bi-weekly informal reports will be prepared, as desired by the contracting organization.
* *Progress reports - 2 MAC, 4 MAC, 6 MAC, 8 MAC, 10 MAC, 12 MAC, 14 MAC, 16 MAC, 18 MAC, 20 MAC, 22 MAC, 24 MAC
* *Cost reports - 2 MAC, 4 MAC, 6 MAC, 8 MAC, 10 MAC, 12 MAC, 14 MAC, 16 MAC, 18 MAC, 20 MAC, 22 MAC, 24 MAC
 
LLG also plans to publish articles regarding its work in technical journals to enhance Lojban's credibility as a language, a research tool, and a tool for NLP, and to validate LLG's NLP approach with other researchers. Articles warranted by project accomplishments will be incorporated in the schedule so as not to interfere with project milestones.
 
=== Section 4 - Proprietary Claims ===
 
No proprietary claims are expected to interfere in the use of results of this research. However, specific known claims that might affect such applications indirectly are identified herein.
 
A founding principle of The Logical Language Group, Inc. is that all Lojban language design information that it produces is placed directly in the public domain. This principle has motivated our volunteer force and is vital to our integrity as an organization. For this effort, language design information includes the dictionary data, as opposed to the actual dictionary data base produced in Task 1, the Lojban morphology algorithm produced for Task 3, and any modified version of the Lojban formal grammar produced in support of any task. This claim should not affect the ability to use the results of this research, and indeed guarantees that potential use of Lojban will not be impeded by any proprietary claims on language design information.
 
Archives, working documents, and software produced by The Logical Language Group, Inc., or its volunteers, and publications of The Logical Language Group, Inc., not released into the public domain, and not produced directly on time charged to the Government, and including all such documents and software started prior to the start of funded tasking, are the property of The Logical Language Group, Inc., or the individual or collective authors. Since this claim does not cover language design information, no effect on use of the results of this research is anticipated.
 
Rights in certain prolegomena of the current Lojban language are generally held as copyrights on published and unpublished material. Such materials, sometimes associated with the names 'Loglan', and/or 'The Loglan Project', are owned by Dr. James Cooke Brown, by The Loglan Institute, Inc., by The Logical Language Group, Inc., by Linker Systems, Inc., or possibly by other parties unnamed or unknown. Lojban is a version of the Loglan language invented as part of the Loglan Project by Dr. Brown and others, including all key personnel on this project. None of these materials should be necessary for use of the results of this research, but LLG acknowledges the owners' rights.
 
The Logical Language Group, Inc. intends itself to use the results of this research, reserving the right to produce, distribute, and/or sell to the public, derivative works based on any of the tasks performed as part of this project. These derivative works will incorporate LLG's specialized experience with Lojban. Rights to those works will be owned by LLG and/or the authors of those works. This claim should not affect the ability of others to use the results of this research.
 
=== Section 5 - Technical Rationale ===
 
Two points regarding LLG's approach to NLP must be emphasized: Uniqueness - Among artificial languages, Loglan is unique in being designed principally as a tool of research in linguistics. The Lojban reimplementation has incorporated recent gains in comparative linguistics, and NLP research. Professionalism - The Lojban effort led by LLG, though staffed by volunteers, differs from other artificial language efforts in its professional approach, and in having linguists, computer scientists, and systems engineers as leaders.
 
The approach described in Section 1 takes advantage of our resources, builds on recent accomplishments in Lojban development, and moves directly to show Lojban's relevance and viability for NLP. The following addresses the five implementation tasks identified in that section.
 
1. Dictionary Data Base Development and Related Research - The first step in the research effort is development of a Lojban dictionary data base. A language dictionary is vital to study and use of that language by non-native speakers - and Lojban obviously lacks native speakers. Thus, for this and other Lojban-related efforts, LLG needs to develop a high quality dictionary. Our approach develops this dictionary in the form of a data base suitable to NLP activities, later adding modules to interface with this system.
 
Thousands of words have been generated during the Loglan project. This data must be filtered and often modified for use; definitions must be specific and conform to Lojban's predicate structure, and distinctions relevant to NLP must be codified. Unlike preparing a data base for a natural language, such work is language prescription and not description; it drives usage instead of following it as the rules of a computer language drive that language's use. Consistent filtering by experts in the language will lead to an extensive, semantically regular vocabulary, incorporated in the NLP data base.
 
As part of this review process, LLG expects to discover semantic patterns in both Lojban words and the source-language words that represent the Lojban concepts. In addition, while building the dictionary data base, LLG will analyze texts particularly relevant to DARPA's mission. LLG will extract concepts from those texts, expressing them as new Lojban words, while identifying additional semantic patterns. Texts will include scientific and technical texts, American and foreign English-language newspaper text, and vocabulary from foreign language dictionaries or text. LLG plans to emphasize Chinese vocabulary, from which we expect to find particularly interesting semantic patterns. LLG will also use volunteer linguists to study additional texts in Russian, Spanish, German, French, and/or Arabic. LLG seeks limited funding to support particularly promising studies by such linguists.
 
2. Lojban Parser Enhancement - After fifteen years of volunteer efforts at formalizing Loglan/- Lojban grammar, LLG recently completed a parser for the complete Lojban grammar, based on a YACC LALR(1) formal grammar specification. This formal grammar is the first complete specification of the grammar of any human-speakable language. Extensive testing has found no limits to Lojban's expressive ability over the total range of human linguistic activity.
 
The completed parser is a prototype. LLG must refine it, checking Lojban text against the formal grammar, performing basic error detection, correction, and reporting, and passing completely analyzed text structures to application software. The parser must be optimized for speed. Previous experience suggests that current processing times (1 minute for a 4K-byte text with a 386/25MHz) can be easily reduced by a factor of 4.
 
3. Lojban Speech Recognition Parser Module - Lojban is audiovisually isomorphic, allowing phonemes and stress from a speech stream to resolve into a unique string of words. This design was specifically intended to ease speech recognition (SR) processing. Application of this design to SR requires specialized equipment, and is not part of the initial effort. However, implementing a front-end to the parser that turns phoneme and stress data into unambiguous parsed text will both verify Lojban's design and justify later efforts to implement a Lojban SR system.
 
4. Lojban Data Base Interface/- NLP Prototype - Processing Lojban text through NLP is a useful research end in itself; LLG has determined that certain applications described in Section 1 offer pragmatic benefits. Meanwhile, the Lojban NLP system, by avoiding the ambiguities of naturally-evolved human languages, will offer insights that aid in bypassing the difficulties of processing those ambiguities.
 
LLG will capitalize on Lojban's unambiguous predicate grammar and its similarities to PROLOG, to establish Lojban as a control language usable in NLP systems for efficient entry and analysis of data. This activity is a miniature of the NLP problem as a whole, and a highly regular one. Users are aware of system limitations and skilled at expressing concepts in restricted computer languages, and are thus likely to avoid usages that make NLP difficult.
 
LLG expects to show that Lojban is itself suitable for internal processing of NLP data, reducing the front-end processing of Lojban inputs to a minimum. LLG will study NLP systems based on predicate computer languages to determine if this approach is viable. LLG will incorporate results of this study in its NLP effort.
 
Developing an NLP interface module supporting the Lojban dictionary data base ties the entire research effort together, simultaneously:
 
* implementing and demonstrating NLP of that restricted subset of Lojban that is useful to such dictionary input;
* demonstrating an application where Lojban is useful as an input language for use by NLP processors;
* enabling more rapid input and analysis of dictionary data, including automated techniques identified by LLG based on its analyses.
 
Aspects of Lojban minimize the use of idiom and other difficult expressions in the language, and help clarify queries to the user when difficult expression occurs. Lojban's distinct metalinguistic and discursive forms, analytical tense and modality, and expressions of speaker attitudes toward the discourse, all help make Lojban a clear, concise means of expressing data for NLP use.
 
The data base interface module, while modeled on similar prior work, is the most ambitious task in the research program. LLG plans to work for maximum functionality of this processor, but to monitor the scope of the effort, deferring aspects for later efforts rather than risk not completing other portions of the research effort.
 
5. Lojban-to-English Translation Module - A Lojban-to-rough-English translator is less risky to develop. A translator developed for an earlier version of Loglan produced understandable results, but was not based on a full-language parser. The translation module will be well-integrated into the total research effort, being used to check data base interface module processing and to verify Lojban text used to input dictionary data. It will use the dictionary data base itself, easing verification of that data, and provide a window into the system for those not skilled in Lojban. LLG will investigate techniques to improve translation quality, and research whether this translator could serve as the basis of a machine translation system similar to the Netherlands DLT project based on Esperanto.
 
=== Section 6 - Previous Accomplishments ===
 
The Logical Language Group was founded in 1987 to develop what it calls "Lojban - A Realization of Loglan". LLG incorporated in November, 1989, and was approved by the IRS in 1990 as a non-profit educational/scientific organization tax-exempt under I. R. C. 501(c)(3). Prior to that time, other versions of the language called 'Loglan' were produced in an evolutionary effort led by Dr. James Cooke Brown. Brown first conceived of Loglan and started work on the language as early as 1955. The original purpose of Loglan was as a test vehicle for linguistics research, especially into the concept known as the 'Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis'.
 
Early work in the language was devoted to word-making and developing the morphology and predicate structure of the language. The best-known prolegomenon of the language, written by Brown, was published in the June, 1960 Scientific American. From 1962-64, research was funded under an NIMH linguistics grant to produce a Loglan dictionary and teaching materials. Brown published early editions of these materials from 1965-69. Almost all work on Loglan and Lojban since 1964 has been performed by volunteers; progress has been correspondingly slow.
 
The Loglan Institute (TLI) incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1974; it published a printed dictionary and language description in 1975.
 
Most of the early work on the language was done without computers, although Brown developed the first dictionaries using punched-card sorting techniques. Brown 'verified' his language grammar as 'unambiguous' using manual techniques developed by linguists. In the 1970s, computer science caught up with Loglan, and people started to see its potential for use in NLP. Funding for NLP research couldn't be arranged, but the prospect has inspired volunteers from the computer sciences since then.
 
In 1976-77, Sheldon Linker first proposed using the Bell Labs program 'YACC' to develop an LALR(1) formal grammar of the language, thus formally verified to be unambiguous. Work by Linker and later by others proceeded slowly, as much of the language grammar was reinvented from 1976- 81. Finally, a complete trial corpus of sentences was accurately parsed.
 
In 1981, Nora Tansky LeChevalier developed a Loglan random sentence generator and a Loglan-to-English translator for a subset of the Loglan grammar. The translator used the full 4000-word dictionary. Despite primitive equipment, the translator produced understandable English.
 
From 1981 through 1984, the Loglan grammar and vocabulary continued to evolve. After a political dispute within TLI, though, most volunteers became inactive; little progress occurred from 1984-86. Bob LeChevalier then set about revitalizing the community. This proved to require setting up a community of volunteers separate from TLI; this community became LLG.
 
In creating Lojban, LLG analyzed and rebuilt the entire vocabulary of Loglan, and redeveloped the formal YACC grammar. These efforts went much faster than original efforts due to intense volunteer work, better management of volunteers, and better knowledge of the language. LLG baselined the Lojban root vocabulary in 1988, and the YACC grammar in August 1990, and just re-baselined the grammar in June 1991, while documenting other aspects of the language, and training the first speakers of Lojban. The community interested in Lojban now exceeds 800, and includes many AI and NLP researchers, several dozen supporters outside the U.S., and dozens of active language students. LLG supports a quarterly journal, a newsletter, an Internet-based mailing list, local study groups, an annual gathering, and weekly conversation sessions at its primary office.
 
=== Section 7 - Key Personnel ===
 
All technical personnel on this project will work under consulting agreements with LLG, either directly or as employees of Linker Systems, Inc. (LSI). LLG is capable of staffing several additional positions with highly qualified programmers, linguists, and engineers, many of whom have experience in AI and NLP applications. The key people listed below are the core team that will lead efforts based on their knowledge and understanding of both Lojban and our research approach.
 
Robert LeChevalier, President and Director, LLG - 60% time during year 1 and 50% during year 2. He will work on project management (Task 7), expertise in Lojban, dictionary data base work for Task 1, documentation and technical reports for all tasks (Task 6), and task leadership for Task 1, 6, and 7. Mr. LeChevalier also will manage a large corps of volunteers who will contribute to the dictionary data base work at no cost to the Government. Mr. LeChevalier's unfunded time will be as a volunteer worker for LLG doing work not covered under funded tasks. This work includes editing and publishing the journal and newsletter and writing a Lojban textbook.
 
Athelstan, Director, LLG - 100% over the life of the project, working primarily on the dictionary data base (Task 1), and providing expertise in Lojban for volunteer workers.
 
Jeffrey Taylor, Voting Member, LLG - 100% over the life of the project, subject to funding of Tasks 2, 3, 4, and 5. Less than 25% participation in the 2nd year if Tasks 4 and 5 are not funded. Mr. Taylor will lead the effort for Tasks 2 and 3 and 5. Either he or Sheldon Linker of LSI will lead Task 4.
 
Sheldon Linker, Vice President, LSI - Up to 100% during Tasks 4 and 5. Mr. Linker will share leadership of Task 4, and consult in overall system design and data base design.
 
John Parks-Clifford, Vice President and Director, LLG - intermittent up to 30% working on all tasks over the life of the project, primarily as a linguistics and NLP consultant and expert on Lojban, but also leading production of technical papers. Dr. Parks-Clifford is an Associate Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
 
=== Section 8 - Qualifications of Key Personnel ===
 
Robert LeChevalier, President and Director, LLG - Mr. LeChevalier has worked on the Loglan project since 1980, and very actively since early 1986. He led the rebirth of Loglan as Lojban in 1987, and co-founded LLG. He has led all tasks associated with the redevelopment of the language, and is the most skilled speaker and writer of Lojban. He has been working full-time on Lojban since May 1988.
 
Mr. LeChevalier was a programmer from 1974-81, then a systems engineer and systems requirements analyst from 1981 to the present. Mr. LeChevalier worked for Syscon Corp. from 1975-84, and SDC/Unisys Corp. from 1984-88. He worked on Navy systems development and design, and finally as SETA engineer leading tasks supporting the Air Force on the GLCM program until the program ended. He is expert in systems documentation, complex systems requirements analysis, operator-machine interface, configuration management, and quality assurance. He has a BS in Astrophysics, and is knowledgeable in comparative linguistics.
 
Mr. LeChevalier also will work on unfunded Lojban activities, and may seek additional grants or contracts. No proposals are pending or specifically planned.
 
Athelstan, Director, LLG - Athelstan has worked on Lojban since 1988, specializing in lexicon development, teaching, and translation. He is knowledgeable in comparative linguistics, and is a translator of Ancient Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse. He is working on degrees in Mathematics and Linguistics.
 
Jeffrey Taylor, Voting Member, LLG - Mr. Taylor has worked on Loglan since 1982, and is a co-founder of LLG. His Masters thesis included developing an SLR1 parser for Loglan. He served on the Loglan 'Word-Makers Council' in 1986-87, becoming skilled in the lexicon. In 1988-89 he helped redevelop the Lojban formal grammar and wrote a preliminary parser as a test vehicle for that grammar. In 1989, he wrote a preliminary dictionary of the Lojban structure word lexicon.
 
Mr. Taylor has 17 years experience in programming, specializing in compiler and parser development and later in task and project management, and including extensive work in developing military systems. He has an BSEE and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of California, Davis.
 
Sheldon Linker, Vice President, LSI - Mr. Linker has worked on Loglan since 1975. He led initial efforts to develop a YACC grammar for Loglan from 1975-80, and has been less active in Loglan and Lojban since then. He has 20 years experience as a programmer and software developer, including NLP experience. If his time is not fully funded, Mr. Linker will be employed by LSI on efforts unrelated to this effort.
 
John Parks-Clifford, Vice President and Director, LLG - Dr. Parks-Clifford has worked on Loglan since 1975. He edited the Loglan journal 'The Loglanist' from 1975-84, and was President of the Loglan Institute, Inc., from 1982-84. He is generally acknowledged as second only to founder J. C. Brown in expertise on earlier versions of Loglan, with several man-years total volunteer effort. He was co-founder of LLG, and consultant on all aspects of the language redesign. His degrees include BA Philosophy, MA Linguistics from UCLA, with field work in India, and a PhD Philosophy from UCLA. He worked directly in NLP with Rand Corp. in the 1960s, and now works in tense logic and logic education. Dr. Parks-Clifford is an Associate Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
 
== le lojbo se ciska (cont.) ==
 
In keeping with the above proposal, here is a demonstration of Lojban's potential in the computer processing field. Some of the technical details will be of interest only to computer programmers and logicians, but the Lojban in the following is a human language, not a computer language.
 
But it also happens that, as cited in the proposal above, Lojban is so thoroughly defined as to be a logical equivalent of Prolog, a computer language that is one of those most frequently used in artificial intelligence and natural language processing. To demonstrate this, John Cowan prepared a couple of examples. The first is an implementation, in a Lojban "computer language" subset, of a complete Prolog algorithm. Then John goes the other direction - from a Lojban translation of a complex English language 'logic problem' into a Prolog equivalent - showing the applicability of Lojban both as an intermediate to computer program expression as well as logical analysis. John:
 
Except for the universal quantification at the beginning of each Lojban sentence (which is there because Prolog variables are implicitly quantified universally), the Prolog and the Lojban are formally equivalent. Of course, Lojban is far richer than Prolog -- it is a complete human language, which Prolog surely is not.
 
The following algorithm, expressed in Lojban, describes how to sort a list of numbers (or anything comparable with "zmadu" and "mleca") into least-first order using Hoare's quicksort algorithm. It is a direct translation of a Prolog equivalent, except that the arguments have been re-ordered to bring results to the beginning, in conformity with Lojbanic conventions.
 
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da poirvelmi'a la nil. da
  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u: de ce'o dixire poirvelmi'a de ce'o di da
    .inaja dixire poirvelmi'a di da
ni'o roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodi zo'u:
    de ce'o daxipa daxire skamrpartiti de di ce'o da
    .ijanai de mleca di
      .ijebo daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
  .i roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodi zo'u:
    daxipa de ce'o daxire skamrpartiti de di ce'o da
    .ijanai de zmadu di
      .ijebo daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
  .i roda zo'u:
    la nil. la nil. skamrpartiti da la nil.
ni'o la nil. poirja'e la nil.
  .i roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodexipa rodexire rodi zo'u:
    de poirja'e di ce'o da
    .ijanai daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
      .ijebo dexipa poirja'e daxipa
      .ijebo dexire poirja'e daxire
      .ijebo de poirvelmi'a dexipa di ce'o dexire
pau? li ci ce'o li pa ce'o li vo ce'o li pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a ma?
li ci ce'o li pa ce'o li vo ce'o
li pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a
li pa ce'o li pa ce'o li ci ce'o li vo ce'o li mu
 
The 'program' consists of definitions of the following 3 functions, which use the place structures as indicated:
 
poirvelmi'a: x1 is the result of appending x2 to x3
 
skamrpartiti: x1 and x2 are a partition on pivot x3 of list x4
<br />[For non-technical people, this means that a list of values is divided into to sub-lists (greater and lesser) based on comparison with a single value (the pivot). A complicated lujvo based on "fendi" could perhaps have been used instead of this borrowing: x1 and x2 of this function correspond to the x3 of fendi (joined together by a non-logical connective in the latter case), x3 corresponds to the x4 of fendi, and x4 to the x2 of fendi]
 
poirja'e: x1 is the result of ordering x2
 
la nil. is the name of the null list.
 
Thus a translation of the first function is:
 
ni'o roda zo'u:
For all-X,
  da poirvelmi'a la nil. da
  X is-the-result-of-joining that- named "nil" and X.
  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u:
  For all-X, all-Y, all-Z, all-U:
    de ce'o dixire poirvelmi'a de ce'o di da
    Y ordered-with U is-the- result-of-joining (Y ordered- with Z and X.
    .inaja dixire poirvelmi'a di da
    only-if U is-the-result-of- joining Z and X.
 
append(X, nil, X).
append([Y | U], [Y | Z], X) :-
append(U, Z, X).
 
Translation of the other two functions is left as an 'exercise'. The last two lines of the Lojban ask the correct sort order of a list of numbers, and present the correct sorted answer.
 
Prolog is effectively a subset of Lojban, using many of the same concepts and terminology. The following English word problem, from John F. Sowa of IBM, neatly illustrates the process that can make Lojban machine-intelligible.
 
Sowa's original English: Washable allergenic things are washed. Nonwashable allergenic things are vacuumed. Everything that is gray and fuzzy is allergenic. Shirts, socks, pajamas, dogs, and llamas are washable. Lamps, sofas, cats, and computers are nonwashable. Following are my gray, fuzzy possessions: my pajamas, my sofa, my cat Thothmes, and my llama Mil-licent.
 
... [D]etermine which of my possessions are washed and which vacuumed.
 
A free Lojban translation of the English:
 
ni'o ro lu'ircumki je bilmrsalergeni cu jaurselylumci
 
.i ro nalylu'icumki je bilmrsalergeni cu sakcyselylumci
 
.i ro grusi je sulpo'e cu bilmrsalergeni
 
.i ro creka .e ro smoka .e ro siptaxfu .e ro gerku .e ro tcokumte cu lu'ircumki
 
.i ro tergu'imi'i .e ro sfofa .e ro mlatu .e ro skami cu nalylu'icumki
 
.i lemi siptaxfu .e lemi sfofa .e la totmes. poi mlatu .e la milisent. poi tcokumte cu grusi je sulpo'e je selponse be mi
 
.i ro ma jaurselylumci
 
.i ro ma sakcyselylumci
 
Literal rendering of the Lojban:
 
All wash-possible and sick- allergenic things are water-be- washed.
 
All non-wash-possible and sick- allergenic things are suck-be- washed.
 
All gray and wool-possessing things are sick-allergenic.
 
All shirts and all socks and all sleep-garments and all dogs and all South-American-camels are wash-possible.
 
All illumination-source-machines and all sofas and all cats and all computers are non-wash- possible.
 
My sleep-garment and my sofa and Thothmes who is-a-cat and Millicent who is-a-South- American-camel are gray and wool-possessing and possessed by me.
 
All what-things are-water-be- washed?
 
All what-things are-suck-be- washed?
 
Formalized Lojban suitable for Prolog conversion:
 
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da jaurselylumci
    .ijanai da lu'ircumki
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da sakcyselylumci
    .ijanai da nalylu'icumki
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da bilmrsalergeni
    .ijanai da grusi
      .ijebo da sulpo'e
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da creka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da smoka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da siptaxfu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da gerku
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da tcokumte
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da tergu'imi'i
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da sfofa
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da mlatu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da skami
ni'o mi ponse le siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu grusi
  .i le siptaxfu cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse le sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu grusi
  .i le sfofa cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la totmes.
  .i la totmes. cu mlatu
  .i la totmes. cu grusi
  .i la totmes cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la milisent.
  .i la milisent. cu tcokumte
  .i la milisent. cu grusi
  .i la milisent. cu sulpo'e
ni'oni'o ma? jaurselylumci
  .i le siptaxfu cu jaurselylumci re'i
  .i la milisent. jaurselylumci re'i
  fe'o
ni'o ma? sakcyselylumci
  .i le sfofa cu sakcyselylumci re'i
  .i la totmes. cu sakcyselylumci re'i
  fe'o
 
Literal translation of the formalized Lojban:
 
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-water-be-washed
    if (x is-wash-possible
      and x is-allergenic).
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-suck-be-washed
    if (x is-non-wash-possible
      and x is-allergenic).
[New-topic] For-all x
    x is-allergenic
    if (x is-gray
      and x is-wool-possessing)
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-shirt.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sock.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sleep-garment.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-dog.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-South-American- camel.
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-an-illumination-source- machine.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sofa.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-cat.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-computer.
[New-topic] I possess that- described-as-a sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-a-sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-gray.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-wool-possessing.
[New-topic] I possess that- described-as-a sofa.
  That-described-as-a sofa is-a- sofa.
  That-described-as-a sofa is- gray.
  That-described-as-a sofa is- wool-possessing. [New-topic] I possess that-called Thothmes.
  That-called Thothmes is-a-cat.
  That-called Thothmes is-gray.
  That-called Thothmes is-wool- possessing.
[New-topic] I possess that-called Millicent.
  That-called Millicent is a South-American-camel.
  That-called Millicent is-gray.
  That-called Millicent is-wool- possessing.
[Entirely-new-topic] What is- water-be-washed?
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-water-be-washed. [Ready-to-receive]
  That-called Millicent is-water- be-washed.
[Ready-to-receive]
  [end-of-transmission]
[New-topic] What is-suck-be- washed?
  That-described-as-a sofa is- suck-be-washed [Ready-to-receive]
  That-called Thothmes is-suck-be- washed
[Ready-to-receive]
  [End-of-transmission]
 
Sowa's original (English-based) Prolog, converted from IBM to Edinburgh syntax:
 
washed(X) :- washable(X), allergenic(X).
vacuumed(X) :- nonwashable(X),
allergenic(X). allergenic(X) :- gray(X), fuzzy(X).
washable(X) :- shirt(X).
washable(X) :- sock(X).
washable(X) :- pajama(X).
washable(X) :- dog(X).
washable(X) :- llama(X).
nonwashable(X) :- lamp(X).
nonwashable(X) :- sofa(X).
nonwashable(X) :- cat(X).
nonwashable(X) :- computer(X).
possess(me, pj1).
  pajama(pj1).
  gray(pj1).
  fuzzy(pj1).
possess(me, sf1).
  sofa(pj1).
  gray(pj1).
  fuzzy(pj1).
possess(me, thothmes).
  cat(thothmes).
  gray(thothmes).
  fuzzy(thothmes).
possess(me, millicent).
  llama(millicent).
  gray(millicent).
  fuzzy(millicent).
?- washed(X)
washed(pj1)
;
washed(millicent)
;
no
?-vacuumed(X)
vacuumed(sf1)
;
vacuumed(thothmes)
;
no
 
== DLT - Esperanto-based Machine Translation ==
 
As our last item on the topic of computer natural language processing, we reprint a short report on the status of the Distributed Language Translator (DLT) project in the Netherlands. Dan Maxwell, who writes this, has been on the project staff. DLT is the machine translation system cited in the proposal above (see page 30) which uses a modified Esperanto as its interlingua.
 
Dan Maxwell, maxwell@ltb.bso.nl, responds to the following:


                                  56
By the way, with all this discussion of interlinguas for computer translation, it might be interesting to hear from Dan Maxwell why BSO chose Esperanto for their DLT project and not Loglan (which already had two decades behind it at the time) or some other conlang, of which there are quite a number, or even one developed specifically for the purpose. Why they would choose a conlang instead of an ethnic language seems more readily apparent.
Task 7                                Archives, working documents, and
- Weekly  or  bi-weekly  informal  software produced  by The  Logical
  reports  will  be  prepared,  as  Language  Group,  Inc.,  or  its
  desired  by  the   contracting  volunteers, and  publications  of
  organization.                    The Logical  Language Group, Inc.,
- *Progress reports  -  2  MAC,  4  not  released  into  the  public
  MAC, 6  MAC, 8  MAC, 10  MAC, 12  domain, and  not produced directly
  MAC, 14  MAC, 16 MAC, 18 MAC, 20  on time charged to the Government,
  MAC, 22 MAC, 24 MAC              and including  all such  documents
- *Cost reports  - 2 MAC, 4 MAC, 6  and software  started prior to the
  MAC, 8  MAC, 10  MAC, 12 MAC, 14  start of  funded tasking,  are the
  MAC, 16  MAC, 18 MAC, 20 MAC, 22  property of  The Logical  Language
  MAC, 24 MAC                      Group, Inc.,  or the individual or
                                    collective authors.    Since  this
  LLG  also  plans  to  publish  claim  does  not  cover  language
articles  regarding  its  work  in  design information,  no effect  on
technical  journals  to  enhance  use of the results  of  this  re-
Lojban's  credibility  as  a  lan-  search is anticipated.
guage, a research tool, and a tool    Rights in certain prolegomena of
for NLP, and to validate LLG's NLP  the current  Lojban  language  are
approach with  other  researchers.  generally held  as  copyrights  on
Articles  warranted  by  project published    and     unpublished
accomplishments  will    be  in-  material.      Such    materials,
corporated in  the schedule  so as  sometimes  associated  with  the
not to  interfere  with  project  names 'Loglan', and/or 'The Loglan
milestones.                        Project', are  owned by  Dr. James
                                    Cooke Brown,  by The Loglan Insti-
Section 4 - Proprietary Claims      tute,  Inc.,  by  The  Logical
                                    Language Group,  Inc.,  by  Linker
  No  proprietary    claims  are  Systems,  Inc.,  or possibly  by
expected to  interfere in  the use  other parties  unnamed or unknown.
of  results  of  this  research.  Lojban is  a version of the Loglan
However, specific  known  claims  language invented  as part  of the
that might  affect  such  applica-  Loglan Project  by Dr.  Brown  and
tions  indirectly  are identified  others,   including    all    key
herein.                            personnel on  this project.  None
  A  founding  principle  of  The  of  these  materials  should  be
Logical Language  Group,  Inc.  is  necessary for use of  the results
that all  Lojban  language  design  of  this    research,  but  LLG
information that  it  produces  is  acknowledges the owners' rights.
placed  directly  in  the  public    The Logical Language Group, Inc.
domain.    This  principle  has  intends itself  to use the results
motivated our  volunteer force and  of this  research,  reserving  the
is vital  to our  integrity as  an right  to  produce,  distribute,
organization.  For  this  effort,  and/or  sell  to  the  public,
language    design    information  derivative works  based on  any of
includes the  dictionary data,  as  the tasks  performed  as  part  of
opposed to  the actual  dictionary  this project.    These  derivative
data base  produced in Task 1, the  works  will  incorporate  LLG's
Lojban    morphology    algorithm  specialized    experience    with
produced  for  Task  3,  and  any  Lojban.  Rights  to  those  works
modified  version  of  the  Lojban  will be  owned by  LLG and/or  the
formal grammar produced in support  authors  of  those  works.    This
of any  task.  This claim  should  claim  should  not  affect  the
not affect  the ability to use the  ability  of  others  to  use  the
results  of  this  research,  and  results of this research.
indeed guarantees  that  potential 
use of  Lojban will not be impeded
by  any  proprietary  claims  on
language design information.


                                  57
The decision to use Esperanto was made by the creator of DLT, Toon Witkam, back in 1979. As far as I know, he never seriously considered another conlang, taking Esperanto as a given fundamental property of the project, although at the time he was not a speaker of Esperanto. He probably knew little or nothing about other possibilities, and maybe it never occurred to him to look into this.
Section 5 - Technical Rationale    stead of following it as the rules
                                    of a  computer language drive that
  Two  points  regarding  LLG's  language's  use.      Consistent
approach  to    NLP    must    be  filtering by experts in  the lan-
emphasized:                        guage will  lead to  an extensive,
Uniqueness  -  Among  artificial  semantically  regular  vocabulary,
languages, Loglan  is  unique  in  incorporated in the NLP data base.
being designed  principally  as  a    As part  of this review process,
tool of  research in  linguistics.  LLG expects  to discover  semantic
The  Lojban  reimplementation  has  patterns in  both Lojban words and
incorporated  recent  gains  in  the  source-language  words  that
comparative linguistics,  and  NLP  represent the Lojban concepts.  In
research.                          addition,  while  building  the
Professionalism  -  The  Lojban  dictionary data base, LLG will an-
effort led  by LLG, though staffed  alyze texts  particularly relevant
by volunteers,  differs from other  to  DARPA's  mission.    LLG  will
artificial language efforts in its  extract concepts from those texts,
professional  approach,  and  in  expressing  them  as new  Lojban
having    linguists,     computer  words,     while      identifying
scientists, and  systems engineers  additional  semantic    patterns.
as leaders.                        Texts will  include scientific and
  The  approach    described  in  technical  texts,  American  and
Section 1  takes advantage  of our  foreign English-language newspaper
resources,  builds    on  recent  text, and  vocabulary from foreign
accomplishments    in      Lojban  language  dictionaries  or  text.
development, and moves directly to  LLG  plans  to  emphasize  Chinese
show  Lojban's    relevance  and  vocabulary, from  which we  expect
viability for  NLP.  The following  to find  particularly  interesting
addresses the five implementation  semantic patterns.  LLG will also
tasks identified in that section.  use volunteer  linguists to  study
                                    additional  texts  in  Russian,
  1.    Dictionary    Data    Base  Spanish,  German,  French,  and/or
Development and Related Research -  Arabic.  LLG seeks limited funding
The first  step  in  the research  to support  particularly promising
effort is  development of a Lojban  studies by such linguists.
dictionary data  base.  A language    2. Lojban  Parser Enhancement  -
dictionary is  vital to  study and  After fifteen  years of volunteer
use of that language by non-native  efforts  at  formalizing  Loglan/-
speakers -  and  Lojban  obviously  Lojban  grammar,  LLG  recently
lacks native  speakers. Thus, for  completed a  parser for  the  com-
this  and  other   Lojban-related  plete Lojban  grammar, based  on a
efforts, LLG  needs to  develop  a  YACC LALR(1)  formal grammar  spe-
high quality  dictionary.  Our ap-  cification.  This formal  grammar
proach develops this dictionary in  is  the  first  complete  speci-
the form  of a  data base suitable  fication of  the  grammar  of  any
to NLP  activities,  later  adding  human-speakable          language.
modules  to  interface  with  this  Extensive  testing  has  found  no
system.                            limits  to  Lojban's  expressive
  Thousands  of  words  have  been  ability over  the total  range  of
generated  during    the  Loglan  human linguistic activity.
project.    This  data  must  be    The  completed  parser  is  a
filtered and often  modified  for  prototype.  LLG must  refine  it,
use; definitions  must be specific  checking Lojban  text against  the
and conform  to Lojban's predicate  formal grammar,  performing  basic
structure, and  distinctions  rel-  error detection,  correction,  and
evant to NLP  must  be  codified. reporting, and  passing completely
Unlike preparing a data base for a  analyzed text structures to appli-
natural  language,  such  work  is  cation software.  The parser must
language  prescription  and  not  be optimized  for speed.  Previous
description; it  drives usage  in-  experience suggests  that  current


                                  58
He is no longer with the former DLT group, but is still on the BSO payroll. I can find out how to contact him in BSO if anyone is interested.
processing times  (1 minute  for a  sults of  this study  in  its  NLP
4K-byte text with a 386/25MHz) can  effort.
be easily  reduced by  a factor of    Developing  an  NLP  interface
4.                                  module  supporting  the  Lojban
  3.  Lojban  Speech  Recognition  dictionary  data  base  ties  the
Parser  Module    -  Lojban  is  entire research  effort  together,
audiovisually isomorphic, allowing  simultaneously:
phonemes and  stress from a speech    - implementing and demonstrating
stream to  resolve into  a  unique  NLP of  that restricted  subset of
string of  words.  This design was  Lojban  that  is  useful  to  such
specifically  intended  to  ease  dictionary input;
speech      recognition      (SR)    - demonstrating  an  application
processing.  Application of  this  where Lojban is useful as an input
design to  SR requires specialized  language  for    use    by    NLP
equipment, and  is not part of the  processors;
initial effort.  However,  imple-    - enabling  more rapid input and
menting a  front-end to the parser  analysis  of  dictionary  data,
that turns phoneme and stress data  including  automated  techniques
into unambiguous  parsed text will  identified by  LLG  based  on its
both verify  Lojban's  design  and  analyses.
justify later efforts to implement  Aspects of Lojban minimize the use
a Lojban SR system.                 of  idiom  and  other  difficult
  4. Lojban  Data Base Interface/-  expressions in  the language,  and
NLP Prototype  - Processing Lojban  help clarify  queries to  the user
text  through  NLP  is  a  useful  when difficult  expression occurs.
research end  in itself;  LLG  has  Lojban's  distinct  metalinguistic
determined      that      certain  and discursive  forms,  analytical
applications described  in Section  tense    and    modality,    and
1 offer pragmatic benefits.  Mean-  expressions of  speaker  attitudes
while, the  Lojban NLP  system, by  toward  the  discourse,  all  help
avoiding the  ambiguities of  nat-  make Lojban a clear, concise means
urally-evolved  human  languages,  of expressing data for NLP use.
will offer  insights that  aid  in    The data  base interface module,
bypassing  the  difficulties  of  while  modeled  on  similar  prior
processing those ambiguities.      work, is  the most  ambitious task
  LLG will  capitalize on Lojban's  in  the  research  program.    LLG
unambiguous predicate  grammar and  plans to  work for  maximum  func-
its  similarities  to  PROLOG,  to tionality of  this processor,  but
establish  Lojban  as  a  control  to monitor  the scope  of the  ef-
language usable in NLP systems for  fort, deferring  aspects for later
efficient entry  and  analysis  of  efforts  rather  than  risk  not
data.    This  activity  is  a  completing other  portions of  the
miniature of  the NLP problem as a  research effort.
whole, and  a highly  regular one.    5. Lojban-to-English Translation
Users  are    aware  of  system  Module - A Lojban-to-rough-English
limitations  and  skilled  at  ex-  translator  is  less  risky  to
pressing  concepts  in  restricted  develop.  A translator  developed
computer languages,  and are  thus  for an  earlier version  of Loglan
likely to  avoid usages  that make  produced  understandable  results,
NLP difficult.                      but  was  not  based  on  a  full-
  LLG expects  to show that Lojban  language parser.  The translation
is itself  suitable  for  internal  module  will  be  well-integrated
processing of  NLP data,  reducing  into the  total  research  effort,
the front-end processing of Lojban  being  used  to  check  data  base
inputs to  a minimum.    LLG  will  interface module processing and to
study  NLP  systems  based  on  verify Lojban  text used  to input
predicate  computer  languages  to  dictionary data.  It will use the
determine  if   this  approach  is dictionary  data  base  itself,
viable.   LLG will incorporate re-  easing verification  of that data,
                                    and  provide  a  window  into  the


                                  59
Lojban seems to have certain theoretical advantages over Esperanto as an interlingua. On the other hand, Esperanto has been more tested in practice (well, as a language for humans at least) and had a larger pool of speakers to draw the people in the project from.
system for  those not  skilled  in  using    punched-card    sorting
Lojban.    LLG  will  investigate  techniques.  Brown 'verified' his
techniques to improve translation  language grammar  as 'unambiguous'
quality, and research whether this  using manual  techniques developed
translator  could  serve  as  the  by  linguists.     In  the 1970s,
basis  of  a  machine  translation  computer science  caught  up  with
system similar  to the Netherlands  Loglan, and  people started to see
DLT project based on Esperanto.    its  potential  for  use  in  NLP.
                                    Funding for  NLP research couldn't
Section    6      -      Previous  be arranged,  but the prospect has
Accomplishments                    inspired  volunteers  from  the
                                    computer sciences since then.
  The Logical  Language Group  was    In 1976-77, Sheldon Linker first
founded in 1987 to develop what it  proposed  using  the  Bell  Labs
calls "Lojban  - A  Realization of  program  'YACC'  to  develop  an
Loglan".    LLG  incorporated  in LALR(1)  formal  grammar  of  the
November, 1989,  and was  approved  language, thus  formally  verified
by the IRS in 1990 as a non-profit  to be unambiguous.  Work by Linker
educational/scientific        or-  and  later  by  others  proceeded
ganization tax-exempt  under I. R.  slowly, as  much of  the  language
C. 501(c)(3).  Prior to that time,  grammar was  reinvented from 1976-
other  versions  of  the  language  81.  Finally,  a  complete  trial
called 'Loglan'  were produced  in  corpus of sentences was accurately
an evolutionary  effort led by Dr.  parsed.
James Cooke  Brown.  Brown  first    In 1981, Nora Tansky LeChevalier
conceived of  Loglan  and started  developed a Loglan random sentence
work on  the language  as early as  generator and  a Loglan-to-English
1955.  The  original  purpose  of  translator for  a subset  of  the
Loglan was  as a  test vehicle for  Loglan grammar.    The  translator
linguistics  research,  especially  used    the    full    4000-word
into  the  concept  known  as  the  dictionary.    Despite  primitive
'Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis'.          equipment, the translator produced
  Early work  in the  language was  understandable English.
devoted  to    word-making    and    From  1981  through  1984,  the
developing  the  morphology  and  Loglan  grammar  and  vocabulary
predicate  structure    of   the  continued  to evolve.    After  a
language.        The    best-known  political  dispute  within  TLI,
prolegomenon  of  the   language,  though,  most  volunteers  became
written by Brown, was published in inactive; little progress occurred
the   June,    1960    Scientific  from  1984-86.    Bob  LeChevalier
American.  From 1962-64, research  then set  about  revitalizing  the
was  funded    under  an    NIMH  community.  This proved to require
linguistics  grant  to  produce  a  setting  up    a  community  of
Loglan  dictionary  and  teaching  volunteers separate from TLI; this
materials.  Brown published early  community became LLG.
editions of  these materials  from    In creating Lojban, LLG analyzed
1965-69.    Almost  all  work  on  and rebuilt  the entire vocabulary
Loglan and  Lojban since  1964 has  of  Loglan,  and  redeveloped  the
been  performed  by  volunteers;  formal  YACC  grammar.      These
progress has  been correspondingly  efforts  went  much  faster  than
slow.                              original efforts  due  to  intense
  The  Loglan  Institute  (TLI)  volunteer work,  better management
incorporated  as  a  non-profit  of    volunteers,    and    better
organization in 1974; it published  knowledge of  the language.    LLG
a printed  dictionary and language  baselined    the    Lojban    root
description in 1975.                vocabulary in  1988, and  the YACC
  Most of  the early  work on  the  grammar in  August 1990,  and just
language    was    done    without  re-baselined the  grammar in  June
computers,    although      Brown  1991,  while  documenting  other
developed the  first  dictionaries  aspects  of  the  language,  and


                                  60
Hmm. Maybe the advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto compared to Lojban are the same as the advantages and disadvantages of English compared to Esperanto. Comments invited.
training  the  first  speakers  of    Jeffrey Taylor,  Voting  Member,
Lojban.   The community interested  LLG -  100% over  the life  of the
in Lojban now exceeds 800, and in-  project,  subject  to  funding  of
cludes  many  AI  and   NLP  re-  Tasks 2,  3, 4,  and 5.  Less than
searchers,  several  dozen  sup-  25% participation  in the 2nd year
porters  outside  the  U.S.,  and  if Tasks  4 and  5 are not funded.
dozens  of  active  language  stu-  Mr. Taylor  will lead  the  effort
dents.  LLG supports  a quarterly  for Tasks  2 and  3 and 5.  Either
journal,    a    newsletter,    an  he or  Sheldon Linker  of LSI will
Internet-based mailing list, local  lead Task 4.
study groups, an annual gathering,    Sheldon Linker,  Vice President,
and weekly  conversation  sessions  LSI -  Up to  100% during  Tasks 4
at its primary office.              and 5.    Mr.  Linker  will  share
                                    leadership of Task 4, and consult
Section 7 - Key Personnel          in overall  system design and data
                                    base design.
  All technical  personnel on this    John    Parks-Clifford,    Vice
project will work under consulting  President  and  Director,  LLG  -
agreements  with    LLG,  either  intermittent up  to 30% working on
directly or as employees of Linker  all tasks  over the  life  of  the
Systems,  Inc.  (LSI).    LLG  is  project,    primarily    as    a
capable  of    staffing  several  linguistics and NLP consultant and
additional positions  with  highly  expert on Lojban, but also leading
qualified programmers,  linguists,  production  of  technical  papers.
and engineers,  many of  whom have  Dr. Parks-Clifford is an Associate
experience  in    AI  and    NLP  Professor of  Logic and Philosophy
applications.  The key people lis-  at the University of Missouri, St.
ted below  are the core team that  Louis.
will lead  efforts based  on their 
knowledge  and  understanding  of  Section 8  - Qualifications of Key
both  Lojban  and  our  research  Personnel
approach.                         
  Robert  LeChevalier,  President    Robert  LeChevalier,  President
and  Director,  LLG  -  60%  time  and  Director,    LLG    -    Mr.
during year  1 and 50% during year  LeChevalier  has  worked  on  the
2.    He  will  work  on  project  Loglan  project  since  1980,  and
management (Task  7), expertise in  very actively  since  early  1986.
Lojban, dictionary  data base work  He led  the rebirth  of Loglan  as
for  Task  1,  documentation  and  Lojban  in  1987,  and  co-founded
technical reports  for  all  tasks  LLG.    He  has  led  all  tasks
(Task 6),  and task leadership for  associated with  the redevelopment
Task 1, 6, and 7.  Mr. LeChevalier  of the  language, and  is the most
also will  manage a large corps of  skilled  speaker  and writer  of
volunteers who  will contribute to  Lojban.  He has been working full-
the dictionary  data base  work at  time on Lojban since May 1988.
no cost  to the  Government.   Mr.    Mr. LeChevalier was a programmer
LeChevalier's unfunded  time  will  from 1974-81, then a systems engi-
be as  a volunteer  worker for LLG  neer  and  systems  requirements
doing  work  not  covered  under  analyst from  1981 to the present.
funded tasks.  This work includes  Mr. LeChevalier  worked for Syscon
editing and publishing the journal  Corp. from 1975-84, and SDC/Unisys
and  newsletter  and  writing  a  Corp. from  1984-88.  He worked on
Lojban textbook.                    Navy  systems  development  and
  Athelstan, Director,  LLG - 100%  design,  and  finally  as  SETA
over  the  life  of  the  project,  engineer leading  tasks supporting
working    primarily    on    the  the Air  Force on the GLCM program
dictionary data base (Task 1), and  until the  program ended.  He  is
providing expertise  in Lojban for  expert in  systems  documentation,
volunteer workers.                 complex    systems    requirements
                                    analysis,        operator-machine


                                  61
Several people sent me questions about DLT. So instead of writing individual responses, I decided to write a general one for all conlangers.
interface,  configuration    man-    John    Parks-Clifford,    Vice
agement,  and  quality  assurance.  President and  Director, LLG - Dr.
He has  a BS  in Astrophysics, and  Parks-Clifford  has  worked  on
is  knowledgeable  in  comparative  Loglan since  1975.  He edited the
linguistics.                        Loglan  journal  'The  Loglanist'
  Mr. LeChevalier  also will  work  from 1975-84, and was President of
on unfunded Lojban activities, and  the Loglan  Institute, Inc.,  from
may  seek  additional  grants  or  1982-84.      He  is  generally
contracts.    No  proposals  are  acknowledged  as  second  only  to
pending or specifically planned.    founder J.  C. Brown  in expertise
  Athelstan,  Director,  LLG  -  on  earlier  versions  of  Loglan,
Athelstan  has  worked  on  Lojban  with several  man-years total vol-
since  1988,    specializing  in  unteer effort.  He was co-founder
lexicon development, teaching, and  of  LLG,  and  consultant  on  all
translation.  He is knowledgeable  aspects of  the language redesign.
in comparative linguistics, and is  His degrees include BA Philosophy,
a  translator  of  Ancient  Greek,  MA  Linguistics  from  UCLA,  with
Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse.  field work  in India,  and  a  PhD
He  is  working  on  degrees  in  Philosophy from  UCLA.  He worked
Mathematics and Linguistics.        directly in NLP with Rand Corp. in
  Jeffrey Taylor,  Voting  Member,  the 1960s,  and now works in tense
LLG -  Mr. Taylor  has  worked  on  logic and  logic education.    Dr.
Loglan since  1982, and  is a  co-  Parks-Clifford  is  an  Associate
founder  of  LLG.    His  Masters  Professor of  Logic and Philosophy
thesis included developing an SLR1  at the University of Missouri, St.
parser for  Loglan.  He served on  Louis.
the Loglan  'Word-Makers  Council' 
in 1986-87,  becoming  skilled  in      le lojbo se ciska (cont.)
the lexicon.  In 1988-89 he helped 
redevelop the  Lojban formal gram-  In  keeping    with  the  above
mar and wrote a preliminary parser  proposal, here  is a demonstration
as  a  test  vehicle  for  that  of Lojban's  potential  in  the
grammar.  In  1989,  he  wrote  a  computer processing  field.  Some
preliminary  dictionary  of  the  of the  technical details  will be
Lojban structure word lexicon.      of  interest  only  to  computer
  Mr.  Taylor    has  17  years  programmers and logicians, but the
experience    in    programming,  Lojban in the following is a human
specializing  in  compiler  and  language, not a computer language.
parser development  and  later  in    But it  also  happens  that,  as
task and  project management,  and  cited  in  the  proposal  above,
including  extensive    work  in  Lojban is so thoroughly defined as
developing military  systems.  He  to be  a  logical  equivalent  of
has  an  BSEE  and  an  MS  in  Prolog, a computer language  that
Electrical      and      Computer  is one of those  most  frequently
Engineering  from  University  of  used  in  artificial  intelligence
California, Davis.                  and natural  language  processing.
  Sheldon Linker,  Vice President,  To demonstrate  this,  John  Cowan
LSI -  Mr. Linker  has  worked  on  prepared  a  couple  of  examples.
Loglan since 1975.  He led initial  The first is an implementation, in
efforts to  develop a YACC grammar  a  Lojban  "computer  language"
for Loglan  from 1975-80,  and has  subset, of a complete Prolog algo-
been less  active  in  Loglan  and  rithm.  Then John  goes the other
Lojban since  then.    He  has  20  direction  -    from  a  Lojban
years experience  as a  programmer  translation of  a complex  English
and software  developer, including  language 'logic  problem'  into  a
NLP experience.  If  his time  is  Prolog equivalent  -  showing  the
not fully  funded, Mr. Linker will  applicability of Lojban both as an
be employed  by LSI on efforts un-  intermediate to  computer  program
related to this effort.            expression  as  well  as  logical
                                    analysis. John:


                                  62
The use of Esperanto does not solve all problems involved in machine translation - I hope that we never claimed it would - but does reduce some of them and provide an interesting framework for attempting to solve others. Even though our modified Esperanto was, we think, structurally unambiguous, this only gives us a way of representing alternative meanings (both lexical and structural) in the source language (This was English in our prototype), not of choosing among them.
                                          .ijebo    dexire    poirja'e
  Except  for    the    universal  daxire
quantification at the beginning of       .ijebo de poirvelmi'a dexipa
each  Lojban  sentence  (which  is  di ce'o dexire
there because Prolog variables are
implicitly              quantified  pau? li  ci ce'o  li pa ce'o li vo
universally), the  Prolog and  the  ce'o li  pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a
Lojban  are  formally  equivalent.  ma?
Of course,  Lojban is  far  richer  li ci  ce'o li  pa ce'o li vo ce'o
than Prolog  -- it  is a  complete  li pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a
human  language,  which  Prolog    li pa ce'o li pa ce'o li ci ce'o
surely is not.                      li vo ce'o li mu
  The    following    algorithm,
expressed in Lojban, describes how    The  'program'    consists  of
to sort  a  list  of  numbers  (or  definitions  of  the  following  3
anything comparable  with  "zmadu"  functions,  which  use  the  place
and  "mleca")  into  least-first  structures as indicated:
order  using  Hoare's  quicksort
algorithm.    It  is  a  direct  poirvelmi'a:  x1 is the result of
translation    of    a    Prolog    appending x2 to x3
equivalent,  except    that   the  skamrpartiti:  x1 and  x2  are  a
arguments have  been re-ordered to    partition on pivot x3 of list x4
bring results to the beginning, in    [For non-technical  people, this
conformity      with      Lojbanic    means that  a list  of values is
conventions.                          divided  into    to  sub-lists
                                      (greater and lesser) based  on
ni'o roda zo'u:                      comparison with  a single  value
    da poirvelmi'a la nil. da        (the pivot).    A  complicated
  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u:    lujvo  based  on  "fendi"  could
    de ce'o  dixire poirvelmi'a de    perhaps have  been used  instead
ce'o di da                            of this borrowing:  x1 and x2 of
    .inaja dixire  poirvelmi'a  di    this function  correspond to the
da                                    x3 of  fendi (joined together by
                                      a non-logical  connective in the
ni'o roda  rodaxipa rodaxire  rode    latter case), x3 corresponds to
rodi zo'u:                            the x4  of fendi,  and x4 to the
    de    ce'o    daxipa    daxire    x2 of fendi]
skamrpartiti de di ce'o da          poirja'e:  x1 is  the  result  of
    .ijanai de mleca di              ordering x2
      .ijebo    daxipa    daxire
skamrpartiti di da                  la nil.  is the  name of  the null
  .i roda  rodaxipa rodaxire  rode    list.
rodi zo'u:
    daxipa    de    ce'o    daxire
skamrpartiti de di ce'o da
    .ijanai de zmadu di
      .ijebo    daxipa    daxire
skamrpartiti di da
  .i roda zo'u:
    la nil.  la nil.  skamrpartiti
da la nil.


ni'o la nil. poirja'e la nil.
In order to choose among them, we devised a module called SWESIL (Semantic Word Expert System In the Inter-Lingua), which made use of a probability-based algorithm drawing on a knowledge bank about semantic relatedness in Esperanto. This is described in some detail (c. 250 pages) in Working with Analogical Semantics: Disambiguation techniques in DLT, 1989, by Victor Sadler, Foris Publications, Box 5904, Dordrecht, Netherlands. It is number 5 of the DLT series.
  .i roda  rodaxipa rodaxire  rode
  rodexipa rodexire rodi zo'u:
    de poirja'e di ce'o da
    .ijanai    daxipa      daxire
skamrpartiti di da
      .ijebo    dexipa    poirja'e
daxipa


                                  63
You can also get a less detailed (30 pages) and less expensive summary of the entire project in: Distributed Language Translation: A Multilingual Machine Translation Project, 1990., available from: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 720 Atwater St., Bloomington, IN 47401. You can get it from the above address for a few dollars.
Thus a  translation of  the  first  .i  ro  grusi  je  sulpo'e  cu
function is:                          bilmrsalergeni
                                    .i ro  creka .e  ro  smoka  .e  ro
ni'o roda zo'u:                      siptaxfu  .e  ro  gerku  .e  ro
For all-X,                            tcokumte cu lu'ircumki
  da poirvelmi'a la nil. da        .i ro  tergu'imi'i .e  ro sfofa .e
  X is-the-result-of-joining that-    ro  mlatu  .e  ro  skami  cu
  named "nil" and X.                  nalylu'icumki
  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u:  .i lemi  siptaxfu .e lemi sfofa .e
  For all-X, all-Y, all-Z, all-U:    la  totmes.  poi  mlatu  .e  la
    de ce'o  dixire poirvelmi'a de    milisent. poi  tcokumte cu grusi
ce'o di da                            je sulpo'e je selponse be mi
    Y  ordered-with  U  is-the-  .i ro ma jaurselylumci
    result-of-joining (Y  ordered-  .i ro ma sakcyselylumci
    with Z and X.                 
    .inaja dixire  poirvelmi'a  di    Literal rendering of the Lojban:
da                                 
    only-if  U  is-the-result-of-  All  wash-possible    and  sick-
joining Z and X.                      allergenic things  are water-be-
                                      washed.
append(X, nil, X).                 All  non-wash-possible  and  sick-
append([Y |  U], [Y  | Z],  X)  :-    allergenic things  are  suck-be-
append(U, Z, X).                      washed.
                                    All  gray  and  wool-possessing
  Translation  of  the  other  two    things are sick-allergenic.
functions  is    left    as    an  All shirts  and all  socks and all
'exercise'.  The last two lines of    sleep-garments and  all dogs and
the Lojban  ask the  correct  sort    all  South-American-camels  are
order of  a list  of numbers, and    wash-possible.
present the correct sorted answer.  All  illumination-source-machines
  Prolog is  effectively a  subset    and all  sofas and  all cats and
of Lojban, using many of the same    all  computers  are  non-wash-
concepts  and  terminology.   The    possible.
following  English  word  problem,  My sleep-garment  and my  sofa and
from John  F. Sowa  of IBM, neatly    Thothmes  who    is-a-cat  and
illustrates the process that  can    Millicent    who    is-a-South-
make Lojban machine-intelligible.    American-camel  are  gray  and
  Sowa's original English:            wool-possessing and possessed by
Washable  allergenic  things  are    me.
washed.    Nonwashable  allergenic  All  what-things    are-water-be-
things are  vacuumed.  Everything    washed?
that  is  gray  and  fuzzy  is  All    what-things    are-suck-be-
allergenic.      Shirts,  socks,    washed?
pajamas,  dogs,  and  llamas  are
washable.  Lamps, sofas, cats, and
computers    are    nonwashable.
Following  are  my  gray,  fuzzy
possessions: my  pajamas, my sofa,
my cat Thothmes, and my llama Mil-
licent.
...  [D]etermine  which  of  my
possessions are  washed and  which
vacuumed.


  A free Lojban translation of the
For Esperantists, there will be a paper by me called "Perkomputila Tradukado: la revo kaj la realo" published in the series Oficialaj Esperanto-Dokumentoj coming out in a few months. This deals more generally with the problems of machine translation and is aimed at a wider (Esperanto) public than just linguists. But also the one from Indiana is fairly nontechnical.
  English:
ni'o    ro      lu'ircumki    je
  bilmrsalergeni cu jaurselylumci
.i    ro    nalylu'icumki    je
  bilmrsalergeni cu sakcyselylumci


                                  64
SWESIL was implemented on a limited scale in our prototype (first version 1987, second version 1988). We felt that it achieved what were in principle reasonable results for the amount of money and manpower expended. But our prototype, like most prototypes, needed to be redesigned and expanded. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to test this, because our funding ran out. We had a sixyear grant from the Dutch government (matched by our company), but this ended in mid-1990. We had hoped to find an industrial partner to continue the funding of the project by then, but our search was unsuccessful. We are still keeping our eyes open, but are not actively searching.
  Formalized Lojban  suitable  for   .i le siptaxfu cu jaurselylumci
Prolog conversion:                  re'i
                                      .i la milisent. jaurselylumci
ni'o roda zo'u:                    re'i
    da jaurselylumci                  fe'o
    .ijanai da lu'ircumki          ni'o ma? sakcyselylumci
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni        .i le sfofa cu sakcyselylumci
ni'o roda zo'u:                    re'i
    da sakcyselylumci                .i la totmes. cu sakcyselylumci
    .ijanai da nalylu'icumki        re'i
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni        fe'o
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da bilmrsalergeni
    .ijanai da grusi
      .ijebo da sulpo'e
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da creka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da smoka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da siptaxfu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da gerku
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da tcokumte
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da tergu'imi'i
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da sfofa
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da mlatu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da skami
ni'o mi ponse le siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu grusi
  .i le siptaxfu cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse le sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu grusi
  .i le sfofa cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la totmes.
  .i la totmes. cu mlatu
  .i la totmes. cu grusi
  .i la totmes cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la milisent.
  .i la milisent. cu tcokumte
  .i la milisent. cu grusi
  .i la milisent. cu sulpo'e


ni'oni'o ma? jaurselylumci
The modifications to Esperanto in the early planning stages (early 1980s) were relatively radical, but perhaps about 80% of them were eliminated after the project started for real. This all happened before I joined the project in 1986. The move back toward normal Esperanto was done mainly for a practical reason: we needed the support of the Esperanto community. That is, we needed Esperantists to work in the project, and this would be made more difficult by changes which hindered their understanding of the language.


                                  65
The most important remaining modifications were: dividers between the morphemes within a word; e.g., "util'ig'ebl'a" instead of "utiligebla", and extra spaces to distinguish between the readings of sentences like "I ate the fish on the table" and "old men and women".
Literal  translation    of    the [New-topic] I  possess that-called
formalized Lojban:                  Thothmes.
                                      That-called Thothmes is-a-cat.
[New-topic] For-all x:                That-called Thothmes is-gray.
    x is-water-be-washed              That-called  Thothmes  is-wool-
    if (x is-wash-possible          possessing.
      and x is-allergenic).        [New-topic] I  possess that-called
[New-topic] For-all x:              Millicent.
    x is-suck-be-washed              That-called  Millicent  is  a
    if (x is-non-wash-possible      South-American-camel.
      and x is-allergenic).          That-called Millicent is-gray.
[New-topic] For-all x                That-called  Millicent  is-wool-
    x is-allergenic                possessing.
    if (x is-gray
      and x is-wool-possessing)    [Entirely-new-topic]  What    is-
[New-topic] For-all x:              water-be-washed?
    x is-wash-possible                That-described-as-a      sleep-
    if x is-a-shirt.                garment is-water-be-washed.
  For-all x:                        [Ready-to-receive]
    x is-wash-possible                That-called Millicent  is-water-
    if x is-a-sock.                be-washed.
  For-all x:                        [Ready-to-receive]
    x is-wash-possible                [end-of-transmission]
    if x is-a-sleep-garment.        [New-topic]    What    is-suck-be-
  For-all x:                        washed?
    x is-wash-possible                That-described-as-a  sofa  is-
    if x is-a-dog.                  suck-be-washed
  For-all x:                        [Ready-to-receive]
    x is-wash-possible                That-called Thothmes is-suck-be-
    if  x    is-a-South-American-  washed
camel.                              [Ready-to-receive]
[New-topic] For-all x:                [End-of-transmission]
  x is-non-wash-possible
  if x  is-an-illumination-source-
machine.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sofa.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-cat.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-computer.
[New-topic]  I   possess  that-
described-as-a sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a      sleep-
garment is-a-sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a      sleep-
garment is-gray.
  That-described-as-a      sleep-
garment is-wool-possessing.
[New-topic]  I    possess  that-
described-as-a sofa.
  That-described-as-a  sofa  is-a-
sofa.
  That-described-as-a  sofa  is-
gray.
  That-described-as-a  sofa  is-
wool-possessing.


                                  66
Outside of these we had various lexical innovations like "antaw ke" (the subordinating conjunction "before") instead of "antaw ol". "kaw" in place of "kaj" (and) if the coordinated objects have the same referent, as in "my friend and companion". Compound tenses written as one word ("trink'ont'is"= "was about to drink" instead of "estis trinkonta"). Many of these minor modifications are in fact used by some Esperantists. A complete description of these is available on paper in Esperanto, but not in English.  
Sowa's  original  (English-based)  been on the project staff.  DLT is
Prolog,  converted  from  IBM  to  the  machine  translation  system
Edinburgh syntax:                  cited in  the proposal  above (see
                                    page 30)  which  uses  a  modified
washed(X)    :-      washable(X),  Esperanto as its interlingua.
allergenic(X).                     
                                    Dan  Maxwell,  maxwell@ltb.bso.nl,
vacuumed(X)  :-  nonwashable(X),  responds to the following:
allergenic(X).                        By  the  way,  with  all  this
                                      discussion of interlinguas  for
allergenic(X)    :-      gray(X),    computer translation,  it  might
fuzzy(X).                            be interesting  to hear from Dan
                                      Maxwell why  BSO chose Esperanto
washable(X) :- shirt(X).              for their  DLT project  and  not
washable(X) :- sock(X).              Loglan (which  already  had two
washable(X) :- pajama(X).            decades behind  it at  the time)
washable(X) :- dog(X).                or some  other conlang, of which
washable(X) :- llama(X).              there are  quite  a  number,  or
                                      even one  developed specifically
nonwashable(X) :- lamp(X).            for the purpose. Why they would
nonwashable(X) :- sofa(X).            choose a  conlang instead of an
nonwashable(X) :- cat(X).             ethnic  language  seems  more
nonwashable(X) :- computer(X).        readily apparent.
                                   
possess(me,  pj1).    pajama(pj1).    The decision  to  use  Esperanto
  gray(pj1).  fuzzy(pj1).          was made  by the creator of  DLT,
possess(me,  sf1).      sofa(pj1).  Toon Witkam, back in 1979. As far
  gray(pj1).  fuzzy(pj1).          as I  know,  he  never  seriously
possess(me,            thothmes).  considered another conlang, taking
  cat(thothmes).  gray(thothmes).  Esperanto as  a given  fundamental
  fuzzy(thothmes).                  property of  the project, although
possess(me,            millicent).  at the  time he  was not a speaker
  llama(millicent).                of Esperanto.  He  probably  knew
  gray(millicent).                  little  or  nothing  about other
  fuzzy(millicent).                possibilities, and  maybe it never
                                    occurred to him to look into this.
?- washed(X)                         He is  no longer with the former
washed(pj1)                        DLT group, but is still on the BSO
;                                  payroll.   I can  find out  how to
washed(millicent)                  contact him  in BSO  if anyone  is
;                                  interested.
no                                    Lojban  seems  to  have  certain
                                    theoretical    advantages    over
?-vacuumed(X)                      Esperanto as  an interlingua.  On
vacuumed(sf1)                      the other hand, Esperanto has been
;                                  more tested  in practice (well, as
vacuumed(thothmes)                  a language  for humans  at  least)
;                                  and had  a larger pool of speakers
no                                  to draw  the people in the project
                                    from.
  DLT - Esperanto-based Machine      Hmm.   Maybe the  advantages and
          Translation              disadvantages    of     Esperanto
                                    compared to Lojban are the same as
  As our last item on the topic of  the advantages  and  disadvantages
computer    natural      language  of English  compared to Esperanto.
processing, we  reprint  a  short  Comments invited.
report  on  the  status  of  the    Several people sent me questions
Distributed  Language  Translator  about DLT.  So instead of writing
(DLT) project  in the Netherlands. individual responses, I decided to
Dan Maxwell,  who writes this, has


                                  67
== le lojbo se ciska (cont.) ==
write  a  general  one  for  all  achieved what  were  in  principle
conlangers.                        reasonable results  for the amount
  The use  of Esperanto  does  not  of money  and  manpower  expended.
solve  all  problems  involved  in  But  our  prototype,  like  most
machine translation  - I hope that  prototypes,  needed  to  be  re-
we never  claimed it  would -  but  designed      and      expanded.
does reduce  some of them and pro-  Unfortunately,  we  never  got  a
vide an  interesting framework for  chance to  test this,  because our
attempting to  solve others.  Even  funding ran  out.  We had  a six-
though our modified Esperanto was,  year  grant    from  the  Dutch
we      think,      structurally  government  (matched    by    our
unambiguous, this  only gives us a  company), but  this ended  in mid-
way  of  representing  alternative  1990. We  had  hoped  to  find  an
meanings (both  lexical and struc-  industrial partner to continue the
tural) in  the  source  language  funding of  the project  by  then,
(This  was  English  in  our  pro-  but our  search was  unsuccessful.
totype),  not  of  choosing  among  We  are  still  keeping  our  eyes
them.                              open, but are not actively search-
  In order  to choose  among them,  ing.
we devised  a module called SWESIL    The modifications  to  Esperanto
(Semantic Word  Expert  System  In  in  the  early  planning  stages
the Inter-Lingua),  which made use  (early  1980s)  were  relatively
of a  probability-based  algorithm  radical, but  perhaps about 80% of
drawing on  a knowledge bank about  them  were  eliminated  after  the
semantic relatedness in Esperanto.  project started  for real.    This
This is  described in  some detail  all happened  before I  joined the
(c. 250  pages)  in  Working  with  project in  1986.  The move  back
Analogical              Semantics:  toward normal  Esperanto was  done
Disambiguation techniques  in DLT,  mainly for a practical reason:  we
1989,  by  Victor  Sadler,  Foris  needed  the    support  of  the
Publications, Box 5904, Dordrecht,  Esperanto community.  That is, we
Netherlands.  It is  number 5  of  needed Esperantists to work in the
the DLT series.                    project, and  this would  be  made
  You can also get a less detailed  more difficult  by  changes  which
(30  pages)  and  less  expensive  hindered  their  understanding  of
summary of  the entire project in:  the language.
Distributed Language  Translation:    The  most  important  remaining
A Multilingual Machine Translation  modifications  were:      dividers
Project, 1990., available from:    between  the  morphemes  within  a
Indiana  University  Linguistics  word;    e.g.,    "util'ig'ebl'a"
Club,    720    Atwater    St.,  instead of "utiligebla", and extra
Bloomington, IN  47401.  You  can  spaces to  distinguish between the
get it  from the above address for  readings of  sentences like "I ate
a few dollars.                      the fish  on the  table" and  "old
  For Esperantists,  there will be  men and women".
a paper by me called "Perkomputila    Outside of  these we had various
Tradukado:  la revo kaj la realo"  lexical  innovations  like  "antaw
published in  the series Oficialaj  ke" (the subordinating conjunction
Esperanto-Dokumentoj coming out in  "before") instead  of "antaw  ol".
a few  months.  This  deals  more  "kaw" in  place of  "kaj" (and) if
generally  with  the  problems  of  the coordinated  objects have  the
machine translation  and is  aimed  same referent,  as in  "my  friend
at a wider (Esperanto) public than  and companion".  Compound  tenses
just linguists.  But also the one  written      as      one      word
from    Indiana    is    fairly  ("trink'ont'is"= "was  about  to
nontechnical.                      drink"    instead    of    "estis
  SWESIL  was  implemented  on  a  trinkonta"). Many  of these  minor
limited  scale  in  our  prototype  modifications are  in fact used by
(first  version    1987,  second  some  Esperantists.  A  complete
version 1988).  We  felt that  it  description of  these is available


                                  68
More of Nora's examples from the incomplete draft lessons.  
on paper  in Esperanto, but not in    are members  of a four-some, are
 
English.                              large.
=== Examples of numerical predicates ===
                                    The two  owners of  the shoes  (of
 
    le lojbo se ciska (cont.)        which  there  are  four),  are
2 + 2 = 4 3 + 3 = 6 4 + 4 = 7
                                      large.
  More of Nora's examples from the
incomplete draft lessons.           vi le gusta
                                    At the restaurant:
**********************************  A: do xomei
**************                      You are a how-many-some?
Examples of numerical predicates   How many in your party?
**********************************  B: mi vomei
**************                      We are a four-some.


  2 +  2 = 4    3 + 3 = 6    4 +  ko poi romoi cu ganlygau le vorme
4 = 7                              (Imperative!) You the all-th one!,
                                      closed-do the door.
ti cimei sumji
ti cimei sumji
This is a three-some sum.
<br />This is a three-some sum.
.i le cimoi sumji cu na drani
<br />.i le cimoi sumji cu na drani
And the   three-th sum is not:
<br />And the three-th sum is not: correct.
  correct.
<br />.i le pamoi remei sumji cu drani
.i le pamoi remei sumji cu drani
<br />And the one-th two-some sums are correct.
And the one-th two-some sums are
  correct.


do bimoi le liste be le cpedu le
do bimoi le liste be le cpedu le se detri be lenu cpedu
  se detri be lenu cpedu
<br />You are two-th in the list of the requestors, ordered by date of the event of requesting.
You are two-th in the list of the
<br />You are the second one to ask, in date order.
  requestors, ordered by date of
<br />.i la rik. so'imoi
  the event of requesting.
<br />And Rick is the many-th.
You are the second one to ask, in
<br />.i .uu mi romoi
  date order.
<br />And (Pity!) I am the all-th (the last).
.i la rik. so'imoi
<br />.i lo romoi ba pamoi
And Rick is the many-th.
<br />And the all-th will-be one-th. (The last shall be first.)  
.i .uu mi romoi
And (Pity!) I am the all-th (the
  last).
.i lo romoi ba pamoi
And the all-th will-be one-th.
(The last shall be first.)


le cutci remei cu barda
le cutci remei cu barda
The shoe two-some is large.
<br />The shoe two-some is large.
The pair of shoes is large.
<br />The pair of shoes is large.
.i le se remei be le'i cutci cu
<br />.i le se remei be le'i cutci cu barda
  barda
<br />And the members of the two-some of the set of shoes are large.
And the members of the two-some of
<br />.i le se remei poi jadni le cutci cu barda
  the set of shoes are large.
<br />And the members of the two-some which adorn the shoes are large.
.i le se remei poi jadni le cutci
<br />(The two things ornamenting the shoes are large.)
  cu barda
<br />.i le se remei poi ponse le cutci noi se vomei cu barda
And the members of the two-some
<br />And the members of the two-some that possess the shoes, which are members of a four-some, are large.
  which adorn the shoes are large.
<br />The two owners of the shoes (of which there are four), are large.
(The two things ornamenting the
 
  shoes are large.)
vi le gusta
.i le se remei poi ponse le cutci
<br />At the restaurant:
  noi se vomei cu barda
<br />A: do xomei
And the members of the two-some
<br />You are a how-many-some?
  that possess the shoes, which
<br />How many in your party?
<br />B: mi vomei
<br />We are a four-some.
 
ko poi romoi cu ganlygau le vorme
<br />(Imperative!) You the all-th one!, closed-do the door.
 
ti soso pivovo ce'isi'e curve
<br />This is-99.44%-portion pure
 
ti botpi le plise pipasi'e jisra
<br />This is-a-bottle of the apple-.1- portion juice.
<br />This bottle of juice is 10% apple juice.
 
lenu carvi cu pizemu cu'o
<br />The event of rain is .75- probability.
 
 
=== Examples of the less well-known abstractors ===
 
mi pu nelci lesi'o mulri'a le bangu .enai lepu'u mulri'a le bangu
<br />I was fond of the idea of completing the language, and- not: the process of completing the language. [Ed. note - this accurately reflects Nora's views on the drawn-out completion of Loglan/Lojban.]
 
la fred. na nelci lezu'o limna
<br />Fred is not: fond-of the activity of swimming


                                  69
leli'i terpa cu rinka lenu morsi
ti soso pivovo ce'isi'e curve      You  see  me  in-environment  the
<br />The experience of being-afraid causes the event of being-dead.
This is-99.44%-portion pure          achievement point  of  my  being
<br />Fear causes death.  
                                      successful.
 
ti botpi le plise pipasi'e jisra    You  see  me  at  the  point  of
leli'i cortu le na zasti tuple cu cizra
This is-a-bottle  of the apple-.1-    success.
<br />The experience of feeling-pain in the not: existing-leg is strange. [The experience abstractor was proposed by a Lojbanist who has lost a leg, noting that such amputees feel such 'phantom pains' in the non- existent leg. "li'i" provides a way to talk about such personal experiences that may be otherwise distinct from 'reality'.  
  portion juice.
This bottle  of juice is 10% apple  da pu dicra leza'i do sipna
  juice.                            Something interrupted the state of
                                      you being asleep.
lenu carvi cu pizemu cu'o          Something interrupted your sleep.
The  event  of  rain  is  .75- 
  probability.                      **********************************
                                      **************
**********************************  A more complex example
  **************                    **********************************
Examples of  the  less  well-known    **************
  abstractors
**********************************  mi ba logji cipra le za'i nelci la
  **************                      rik. .e la .alis.
mi  pu  nelci  lesi'o  mulri'a  le  I will  logically-prove the  state
  bangu .enai  lepu'u  mulri'a  le    of fondness for Rick and Alice.
  bangu                            .i pamo'o  xu  la  rik.  nelci  la
I  was  fond  of  the  idea  of    .alis.
  completing  the  language,  and-  Section 1  - Is-it-true?  Rick  is
  not: the  process of  completing    fond of Alice.
  the language.  [Ed. note - this    .i pamai  roda na.a  la rik.  cu
  accurately reflects Nora's views      nelci la .alis.
  on the  drawn-out completion  of    1. Everyone1  Not!, or  Rick, is
  Loglan/Lojban.]                      fond of Alice.
                                      1. If  everyone, then  Rick,  is
la fred. na nelci lezu'o limna          fond of Alice.
Fred is  not: fond-of the activity    .ije remai  la fred. cu nelci la
  of swimming                          .alis.
                                      And 2. Fred is fond of Alice.
leli'i terpa cu rinka lenu morsi     .ije cimai di'u cu nibli le za'i
The experience   of being-afraid     de nelci la .alis.
  causes the event of being-dead.     And  3.  The  last  sentence
Fear causes death.                     logically  necessitates  the
                                        state of  someone2 being  fond
leli'i cortu le na zasti tuple cu     of Alice.
  cizra                               .ije .ua leza'i la rik. cu nelci
The experience of feeling-pain in     la .alis. cu se nibli
  the   not:   existing-leg   is   And (Discovery!)  The  state  of
  strange.       [The   experience     Rick being  fond of  Alice  is
  abstractor was proposed by a     logically necessary.
  Lojbanist who has lost a leg,   [Ed. note.    Needless  to  say,
  noting that such amputees feel     this  proof    is  logically
  such 'phantom pains' in the non-     flawed..]
  existent leg. "li'i" provides a
  way to talk about such personal
  experiences   that   may   be
  otherwise     distinct     from
  'reality'.


lemu'e prane roda cu na cumki
lemu'e prane roda cu na cumki
The     achievement-point     of
<br />The achievement-point of perfection in everything is not: possible.  
  perfection in everything is not:
  possible.


do viska mi va'o lemu'e mi snada
do viska mi va'o lemu'e mi snada
<br />You see me in-environment the achievement point of my being successful.
<br />You see me at the point of success.
da pu dicra leza'i do sipna
<br />Something interrupted the state of you being asleep.
<br />Something interrupted your sleep.
=== A more complex example ===
mi ba logji cipra le za'i nelci la rik. .e la .alis.
I will logically-prove the state of fondness for Rick and Alice.
.i pamo'o xu la rik. nelci la .alis.
Section 1 - Is-it-true? Rick is fond of Alice.
  .i pamai roda na.a la rik. cu nelci la .alis.
  1. Everyone1 Not!, or Rick, is fond of Alice.
  1. If everyone, then Rick, is fond of Alice.
 
  .ije remai la fred. cu nelci la .alis.
  And 2. Fred is fond of Alice.
 
  .ije cimai di'u cu nibli le za'i de nelci la .alis.
  And 3. The last sentence logically necessitates the state of someone2 being fond of Alice.
 
  .ije .ua leza'i la rik. cu nelci la .alis. cu se nibli
  And (Discovery!) The state of Rick being fond of Alice is logically necessary.
  [Ed. note. Needless to say, this proof is logically flawed..]
 
.i remo'o xu la .alis. nelci la rik.
2nd section is-it-true? alice is fond of rick.
  .i pamai la .alis. cu nelci rodi poi nelci ri
  1. alice is fond of everyone3 who is-fond-of her.
 
  .ije remai la rik. cu nelci la .alis. ni'i le pamoi mu'e cipra
  And 2. rick is fond of alice logically-necessitated by the first achievement of proof.
 
  .ije .ua la .alis. cu nelci la rik ni'i le puvi jufra remei
  And (discovery!) alice is fond of rick logically necessitated by the previous-here sentence two-some.
.i la rik la .alis. cu nelci gi'e .ui se nelci
rick, of alice, is fond and (happiness!) is-be-fonded-by.
rick is fond of alice and vice versa.
== A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory ==
For a lighter touch, comes the following, assembled by Nick Nicholas from computer net messages. The metaphors suggested by the allegory given have caught on among the most skilled Lojbanists, those referred to in the discussion. These include Nick Nicholas, Ivan Derzhanski, Bob Lechevalier, John Cowan, Colin Fine, Mark Shoulson. Other names referenced in the text are Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto, Jim Brown, Founder of the Loglan project, Schleyer, inventor of Volapk, and Jim Carter, who I addition to supporting Lojban, has developed his predicate language. Bruce Gilson, has similar spurred a recent effort on the net to invent a 'predicate language without place structures'.
The following very interesting exchange happened on conlang list:
by Don Harlow <72627.2647@compuserve.com>:
Bear with me for a moment. Much of the conlang discussion I've seen over thirty years - this includes not only a month and a half of the conlang list, but also the Hardins' "International Language Review," various magazines published by proponents of various language projects, etc. - makes me think of a group of would-be rock-climbers clustered at the foot of El Capitan, a 1000-meter sheer wall on the north side of Yosemite Valley, who are arguing among themselves about the proper technique for starting their climb to the top. Two or three have actually tried to start; a couple got three meters off the ground and then fell back, bruising their glutei maximi (gluteos maximos, but I don't want to offend anybody by using an accusative ending) in the process, and one has actually attained the twenty meter level, is gritting his teeth in sheer determination, and glumly contemplates the 980 meters ahead of him. Meanwhile, the only thing the ones on the ground seem able to agree on is that the guy at twenty meters up bought his equipment at a fire sale and learned his climbing technique in a sandbox. They may be right; this is, after all, his first climb, too, just as it is theirs. One of them even shouts at him that if he had any consideration, he'd rapelle back to the ground and make way for some competent climbers.
(I should add that there's a gang of apes at the top who, every now and then when they see someone actually climbing, will kick a 100 kg. rock down at him to try to n knock him off. They own the top of the cliff, and don't want you to forget it. If you doubt this, read Ulrich Lins's La dan<gera lingvo, all 500+ pages of it.)
As to proper climbing technique, the main question on which they cannot agree is this: is the best tool with which to start our climb a three-legged stool, a kitchen chair, or a Sears & Roebuck folding metal stepladder?
Stools, chairs and stepladders all have their places in climbing - getting that book off the top shelf, cleaning out the rain gutters, getting to the faucet when you're three years old. But they're out of place at the foot of El Capitan. In other words, the climbers are asking the wrong question.
Similarly, if you're a scientific, experimental, literary, or simply curious conlanger, questions about linguistic structure, vocabulary sources, etc. are all important and valid ones. Not only that, they're fun to argue (if you don't make the mistake of taking them too seriously). But if you're a "global" conlanger - a proponent of some particular conlang, or even of just any old conlang, as a global interlanguage, they are ultimately irrelevant, or at best only marginally relevant. Yeah, that stepladder's the best of the three - it'll get you two meters off the ground, and leave you a mere 998 meters to go, using techniques that have nothing whatsoever to do with stools, chairs or stepladders.
...
Incidentally, that guy's still twenty meters up and climbing; he learned early to use pitons. And he's a lot more worried about those apes at the top than he is about you. Maybe you can pass him while he's sleeping. Maybe he'll fall off when he tries to sling a hammock. Maybe the apes will hit him with a rock. Maybe, once you actually start climbing, they'll hit you with a rock!
by Nick Nicholas <nsn@mullian.ee.Mu.OZ.AU>:
Don, a very good response there. Just a couple of clarifications.
Not everyone is going rock-climbing up the wall you talk about. Some see the apes abseiling down, for instance, and aren't that fussed. Sure, the apes tend to collide with each other. but they do tend to cover a lot of ground.
A few members of the El Zamenhofo climbing team, on the other hand (schismatics led by Il Silferissimo), and more than half the Lojbo Jimbobs (not to mention a fair few types clothed in elvish gear) aren't as fussed about the wall as the others. They've found a few relatively shallow pits, and are usually happy to jump in and out of them. The Jimbobs like somersaulting in their soft sandpit. The Silferistas go around performing home improvement operations on their somewhat deeper pit, taking advantage of the fact that their pit has been boot camp for the Zamenhofos for a long time. Some of the stones hurled by the apes have landed in this pit; some even think that lends the pit atmosphere.
I don't know how valid the analogy is; as for me, I receive mail at both pits, and am usually not that distressed about the niches the mainstream Zamenhofos, yonder-ways, are carving into the face of the wall with their penknives.
Ugh. I don't do this analogy thing as well as you, Don :) In any case; it is not true that all the subscribers of conlang eat, drink, and sleep the wall. Me, I'm finding my sandpit a lot of fun. So does Ivan derJimbob, Mark Joulsonbob, and Colin Jinebob. Bob LeJimbob doesn't hang around our particular sandpit these days, but he isn't really at the wall you're at, either. He's found himself a 500 meter wall, and he's got rungs, but he's still waiting for the hammers. As to whether your shouted instruction, from your wall across the sandpits to his, will help him (and those in the sandpit), time will tell. (That and, as you say, the skeleton of the "Schleyer ist Herrgot" team-member you passed by in 1895).
I really should lay offa them drugs. Apologies to anyone who has felt offended by this very confused analogy.
by John Cowan <cowan@snark.thyrsus.com>:
Nickbob writes:
<blockquote>
Me, I'm finding my sandpit a lot of fun. So does Ivan derJimbob, Mark Joulsonbob, and Colin Jinebob. Bob LeJimbob doesn't hang around our particular sandpit these days, but he isn't really at the wall you're at, either. He's found himself a 500 meter wall, and he's got rungs, but he's still waiting for the hammers.
</blockquote>
John McJohnbob, who always seems (inexplicably) to get left out of these lists, is squatting in the bottom of the sandpit, feverishly re-reading his three-foot shelf of climbing documentation (poorly bound, unindexed, and typeset entirely in mono-spaced Flyspeck 3). In the other hand, he holds a much-marked-up list of needed equipment. "Let's see: rope, hammers, pitons, crampons, tampons, clamp-ons, spit, chewing gum....", he mutters.
And then we mustn't forget Carter Jimbob, who sits at the side of the pit with his back to the rest of the Jimbobs (he does look over his shoulder occasionally). He is engaged in digging out a small but deep excavation with his bare hands, and is sometimes heard to wonder why he can't seem to keep the sand from falling back in so fast. Next to him are Bruce Jilsonbob and his merry men, who are doing the same with their larger but much shallower hole. The sand is falling back into their hole as well, but they are digging so fast they haven't really noticed yet.
There is a rumor among the Jimbobs that somewhere in the pit, or perhaps in a different pit of the same size and shape (this question being hotly debated among the Jimbobs) there still exists the legendary First Digger, Jim- brownbob. But whereas the First Digger was formerly notorious for the volume of his voice, audible at every part of the pit, those who claim to have spoken with him in recent years say that he has become much subdued and hard to hear, and even (in one of his rare public appearances) completely inaudible. (The title of "First Digger" signifies only that in meetings of the Jimbobs, he digs first.)
And so on....
Nick responds:
<blockquote>
John McJohnbob, who always seems (inexplicably) to get left out of these lists...
</blockquote>
Yeah, it is strange that I keep doing this, isn't it? Hm. If the conlangistanis will pardon the Lojban politics, part of the reason is that you seem to be the only person around writing up shopping lists for climbing equipment (and toy shovels). In that respect, you are, I daresay, a tad above the sandpit. After all, when I tell Mum all the great friends I made at kindergarten today, the Teacher doesn't spring to mind, any more than does the School Principal. Perhaps he should. Especially as Teach is no stranger to the sandpit games, the latest of which involved Beowulf :). [Editor's note - John Cowan recently translated a small piece of Beowulf into Lojban]
My hats off, though, for a brilliant sandpit tale, which deserves to get into a JL or three.
[Signed] Nick, splashing sand far and wide, currently running a game in which a circle of people pour the same cupful of sand into each other's hands (the phone game).
John Cowan responds to Nick's comments about his 'Jimbob name' and kindergarten:
<blockquote>
John McJohnbob writes:
(By the way, John, why the "Mc"?)
</blockquote>
Is simple. "Cowan" is an Irish name, "Mac Eoin", where "Eoin" (pronounced roughly "Owen") is the earlier Irish form of "John". So I am John, son of John.
<blockquote>
After all, when I tell Mum all the great friends I made at kindergarten today, the Teacher doesn't spring to mind, any more than does the School Principal. Perhaps he should. Especially as Teach is no stranger to the sandpit games...
</blockquote>
That's what you say. When my four-year-old daughter actually went to kindergarten, the first friend she mentioned was the teacher. (I should mention that this is one-a-dem progressive places wherein Teach is known as "Julie" instead of "Ms. Kirkpatrick.")
== le lojbo se ciska (cont.) ==
Now here is Nick's summary of a second 'phone game' message, one that did not pass as clearly from person to person. Note that the group is fairly tolerant of Lojban grammar errors, which is after all one reason why errors in 'transmission' can occur in the phone game. Since this is a game, it is desirable that some errors occur - that is how the participants (and you who read this) learn what is important in Lojban translation, which after all is a science in its early infancy. Here's Nick:
The second phrase to go through the phone game was:
As Prince once said, sweetheart, (if I remember correctly) "If I was your girlfriend, would you still tell me all those things only girlfriends talk about".
Sylvia handled it as:
doi titselprami cu'u la .prins ju'ocu'i xu do cusku roda poi selcasnu no de poi na fetypendo ku'o ku'o mi noi da'i fetypendo do
<br />(Oh sweet-beloved, (this sentence is expressed by Prince (uncertain) (was it?)) you express everything which is discussed by none other than a female friend to me who is (suppose) a girlfriend of you.)
The "noi da'i fetypendo" is an excellent compression of the English. By the way, fetpendo is quite alright. The fault creeps in with the form of quotation used. Does the "xu" tie with the whole sentence (as intended) or only with the name Prince? (Actually, both make sense.) More importantly, is the "do" of the phrase the "do" Prince spoke to, or the person I'm speaking to? I tend to favour the latter: the "cu'u la prins." is a tagged-on part of the sentence, and shouldn't, I feel, alter the referent of "do". And finally, is "doi titselprami" included in the quote or not? I see no reason why it shouldn't be included. The result thus comes out (assume I am talking to Kate, and Prince was talking to Cat):
I think Prince said this:
Sweetheart, do you, Kate...
as opposed to:
I think Prince said this:
"Sweetheart, do you, Cat..."
but not I think (others may disagree):
I think Prince said this, sweetheart Kate: "Do you, Cat..."
This is critical. The conclusion, regrettably, is that "cu'u" is not the safest way of quoting in a sentence, unless the whole sentence is quoted - including "doi" (about UI I'm not sure), AND I still think "do" outside quotes (even with a "cu'u" tag) stills refers to your addressee, not the quotee's.
Colin comments:
I think it's deeper - though in a way simpler - than your argument. "cu'u la prins" is an adjunct not of the jufra, still less the selcu'u, but strictly of the bridi. We have a selbri "cusku" relating several sumti: "do", "roda li'o" and "mi" ... AND "la prins."
You express all that ... to me who ... as said by Prince.
I started off writing this comment thinking that you were basically right, and the Lojban did not work, but having written the above, I think it does, and is very clever indeed (once the "xu" is moved to the proper place). It is NOT a literal translation, but it works for me. The basic bridi is saying "Do you tell me all the things, supposing ..." so the "cu'u" phrase adds "As prince said, I think, ..." I think your vocative stuff is missing the point: "cu'u" cannot be asserting that anything in particular was actually said by Prince, since (except in the construction "pecu'u" etc.) there isn't anything there to be the quotation.
(Nick gripes that that's pretty much what he was saying :)
I notice that the translation omits "still".
Adds Mark:
The original sentence is pretty convoluted to start with. Might have worked better with "doi titselprami la prins. ju'ocu'ipei cusku lu xu do cusku... li'u", that is, use lu/li'u to scope the quote. Hence the problem with the "xu" getting attached to Prince. Something is sorta strange about "roda poi selcasnu no de poi na fetypendo", but something in me likes it. It's not literally what the original had, but I didn't misunderstand it, and it's elegant and logical. I'm a little unsure about "titselprami"; I'd think that attaching figurative qualities such as "sweet" to a person would be cultural. I mean, is your sweetheart literally sweet? To the taste? I'd feel better with a culture-flag ("ku'u"?) or "pe'a" or "zabna" or their rafsi somewhere in there to clear things up. Or even drop it entirely. 'Course, then subsequent people wouldn't think "Sweetheart" where they did now, but remember we have the advantage of all having good colloquial command of English.
Something about "cu'u": It's a BAI, so it attaches to the selbri, and thus in some sense I see it as attaching to the x1.
[Lojbab: No! A bridi is not necessarily a claim about x1 in particular among the sumti, but about all of the sumti. The only special role of x1 in the language comes from its accessibility to "le" for making description sumti.] My translation probably didn't use this logic, but consider it a moment. "mi klama cu'u la bab." This doesn't mean "Bob says, "I'm coming". It means "I am-a-goer with-expressor 'bob'", so "mi" is the speaker (I guess I'm agreeing with you here, Nick). I really don't know exactly what the semantics of this sentence would be, since "going" doesn't make too much sense with an "expressor" place; barely more than it would make with a "chocolate" place (fi'o cakla). I don't think I trust "cu'u" in this particular sentence (the one I just said and the Prince sentence).
Oh, and grammatically the "xu" had to attach to "la prins.", the way things were written.)
[Lojbab notes that the intent with "cu'u" is to be used to quote either directly or indirectly. Quote marks would indeed delimit a direct quote most accurately, in which case you must have "cu'usa'a" to indicate that the 'said by' isn't part of the quote proper. Thus the tradeoff is whether, in the original, the quote is merely an accurate direct quote, or whether the intent is, as for most English speakers who quote famous sayings in analogy to their own lives, that the meanings of referenced 'variables' be adapted to the analogy. As an indirect quote, an expressor place makes plenty of sense. "mi klama cu'u la bab." means "Bob says that I went", not "Bob says 'I went'" An indirect quote is usually intended to reflect fairly accurately what the speaker actually said without trying for literal quotation. "du'o" is a more vague source attribution that is available, meaning 'according to'; it would typically be used when reporting (in paraphrase) the information content of the source material.]
Mark was in two minds between:
Sweetheart, was it Prince who said you'd tell me everything that only girlfriends talk about, if I were your girlfriend?
and:
'Sweetheart,' said Prince, 'Would you tell me everything discussed by only girlfriends if I were your girlfriend?'
Nick:
The first alternative points out the fact that the referent of "do" is still the addressee. It is, I feel, the more natural interpretation of the Lojban text. It has the question hanging on the identity of Prince rather than the whole statement; again, this is what the Lojban text implies. "doi titselprami" refers to the addressee as does "do".
The second alternative has Mark trying to guess what was really meant: namely, that "cu'u" was an attempt at literal quoting. Unfortunately, you can't have the "ju'ocu'i" tying to the name Prince and the "xu" to the main sentence; thus the "Prince, I think" is lost. Furthermore, the "doi titselprami" is assumed to be part of what Prince is saying. Apart from that, it's an accurate guess, but Mark felt it more honest to rely on the text given, and chose the first alternative, which Colin translated as:
doi selprami la prins. xu du le cusku be ledu'u do ba cusku fi mi fe ro te tavla befi da na.a lo pendyfetsi va'o mi do pendyfetsi da'i
<br />Beloved, was Prince the one who expressed the sentence: you will tell me all the things talked about by X only if a girlfriend does, in the environment of me, in the medium of you, undefined argument: girlfriend (suppose).
The main error is the omission of "va'o lenu". "da na.a lo pendyfetsi", surprisingly to me after a half-minute's truth-table, works well; but I don't know if it's that intuitable. I don't think the "be ledu'u" 'quoted' sentence is that elegant as a whole (the nesting and reordering seem unnecessary), but the meaning is conveyed, though the "ba" seems to me misleading.
Colin comments:
As often, there's a tension between precision and elegance. "la prins xu cusku ledu'u" might have done, but seemed to lose the force of "Was it Prince who". I tend to use "fi mi fe role ..." to get a light sumti before a heavy one even when the original doesn't have that order.
Correcting the omission: we started with:
As Prince once said, sweetheart, (if I remember correctly) "If I was your girlfriend, would you still tell me all those things only girlfriends talk about".
and ended up with:
Beloved, was it Prince who said that you would tell me everything talked about by people only if they're girlfriends, supposing that I was your girlfriend?
Close-ish, but not quite.
== Morphology Algorithm ==
<pre style="text-align: center">
Internal Revision 4.1, 8 June 1992
</pre>
The following will become the official baseline algorithm for resolution of Lojban text into individual words from sounds, stress, and pause. As such, it is the ultimate standard of Lojban's unambiguous resolvability, which may make Lojban speech recognition by computers more possible than for other languages. While the algorithm looks very complicated, almost all of it is resolving special cases, and performing what error detection and correction may be possible.
We have a string representing the speech stream, marked with stress and pauses. We want to break it up into words.
# First, break at all pauses (cannot pause in the middle of a word).
# Then, pick the first piece that has not been uniquely resolved.
## The first thing is to deal with some constructs which are required to end with a pause:
### Names:
#### If the last letter of the piece is a consonant, we have a name. A name must have a pause before it UNLESS it is immediately preceded by a /la/, /lai/, /la'i/ or /doi/ as a marker, and it cannot contain any of these markers unless the marker is immediately preceded by a consonant. So, look backwards from the end of the piece for any of the allowed markers. If we don't find one (e.g. /jonz/), then the whole piece has been resolved as a name.
#### If you do find such a marker, then check what immediately precedes it. If there is nothing (e.g. /ladjAn/), or if a vowel precedes (e.g. /mivIskaladjAn./, break off the marker as a resolved piece (/la/), and what follows it is also a resolved piece, a name (/djAn/), leaving us with whatever preceded the marker, if anything, as still unresolved (/mivIska/).
#### If what precedes the marker is a consonant (e.g. /karoslAInas/) then ignore the marker and continue looking backwards. This exception is allowed because /karos/ with no following pause cannot represent a separate word.
### ".y.", the hesitation:<br />If the piece consists solely of /y/, then it resolves as the hesitation word (which is required to be surrounded by pauses).
### Some lerfu words: specifically, the last lerfu word of a string if it ends in a "y" (e.g. /abubycydy/ or /y'y/) must be followed by a pause:
#### If the "y" is preceded by a consonant, break off the consonant+"y" as a resolved lerfu word (e.g. /abubycydy/ gives /abubycy/ unresolved, and /dy/ resolved as a lerfu word). Continue breaking off any Cy pieces as lerfu words if they're there (e.g. unresolved /abubycy/ gives unresolved /abuby/ + resolved /cy/; then /abuby/ gives unresolved /abu/ plus resolved /by/).<br />Note that the Cy-type lerfu words will NEVER come before the other lerfu word pieces in a breath-group - the "abu" and "y'y" types - since they begin with vowels, they MUST be preceded by pauses; and Cy followed by anything but another Cy must be followed by a pause (because "y" is used as glue in lujvo, it could cause resolvability problems if not separate; e.g. /micybusmAbru/ would not uniquely resolve).
#### If the "y" is preceded by "V'" (e.g. /y'y/, break before the "V", and the "V'y" is resolved as a lerfu word.
#### If the "y" is preceded by an "i" or "u" ("iy" and "uy" are reserved) the piece cannot be resolved. d) If the "y" is preceded by a vowel (V) other than "i" or "u", the piece is in error and cannot be further resolved.
## Next, see if the piece is composed entirely of cmavo.
### Check the piece to see if there are any consonant clusters (a consonant cluster is of one of the forms CC or CyC). If there are none, break up the piece before each consonant, resolving each piece as a cmavo (e.g. /alenumibaca'a/ breaks into the cmavo /a/ + /le/ + /nu/ + /mi/ + /ba/ + /ca'a/). If there are no consonants, the piece is a single cmavo. In either case, the piece is completely resolved.
## Now we have a piece which we are sure contains a brivla (a gismu, a lujvo or a le'avla). We know that a brivla must have a consonant cluster (CC or CyC) within the 1st five letters (ignoring apostrophes in the count), and must have penultimate stress (ignoring "y" syllables, which are not allowed to be stressed).
### First, let's check for a potential error (a form which shouldn't arise):
#### If the piece contains no stress, but has a consonant cluster (CC or CyC), it is in error. The consonant cluster indicates it contains a brivla (gismu, lujvo or le'avla), which requires penultimate stress. The only place this MIGHT validly occur is inside a zoi-quote (and therefore need not be resolved at all).
#### However, if stress information is not available, assume the brivla ends at the end of the piece. (This rule gives the right behavior with canonical written Lojban, where spaces separate all words except for some cmavo compounds and stress is normally not marked.)
### Next, let's find the end of the first brivla in the piece:
#### Find the first consonant cluster (CC or CyC) and then the first stress after it (the brivla is expected to end after the syllable following the stress, ignoring "y" syllables). If the stress is on a diphthong, treat the entire diphthong as stressed (So that "find the next vowel" will not get just the second half of the diphthong).
#### If there is no vowel in the piece after the stress, it can't be a penultimate stress, so the piece is in error (unresolvable). This is also true if "y" is the only vowel after the stress (e.g. */stAsy/ is not a valid breath-group).
#### If the NEXT vowel following the stress (skipping over "y"'s ) is immediately followed by "'V" (as in /mlAtyci'a/), then the syllable following the stress cannot be the last syllable of a word (since the 'V cannot begin the next word). Ordinarily we would count this as an error, but let's instead assume that this was a secondary stress and ignore the fact that there is some stress on it. Go find the next stress to use as THE penultimate stress for this brivla (e.g. in /mlAtyci'abrIjuti/, assume the penultimate stress is "I", not "A").
#### Having eliminated all the potential problems with finding the end, let's cut the piece after the end of the brivla:<br />Find the first vowel (not counting "y") after the stress. If it is part of a diphthong, break after the diphthong; otherwise, break after the vowel itself.
### Now let's find the beginning of the brivla in the front part of the piece we just broke off:
#### First, break off as many obvious cmavo pieces off the front as we can:
##### If there is no consonant cluster (CC or CyC) in the first 5 letters (ignoring apostrophes in the count), then, if the piece starts with a vowel, break off before the first consonant (e.g. /alekArce/ becomes /a/ = cmavo) + /lekArce/ = unresolved), otherwise break off before the second consonant (e.g. /vilekArce/ becomes /vi/ = cmavo + /lekArce/ = unresolved). The front piece is then resolved as a cmavo.
##### Repeat the above as many times as we can (so, /lekArce/ becomes /le/ = cmavo + /kArce/ = unresolved. Since /kArce/ has a consonant cluster in the first five letters, we can't go any further).
##### If the piece we have left starts with a vowel, find the first consonant. If the first consonant is part of a consonant cluster (only CC-form this time), and this consonant cluster is NOT a valid initial cluster, then we can resolve the entire piece as a le'avla (e.g. /antipAsto/); otherwise (if the first consonant is NOT part of a consonant cluster, or the consonant cluster IS a valid initial cluster), break off before the first consonant as a cmavo (e.g. /a'ofArlu/ becomes /a'o/ = cmavo + /fArlu/ = unresolved; or, /aismAcu/ becomes /ai/ = cmavo + /smAcu/ = unresolved).
#### What's left begins with a consonant and has a consonant cluster (CC or CyC) in the first 5 letters. The whole thing may be a brivla, or there may be (at most) one consonant-initial cmavo in front. Here are the possibilities for the start of the piece, and their resolutions:
##### CC... :<br />Resolve whole thing as a brivla (a gismu, lujvo, or le'avla).
##### CyC... :<br />Invalid form. Unresolvable.
##### CVVCC... :<br />(Note: stressing a cmavo on the final syllable before a brivla is not allowed.)
###### If there is no stress on the VV and the CC is a valid initial cluster, then break off the CVV, and resolve it as a cmavo; the remaining piece can then be resolved as a brivla (see "CC....", above). For example, /leiprEnu/ becomes /lei/ = cmavo + /prEnu/ = brivla.
###### Otherwise (i.e. there IS a stress on the VV, or the first consonant cluster is not a valid initial cluster), resolve the whole thing as a brivla (e.g. /cAItro/ = brivla)
##### CV'VCC... :<br />(Note: stressing a cmavo on the final syllable before a brivla is not allowed.)
###### If there is no stress on the final vowel of the V'V) and the CC is a valid initial cluster, then break off the CV'V, and resolve it as a cmavo; the remaining piece can then be resolved as a brivla (see "CC....", above). For example, /so'iprEnu/ becomes /so'i/ = cmavo + /prEnu/ = brivla.
###### Otherwise (i.e. there is a stress on the final vowel of the V'V, or the first consonant cluster is not a valid initial cluster), resolve the whole thing as a brivla (e.g. /cA'Itro/ = brivla)
##### CVCC... (This is the hard one. Is the front CV a separate word?):
###### If the whole piece is CVCCV, then the whole thing resolves as a gismu.
###### If the CC is not a valid initial cluster, then the whole piece can be resolved as a brivla (gismu, lujvo, or le'avla). For example, /selfArlu/.
###### If there is a "y", we need to look at the sub-piece up to the first "y":
####### If the sub-piece consists entirely of CVC's repeating (at least 2 needed: e.g. /cacric/), and all the CC's of the sub-piece are valid initial clusters, then resolve the initial CV as a cmavo, and the rest of the whole piece is a brivla (a lujvo or le'avla).
####### Otherwise, if the sub-piece can be broken down into a valid lujvo "front" in front and any number (including zero) of valid lujvo "middles" thereafter, resolve the whole piece as a brivla.
######## Valid fronts (we've eliminated all but those starting with CV): CVC CVCC
######## Valid middles: CVV CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC
####### Otherwise, the front CV should be resolved as a cmavo, and the remaining piece is resolved as a brivla (a lujvo or le'avla)
###### If there is no "y":
####### If the piece consists of CVC's repeating (at least 2 needed) up to a final CV (e.g. /cacricfu/), and all the CC's of the sub-piece are valid initial clusters, then resolve the initial CV as a cmavo, and the rest of the piece is a brivla (a lujvo).
####### Otherwise, if the piece can be broken down into a valid lujvo "front" in front and any number (including zero) of valid lujvo "middles" followed by a valid lujvo "end", then resolve the whole piece as a brivla (a lujvo).
######## Valid fronts (we've eliminated all but those starting with CV): CVC CVCC
######## Valid middles: CVV CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC c> Valid ends: CVV CV'V CCV CCVCV CVCCV
####### Otherwise, the front CV should be resolved as a cmavo, and the remaining piece is resolved as a brivla (a le'avla).
----
== le lojbo se ciska (cont.) ==
It's time for our feature texts of this issue.
The real test of an artificial language is how well it can convey ideas from a variety of cultures and languages. This issue, we present tales translated directly from two languages that few Lojbanists know.
The first several texts are 6 of the moralistic tales of the classical Greek fabulist Aesop, translated from the Ancient Greek by Nick Nicholas. The first thing you will undoubtedly note is how brief the stories are, as originally written. This makes each story a pleasant little chunk of Lojban to translate, and since you will likely find the stories at least a little familiar, you should be able to work through the occasionally difficult result of Nick's efforts at matching the Greek syntax and style.
You will need a complete cmavo list, including the changes reported in JL14 and JL15, to completely succeed with these texts, though most of the text will be understandable without all of the updates handy.
Here's Aesop:
1.
<br />me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
<br />.i lo fetcinfo noi se ckasu lo lorxu lenu ra roroi se jbena lo pamei cu bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
<br />ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u loni xamgu cu .ei se merli fi lo klani na.e leni srana loka vrude
2.
<br />me lo resprtestudine .e lo cicractu
<br />.i lo resprtestudine kuce lo cicractu leni sutra cu dabysnu .isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice tu'a le detri .eji'a le stuzi cu ba sepli bajra simjvi .i le zu'u cicractu noi ki'u leke'a rarna ka sutra cu na'eke se mukti jundi lenu bajra ku'o ca'o lenu vreta te'e le dargu cu sipna .i le zu'unai resprtestudine. noi sanji leke'a ka masno na sisti lenu bajra .ije seki'ubo le go'i noi bajra zo'a le cicractu noi sipna cu mo'u klama le co'e pe lenu cnemu fi lenu jinga
<br />ni'o tu'a le selsku cu xe ctuca fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se na'eke se mukti jundi ku'o lenu troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau
3.
<br />me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba
<br />.i lo lorxu noi xagji ku'o ca lenu viska loi vanjba gunma noi dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu ra gi'eku'i naka'e cpacu .i le go'i ca lenu cliva cu cusku fi vo'a fe <<lu lei jbari cu slari li'u>>
<br />ni'o si'a so'i prenu poi naka'e xagmaugau lei cuntu ki'u loka ruble cu pantypai le tcini
4.
<br />me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be ri
<br />.i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu se tavla .iji'a le cilmo rokci leko xadni mlana na te mosra li'u>> .i ke'unai le danlrkankre cu bacru <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca ctuca cu mo'ica'u cadzu .ija'ebo mi fau lenu viska do cu smizu'e li'u>>
<br />ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u lei pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti je cadzu sa'enai cei bu'a .iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo lenu bu'a
5.
<br />me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti
<br />.i ze'aca loi dunra lei maxri noi se prucimri'a ku'o loi manti goi ko'a cu se sudgau .ike'unai lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji cu cpedu loi cidja ko'a .i lei manti cu crusku fi ko'u fe <<lu ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na jmaji loi cidja li'u>> .i ko'u bacru <<lu mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i zgike sanga li'u>> .i ko'a noi ca cmila cu bacru <<lu do sanga ze'aca le crisa .ije .uunai ko ca le dunra cu dansu li'u>>
<br />ni'o tu'a le lisri cu xelctu fi ledu'u xamgu fa lenu gunka jundi roda kei fi lenu badri najenai selckape
6.
<br />me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu
<br />.i lo cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu lo rectu cu ca'o zutse lo tricu .i lo lorxu noi viska ra gi'e djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri lo dratra bo selxadni joi melbi gi'eji'a bacru lu'e ledu'u ge ra nu'o turni .ei lei cipni gi le da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu nibli lenu pu'i turni .i le cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi le lorxu fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu krixa .i le lorxu cu bajrykla gi'e bacru ba'o lenu kavbu le rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda fau le da'i nu do se menli lo xamgu cu fanta lenu do turni roda li'u>>
<br />ni'o le prenu poi bebna ku'o le se cusku cu pilno se xamgu


                                  70
The next piece is a little tougher, since the story is unfamiliar to most readers, as is the Chinese culture from which the story comes. The text is John Cowan's translation of a short tale from Hakka Chinese.
.i remo'o  xu la  .alis. nelci  la  seen  over  thirty  years  -  this
  rik.                              includes not  only a  month and  a
2nd section  Is-it-true? Alice  is  half of the conlang list, but also
  fond of Rick.                    the    Hardins'    "International
  .i pamai la .alis. cu nelci rodi  Language  Review,"  various  mag-
    poi nelci ri                    azines published  by proponents of
  1. Alice  is fond  of  everyone3  various language  projects, etc. -
    who is-fond-of her.            makes  me  think  of  a group  of
  .ije remai  la rik.  cu nelci la  would-be  rock-climbers  clustered
    .alis.  ni'i  le  pamoi  mu'e  at the foot of El Capitan, a 1000-
    cipra                          meter sheer wall on the north side
  And 2.  Rick is  fond  of  Alice  of  Yosemite  Valley,  who  are
    logically-necessitated by  the  arguing among themselves about the
    first achievement of proof.    proper  technique  for  starting
  .ije .ua  la .alis.  cu nelci la  their climb  to the top.  Two or
    rik ni'i le puvi jufra remei    three  have  actually  tried  to
  And (Discovery!)  Alice is fond  start; a  couple got  three meters
    of Rick logically necessitated  off the ground and then fell back,
    by the  previous-here sentence  bruising  their  glutei  maximi
    two-some.                      (gluteos maximos, but I don't want
.i la  rik la .alis. cu nelci gi'e  to offend  anybody  by  using  an
  .ui se nelci                      accusative ending) in the process,
Rick,  of  Alice,  is   fond  and  and one  has actually attained the
  (Happiness!) is-be-fonded-by.    twenty meter  level,  is  gritting
Rick is  fond of  Alice  and  vice  his teeth  in sheer determination,
  versa.                            and glumly  contemplates  the 980
                                    meters ahead  of him.  Meanwhile,
                                    the only  thing the  ones  on  the
  A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory    ground seem  able to  agree on  is
                                    that the  guy at  twenty meters up
  For a  lighter touch,  comes the  bought his  equipment  at  a  fire
following,  assembled  by  Nick  sale  and  learned  his  climbing
Nicholas  from    computer    net  technique in  a sandbox.  They may
messages. The metaphors suggested  be right;  this is, after all, his
by the  allegory given have caught  first climb,  too, just  as it  is
on  among    the  most  skilled  theirs.  One of  them even shouts
Lojbanists, those  referred to  in  at  him  that  if  he  had  any
the  discussion.    These  include  consideration, he'd  rapelle  back
Nick  Nicholas,  Ivan  Derzhanski,  to the  ground and  make  way  for
Bob LeChevalier, John Cowan, Colin  some competent climbers.
Fine, Mark  Shoulson.  Other names    (I should  add  that  there's a
referenced  in  the  text  are  gang of apes at the top who, every
Zamenhof, inventor  of Esperanto,  now and then when they see someone
Jim Brown,  founder of  the Loglan  actually climbing, will kick a 100
project,  Schleyer,  inventor  of  kg. rock  down at  him to  try  to
VolapЃk, and  Jim Carter,  who  in  knock him  off.  They own the top
addition to supporting Lojban, has  of the  cliff, and  don't want you
developed his  predicate language.  to forget  it.  If you doubt this,
Bruce Gilson,  has similar spurred  read  Ulrich  Lins's  La  dan<gera
a recent  effort  on  the  net  to  lingvo, all 500+ pages of it.)
invent a 'predicate language with-    As to proper climbing technique,
out place structures'.              the main  question on  which  they
                                    cannot agree is this:  is the best
  The following  very  interesting  tool with which to start our climb
exchange happened on conlang list:  a three-legged  stool,  a  kitchen
                                    chair,  or  a  Sears  &  Roebuck
by          Don            Harlow  folding metal stepladder?
<72627.2647@CompuServe.COM>:          Stools, chairs  and  stepladders
  Bear with me for a moment.  Much  all have  their places in climbing
of  the  conlang  discussion  I've  - getting  that book  off the  top


                                  71
Hakka is a rural dialect spoken in inland Southeast China. As shown in the translation section, Hakka Chinese has a different tonal structure, and the text has many roots quite unlike that of standard Mandarin Chinese. Indeed, John had to go to great lengths to find suitable informants who could explain subtle points of Hakka semantics, since John, of course, doesn't know Hakka Chinese either.
shelf,  cleaning  out  the  rain  the Lojbo  Jimbobs (not to mention
gutters,  getting  to  the  faucet  a fair few types clothed in elvish
when you're  three years old. But  gear) aren't  as fussed  about the
they're out  of place  at the foot  wall as the others.  They've found
of El  Capitan.  In other  words, a few relatively shallow pits, and
the climbers  are asking the wrong  are usually  happy to  jump in and
question.                          out of  them.  The  Jimbobs  like
  Similarly,    if    you're    a  somersaulting in  their soft sand-
scientific,  experimental,  liter-  pit.  The Silferistas  go  around
ary, or  simply curious conlanger,  performing home improvement opera-
questions    about    linguistic  tions  on  their  somewhat  deeper
structure,  vocabulary  sources,  pit, taking  advantage of the fact
etc. are  all important  and valid  that their  pit has been boot camp
ones.  Not only that, they're fun  for  the  Zamenhofos  for  a  long
to argue  (if you  don't make  the  time.  Some of  the stones hurled
mistake of taking them  too seri-  by the  apes have  landed in  this
ously).   But if you're a "global"  pit; some  even think  that  lends
conlanger -  a proponent  of  some  the pit atmosphere.
particular  conlang, or  even  of    I  don't  know  how  valid  the
just any  old conlang, as a global  analogy is;  as for  me, I receive
interlanguage, they are ultimately  mail at  both pits, and am usually
irrelevant,  or  at  best  only  not  that  distressed  about  the
marginally relevant.  Yeah,  that  niches the  mainstream Zamenhofos,
stepladder's the best of the three  yonder-ways, are  carving into the
- it'll get you two meters off the  face  of  the  wall  with  their
ground, and  leave you  a mere 998  penknives.
meters  to go,  using  techniques    Ugh.  I don't  do this  analogy
that have nothing whatsoever to do  thing as  well as  you, Don :)  In
with    stools,    chairs    or  any case;  it is not true that all
stepladders.                        the subscribers  of conlang  eat,
...                                drink, and  sleep the  wall.  Me,
  Incidentally, that  guy's  still  I'm finding  my sandpit  a lot  of
twenty meters  up and climbing; he  fun.  So does Ivan derJimbob, Mark
learned early  to use pitons.  And  Joulsonbob, and  Colin  Jinebob.
he's  a  lot  more  worried  about  Bob LeJimbob  doesn't hang  around
those apes  at the  top than he is  our particular sandpit these days,
about you.  Maybe you can pass him  but he  isn't really  at the  wall
while he's  sleeping.  Maybe he'll  you're at,  either.   He's  found
fall off  when he tries to sling a  himself a 500 meter wall, and he's
hammock.  Maybe the apes will hit  got rungs,  but he's still waiting
him with  a rock.  Maybe, once you  for the  hammers.  As to  whether
actually start  climbing,  they'll  your  shouted  instruction,  from
hit you with a rock!                your wall  across the  sandpits to
                                    his, will  help him  (and those in
by          Nick          Nicholas  the  sandpit),  time  will  tell.
<nsn@mullian.ee.Mu.OZ.AU>:          (That  and,  as  you  say,  the
  Don, a very good response there.  skeleton  of  the  "Schleyer  ist
Just a couple of clarifications.    Herrgot" team-member you passed by
  Not  everyone  is  going  rock-  in 1895).
climbing  up  the  wall  you  talk    I really  should lay  offa  them
about.    Some  see  the  apes  drugs.  Apologies to  anyone  who
abseiling down,  for instance, and  has felt  offended  by  this  very
aren't that  fussed.    Sure,  the  confused analogy.
apes tend  to  collide  with  each
other. but they do tend to cover a
lot of ground.
  A  few  members  of  the  El
Zamenhofo climbing  team,  on  the
other hand  (schismatics led by Il
Silferissimo), and  more than half


                                  72
John deserves a lot of credit, indeed! I like his philosophy that good translation, especially of cultural ideas, requires translation from the original. Thus, he did not use an available colloquial English translation of the story, choosing instead to work from the English and Mandarin glosses found below in the translation section (asking lots of questions of knowledgeable informants, when appropriate).
by          John           Cowan  in recent  years say  that he  has
<cowan@snark.thyrsus.com>:          become much  subdued and  hard  to
  Nickbob writes:                  hear, and even (in one of his rare
                                    public  appearances)  completely
  Me, I'm finding my sandpit a lot inaudible.  (The title  of "First
  of fun.  So does Ivan derJimbob, Digger"  signifies  only  that in
  Mark  Joulsonbob,   and  Colin  meetings of the Jimbobs,  he digs
  Jinebob.   Bob LeJimbob  doesn't  first.)
  hang  around  our  particular    And so on....
  sandpit these days, but he isn't
  really at  the wall  you're  at, Nick responds:
  either. He's found himself a 500
  meter wall,  and he's got rungs,    John McJohnbob, who always seems
  but he's  still waiting  for the   (inexplicably) to  get left  out
  hammers.                            of these lists...


  John McJohnbob, who always seems    Yeah, it  is strange that I keep
Here is John's text. Enjoy!
(inexplicably) to  get left out of  doing this, isn't it?  Hm.  If the
these lists,  is squatting  in the  conlangistanis  will  pardon  the
bottom of  the sandpit, feverishly  Lojban  politics,  part  of  the
re-reading his three-foot shelf of  reason is  that you seem to be the
climbing  documentation  (poorly  only  person  around  writing  up
bound,  unindexed,  and  typeset  shopping  lists    for  climbing
entirely in  mono-spaced  Flyspeck  equipment (and  toy shovels).  In
3).  In the other hand, he holds a  that respect,  you are, I daresay,
much-marked-up  list  of  needed  a tad  above the  sandpit.  After
equipment.  "Let's  see:    rope,  all, when I tell Mum all the great
hammers,    pitons,    crampons,  friends  I  made  at  kindergarten
tampons, clamp-ons,  spit, chewing  today, the  Teacher doesn't spring
gum....", he mutters.              to mind,  any more  than does  the
  And  then  we  mustn't  forget  School  Principal.    Perhaps  he
Carter Jimbob,  who  sits  at  the  should. Especially  as Teach is no
side of  the pit  with his back to  stranger to the sandpit games, the
the rest  of the  Jimbobs (he does  latest of  which involved  Beowulf
look    over    his    shoulder  :). [Editor's  note -  John  Cowan
occasionally).  He is  engaged in  recently translated  a small piece
digging  out  a  small  but  deep  of Beowulf into Lojban]
excavation with  his  bare  hands,    My  hats  off,  though,  for  a
and is  sometimes heard  to wonder  brilliant  sandpit  tale,  which
why he can't seem to keep the sand  deserves  to  get  into  a  JL  or
from  falling  back  in  so  fast.  three.
Next to  him are  Bruce  Jilsonbob
and his  merry men,  who are doing  [Signed] Nick,  splashing sand far
the same  with  their  larger  but  and wide, currently running a game
much shallower  hole.  The sand is in which  a circle  of people pour
falling back  into their  hole  as  the same  cupful of sand into each
well, but they are digging so fast  other's hands (the phone game).
they haven't really noticed yet.
  There  is  a  rumor  among  the  John Cowan  responds  to  Nick's
Jimbobs that somewhere in the pit,  comments about  his 'Jimbob  name'
or perhaps  in a  different pit of  and kindergarten:
the  same  size  and  shape  (this
question being hotly debated among    John McJohnbob writes:
the Jimbobs)  there  still  exists    (By  the  way,  John,  why  the
the legendary  First Digger,  Jim-    "Mc"?)
brownbob.   But whereas  the First
Digger was  formerly notorious for    Is simple.  "Cowan" is an Irish
the volume  of his  voice, audible  name,  "Mac  Eoin",  where  "Eoin"
at every  part of  the pit,  those  (pronounced roughly "Owen") is the
who claim  to have spoken with him


                                  73
ni'oni'o di'e se tcita <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
earlier Irish  form of "John".  So    (Oh    sweet-beloved,    (this
I am John, son of John.              sentence is  expressed by Prince
                                      (uncertain)  (was  it?))  you
  After all,  when I  tell Mum all    express  everything  which  is
  the  great  friends  I  made  at    discussed by  none other  than a
  kindergarten today,  the Teacher    female  friend  to  me  who  is
  doesn't spring to mind, any more    (suppose) a girlfriend of you.)
  than does  the School Principal.
  Perhaps he should. Especially as  The "noi  da'i  fetypendo"  is  an
  Teach  is  no  stranger  to  the  excellent  compression  of  the
  sandpit games...                  English. By  the way,  fetpendo is
                                    quite alright.  The  fault creeps
  That's what  you say.  When  my  in  with  the  form  of  quotation
four-year-old  daughter  actually  used.  Does the "xu" tie with the
went to  kindergarten,  the  first  whole sentence  (as  intended)  or
friend  she  mentioned  was  the  only  with  the  name  Prince?
teacher.  (I should  mention that  (Actually, both make sense.)  More
this  is  one-a-dem  progressive  importantly, is  the "do"  of  the
places wherein  Teach is  known as  phrase the  "do" Prince  spoke to,
"Julie"    instead    of    "Ms.  or the  person I'm speaking to?  I
Kirkpatrick.")                      tend to  favour the  latter:  the
                                    "cu'u la  prins." is  a  tagged-on
    le lojbo se ciska (cont.)      part  of    the  sentence,  and
                                    shouldn't,  I  feel,  alter  the
  Now here  is Nick's summary of a  referent of "do".  And finally, is
second 'phone  game' message,  one  "doi titselprami"  included in the
that did  not pass as clearly from  quote or not?  I see no reason why
person to  person.  Note that the  it shouldn't  be  included.    The
group is fairly tolerant of Lojban  result thus comes out (assume I am
grammar errors, which is after all  talking to  Kate, and  Prince  was
one  reason    why  errors    in  talking to Cat):
'transmission' can  occur  in  the
phone game.  Since this is a game,    I  think  Prince  said  this:
it is  desirable that  some errors    Sweetheart, do you, Kate...
occur  -    that  is  how  the
participants  (and  you  who  read  as opposed to:
this) learn  what is  important in
Lojban  translation,  which  after    I  think  Prince  said  this:
all is  a  science  in  its  early    "Sweetheart, do you, Cat..."
infancy.  Here's Nick:
                                    but  not  I  think  (others  may
The second  phrase to  go  through  disagree):
the phone game was:
                                      I  think  Prince  said  this,
  As Prince once said, sweetheart,    sweetheart  Kate:    "Do  you,
  (if I  remember correctly) "If I    Cat..."
  was your  girlfriend, would  you
  still tell  me all  those things  This is critical.  The conclusion,
  only girlfriends talk about".    regrettably, is that "cu'u" is not
                                    the safest  way of  quoting  in  a
Sylvia handled it as:              sentence,  unless    the    whole
                                    sentence  is  quoted  -  including
  doi titselprami  cu'u la  .prins  "doi" (about UI I'm not sure), AND
  ju'ocu'i xu  do cusku  roda  poi  I still  think "do" outside quotes
  selcasnu no  de poi na fetypendo  (even with  a "cu'u"  tag)  stills
  ku'o ku'o  mi noi da'i fetypendo  refers to  your addressee, not the
  do                                quotee's.


                                    Colin comments:
.i tu'e


                                  74
la .asun. jo'u la .aniis. bruna remei .i la .asun. jbena le purci mamta .ije la .aniis. jbena le cabna mamta .i le cabna mamta goi ko'a cu to'e lanxe tarti .i ci'o ko'a le jbebersa be ko'a cu dirba .i ro bu'a zo'u: la .aniis. cu djica lenu bu'a .inaja bu'a .i la .asun. te cinmo to'ebo la'edi'u .i la .asun. goi ko'e citka nalculno gi'e dasni nalglare .iji'a so'iroi darxi ko'e .i le cabna mamta ta'e plafinti lenu catra la .asun.  
  I think  it's deeper - though in    "titselprami";  I'd  think  that
  a  way  simpler  -  than  your    attaching  figurative  qualities
  argument. "cu'u  la prins" is an    such  as  "sweet"  to  a  person
  adjunct not  of the jufra, still    would be  cultural.   I mean, is
  less the  selcu'u, but  strictly    your sweetheart literally sweet?
  of the  bridi. We  have a selbri    To the  taste?  I'd feel better
  "cusku" relating  several sumti:    with a culture-flag ("ku'u"?) or
  "do", "roda  li'o" and  "mi" ...   "pe'a" or "zabna" or their rafsi
  AND "la prins."                    somewhere  in  there  to  clear
                                      things up.   Or  even  drop  it
  You  express  all that ... to    entirely. 'Course,  then  sub-
  me who ...  as said by Prince.      sequent  people  wouldn't  think
                                      "Sweetheart" where they did now,
    I  started  off  writing  this    but  remember  we  have  the
  comment thinking  that you  were    advantage  of  all  having  good
  basically right,  and the Lojban    colloquial command of English.
  did not work, but having written      Something about  "cu'u":  It's
  the above,  I think it does, and    a BAI,  so it  attaches  to  the
  is very  clever indeed (once the    selbri, and thus in some sense I
  "xu"  is  moved  to  the  proper    see it  as attaching  to the x1.
  place).  It is  NOT  a  literal    [Lojbab: No!  A  bridi  is  not
  translation, but  it  works  for    necessarily a claim about x1 in
  me.  The basic  bridi is saying    particular among  the sumti, but
  "Do you  tell me all the things,    about all  of the  sumti.    The
  supposing  ..."  so  the  "cu'u"    only special  role of  x1 in the
  phrase adds  "As prince  said, I    language    comes    from    its
  think,  ..."    I  think  your    accessibility to "le" for making
  vocative stuff  is  missing  the    description    sumti.]        My
  point:      "cu'u"  cannot  be    translation probably  didn't use
  asserting  that  anything  in    this logic,  but consider  it  a
  particular was  actually said by    moment.  "mi klama cu'u la bab."
  Prince,  since  (except  in  the    This  doesn't  mean  "Bob  says,
  construction  "pecu'u"    etc.)    "I'm coming".  It means "I am-a-
  there isn't anything there to be    goer with-expressor  'bob'",  so
  the quotation.                      "mi" is the speaker (I guess I'm
                                      agreeing with  you here,  Nick).
(Nick gripes  that  that's  pretty    I really don't know exactly what
much what he was saying :)            the semantics  of this  sentence
                                      would be,  since "going" doesn't
  I notice  that  the  translation    make  too  much  sense  with  an
omits "still".                        "expressor" place;  barely  more
                                      than  it  would  make  with  a
Adds Mark:                            "chocolate" place  (fi'o cakla).
    The  original  sentence  is    I don't  think I trust "cu'u" in
  pretty convoluted to start with.   this  particular  sentence  (the
  Might have  worked  better  with    one I  just said  and the Prince
  "doi  titselprami  la   prins.   sentence).
  ju'ocu'ipei  cusku  lu  xu  do      Oh, and grammatically the "xu"
  cusku...  li'u",  that  is,  use    had to  attach to  "la prins.",
  lu/li'u  to  scope  the  quote.    the way things were written.)
  Hence the  problem with the "xu"
  getting  attached  to  Prince.  [Lojbab notes that the intent with
  Something is sorta strange about  "cu'u" is  to  be  used  to  quote
  "roda poi  selcasnu no de poi na  either  directly  or  indirectly.
  fetypendo", but  something in me  Quote marks would indeed delimit a
  likes it.   It's  not  literally  direct quote  most accurately,  in
  what the  original  had,  but  I  which  case    you  must    have
  didn't  misunderstand  it,  and  "cu'usa'a" to  indicate  that  the
  it's elegant and logical. I'm a 'said by' isn't part of the quote
  little      unsure        about  proper.   Thus  the  tradeoff  is


                                  75
.i paroikiku le cabna mamta cu cuxna re so'etsi .i pa so'etsi cu nalseljukpa .ije pa so'etsi cu seljukpa .i dunda le seljukpa la .asun. .ije dunda le nalseljukpa
whether,  in  the  original,  the  think" is  lost. Furthermore, the
<br />la .aniis. .i cusku
quote is merely an accurate direct  "doi titselprami" is assumed to be
<br /><<lu re ko cu mo'ine'i klama le kevna poi betfu le barda tricu .i ko pilno loi cilmo dertu lo tagji gacri be le so'etsi .i ko poi leke'a so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe cu pamoi zdaxru li'u>>
quote, or  whether the  intent is,  part of  what  Prince  is  saying.
as for  most English  speakers who  Apart from  that, it's an accurate
quote famous sayings in analogy to  guess,  but  Mark  felt  it  more
their own lives, that the meanings  honest to  rely on the text given,
of  referenced  'variables'  be  and chose  the first  alternative,
adapted to  the analogy.   As  an  which Colin translated as:
indirect quote, an expressor place
makes plenty  of sense. "mi klama    doi selprami  la prins. xu du le
cu'u la bab." means "Bob says that    cusku be  ledu'u do  ba cusku fi
I went",  not "Bob  says 'I went'"    mi fe  ro te  tavla befi da na.a
An  indirect  quote  is  usually    lo   pendyfetsi  va'o  mi  do
intended  to    reflect    fairly    pendyfetsi da'i
accurately what  the speaker actu-
ally  said  without  trying  for    Beloved, was  Prince the one who
literal quotation.  "du'o"  is  a   expressed  the  sentence:    you
more vague source attribution that    will  tell  me  all  the  things
is available,  meaning  'according    talked about  by  X  only  if  a
to'; it  would typically  be  used    girlfriend    does,    in    the
when reporting (in paraphrase) the    environment of me, in the medium
information content  of the source    of  you,  undefined  argument:
material.]                            girlfriend (suppose).


  Mark was in two minds between:      The main  error is  the omission
.i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu kei la .aniis. zgana lenu le le bruna ku so'etsi noi badmau cu farlu
                                    of  "va'o  lenu".   "da  na.a  lo
<br />.ibazibo fo le bruna cu canja .i bazuku le la .asun. so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe .i ko'e morji le se cusku be le mamta .isemu'ibo ko'e pamoi zdaxru .i le mamta cu zgana lenu le jbebersa be ko'a na xruti .i na kurji lejei ko'a jmive .i sutra sutra bajrykla mu'i lenu facki lejei la .asun. lidne da
  Sweetheart, was  it  Prince  who  pendyfetsi",  surprisingly  to  me
  said you'd  tell  me  everything  after a half-minute's truth-table,
  that  only  girlfriends  talk  works well;  but I  don't know  if
  about,  if    I    were    your  it's that  intuitable.   I  don't
  girlfriend?                      think  the  "be ledu'u"  'quoted'
                                    sentence  is  that  elegant  as  a
and:                                whole (the  nesting and reordering
                                    seem unnecessary), but the meaning
  'Sweetheart,'    said    Prince,  is conveyed, though the "ba" seems
  'Would you  tell  me  everything  to me misleading.
  discussed by only girlfriends if
  I were your girlfriend?'          Colin comments:
                                      As  often,  there'a tension
Nick:                                between precision  and elegance.
  The first alternative points out    "la prins xu cusku ledu'u" might
the fact that the referent of "do"    have done,  but seemed  to  lose
is still  the addressee. It is, I    the  force  of  "Was  it  Prince
feel,    the    more    natural    who". I  tend to  use "fi  mi fe
interpretation of the Lojban text.    role ..."  to get  a light sumti
It has the question hanging on the    before a heavy one even when the
identity of Prince rather than the    original doesn't  have that  or-
whole statement;  again,  this  is    der.
what  the  Lojban  text  implies.
"doi titselprami"  refers  to  the
addressee as does "do".
  The second  alternative has Mark
trying to  guess what  was  really
meant: namely,  that "cu'u" was an
attempt  at    literal  quoting.
Unfortunately, you  can't have the
"ju'ocu'i"  tying  to  the  name
Prince and  the "xu"  to the  main
sentence;  thus  the  "Prince,  I


                                  76
.i lo cmana cevni cu makfa tisna le tricu kevna loi dertu .i le cabna mamta ba cusku fi la asun. fe
Correcting  the  omission:    we      immediately  preceded  by  a
<br /><<lu ko cuxna lo cnadakfu gi'e klama fa'ertisna le tricu kevna li'u>>
started with:                            /la/, /lai/,  /la'i/ or /doi/
                                        as a  marker, and  it  cannot
  As Prince once said, sweetheart,      contain any  of these markers
  (if I  remember correctly) "If I      unless    the    marker    is
  was your  girlfriend, would  you      immediately  preceded  by  a
  still tell  me all  those things      consonant.       So,    look
  only girlfriends talk about".         backwards from the end of the
                                        piece for  any of the allowed
and ended up with:                      markers.  If we  don't  find
                                        one (e.g.  /jonz/), then  the
  Beloved, was  it Prince who said      whole piece has been resolved
  that  you    would  tell    me      as a name.
  everything  talked  about  by      b)  If you  do find  such  a
  people  only  if  they're  girl-      marker,  then  check  what
  friends, supposing  that  I  was      immediately precedes  it.  If
  your girlfriend?                      there  is    nothing  (e.g.
                                        /ladjAn/),  or  if  a  vowel
Close-ish, but not quite.                precedes                (e.g.
                                        /mivIskaladjAn./,  break  off
      Morphology Algorithm              the  marker  as  a  resolved
Internal Revision 4.1, 8 June 1992      piece  (/la/),    and  what
                                        follows it is also a resolved
The  following  will  become  the      piece,  a  name  (/djAn/),
official  baseline  algorithm  for      leaving  us  with  whatever
resolution  of  Lojban  text  into      preceded  the  marker,  if
individual  words  from  sounds,      anything, as still unresolved
stress, and pause.  As such, it is      (/mivIska/).
the ultimate  standard of Lojban's      c)    If  what  precedes  the
unambiguous  resolvability,  which      marker is  a consonant  (e.g.
may make Lojban speech recognition      /karoslAInas/)  then  ignore
by computers  more  possible  than      the  marker  and  continue
for other  languages.  While  the      looking  backwards.      This
algorithm looks  very complicated,      exception is  allowed because
almost  all  of  it  is  resolving      /karos/  with  no  following
special cases, and performing what      pause cannot represent a sep-
error detection and correction may      arate word.
be possible.                          2)  ".y.", the hesitation:
                                        If the  piece consists solely
                                        of /y/,  then it  resolves as
We have  a string representing the      the hesitation word (which is
speech stream,  marked with stress      required to  be surrounded by
and pauses.  We  want to break it      pauses).
up into words.                       


.i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri .i pa cipni goi ko'i cu vofli cliva gi'ecabo klaku cusku zoi <<.xakkas go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> no'u <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
<br />.i vofli ze'abaku .i ti'e ca'o ro crisa ko'i rolnicte sanli le tricu forca gi'e cusku zoi <<.xakkas. go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> .i cusku pu'o lenu le molko'a cu ciblu vikmi


1.  First, break  at  all  pauses
tu'u
(cannot pause  in the  middle of a
word).
2.  Then, pick  the  first  piece
that has  not  been  uniquely  re-
solved.
A.  The first  thing is  to deal
with some  constructs  which  are
required to end with a pause:
  1)  Names:
    a)  If the last letter of the
    piece is a consonant, we have
    a name.  A  name must have a
    pause before  it UNLESS it is


                                  77
== Translations of le lojbo se ciska ==
  3)    Some    lerfu    words:    /nu/ +  /mi/ +  /ba/ + /ca'a/).
  specifically,  the  last  lerfu    If there are no consonants, the
  word of a string if it ends in    piece is  a single  cmavo.  In
  a  "y"  (e.g.  /abubycydy/  or    either case,  the piece is com-
  /y'y/) must  be followed  by  a    pletely resolved.
  pause:                            C.  Now we have a piece which we
    a)  If the "y" is preceded by  are sure  contains  a  brivla  (a
    a consonant,  break  off  the  gismu, a lujvo or a le'avla).  We
    consonant+"y" as  a  resolved  know that  a brivla  must have  a
    lerfu word  (e.g. /abubycydy/  consonant  cluster  (CC  or  CyC)
    gives  /abubycy/  unresolved,  within  the  1st  five  letters
    and /dy/  resolved as a lerfu  (ignoring  apostrophes  in  the
    word). Continue  breaking off  count), and must have penultimate
    any Cy  pieces as lerfu words  stress (ignoring  "y"  syllables,
    if they're  there (e.g. unre-  which  are  not  allowed  to  be
    solved /abubycy/  gives unre-  stressed).
    solved  /abuby/  +  resolved    1)  First, let's  check for  a
    /cy/; then  /abuby/ gives un-    potential error  (a form  which
    resolved /abu/  plus resolved    shouldn't arise):
    /by/).                              a)  If the piece contains no
      Note that  the Cy-type lerfu      stress, but  has a  consonant
      words will NEVER come before      cluster (CC or CyC), it is in
      the other  lerfu word pieces      error.  The consonant cluster
      in  a  breath-group  -  the      indicates  it  contains  a
      "abu"  and  "y'y"  types  -      brivla  (gismu,  lujvo  or
      since  they    begin  with      le'avla),  which    requires
      vowels,  they    MUST    be      penultimate stress.  The only
      preceded by  pauses; and  Cy      place  this  MIGHT  validly
      followed  by  anything  but      occur is  inside a  zoi-quote
      another Cy  must be followed      (and therefore  need  not  be
      by a  pause (because  "y" is      resolved at all).
      used as  glue in  lujvo,  it      b)    However,  if  stress
      could  cause  resolvability      information is not available,
      problems  if  not  separate;      assume the brivla ends at the
      e.g.  /micybusmAbru/  would      end of the piece.  (This rule
      not uniquely resolve).            gives the right behavior with
    b)  If the "y" is preceded by      canonical  written  Lojban,
    "V'" (e.g.  /y'y/, break  be-      where  spaces  separate  all
    fore the  "V", and  the "V'y"      words except  for some  cmavo
    is resolved as a lerfu word.        compounds  and  stress  is
    c)  If the "y" is preceded by      normally not marked.)
    an "i"  or "u" ("iy" and "uy"    2)  Next, let's find the end of
    are  reserved)  the  piece    the first brivla in the piece:
    cannot be resolved.                a)  Find the first consonant
    d)  If the "y" is preceded by      cluster (CC  or CyC) and then
    a vowel (V) other than "i" or      the  first  stress  after  it
    "u", the  piece is  in  error      (the brivla  is  expected  to
    and  cannot  be  further  re-      end  after    the  syllable
    solved.                            following  the  stress,  ig-
B.  Next, see  if the  piece  is      noring "y"  syllables).    If
composed entirely of cmavo.              the stress is on a diphthong,
  1)  Check the  piece to see if      treat the entire diphthong as
  there are  any consonant  clus-      stressed (So  that "find  the
  ters (a consonant cluster is of      next vowel" will not get just
  one of the forms CC or CyC). If      the second  half of the diph-
  there are  none, break  up  the      thong).
  piece  before  each  consonant,      b)  If there  is no vowel in
  resolving each piece as a cmavo      the piece  after the  stress,
  (e.g.  /alenumibaca'a/  breaks      it  can't  be  a  penultimate
  into the  cmavo /a/  +  /le/  +      stress, so  the piece  is  in


                                  78
=== Translation of lei lojbo ===
    error (unresolvable).    This        2]  Repeat the above as many
    is also  true if  "y" is  the        times  as  we  can  (so,
    only vowel  after the  stress        /lekArce/  becomes  /le/  =
    (e.g. */stAsy/ is not a valid        cmavo  +  /kArce/  =   un-
    breath-group).                      resolved. Since  /kArce/ has
    c)    If  the  NEXT  vowel        a consonant  cluster in  the
    following    the      stress        first five letters, we can't
    (skipping  over  "y"'s  )  is        go any further).
    immediately followed  by "'V"        3]  If the  piece  we  have
    (as in /mlAtyci'a/), then the        left starts  with  a  vowel,
    syllable following the stress        find  the  first  consonant.
    cannot be  the last  syllable        If the  first  consonant  is
    of  a  word  (since  the  'V        part of  a consonant cluster
    cannot begin  the next word).        (only  CC-form  this  time),
    Ordinarily  we  would  count        and this  consonant  cluster
    this as  an error,  but let's        is NOT a valid initial clus-
    instead assume  that this was        ter, then we can resolve the
    a secondary stress and ignore        entire piece  as  a  le'avla
    the fact  that there  is some        (e.g.          /antipAsto/);
    stress on  it.  Go find  the        otherwise  (if  the  first
    next stress  to  use  as  THE        consonant is  NOT part  of a
    penultimate stress  for  this        consonant  cluster,  or  the
    brivla        (e.g.        in        consonant cluster IS a valid
    /mlAtyci'abrIjuti/,    assume        initial cluster),  break off
    the  penultimate  stress  is        before the  first  consonant
    "I", not "A").                      as a  cmavo (e.g. /a'ofArlu/
    d)  Having eliminated all the        becomes  /a'o/  =  cmavo  +
    potential    problems    with        /fArlu/  = unresolved;  or,
    finding the  end,  let's  cut        /aismAcu/  becomes  /ai/  =
    the piece  after the  end  of       cmavo  +  /smAcu/  =  un-
    the brivla:                          resolved).
      Find the  first  vowel  (not      b)  What's left begins with a
      counting  "y")  after  the      consonant and has a consonant
      stress.  If it is part of a      cluster (CC  or CyC)  in  the
      diphthong, break  after  the      first 5  letters.  The whole
      diphthong; otherwise,  break      thing may  be  a  brivla,  or
      after the vowel itself.            there may  be (at  most)  one
  3)    Now  let's  find  the      consonant-initial  cmavo  in
  beginning of  the brivla in the      front.  Here  are  the  pos-
  front part of the piece we just      sibilities for  the start  of
  broke off:                            the    piece,    and    their
    a)  First, break off as many      resolutions:
    obvious cmavo  pieces off the        1]  CC... :
    front as we can:                      Resolve whole  thing as  a
      1]  If there is no consonant          brivla (a gismu, lujvo, or
      cluster (CC  or CyC)  in the          le'avla).
      first  5  letters  (ignoring        2]  CyC... :
      apostrophes in  the  count),          Invalid              form.
      then, if  the  piece  starts  Unresolvable.
      with a  vowel, break off be-
      fore  the  first  consonant
      (e.g. /alekArce/ becomes /a/
      =  cmavo)  +  /lekArce/  =
      unresolved), otherwise break
      off  before    the  second
      consonant (e.g.  /vilekArce/
      becomes  /vi/  = cmavo  +
      /lekArce/  =   unresolved).
      The  front  piece  is  then
      resolved as a cmavo.


                                  79
Katrina: mi xatra be la .alis. ciska bau la lojban. .i .e'o ko sidju lenu fanva
      3]  CVVCC... :                        (gismu,    lujvo,      or
<br />I (letter-to-Alice)-write in- language Lojban. (Petition!) You! (Imperative!) assist the- event of translating.
        (Note: stressing  a  cmavo          le'avla).    For  example,
<br />I've written a letter to Alice in Lojban. Please help me translate it (to English).
        on the  final syllable be-          /selfArlu/.
        fore  a  brivla  is  not          c]  If there is a "y", we
        allowed.)                          need to  look at  the sub-
        a]  If there is no stress          piece up to the first "y":
        on the  VV and the CC is a            1>    If  the  sub-piece
        valid  initial  cluster,            consists  entirely  of
        then break  off  the  CVV,            CVC's  repeating    (at
        and resolve it as a cmavo;            least  2  needed:  e.g.
        the  remaining  piece  can            /cacric/), and  all  the
        then  be  resolved  as  a            CC's  of  the  sub-piece
        brivla  (see    "CC....",            are    valid    initial
        above).    For  example,            clusters,  then  resolve
        /leiprEnu/  becomes  /lei/            the  initial  CV  as  a
        = cmavo  +    /prEnu/  =            cmavo, and  the rest  of
        brivla.                               the  whole  piece  is  a
        b]  Otherwise (i.e. there            brivla  (a  lujvo  or
        IS a  stress on the VV, or            le'avla).
        the    first    consonant            2>   Otherwise,  if  the
        cluster  is  not  a  valid            sub-piece can  be broken
        initial cluster),  resolve            down into  a valid lujvo
        the  whole  thing  as  a            "front" in front and any
        brivla  (e.g.  /cAItro/  =            number (including  zero)
        brivla)                               of valid lujvo "middles"
      4]  CV'VCC... :                        thereafter, resolve  the
        (Note: stressing  a  cmavo            whole piece as a brivla.
        on the  final syllable be-             a>  Valid fronts (we've
        fore  a  brivla  is  not            eliminated  all    but
        allowed.)                              those  starting  with
        a]  If there is no stress            CV): CVC CVCC
        on the  final vowel of the            b>  Valid middles: CVV
        V'V) and the CC is a valid            CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC
        initial  cluster,    then            3>  Otherwise, the front
        break off  the  CV'V,  and            CV should be resolved as
        resolve it as a cmavo; the            a  cmavo,  and  the  re-
        remaining piece  can  then            maining    piece    is
        be resolved  as  a  brivla            resolved as  a brivla (a
        (see  "CC....",  above).            lujvo or le'avla)
        For  example,  /so'iprEnu/          d]  If there is no "y":
        becomes /so'i/  = cmavo  +            1>     If  the  piece
        /prEnu/ = brivla.                    consists    of    CVC's
        b]  Otherwise (i.e. there            repeating  (at  least  2
        is a stress on  the final            needed) up to a final CV
        vowel of  the V'V,  or the            (e.g.  /cacricfu/),  and
        first consonant cluster is            all the CC's of the sub-
        not  a    valid  initial            piece are  valid initial
        cluster),  resolve    the            clusters,  then  resolve
        whole thing  as  a  brivla            the  initial  CV  as  a
        (e.g. /cA'Itro/ = brivla)            cmavo, and  the rest  of
      5]  CVCC...  (This  is  the            the piece is a brivla (a
      hard one.  Is the front CV a            lujvo).
      separate word?):                        2>  Otherwise,  if  the
        a]  If the whole piece is            piece can be broken down
        CVCCV,  then  the  whole            into  a  valid  lujvo
        thing resolves as a gismu.            "front" in front and any
        b]  If the  CC is  not  a            number (including  zero)
        valid  initial  cluster,            of valid lujvo "middles"
        then the  whole piece  can            followed  by  a  valid
        be resolved  as  a  brivla            lujvo    "end",    then


                                  80
Sam: .ui .oinai
          resolve the  whole piece    me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
<br />(Happiness! Pleasure!)
          as a brivla (a lujvo).     .i lo  fetcinfo noi  se ckasu lo
<br />I'd be happy to! My pleasure!
          a> Valid fronts (we've  lorxu lenu  ra roroi  se jbena  lo
          eliminated  all    but  pamei cu  bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei
          those  starting  with  noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
          CV): CVC CVCC              ni'o xe  ctuca  fi  ledu'u  loni
          b>   Valid middles: CVV  xamgu cu  .ei se merli fi lo klani
          CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC  na.e leni srana loka vrude
          c>    Valid  ends:  CVV 
          CV'V CCV CCVCV CVCCV   
                                    2.
          3>  Otherwise, the front    me  lo  resprtestudine  .e  lo
          CV should be resolved as  cicractu
          a  cmavo,  and  the  re-    .i  lo  resprtestudine  kuce  lo
          maining    piece    is  cicractu  leni  sutra  cu  dabysnu
          resolved as  a brivla (a  .isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice
          le'avla).                tu'a le  detri .eji'a  le stuzi cu
                                    ba sepli  bajra simjvi  .i le zu'u
                                    cicractu noi  ki'u leke'a rarna ka
                                    sutra cu  na'eke  se  mukti  jundi
__________________________________  lenu bajra  ku'o ca'o  lenu  vreta
              _____                te'e le  dargu cu  sipna    .i  le
                                    zu'unai resprtestudine.  noi sanji
    le lojbo se ciska (cont.)      leke'a  ka  masno  na  sisti  lenu
                                    bajra  .ije seki'ubo  le go'i noi
  It's time  for our feature texts  bajra zo'a  le cicractu  noi sipna
of this issue.                      cu mo'u  klama  le  co'e  pe  lenu
  The real  test of  an artificial  cnemu fi lenu jinga
language is how well it can convey    ni'o tu'a  le selsku cu xe ctuca
ideas from  a variety  of cultures  fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se
and languages.    This  issue,  we  na'eke se  mukti jundi  ku'o  lenu
present tales  translated directly  troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau
from  two  languages  that  few 
Lojbanists know.                   
  The first several texts are 6 of
the  moralistic  tales  of  the
classical  Greek  fabulist  Aesop,
translated from  the Ancient Greek
by Nick Nicholas.  The first thing
you will  undoubtedly note  is how
brief  the    stories  are,  as
originally written.    This  makes
each story a pleasant little chunk
of Lojban  to translate, and since
you will  likely find  the stories
at least  a little  familiar,  you
should be able to work through the
occasionally difficult  result  of
Nick's  efforts  at  matching  the
Greek syntax and style.
  You will  need a  complete cmavo
list,  including    the  changes
reported  in  JL14  and  JL15,  to
completely  succeed  with  these
texts, though  most  of  the  text
will be understandable without all
of the updates handy.
  Here's Aesop:


1.
Katrina: <<lu xu? la teris. cu se pluka le cukta poi ri te dunda fi mi li'u>>
<br />"Is it true? Terry is-pleased with the book(s) which he/she was given by me?
<br />Did Terry like the book(s) I gave him/her?


                                  81
Sam: pamai: ma? te kancu le cukta
3.                                  gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri
<br />Firstly, what-value? is-the- counted-value of the books.
  me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba          lo dratra  bo selxadni  joi  melbi
<br />First: How many books are there? [to know whether to translate "cukta" as singular or plural].
  .i lo  lorxu noi  xagji ku'o  ca  gi'eji'a bacru  lu'e ledu'u  ge ra
lenu viska  loi vanjba  gunma  noi  nu'o turni  .ei lei  cipni  gi  le
dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu  da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu
ra gi'eku'i  naka'e cpacu  .i  le  nibli  lenu  pu'i  turni    .i  le
go'i ca  lenu cliva  cu  cusku  fi  cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi
vo'a fe  <<lu lei  jbari cu  slari  le lorxu  fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo
li'u>>                              xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu
  ni'o si'a  so'i prenu poi naka'e  krixa  .i le  lorxu  cu  bajrykla
xagmaugau  lei  cuntu  ki'u  loka  gi'e  bacru  ba'o  lenu  kavbu  le
ruble cu pantypai le tcini          rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda
                                    fau le  da'i nu  do  se  menli  lo
                                    xamgu cu  fanta lenu do turni roda
4.                                  li'u>>
  me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be    ni'o le  prenu poi bebna ku'o le
ri                                  se cusku cu pilno se xamgu
  .i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu 
seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu    The  next  piece  is  a  little
se tavla  .iji'a  le cilmo  rokci  tougher, since  the story  is un-
leko  xadni  mlana  na  te  mosra  familiar to  most readers,  as  is
li'u>>  .i ke'unai le danlrkankre  the Chinese culture from which the
cu bacru  <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca  story comes.  The  text  is  John
ctuca cu  mo'ica'u cadzu  .ija'ebo  Cowan's  translation  of  a  short
mi fau  lenu viska  do cu  smizu'e  tale from Hakka Chinese.
li'u>>                                Hakka is  a rural dialect spoken
  ni'o  xe  ctuca  fi  ledu'u  lei  in inland  Southeast  China.    As
pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti  shown in  the translation section,
je  cadzu    sa'enai  cei  bu'a  Hakka  Chinese  has  a  different
.iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo  tonal structure,  and the text has
lenu bu'a                          many roots  quite unlike  that  of
                                    standard    Mandarin    Chinese.
                                    Indeed, John  had to go to  great
5.                                  lengths    to    find    suitable
  me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti    informants  who  could  explain
  .i ze'aca  loi dunra  lei  maxri  subtle points  of Hakka semantics,
noi se  prucimri'a ku'o  loi manti  since  John,  of  course,  doesn't
goi ko'a  cu se  sudgau  .ike'unai  know Hakka Chinese either.
lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji    John deserves  a lot  of credit,
cu cpedu  loi cidja  ko'a  .i lei  indeed!  I  like  his  philosophy
manti cu  crusku fi  ko'u fe  <<lu  that good  translation, especially
ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na  of  cultural    ideas,  requires
jmaji loi  cidja li'u>>  .i  ko'u  translation  from  the  original.
bacru <<lu  mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i  Thus, he  did not use an available
zgike sanga li'u>>  .i ko'a noi ca  colloquial English  translation of
cmila  cu  bacru  <<lu  do  sanga  the  story,  choosing  instead  to
ze'aca le crisa  .ije .uunai ko ca  work from the English and Mandarin
le dunra cu dansu li'u>>            glosses  found  below  in  the
  ni'o tu'a  le lisri cu xelctu fi  translation section  (asking  lots
ledu'u xamgu  fa lenu  gunka jundi  of  questions  of  knowledgeable
roda kei  fi  lenu  badri  najenai  informants, when appropriate).
selckape                              Here is John's text.  Enjoy!
                                   
                                    ni'oni'o di'e  se  tcita  <<lu  le
6.                                  bruna  cu  kenkakpa  sepi'o  lo
  me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu      cnadakfu  .ije le  mamta cu pensi
  .i lo  cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu  selraktu li'u>>
lo rectu  cu ca'o  zutse lo  tricu 
.i lo  lorxu  noi  viska  ra  gi'e  .i tu'e
djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli 


                                  82
Katrina: li ci .i ku'i mi na jimpe le mukti be lenu do terpreti .oi
la .asun.  jo'u la  .aniis.  bruna  .i vofli ze'abaku  .i ti'e ca'o ro
<br />Three. However, I not: understand le motive of the event of your asking. (Complaint!)
remei  .i la .asun. jbena le purci  crisa ko'i rolnicte sanli le tricu
<br />Three. But I don't understand why you ask such an irrelevant question!
mamta  .ije la  .aniis. jbena  le  forca gi'e  cusku  zoi  <<.xakkas.
cabna mamta  .i le cabna mamta goi  go1 zy3  cok8 cok8  oi1  zy3  pak8
ko'a cu  to'e lanxe tarti  .i ci'o  sok8 .xakkas.>>    .i  cusku  pu'o
ko'a le  jbebersa be ko'a cu dirba  lenu le molko'a cu ciblu vikmi
.i ro  bu'a zo'u: la  .aniis.  cu 
djica lenu  bu'a  .inaja bu'a  .i  tu'u
la .asun. te cinmo to'ebo la'edi'u 
.i  la  .asun.  goi  ko'e  citka  Translations of le lojbo se ciska
nalculno  gi'e  dasni  nalglare                 
.iji'a so'iroi  darxi ko'e  .i le       Translation of lei lojbo
cabna  mamta  ta'e  plafinti  lenu
catra la .asun.                    Katrina:  mi xatra  be la  .alis.
                                      ciska bau la lojban.  .i .e'o ko
.i paroikiku  le  cabna  mamta  cu    sidju lenu fanva
cuxna re so'etsi  .i pa so'etsi cu  I  (letter-to-Alice)-write    in-
nalseljukpa  .ije pa  so'etsi  cu    language  Lojban.    (Petition!)
seljukpa  .i dunda le seljukpa la    You! (Imperative!)  assist  the-
.asun.  .ije dunda le nalseljukpa    event of translating.
la .aniis.  .i cusku                I've written  a letter to Alice in
<<lu re  ko cu  mo'ine'i klama  le    Lojban.      Please  help  me
kevna poi betfu le barda tricu  .i    translate it (to English).
ko pilno  loi cilmo dertu lo tagji
gacri be  le so'etsi  .i  ko  poi  Sam: .ui .oinai
leke'a so'etsi  cu pamoi derjbe cu  (Happiness!  Pleasure!)
pamoi zdaxru li'u>>                I'd be happy to!  My pleasure!


.i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu  Katrina:  <<lu xu? la teris. cu se
Sam: le'onai mi troci lenu sidju (Defensive!)  
kei la  .aniis. zgana  lenu le  le    pluka le  cukta poi  ri te dunda
<br />I try to assist.  
bruna ku  so'etsi  noi  badmau  cu    fi mi li'u>>
<br />I'm only trying to help!
farlu                              "Is it true? Terry is-pleased with
.ibazibo fo  le bruna cu canja  .i    the  book(s)  which  he/she  was
bazuku le  la  .asun.  so'etsi  cu    given by me?
pamoi derjbe  .i ko'e morji le se  Did Terry  like the book(s) I gave
cusku be le mamta  .isemu'ibo ko'e    him/her?
pamoi zdaxru  .i le mamta cu zgana
lenu le  jbebersa be ko'a na xruti  Sam: pamai:  ma? te kancu le cukta
.i na  kurji lejei  ko'a jmive  .i  Firstly,    what-value?    is-the-
sutra  sutra  bajrykla  mu'i  lenu    counted-value of the books.
facki lejei la .asun. lidne da      First:  How many books are there?
                                      [to know  whether  to  translate
.i lo  cmana cevni  cu makfa tisna    "cukta" as singular or plural].
le tricu  kevna loi  dertu  .i le
cabna mamta  ba cusku  fi la asun.  Katrina:  li ci  .i  ku'i mi  na
fe                                    jimpe  le  mukti  be  lenu  do
<<lu ko  cuxna  lo  cnadakfu  gi'e    terpreti .oi
klama fa'ertisna  le  tricu  kevna  Three.  However, I not: understand
li'u>>                                le motive  of the  event of your
                                      asking.  (Complaint!)
.i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri  .i  Three.  But I don't understand why
pa cipni  goi ko'i  cu vofli cliva    you  ask  such  an  irrelevant
gi'ecabo  klaku    cusku      zoi    question!
<<.xakkas go1  zy3 cok8  cok8  oi1
zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> no'u <<lu  Sam: le'onai mi troci lenu sidju
le bruna  cu  kenkakpa  sepi'o  lo  (Defensive!) I try to assist.
cnadakfu  .ije le  mamta cu pensi  I'm only trying to help!
selraktu li'u>>
                                    Katrina:  .o'ocu'i  .e'o ko go'i
                                      .e'u


                                  83
Katrina: .o'ocu'i .e'o ko go'i .e'u
(Mere tolerance!)     (Petition!) a singleton,  which  incidentally,
<br />(Mere tolerance!) (Petition!) You! (Imperative!) do-the-previous. (Suggestion!)
  You! (Imperative!) do-the-pre-  however, is a lion".
<br />Grrr! Then DO so, for Pete's sake!  
  vious. (Suggestion!)
Grrr!   Then DO so, for Pete's
  sake!


Sam: ta'onai la teris. cinse ma?
Sam: ta'onai la teris. cinse ma?
(Returning to main point!) Terry
<br />(Returning to main point!) Terry exhibits sexuality/sexual- orientation of-what-kind?
  exhibits       sexuality/sexual-
<br />OK. Getting on with it, what gender is Terry? [to determine the gender of the pronoun translating "ri".]  
  orientation of-what-kind?
 
OK.   Getting on with it, what
Katrina: .i'anai se'inai .i ka'u do bilga lenu na terpreti de'u .a'unai
  gender is Terry? [to determine
<br />(Blame! Other-directed!) (I know culturally!) You are-obliged to the-event-of not: asking the recent utterance. (Repulsion!)
  the gender   of   the   pronoun
<br />Arrgh! You aren't supposed to ask such disgusting questions!
  translating "ri".]
 
Katrina: ju'i mamta la sam. cusku lo cinse preti .i'enaicai
<br />Attention, Mother! Sam expressed a sexual question (Strong disapproval!)
<br />Hey Mom!!! Sam just asked me a dirty question!
 
[Needless to say, Nora was playing around with the problems of machine translation between language, while also trying to show how fluent speakers might use the Lojban attitudinals to very expressively communicate feelings that don't record too accurately on paper. We hope everyone enjoyed!]
 
=== Translation of Aesop ===
 
1.
<br />me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
<br />Pertaining to a lioness and a fox.
 
.i lo fetcinfo noi se ckasu lo lorxu lenu ra roroi se jbena lo pamei cu bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
<br />A lioness, who incidentally is mocked by a fox about the event of giving birth to a singleton, utters "Yes, I did (give birth) to a singleton, which incidentally, however, is a lion".
 
ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u loni xamgu cu .ei se merli fi lo klani na.e leni srana loka vrude
<br />Teaching-method for the fact that the amount of goodness is (Obligation!) measured in units a quantity Not! and (but) in amount of pertaining to qualities of virtue.
 
Lioness and Fox. A Lioness being mocked by a fox on always giving birth to one, said "One, but a lion."
<br />That the good should not be measured in quantity, but in its relation to virtue.


Katrina:  .i'anai se'inai  .i ka'u
The only difficulty in this last story is the "go'i" within the quotes, which technically should not refer to text outside the quote (which the lioness couldn't have 'heard' to refer back to). This is poetic license of a type that makes sense, though, since she is responding to ridicule that might indeed have used the presumed relation "gave birth to a singleton".  
  do bilga  lenu na  terpreti de'u
  .a'unai
(Blame! Other-directed!)  (I know
  culturally!) You  are-obliged to
  the-event-of  not:  asking  the
  recent utterance. (Repulsion!)
Arrgh!  You aren't supposed to ask
  such disgusting questions!


Katrina:  ju'i mamta la sam. cusku
2.
  lo cinse preti .i'enaicai
<br />me lo resprtestudine .e lo cicractu
Attention, Mother! Sam expressed a
<br />Pertaining to a tortoise and a hare (wild-rabbit).
  sexual    question      (Strong
  disapproval!)
Hey Mom!!!  Sam  just asked  me a
  dirty question!


[Needless to say, Nora was playing
.i lo resprtestudine kuce lo cicractu leni sutra cu dabysnu .isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice tu'a le detri .eji'a le stuzi cu ba sepli bajra simjvi .i le zu'u cicractu noi ki'u leke'a rarna ka sutra cu na'eke se mukti jundi lenu bajra ku'o ca'o lenu vreta te'e le dargu cu sipna .i le zu'unai resprtestudine. noi sanji leke'a ka masno na sisti lenu bajra .ije seki'ubo le go'i noi bajra zo'a le cicractu noi sipna cu mo'u klama le co'e pe lenu cnemu fi lenu jinga
around  with  the   problems  of
<br />A tortoise, a hare, about the amount of swiftness, do combatively-discuss. Motivationally therefore they, who incidentally agreeingly decide (something about) the date and- also the site, do afterwards separately-runningly mutually- compete. The, on-the-one-hand, hare, who incidentally justified by his natural quality of swiftness other-than motivatedly attends-to the event of running, during the reclining alongside the road, sleeps. The, on-the-other- hand, tortoise, who incidentally is conscious of his quality of slowness, not: ceases the event of running. And justifiably therefore he (the tortoise), who incidentally runs past the hare, who incidentally sleeps, completitively comes to the [thing] pertaining-to the event of rewarding for the event of winning.
machine    translation    between
language, while  also trying  to
show how fluent speakers might use
the Lojban  attitudinals  to  very
expressively communicate  feelings
that don't  record too  accurately
on paper.     We  hope  everyone
enjoyed!]


ni'o tu'a le selsku cu xe ctuca fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se na'eke se mukti jundi ku'o lenu troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau
<br />The expression being something (told) is a teaching method for the fact that the natural characteristics which are other- than motivatedly attended-to, by the event of trying, is usually as-conditions-of-having-power,-is- exceeded.


      Translation of Aesop
Tortoise and Hare. A tortoise and a hare argued on their speed. So, having agreed on the date and the place, they ran raced apart. The hare, on the one hand, who because of its natural speed did not take pains with its running, having lied down by the road slept. The tortoise, on the other hand, being aware of its slowness, did not stop running. And thus it, running past the sleeping hare, arrived at the trophy of victory.


The word shows that natural quality which has not had pains taken over it is often overpowered by effort.


1.
3.  
  me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
<br />me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba
  Pertaining to a lioness  and a
<br />Pertaining to a fox and a/some grape(s).
fox.
  .i lo  fetcinfo noi  se ckasu lo
lorxu lenu  ra roroi  se jbena  lo
pamei cu  bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei
noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
  A lioness,  who incidentally  is
mocked by a fox about the event of
giving  birth  to  a   singleton,
utters "Yes, I did (give birth) to


                                  84
.i lo lorxu noi xagji ku'o ca lenu viska loi vanjba gunma noi dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu ra gi'eku'i naka'e cpacu .i le go'i ca lenu cliva cu cusku fi vo'a fe <<lu lei jbari cu slari li'u>>
  ni'o xe  ctuca  fi ledu'u loni  compete.    The,  on-the-one-hand,
<br />A fox, who incidentally hungers, simultaneous with the event of seeing of the mass of Grape Masses, which incidentally hang from a/some tree(s), desires the event of getting of-them (the Masses and-but not: is-innately- capable-of getting. He (the fox), simultaneously with the event of leaving, expresses to him(self) "The mass of berries are sour".
xamgu cu  .ei se merli fi lo klani  hare, who incidentally justified
na.e leni srana loka vrude          by  his    natural  quality  of
  Teaching-method  for  the  fact  swiftness  other-than  motivatedly
that the  amount  of goodness  is  attends-to the event of running,
(Obligation!) measured  in units a  during the reclining alongside the
quantity Not!  and (but) in amount  road, sleeps.  The, on-the-other-
of  pertaining  to  qualities  of hand, tortoise,  who  incidentally
virtue.                             is conscious  of  his  quality  of
                                    slowness, not: ceases the event of
  Lioness  and  Fox.    A  Lioness  running.        And    justifiably
being mocked  by a  fox on  always  therefore he  (the tortoise), who
giving birth  to one,  said  "One,  incidentally runs  past the  hare,
but a lion."                        who      incidentally      sleeps,
  That  the  good  should  not  be  completitively  comes    to  the
measured in  quantity, but  in its  [thing] pertaining-to the event of
relation to virtue.                rewarding  for  the  event   of
                                    winning.
  The only difficulty in this last    ni'o tu'a  le selsku cu xe ctuca
story is  the  "go'i"  within  the  fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se
quotes, which  technically  should  na'eke se  mukti jundi  ku'o  lenu
not  refer  to  text  outside  the  troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau
quote (which  the lioness couldn't    The expression  being  something
have 'heard'  to refer  back  to).  (told) is  a teaching  method  for
This is  poetic license  of a type  the  fact    that  the  natural
that makes  sense,  though,  since  characteristics which  are other-
she is responding to ridicule that  than motivatedly  attended-to,  by
might  indeed  have  used  the  the event  of trying,  is  usually
presumed relation "gave birth to a  as-conditions-of-having-power,-is-
singleton".                        exceeded.


                                      Tortoise and  Hare.  A tortoise
ni'o si'a so'i prenu poi naka'e xagmaugau lei cuntu ki'u loka ruble cu pantypai le tcini
2.                                  and a  hare argued on their speed.
<br />Similarly, many persons who not: are-innately-capable of good-more- bringing- about (improving) affairs justified by qualities of weakness, protestingly-judge (blame) the situation.
  me  lo  resprtestudine  .e  lo  So, having  agreed on the date and
cicractu                            the place,  they ran  raced apart.
  Pertaining to  a tortoise  and a  The hare, on the one hand, who be-
hare (wild-rabbit).                cause of its natural speed did not
  .i  lo  resprtestudine  kuce  lo  take  pains  with  its  running,
cicractu  leni  sutra  cu  dabysnu  having  lied  down  by  the  road
.isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice  slept.  The tortoise, on the other
tu'a le  detri .eji'a  le stuzi cu  hand, being aware of its slowness,
ba sepli  bajra simjvi  .i le zu'u  did not  stop running.  And  thus
cicractu noi  ki'u leke'a rarna ka  it,  running  past  the  sleeping
sutra cu na'eke  se  mukti  jundi  hare, arrived  at  the  trophy  of
lenu bajra  ku'o ca'o  lenu  vreta  victory.
te'e le dargu cu  sipna    .i  le    The  word  shows  that  natural
zu'unai resprtestudine.  noi sanji  quality which  has not had  pains
leke'a  ka  masno  na  sisti  lenu  taken over it is often overpowered
bajra  .ije seki'ubo  le go'i noi  by effort.
bajra zo'a  le cicractu  noi sipna 
cu mo'u  klama  le  co'e  pe  lenu 
cnemu fi lenu jinga
  A tortoise,  a hare,  about  the
amount    of     swiftness,     do
combatively-discuss.
Motivationally therefore they, who
incidentally  agreeingly  decide
(something about) the date  and-
also  the  site,  do  afterwards
separately-runningly    mutually-


                                  85
Fox and grape bunch. A hungry fox, upon seeing bunches of grapes hanging from some trellis, wished to obtain them and could not. Removing itself it said to itself: They are sour.
3.                                  Also, the  moist  rock,  by  Your!
  me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba          (Imperative!)  body-side  not:  is
  Pertaining to  a fox  and a/some  rubbed"    Continuing,  the  crab
grape(s).                          utters    "O    Mother!,    You!
  .i lo  lorxu noi  xagji ku'o  ca  (Imperative!),  who  incidentally
lenu viska  loi vanjba  gunma  noi  now teach  forward-movingly  walk.
dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu  Resultingly, I on-the-event-of the
ra gi'eku'i  naka'e cpacu  .i  le  event of  seeing  you,  similarly-
go'i ca  lenu cliva  cu  cusku  fi  act-with-purpose."
vo'a fe  <<lu lei  jbari cu  slari    ni'o  xe  ctuca  fi  ledu'u  lei
li'u>>                              pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti
  A fox, who incidentally hungers,  je  cadzu    sa'enai  cei  bu'a
simultaneous  with  the  event  of  .iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo
seeing  of  the  mass  of  Grape  lenu bu'a
Masses,  which  incidentally  hang    Teaching  method  for  the  fact
from a/some  tree(s), desires  the  that  the-mass-of    judgemental-
event  of  getting  of-them  (the  expressors      (critics)      do
Masses and-but  not:  is-innately-  (Obligation-social!)    virtuously
capable-of getting.  He (the fox),  behave    and    walk    (loosely-
simultaneously with  the event  of  speaking), which  is equivalent to
leaving,  expresses  to  him(self)  some-relation1.  Aftermathly-and-
"The mass of berries are sour".    not-previously (Obligation!)  they
  ni'o si'a  so'i prenu poi naka'e  (the mass  of judges  teach  about
xagmaugau  lei  cuntu  ki'u  loka  the event of it-relation1.
ruble cu pantypai le tcini
  Similarly, many persons who not:    Crab and  Mother.  Not to  walk
are-innately-capable of good-more-  crooked, a  crab was  told by  its
bringing-    about    (improving)  mother, nor  to rub  its sides  on
affairs justified  by qualities of  the  wet  stone.    And  it  said:
weakness,      protestingly-judge  "Mother,  you  who  teach  walk
(blame) the situation.              straight, and  watching you I will
                                    imitate."
Fox and grape bunch.   A hungry   That it is meet for the critical
fox, upon seeing bunches of grapes to live  and  walk  straight,  and
hanging from some trellis, wished then to teach the same.
to obtain them and could not.
Removing itself it said to itself:
They are sour.
  Thus too  some people  unable to
improve things because of weakness
blame the times.


Thus too some people unable to improve things because of weakness blame the times.


4.
4.
  me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be
<br />me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be ri
ri
<br />Pertaining to a crab and a mother-of-it.
  Pertaining to   a crab and a
mother-of-it.
  .i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu
seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu
se tavla  .iji'a  le cilmo  rokci
leko  xadni  mlana  na  te  mosra
li'u>>  .i ke'unai le danlrkankre
cu bacru  <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca
ctuca cu  mo'ica'u cadzu  .ija'ebo
mi fau  lenu viska  do cu  smizu'e
li'u>>
  "You! (Imperative!)  not: other-
than-forward-movingly  walk    [A
crab, by the mother is talked-to].


                                  86
.i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu se tavla .iji'a le cilmo rokci leko xadni mlana na te mosra li'u>> .i ke'unai le danlrkankre cu bacru <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca ctuca cu mo'ica'u cadzu .ija'ebo mi fau lenu viska do cu smizu'e li'u>>
5.                                  time of the summer sang [The Greek
<br />"You! (Imperative!) not: other- than-forward-movingly walk [A crab, by the mother is talked-to]. Also, the moist rock, by Your! (Imperative!) body-side not: is rubbed" Continuing, the crab utters "O Mother!, You! (Imperative!), who incidentally now teach forward-movingly walk. Resultingly, I on-the-event-of the event of seeing you, similarly- act-with-purpose."
  me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti    actually says "played the flute"],
  Pertaining to  a cicada  and of-  dance in the winter."
the-mass-of Ants.                    The myth  shows that  it is  not
  .i ze'aca  loi dunra  lei  maxri  meet that  one should  neglect any
noi se  prucimri'a ku'o  loi manti  thing, so  that s/he  may  not  be
goi ko'a cu se sudgau  .ike'unai  saddened and imperiled.
lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji 
cu cpedu  loi cidja  ko'a   .i lei 
manti cu  crusku fi  ko'u fe  <<lu  6.
ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na   me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu
jmaji loi  cidja li'u>>   .i ko'u    Pertaining to a crow and a fox.
bacru <<lu mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i    .i lo  cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu
zgike sanga li'u>>  .i ko'a noi ca lo rectu  cu ca'o  zutse lo  tricu
cmila  cu  bacru  <<lu  do  sanga  .i lo  lorxu  noi  viska  ra  gi'e
ze'aca le crisa  .ije .uunai ko ca  djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli
le dunra cu dansu li'u>>            gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri
  For-a-medium-time-interval-      lo dratra  bo selxadni  joi  melbi
during Winters, the mass of wheat,  gi'eji'a bacru  lu'e ledu'u  ge ra
which incidentally was previously-  nu'o turni  .ei lei  cipni  gi  le
moistened, by  some-of-the-mass-of  da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu
Ants  (them1)  is  dryly-brought-  nibli  lenu pu'i  turni    .i  le
about.    Continuing,  a  cicada  cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi
(it5), who  incidentally  hungers,  le lorxu  fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo
requests  of-the-mass-of  Food  of  xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu
them1.    This-mass-of  ants  ut-  krixa  .i le  lorxu  cu  bajrykla
teringly-expresses    to      it5  gi'e  bacru  ba'o  lenu  kavbu  le
"Justified by  what?  simultaneous  rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda
with the  summer you  dissimilarly  fau le  da'i nu  do  se  menli  lo
not: gather  of the mass of Food?"  xamgu cu  fanta lenu do turni roda
It5 utters  "I worked Not! and-but  li'u>>
musically-sang."     They1,  who    A crow, who incidentally in-the-
incidentally  simultaneously  with  aftermath-of capturing  some meat,
this (statement) laugh, utter "You  is-in-the-middle of  sitting-on  a
sing  for-a-medium-time-interval-  tree.  A fox, who  incidentally
during the summer. And (Cruelty!)  sees  it  (vague  -  probably  the
You! (Imperative!),  simultaneous  meat, but  possibly the  crow) and
with the winter, dance."           desires the  event of  getting the
  ni'o tu'a  le lisri cu xelctu fi  meat,   stands    and    approving
ledu'u xamgu  fa lenu  gunka jundi  describes  the  crow  to  it  (the
roda kei  fi  lenu  badri  najenai  crow) as a <correct-form be-bodied
selckape                            mixed-with beautiful>  thing  and-
  The expression  being  something  also  utters   the-symbol-for  the
(told) is  a teaching  method  for  fact that  both it  (the crow) is-
the fact  that [it]  is-good, that  capable-of-but-hasn't    governed
the event  of workingly  attending  (Obligation!) the  mass of  birds,
to  all-things,   by  standard-of-  and the (Supposing-that!) event of
goodness the  event  of  being-sad  it (the crow) was be-voiced by the
Not! and not: being-endangered.    good-thing  logically-necessarily-
                                    entails  the  event  of  actually
  Cicada and Ants.  At the time of governing.      The  crow,  who
winter  the    ants  dried  the  incidentally desires  the event of
moistened grain.    And  a  cicada  showing to the fox of the event of
hungering  asked  them  for  food.  actually being  be-voiced  by  the
And the  ants said  to it:    "For  good-thing, throws  the  meat  and
what reason  in the summer did you  loudly  cries-out.      The  fox
not gather  food as  well?" And it  runningly-goes-to and  utters  in-
said "I wasn't working, but I sang  the-aftermath-of  capturing  the
musically."     And  they  having  meat "O  Crow!,  Nothing,  in-the-
laughed said  "But if  you at  the


                                  87
ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u lei pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti je cadzu sa'enai cei bu'a .iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo lenu bu'a
event-of the (Supposing!) event of  - "un"  is "u"+"n", not equivalent
<br />Teaching method for the fact that the-mass-of judgemental- expressors (critics) do (Obligation-social!) virtuously behave and walk (loosely- speaking), which is equivalent to some-relation1. Aftermathly-and- not-previously (Obligation!) they (the mass of judges teach about the event of it-relation1.
you are  be-minded  by  the  good-    to "uen".Hakka  tones  7  (high)
thing, prevents  the event  of you    and 8  (low) are associated with
governing everything."                syllables ending  in "-p", "-t",
  ni'o le  prenu poi bebna ku'o le    or "-k".
se cusku cu pilno se xamgu          The Standard  Chinese version  (in
  For the  person who  is foolish,    Pinyin) is  a cross  between  a
the expression  is  usingly-being-    literal translation  and a list
good.                                 of etymological correspondences.
                                      A dash  (---) represents a Hakka
  Crow and  Fox.  A  crow  having    morpheme for which no  Standard
snatched some  meat  sat  on  some    equivalent could be found.
tree.  And a  fox seeing  it  and  English-1 is  a  list  of  English
wishing to obtain the meat, having  words roughly corresponding to the
stood  praised    it  as  well- Hakka    morphemes,    not    a
proportioned and  beautiful,  also  translation.
saying that  it should  indeed  be  English-2 is a literal translation
king of the birds,  and that this  of the Lojban.
would have  happened, if  he had a 
voice. And  it wishing  to show it    I wish to gratefully acknowledge
that it  also had  a voice, having  the invaluable  assistance of  the
thrown  off  the  meat  shouted  following:
loudly.  And it  having run to it  Lojbab  (Lojban  reviewer),  Nora
and having snatched the meat said:  LeChevalier (Lojban reviewer), Jim
"O Crow,  and if  you  had  brains  Carter  and  Alice  (Wang2  Yi3)
too, nothing  would be lacking for  Carter (Mandarin  informants), Hua
you to be king of everything."      T. Lin (Hakka informant).
  The  word  is  opportune  for  a    Of  course,  the responsibility
foolish man.                       for  any  errors  or  infelicities
                                    remaining is solely mine.
                                   


      The Hakka Translation
Crab and Mother. Not to walk crooked, a crab was told by its mother, nor to rub its sides on the wet stone. And it said: "Mother, you who teach walk straight, and watching you I will imitate."


That it is meet for the critical to live and walk straight, and then to teach the same.


Title:    "Brother  Bored  With  A
5.
  Chisel, Mother Worried In Vain"
<br />me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti
Source:  Yuan Jiahua et al., Hanyu
<br />Pertaining to a cicada and of- the-mass-of Ants.
  fangyan gaiyao  [An  Outline  of
  the Chinese Dialects], quoted in
  S. Robert  Ramsey, The Languages
  of China.  [This  latter  is  a
  much  recommended  non-technical
  book  for  those  interested  in
  learning about Chinese.]
Translation by: John Cowan


  Format:
.i ze'aca loi dunra lei maxri noi se prucimri'a ku'o loi manti goi ko'a cu se sudgau .ike'unai lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji cu cpedu loi cidja ko'a .i lei manti cu crusku fi ko'u fe <<lu ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na jmaji loi cidja li'u>> .i ko'u bacru <<lu mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i zgike sanga li'u>> .i ko'a noi ca cmila cu bacru <<lu do sanga ze'aca le crisa .ije .uunai ko ca le dunra cu dansu li'u>>
Lojban
<br />For-a-medium-time-interval- during Winters, the mass of wheat, which incidentally was previously- moistened, by some-of-the-mass-of Ants (them1) is dryly-brought- about. Continuing, a cicada (it5), who incidentally hungers, requests of-the-mass-of Food of them1. This-mass-of ants ut- teringly-expresses to it5 "Justified by what? simultaneous with the summer you dissimilarly not: gather of the mass of Food?" It5 utters "I worked Not! and-but musically-sang." They1, who incidentally simultaneously with this (statement) laugh, utter "You sing for-a-medium-time-interval- during the summer. And (Cruelty!) You! (Imperative!), simultaneous with the winter, dance."
Hakka
Standard  Chinese  (Mandarin  -
Pinyin Romanization)
English-1
English-2.


  The Hakka  is transcribed  as
ni'o tu'a le lisri cu xelctu fi ledu'u xamgu fa lenu gunka jundi roda kei fi lenu badri najenai selckape
  follows:
<br />The expression being something (told) is a teaching method for the fact that [it] is-good, that the event of workingly attending to all-things, by standard-of- goodness the event of being-sad Not! and not: being-endangered.
- initials are as in Pinyin;
- rhyme  vowels  are  as  in  IPA,
  except that "y" is schwa;


                                  88
Cicada and Ants. At the time of winter the ants dried the moistened grain. And a cicada hungering asked them for food. And the ants said to it: "For what reason in the summer did you not gather food as well?" And it said "I wasn't working, but I sang musically." And they having laughed said "But if you at the time of the summer sang [The Greek actually says "played the flute"], dance in the winter."
ni'oni'o di'e se tcita              According-to her1,  the  birth-son
[Totally new  topic] The following    of her1 is-dear.
  is labelled
                                    .i ro  bu'a zo'u:  la  .aniis.  cu
<<lu le  bruna cu  kenkakpa sepi'o    djica lenu bu'a  .inaja bu'a
  lo cnadakfu  .ije  le mamta  cu  a1 nyi4  oi4 mak7  ge4  ciu4  mak7
  pensi selraktu li'u>>              ge4,
Go1 zy3  cok8 cok8,  oi1 zy3  pak8  a1 yi4 ai4 --- de jiu4 --- de,
  sok8                              Anyi want something then something
ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 --  For-all  <predicate>  [If]  Anyi
  -                                  desires  the   event-of   <the
brother chisel  bore mother  waste    predicate> then <the predicate>.
  thoughts
"The brother hole-digs with-tool a .i  la  .asun.  te  cinmo  to'ebo
  spade-knife.  And the mother is    la'edi'u
  thinkingly-betroubled."           dui4 a1 sun4 sim1 gon1 ciu4 m2 he4
                                      an3 yong4.
.i tu'e                            dui4 a1  shun4 xin1  gan1 jiu4 bu4
Start of utterance-block              xi4 yi1 yang4.
                                    toward Asun  feelings then  not be
.i la .asun. jo'u la .aniis. bruna    this-way
  remei                            About Asun is-felt the-opposite-of
A1 sun4  tung2 a1  nyi4 he4 liong3    the-referent-of-the-previous-
  hiung1 ti4.                        sentence.
A1 shun4  tong2 a1  yi4 xi4 liang3
  xiong1 di4.                      .i  la  .asun.  goi  ko'e  citka
Asun with Anyi be two brothers.      nalculno  gi'e  dasni  nalglare
Asun  in-common-with  Anyi  are-a    .iji'a so'iroi darxi ko'e
  brotherly twosome.                A1 sun4 syt8 m2 bao3, cok7 m2 sao1
                                      han2 sy2 song2 da3 gi2.
.i la  .asun. jbena le purci mamta  A1 shun4  shi2 bu4 bao3, zhao2 bu4
  .ije la  .aniis. jbena  le cabna    --- hai2 shi2 chang2 da3 ta4.
  mamta                            Asun eat  not full  wear not  warm
A1 sun4  he4 cien2 oi1 giung1 ge4,    also often hit him
  a1 nyi4 he4 heu4 oi1 giung1 ge4.  Asun  (he2)  is-eater-ly  non-full
A1 shun4  xi4 qian2  mu3 sung4 de,    and is-wearerly  non-warm.  Also
  a1 yi4 xi4 hou4 mu3 sung4 de.      often hits him2.
Asun be before-mother bear 's Anyi
  be stepmother bear 's
Asun is-born-to  the past  mother.
  And Anyi  is-born-to the present
  mother.


.i le cabna mamta goi ko'a cu to'e
The myth shows that it is not meet that one should neglect any thing, so that s/he may not be saddened and imperiled.
  lanxe tarti
Heu4 oi1 zo4 nyin2 m2 gung1 tao4,
Hou4 mu3 zuo4 ren2 bu4 gong1 dao4,
stepmother behavior not just
The    present    mother    (she1)
  opposite-of    in-equilibrium-ly
  behaves.


.i ci'o  ko'a le  jbebersa be ko'a
  cu dirba
ci1 ga1  ge4 cin1  sen1  zy3  ciu4
  kon4 zo4 bao3 bi4,
zi4 jia1  de qin1  sheng1 zi3 jiu4
  kan4 zuo4 bao3 bei4,
oneself  's  one's  own  son  then
  regard-as treasure


                                  89
6.
.i le  cabna mamta  ta'e plafinti  vong2 teu4  yung4 nai2  tun2  gin3
<br />me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu
  lenu catra la .asun.                ki4,
<br />Pertaining to a crow and a fox.
Heu4 oi1  cung3 siong3 hoi4 si3 a1  huang2 dou4  yong4  ni2  ---  jin3
  sun4.                              qu4,
Hou4 mu3  zong2 xiang3 hai4 si3 a1  soybean use mud cover tight go
  shun4.                            You! [imperative] use of-a-mass-of
stepmother  always  think  murder    Wet dirt as-a snug cover for the
  Asun                                soya-seed.
The  present  mother  habitually
  plan-creates    the    event-of  .i ko  poi leke'a so'etsi cu pamoi
  killing of-Asun.                    derjbe cu pamoi zdaxru li'u>>
                                    kon4 man3  nyin2  ge4  sien1  bao4
.i paroikiku  le  cabna  mamta  cu    nga2, ciu4 man3 nyin2 sien1 zon3
  cuxna re so'etsi                    vuk7 ha1.
Yu1 it7  bai3, heu4 oi1 na1 liong3  kan4 ---  ren2 de  xian1 bao4 ya2,
  zak8 vong2 teu4,                    jiu4 ---  ren2 xian1  zhuan3 wu1
You3 yi1  ze4, hou4 mu3 na1 liang3    xia4.
  zhi1 huang2 dou4,                see who  's first  sprout then who
exist one time stepmother take two    first return home
  seed soybeans                    You! [imperative]  such-that  your
One  time  [sticky]  the  present    soya-seed  first  is-dirt-born,
  mother chooses two soya-seeds.      shall firstly home-return."


.i pa so'etsi cu nalseljukpa  .ije  .i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu
.i lo cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu lo rectu cu ca'o zutse lo tricu .i lo lorxu noi viska ra gi'e djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri lo dratra bo selxadni joi melbi gi'eji'a bacru lu'e ledu'u ge ra nu'o turni .ei lei cipni gi le da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu nibli lenu pu'i turni .i le cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi le lorxu fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu krixa .i le lorxu cu bajrykla gi'e bacru ba'o lenu kavbu le rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda fau le da'i nu do se menli lo xamgu cu fanta lenu do turni roda li'u>>
  pa so'etsi cu seljukpa              kei la  .aniis. zgana lenu le le
<br />A crow, who incidentally in-the- aftermath-of capturing some meat, is-in-the-middle of sitting-on a tree. A fox, who incidentally sees it (vague - probably the meat, but possibly the crow) and desires the event of getting the meat, stands and approving describes the crow to it (the crow) as a <correct-form be-bodied mixed-with beautiful> thing and- also utters the-symbol-for the fact that both it (the crow) is- capable-of-but-hasn't governed (Obligation!) the mass of birds, and the (Supposing-that!) event of it (the crow) was be-voiced by the good-thing logically-necessarily- entails the event of actually governing. The crow, who incidentally desires the event of showing to the fox of the event of actually being be-voiced by the good-thing, throws the meat and loudly cries-out. The fox runningly-goes-to and utters in- the-aftermath-of capturing the meat "O Crow!, Nothing, in-the- event-of the (Supposing!) event of you are be-minded by the good- thing, prevents the event of you governing everything."
it7 zak8  sang1 ge4, it7 zak8 suk8    bruna ku  so'etsi noi  badmau cu
  ge4,                               farlu
yi1 ge sheng1 de, yi1 ge shu2 de,  Hang2 do4  ban4 lu4,  a1 nyi4 kon4
one seed raw 's one seed cooked 's    do3 gia1  go1 ge4  teu4 zy3  go4
One soya-seed  is-non-cooked. And    tai4,
  one soya-seed is-cooked.          Xing2 dao4  ban4 lu4, a1 yi4 kan4
                                      dao3 ta4  ge1 de  dou4 zi3  guo4
.i dunda  le  seljukpa  la  .asun.    da4,
  .ije  dunda  le  nalseljukpa  la  walk to half road  Anyi see  fall
  .aniis.                            his brother 's bean pass big
suk8 ge4  bun1 a1  sun4, sang1 ge4  After the event-of walkingly-going
  bun1 a1 nyi4,                      by-route half-of the road, Anyi
shu2 de  fen1 a1  shun4, sheng1 de    observes  the   event-of   the
  fen1 a1 yi4,                        brother's  soya-seed,  which-in-
cooked 's  give Asun  raw 's  give    cidentally-is bigger, falling.
  Anyi
Gives the cooked to-Asun.   Gives  .ibazibo fo le bruna cu canja
  the non-cooked to-Anyi.          ciu4 tung2 gia1 go1 gao4.
                                    jiu4 tong2 ta4 ge1 ta4.
.i cusku  <<lu re  ko cu  mo'ine'i  then with his brother trade
  klama  le  kevna  poi  betfu  le  Then-shortly-after,    with    the
  barda tricu                        brother, exchanges.
vong3 gi2  liong3  ge4  nyin2  do4
  tai4 su4 lung1 du3 li3 ki4,
ciao4 ta4  liang3 de ren2 dao4 da4
  shu4 long2 du3 li3 qu4,
tell them  two thing person to big
  tree hole belly inside go
Expresses    "Two    of     You!
  [imperative] inwardly  go-to the
  cavity  that  bellies  the big
  tree.


.i ko  pilno loi  cilmo  dertu  lo
ni'o le prenu poi bebna ku'o le se cusku cu pilno se xamgu
  tagji gacri be le so'etsi
<br />For the person who is foolish, the expression is usingly-being- good.


                                  90
Crow and Fox. A crow having snatched some meat sat on some tree. And a fox seeing it and wishing to obtain the meat, having stood praised it as well- proportioned and beautiful, also saying that it should indeed be king of the birds, and that this would have happened, if he had a voice. And it wishing to show it that it also had a voice, having thrown off the meat shouted loudly. And it having run to it and having snatched the meat said: "O Crow, and if you had brains too, nothing would be lacking for you to be king of everything."
.i bazuku  le la .asun. so'etsi cu  .i lo  cmana cevni  cu makfa tisna
  pamoi derjbe                        le tricu kevna loi dertu
Go4 e2  ho3 giu3, a1 sun4 ge4 teu4  san1 syn2 tu3 ti4 sy3 e2 fap7, su4
  zy3 sien1 bao4 nga2,                lung1 set7 bet8 e2.
Guo4 la4  hao3 jiu3,  a1 shun4  de  shan1 shen2  tu3 di4  shi3 le fa3,
  dou4 zi3 xian1 bao4 ya2,            shu4 long2 sai1 diao4 le.
pass -ed  really long Asun 's bean  mountain god  earth use  -ed magic
  first sprout                        tree hole fill-in away -ed
[future] [long  time] Asun's soya-  A mountain  god magically  stuffed
  seed is-first from-dirt-born.      the  tree   hole  with-a-mass-of
                                      dirt.
.i ko'e  morji le  se cusku  be le
  mamta    .isemu'ibo  ko'e  pamoi  .i le  cabna mamta  ba cusku fi la
  zdaxru                              asun.  fe  <<lu  ko  cuxna  lo
gi2 ciu4  zao4 gia1  me1  ge4  fa4    cnadakfu gi'e  klama  fa'ertisna
  sien1 zon3 vuk7 ha1 ki4 e2.        le tricu kevna li'u>>
ta4 jiu4  zhao4 ta4  mu3  de  hua4  Heu4 oi1  ciu4 vong3  a1 sun4  na1
  xian1 zhuan3 wu1 xia4 qu4 la4.      it7 ba3  cok8 zy3  ki4 cok8 kai1
he  then  reflect  his  mother  's    su4 lung1 loi2,
  speech first return home go -ed  Hou4 mu3  jiu4 ciao4  a1 shun4 na2
He2 remembers  the expressed-thing    yi1 ba3  zao2 zi3  qu4 zao2 kai1
  by the  mother.    Motivated-by-    shu4 long2 lai2,
  that, he2 firstly-home-returns.  stepmother  then  tell  Asun  take
                                      one-handle chisel  go bore  open
.i  le  mamta  cu  zgana  lenu  le    tree hole come
  jbebersa be ko'a na xruti        The  present    mother  [future]
Gia1 me1 kon4 do3 ci1 ga1 ge4 cin1    expresses    to     Asun    "You
  sen1 zy3 mo2 zon3 loi2,             [imperative]  choose  a  spade-
Ta4 mu3 kan4 dao3 zi4 jia1 de qin1    knife and goingly reverse-stuff
  sheng1 zi3 mei2 zhuan3 lai2,       the tree hole."
his mother  see  fall  oneself  's
  one's own son not return come    .i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri
The mother  observes the  event-of mang2 di1  cok8 kai1 loi2 mak7 ge4
  the birth-son  of  her1  not    ya1 mo2.
  return.                          --- zhi1 zao2 kai1 lai2 --- de ye3
                                      mei2.
.i na  kurji lejei  ko'a jmive  .i  where  know    bore  open  come
  sutra sutra  bajrykla mu'i  lenu    something even not-exist
  facki                            Simultaneous-with  the  event-of
ciu4 miang4 nga1 m2 mai4 e2, giak8    hole-opening, nothing is-within.
  giak8 zeu3 ki4 kon4.
jiu4 ming4  ye bu4  ai4 le, guai4  .i pa  cipni  goi  ko'i  cu  vofli
  guai4 zou3 qu4 kan4.               cliva gi'ecabo klaku cusku
then life  even not want -ed quick  Zong3 yu1  it7 zak7  diao1 zy3 bi1
  quick run go see                    cut7 loi2, giao4 den3,
Not  taking-care-of  the   truth-  Zong3 you3 yi1 zhi1 niao3 zi3 fei1
  value-of her  living.  Swiftly-    chu1 lai2, jiao4 zo1,
  swift runningly-goes with-motive  assemble exist  one head  bird fly
  the event-of discovering            emerge come call -ing
                                    One  bird  [it3]  flyingly  leaves
lejei la .asun. lidne da              and-then weepingly expresses
Mang2 di1  zy4 a1  sun4 cut7  loi2
  heu4,                             zoi <<.xakkas  go1 zy3  cok8  cok8
--- zhi1  zi4 a1  shun4 chu1  lai2    oi1  zy3  pak8  sok8  .xakkas.>>
  hou4,                              no'u <<lu  le bruna  cu kenkakpa
where know  from Asun  emerge come    sepi'o  lo  cnadakfu    .ije  le
  after                              mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
the truth-value-of Asun preceding  "Go1 zy3  cok8 cok8,  oi1 zy3 pak8
  someone.                           sok8!"


                                  91
The word is opportune for a foolish man.  
"Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 -              Next Issue
  --!"
brother chisel  bore mother  waste    Next issue (for those who have
  thoughts                          sent in your subscription forms
the-expression "go1  zy3 cok8 cok8  and money at least), includes a
  o1  zy3  pak8  sok8"  which-  lengthy discussion of the Sapir-
  incidentally-is  "the  brother  Whorf hypothesis and related
  hole-digs  with-tool  a  spade-  aspects of linguistic research
  knife.  And the mother is think-  from the point of view of several
  betroubled."                      linguists.  We also plan to
                                    publish John Cowan's paper on
.i vofli ze'abaku                  Lojban expression of mathematical
bi1 do4 ban4 tien1 ki4 e2.          expressions (MEX), a story
fei1 dao4 ban4 tian1 qu4 le.        translated from Bulgarian by Ivan
fly to half day go -ed              Derzhanski, as well as more of
A-flyer  [for-a-medium  interval]  Nick Nicholas's extensive work.
  [into the future].               
                                      Sample Page from Forthcoming
.i  ti'e  ca'o  ro  crisa  ko'i          Proto-Dictionary
    rolnicte sanli le tricu forca 
Tang1 gong3  mi1  nyian2  ge4  ha4    I wanted  to give  the community
  gi2, gi2  ya4 ya4  a1 diao4 den3  some feeling  that we actually are
  su4 va1 hong4,                    getting  somewhere  on  the  long-
Ting1 jiang3  mei3 nian2  de  xia4  promised books.  The best way  I
  ji4, ta4  ye4 ye4  --- diao4 zo1  know to  do this  is to  show you.
  shu4 cha4 shang4,                The following  page is  the  first
hear say  each year  's summer  he  section  of  the  gismu  list,
  night night  even drop -ing tree  starting with the letter 'B' as it
  crotch top                        has been  expanded  and  formatted
[I hear!]  During all  summers it3  for the dictionary.  While this is
  each-nightly stands-on  the tree  still a draft, it  should give  a
  fork                              good idea  of our  intentions.  We
                                    of course  would like  comments on
gi'e cusku  zoi <<.xakkas. go1 zy3  whether  the    print  size  is
  cok8  cok8  oi1  zy3  pak8  sok8  adequate,  as    well  as    the
  .xakkas.>>                        explanations (there  is some limit
giao4 den3,  "Go1 zy3  cok8  cok8,  to what  we can  do to improve the
  oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8!"              latter      without      delaying
jiao4 zo1, "Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3  publication,  but  I  still  would
  zi3 bai2 ---!"                    like to know what people think).
call  -ing  brother  chisel  bore    The larger  margins on  the back
  mother waste thoughts            page reflect the actual dimensions
and expresses  "go1 zy3  cok8 cok8  of the pages of the book (standard
  o1 zy3 pak8 sok8".                5.5" x 8" trade paperback).


.i cusku pu'o lenu le molko'a cu
=== The Hakka Translation ===
    ciblu vikmi
 
oi4 giao4 dao4 zoi4 gok7 teu2 cut7
Title: "Brother Bored With A Chisel, Mother Worried In Vain"
  hiat8 zang4 m2 giao4.
<br />Source: Yuan Jiahua et al., Hanyu fangyan gaiyao [An Outline of the Chinese Dialects], quoted in S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China. [This latter is a much recommended non-technical book for those interested in learning about Chinese.]
ai4 jiao4 dao4 zui3 jiao3 tou2
<br />Translation by: John Cowan
  chu1 xue3 zai4 bu4 jiao4.
 
want call until mouth corner bleed
Format:
  finally not call
<br />Lojban
Expresses up-until the event-of
<br />Hakka
  the   mouth-corner   blood   ex-
<br />Standard Chinese (Mandarin - Pinyin Romanization)
  creting.
<br />English-1
<br />English-2.
 
The Hakka is transcribed as follows:
 
* initials are as in Pinyin;
* rhyme vowels are as in IPA, except that "y" is schwa;
* "un" is "u"+"n", not equivalent to "uen".Hakka tones 7 (high) and 8 (low) are associated with syllables ending in "-p", "-t", or "-k".
 
The Standard Chinese version (in Pinyin) is a cross between a literal translation and a list of etymological correspondences. A dash (---) represents a Hakka morpheme for which no Standard equivalent could be found.
 
English-1 is a list of English words roughly corresponding to the Hakka morphemes, not a translation.
 
English-2 is a literal translation of the Lojban.
 
I wish to gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the following:
 
Lojbab (Lojban reviewer), Nora LeChevalier (Lojban reviewer), Jim Carter and Alice (Wang2 Yi3) Carter (Mandarin informants), Hua T. Lin (Hakka informant).
 
Of course, the responsibility for any errors or infelicities remaining is solely mine.
 
ni'oni'o di'e se tcita
<br />[Totally new topic] The following is labelled
 
<<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
<br />Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8
<br />ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 -- -
<br />brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
<br />"The brother hole-digs with-tool a spade-knife. And the mother is thinkingly-betroubled."
 
.i tu'e
<br />Start of utterance-block
 
.i la .asun. jo'u la .aniis. bruna remei
<br />A1 sun4 tung2 a1 nyi4 he4 liong3 hiung1 ti4.
<br />A1 shun4 tong2 a1 yi4 xi4 liang3 xiong1 di4.
<br />Asun with Anyi be two brothers.
<br />Asun in-common-with Anyi are-a brotherly twosome.
 
.i la .asun. jbena le purci mamta .ije la .aniis. jbena le cabna mamta
<br />A1 sun4 he4 cien2 oi1 giung1 ge4, a1 nyi4 he4 heu4 oi1 giung1 ge4.
<br />A1 shun4 xi4 qian2 mu3 sung4 de, a1 yi4 xi4 hou4 mu3 sung4 de.
<br />Asun be before-mother bear 's Anyi be stepmother bear 's
<br />Asun is-born-to the past mother.  And Anyi is-born-to the present mother.
 
.i le cabna mamta goi ko'a cu to'e lanxe tarti
<br />Heu4 oi1 zo4 nyin2 m2 gung1 tao4,
<br />Hou4 mu3 zuo4 ren2 bu4 gong1 dao4, stepmother behavior not just
<br />The present mother (she1) opposite-of in-equilibrium-ly behaves.
 
.i ci'o ko'a le jbebersa be ko'a cu dirba
<br />ci1 ga1 ge4 cin1 sen1 zy3 ciu4 kon4 zo4 bao3 bi4,
<br />zi4 jia1 de qin1 sheng1 zi3 jiu4 kan4 zuo4 bao3 bei4,
<br />oneself 's one's own son then regard-as treasure
<br />According-to her1, the birth-son of her1 is-dear.
 
.i ro bu'a zo'u: la .aniis. cu djica lenu bu'a .inaja bu'a
<br />a1 nyi4 oi4 mak7 ge4 ciu4 mak7 ge4,
<br />a1 yi4 ai4 --- de jiu4 --- de,
<br />Anyi want something then something
<br />For-all <predicate> [If] Anyi desires the event-of <the predicate> then <the predicate>.
 
.i la .asun. te cinmo to'ebo la'edi'u
<br />dui4 a1 sun4 sim1 gon1 ciu4 m2 he4 an3 yong4.
<br />dui4 a1 shun4 xin1 gan1 jiu4 bu4 xi4 yi1 yang4.
<br />toward Asun feelings then not be this-way
<br />About Asun is-felt the-opposite-of the-referent-of-the-previous- sentence.
 
.i la .asun. goi ko'e citka nalculno gi'e dasni nalglare .iji'a so'iroi darxi ko'e
<br />A1 sun4 syt8 m2 bao3, cok7 m2 sao1 han2 sy2 song2 da3 gi2.
<br />A1 shun4 shi2 bu4 bao3, zhao2 bu4 --- hai2 shi2 chang2 da3 ta4.
<br />Asun eat not full wear not warm also often hit him
<br />Asun (he2) is-eater-ly non-full and is-wearerly non-warm. Also often hits him2.
 
.i le cabna mamta ta'e plafinti lenu catra la .asun.
<br />Heu4 oi1 cung3 siong3 hoi4 si3 a1 sun4.
<br />Hou4 mu3 zong2 xiang3 hai4 si3 a1 shun4.
<br />stepmother always think murder Asun
<br />The present mother habitually plan-creates the event-of killing of-Asun.
 
.i paroikiku le cabna mamta cu cuxna re so'etsi
<br />Yu1 it7 bai3, heu4 oi1 na1 liong3 zak8 vong2 teu4,
<br />You3 yi1 ze4, hou4 mu3 na1 liang3 zhi1 huang2 dou4,
<br />exist one time stepmother take two seed soybeans
<br />One time [sticky] the present mother chooses two soya-seeds.
 
.i pa so'etsi cu nalseljukpa .ije pa so'etsi cu seljukpa
<br />it7 zak8 sang1 ge4, it7 zak8 suk8 ge4,
<br />yi1 ge sheng1 de, yi1 ge shu2 de,
<br />one seed raw 's one seed cooked 's
<br />One soya-seed is-non-cooked. And one soya-seed is-cooked.
 
.i dunda le seljukpa la .asun. .ije dunda le nalseljukpa la .aniis.
<br />suk8 ge4 bun1 a1 sun4, sang1 ge4 bun1 a1 nyi4,
<br />shu2 de fen1 a1 shun4, sheng1 de fen1 a1 yi4,
<br />cooked 's give Asun raw 's give Anyi
<br />Gives the cooked to-Asun. Gives the non-cooked to-Anyi.
 
.i cusku <<lu re ko cu mo'ine'i klama le kevna poi betfu le barda tricu
<br />vong3 gi2 liong3 ge4 nyin2 do4 tai4 su4 lung1 du3 li3 ki4,
<br />ciao4 ta4 liang3 de ren2 dao4 da4 shu4 long2 du3 li3 qu4,
<br />tell them two thing person to big tree hole belly inside go
<br />Expresses "Two of You! [imperative] inwardly go-to the cavity that bellies the big tree. .i ko pilno loi cilmo dertu lo tagji gacri be le so'etsi
 
vong2 teu4 yung4 nai2 tun2 gin3 ki4,
<br />huang2 dou4 yong4 ni2 --- jin3 qu4,
<br />soybean use mud cover tight go
<br />You! [imperative] use of-a-mass-of Wet dirt as-a snug cover for the soya-seed.
 
.i ko poi leke'a so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe cu pamoi zdaxru li'u>>
<br />kon4 man3 nyin2 ge4 sien1 bao4 nga2, ciu4 man3 nyin2 sien1 zon3 vuk7 ha1.
<br />kan4 --- ren2 de xian1 bao4 ya2, jiu4 --- ren2 xian1 zhuan3 wu1 xia4.
<br />see who 's first sprout then who first return home
<br />You! [imperative] such-that your soya-seed first is-dirt-born, shall firstly home-return."
 
.i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu kei la .aniis. zgana lenu le le bruna ku so'etsi noi badmau cu farlu
<br />Hang2 do4 ban4 lu4, a1 nyi4 kon4 do3 gia1 go1 ge4 teu4 zy3 go4 tai4,
<br />Xing2 dao4 ban4 lu4, a1 yi4 kan4 dao3 ta4 ge1 de dou4 zi3 guo4 da4,
<br />walk to half road Anyi see fall his brother 's bean pass big
<br />After the event-of walkingly-going by-route half-of the road, Anyi observes the event-of the brother's soya-seed, which-in- cidentally-is bigger, falling.
 
.ibazibo fo le bruna cu canja
<br />ciu4 tung2 gia1 go1 gao4.
<br />jiu4 tong2 ta4 ge1 ta4.
<br />then with his brother trade
<br />Then-shortly-after, with the brother, exchanges.
 
.i bazuku le la .asun. so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe
<br />Go4 e2 ho3 giu3, a1 sun4 ge4 teu4 zy3 sien1 bao4 nga2,
<br />Guo4 la4 hao3 jiu3, a1 shun4 de dou4 zi3 xian1 bao4 ya2,
<br />pass -ed really long Asun 's bean first sprout
<br />[future] [long time] Asun's soya- seed is-first from-dirt-born.
 
.i ko'e morji le se cusku be le mamta .isemu'ibo ko'e pamoi zdaxru
<br />gi2 ciu4 zao4 gia1 me1 ge4 fa4 sien1 zon3 vuk7 ha1 ki4 e2.
<br />ta4 jiu4 zhao4 ta4 mu3 de hua4 xian1 zhuan3 wu1 xia4 qu4 la4.
<br />he then reflect his mother 's speech first return home go -ed
<br />He2 remembers the expressed-thing by the mother. Motivated-by- that, he2 firstly-home-returns.
 
.i le mamta cu zgana lenu le jbebersa be ko'a na xruti
<br />Gia1 me1 kon4 do3 ci1 ga1 ge4 cin1 sen1 zy3 mo2 zon3 loi2,
<br />Ta4 mu3 kan4 dao3 zi4 jia1 de qin1 sheng1 zi3 mei2 zhuan3 lai2,
<br />his mother see fall oneself 's one's own son not return come
<br />The mother observes the event-of the birth-son of her1 not return.
 
.i na kurji lejei ko'a jmive .i sutra sutra bajrykla mu'i lenu facki
<br />ciu4 miang4 nga1 m2 mai4 e2, giak8 giak8 zeu3 ki4 kon4.
<br />jiu4 ming4 ye bu4 ai4 le, guai4 guai4 zou3 qu4 kan4.
<br />then life even not want -ed quick quick run go see
<br />Not taking-care-of the truth- value-of her living. Swiftly- swift runningly-goes with-motive the event-of discovering
 
lejei la .asun. lidne da
<br />Mang2 di1 zy4 a1 sun4 cut7 loi2 heu4,
<br />--- zhi1 zi4 a1 shun4 chu1 lai2 hou4,
<br />where know from Asun emerge come after
<br />the truth-value-of Asun preceding someone.
 
.i lo cmana cevni cu makfa tisna le tricu kevna loi dertu
<br />san1 syn2 tu3 ti4 sy3 e2 fap7, su4 lung1 set7 bet8 e2.
<br />shan1 shen2 tu3 di4 shi3 le fa3, shu4 long2 sai1 diao4 le.
<br />mountain god earth use -ed magic tree hole fill-in away -ed
<br />A mountain god magically stuffed the tree hole with-a-mass-of dirt.
 
.i le cabna mamta ba cusku fi la asun. fe <<lu ko cuxna lo cnadakfu gi'e klama fa'ertisna le tricu kevna li'u>>
<br />Heu4 oi1 ciu4 vong3 a1 sun4 na1 it7 ba3 cok8 zy3 ki4 cok8 kai1 su4 lung1 loi2,
<br />Hou4 mu3 jiu4 ciao4 a1 shun4 na2 yi1 ba3 zao2 zi3 qu4 zao2 kai1 shu4 long2 lai2,
<br />stepmother then tell Asun take one-handle chisel go bore open tree hole come
<br />The present mother [future] expresses to Asun "You [imperative] choose a spade- knife and goingly reverse-stuff the tree hole."
 
.i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri
<br />mang2 di1 cok8 kai1 loi2 mak7 ge4 ya1 mo2.
<br />--- zhi1 zao2 kai1 lai2 --- de ye3 mei2.
<br />where know bore open come something even not-exist
<br />Simultaneous-with the event-of hole-opening, nothing is-within.
 
.i pa cipni goi ko'i cu vofli cliva gi'ecabo klaku cusku
<br />Zong3 yu1 it7 zak7 diao1 zy3 bi1 cut7 loi2, giao4 den3,
<br />Zong3 you3 yi1 zhi1 niao3 zi3 fei1 chu1 lai2, jiao4 zo1,
<br />assemble exist one head bird fly emerge come call -ing
<br />One bird [it3] flyingly leaves and-then weepingly expresses
 
zoi <<.xakkas go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> no'u <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
<br />"Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8!"
<br />"Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 - --!"
<br />brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
<br />the-expression "go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 o1 zy3 pak8 sok8" which- incidentally-is "the brother hole-digs with-tool a spade- knife. And the mother is think- betroubled."
 
.i vofli ze'abaku
<br />bi1 do4 ban4 tien1 ki4 e2.
<br />fei1 dao4 ban4 tian1 qu4 le.
<br />fly to half day go -ed
<br />A-flyer [for-a-medium interval] [into the future].
 
.i ti'e ca'o ro crisa ko'i rolnicte sanli le tricu forca
<br />Tang1 gong3 mi1 nyian2 ge4 ha4 gi2, gi2 ya4 ya4 a1 diao4 den3 su4 va1 hong4,
<br />Ting1 jiang3 mei3 nian2 de xia4 ji4, ta4 ye4 ye4 --- diao4 zo1 shu4 cha4 shang4,
<br />hear say each year 's summer he night night even drop -ing tree crotch top
<br />[I hear!] During all summers it3 each-nightly stands-on the tree fork
 
gi'e cusku zoi <<.xakkas. go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>>
<br />giao4 den3, "Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8!"
<br />jiao4 zo1, "Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 ---!"
<br />call -ing brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
<br />and expresses "go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 o1 zy3 pak8 sok8".
 
.i cusku pu'o lenu le molko'a cu ciblu vikmi
<br />oi4 giao4 dao4 zoi4 gok7 teu2 cut7 hiat8 zang4 m2 giao4.
<br />ai4 jiao4 dao4 zui3 jiao3 tou2 chu1 xue3 zai4 bu4 jiao4.
<br />want call until mouth corner bleed finally not call
<br />Expresses up-until the event-of the mouth-corner blood ex- creting.  


tu'u
tu'u
End-of-utterance-block.
<br />End-of-utterance-block.
 
== Next Issue ==
 
Next issue (for those who have sent in your subscription forms and money at least), includes a lengthy discussion of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and related aspects of linguistic research from the point of view of several linguists. We also plan to publish John Cowan's paper on Lojban expression of mathematical expressions (MEX), a story translated from Bulgarian by Ivan Derzhanski, as well as more of Nick Nicholas's extensive work.


== Sample Page from Forthcoming Proto-Dictionary ==


I wanted to give the community some feeling that we actually are getting somewhere on the long-promised books. The best way I know to do this is to show you. The following page is the first section of the gismu list, starting with the letter 'B' as it has been expanded and formatted for the dictionary. While this is still a draft, it should give a good idea of our intentions. We of course would like comments on whether the print size is adequate, as well as the explanations (there is some limit to what we can do to improve the latter without delaying publication, but I still would like to know what people think).
The larger margins on the back page reflect the actual dimensions of the pages of the book (standard 5.5" x 8" trade paperback).
<pre>
   bacru                                  92                                  berti
   bacru                                  92                                  berti
                               B            bakri                                                                                                        
                               B            bakri
                                             chalk -  x1  is  a
                                             chalk -  x1  is  a
                     bacru                                                                                                                                                     quantity      of/-
                     bacru                 quantity      of/-
                       utter -  x1 utters  contains/is made of
                       utter -  x1 utters  contains/is made of
                       verbally/says/-      chalk  from  source
                       verbally/says/-      chalk  from  source
                       phonates  (vocally  x2 in form x3
                       phonates  (vocally  x2 in form x3
                       makes  sound)  x2;  baktu                                                                                                        
                       makes  sound)  x2;  baktu
                       (cf. krixa, cusku);  bucket -  x1  is a
                       (cf. krixa, cusku);  bucket -  x1  is a
                       rafsi: cru            bucket/pail/can/-
                       rafsi: cru            bucket/pail/can/-
                     badna                                                                                                                                                     deep, solid,  wide-
                     badna                 deep, solid,  wide-
                       banana -  x1  is a  topped container of
                       banana -  x1  is a  topped container of
                       banana/plantain      contents  x2,  made
                       banana/plantain      contents  x2,  made
                       (fruit)          of  of  material  x3;
                       (fruit)          of  of  material  x3;
                       species/breed x2      (cf. botpi,  patxu,
                       species/breed x2      (cf. botpi,  patxu,
                     badri                                                                                                                                                     tansi)
                     badri                 tansi)
                       sad -  x1 is sad/-  balji                                                                                                        
                       sad -  x1 is sad/-  balji
                       depressed/dejected    bulb -    x1  is  a
                       depressed/dejected    bulb -    x1  is  a
                       about  x2;  rafsi:  bulb (body-part) of
                       about  x2;  rafsi:  bulb (body-part) of
                       dri                  plant/species  x2;
                       dri                  plant/species  x2;
                     bajra                                                                                                                                                     (metaphor: rounded,
                     bajra                 (metaphor: rounded,
                       run -  x1  runs on  bulgy; (cf. punli);
                       run -  x1  runs on  bulgy; (cf. punli);
                       surface  x2  using  rafsi:        baj;
                       surface  x2  using  rafsi:        baj;
                       limbs x3  with gait  cognate: 'bulge'
                       limbs x3  with gait  cognate: 'bulge'
                       x4                  balni                                                                                                        
                       x4                  balni
                     bakfu                                                                                                                                                     balcony -  x1 is a
                     bakfu                 balcony -  x1 is a
                       bundle -  x1  is a  balcony/overhang/-
                       bundle -  x1  is a  balcony/overhang/-
                       bundle/package        ledge/shelf      of
                       bundle/package        ledge/shelf      of
                       (shape/form)  con-  building/structure
                       (shape/form)  con-  building/structure
                       taining  x2,    of  x2; (cf. kajna)
                       taining  x2,    of  x2; (cf. kajna)
                       surrounding          balre                                                                                                        
                       surrounding          balre
                       material        x3;  blade -  x1  is  a
                       material        x3;  blade -  x1  is  a
                       cognate: 'pack'      blade  of  tool/-
                       cognate: 'pack'      blade  of  tool/-
                     bakni                                                                                                                                                     weapon  x2;  (cf.
                     bakni                 weapon  x2;  (cf.
                       bovine -  x1  is a  dakfu); rafsi: ba'e
                       bovine -  x1  is a  dakfu); rafsi: ba'e
                       cow/cattle/kine/-    balvi                                                                                                        
                       cow/cattle/kine/-    balvi
                       ox/(bull)/(steer)    future -  x1 is in
                       ox/(bull)/(steer)    future -  x1 is in
                       (beef-producer/-      the future of/later
                       (beef-producer/-      the future of/later
Line 5,546: Line 3,135:


   bacru                                  93                                  berti
   bacru                                  93                                  berti
                       ba'i;      cognate:  banxa                                                                                                        
                       ba'i;      cognate:  banxa
                       'later'              bank -    x1  is  a
                       'later'              bank -    x1  is  a
                     bancu                                                                                                                                                     bank at location x2
                     bancu                 bank at location x2
                       beyond  -      x1  owned  by  x3  for
                       beyond  -      x1  owned  by  x3  for
                       exceeds/is  beyond  banking function(s)
                       exceeds/is  beyond  banking function(s)
                       x2 in  property  x3  x4 (event);  rafsi:
                       x2 in  property  x3  x4 (event);  rafsi:
                       (ka);  (cf.  dukse,  bax
                       (ka);  (cf.  dukse,  bax
                       ragve)              banzu                                                                                                        
                       ragve)              banzu
                     bandu                                                                                                                                                     suffice  -      x1
                     bandu                 suffice  -      x1
                       defend  -      x1  suffices/is
                       defend  -      x1  suffices/is
                       (event)  defends/-  enough/sufficient
                       (event)  defends/-  enough/sufficient
Line 5,562: Line 3,151:
                       potential        x3  claxu,      nitcu);
                       potential        x3  claxu,      nitcu);
                       (event);  x1  wards  rafsi: baz
                       (event);  x1  wards  rafsi: baz
                       x3; rafsi: ba'u      bapli                                                                                                        
                       x3; rafsi: ba'u      bapli
                     banfi                                                                                                                                                     force -  x1 (force
                     banfi                 force -  x1 (force
                       amphibian -  x1 is  -  ka)    forces/-
                       amphibian -  x1 is  -  ka)    forces/-
                       an  amphibian  of  compels event x2 to
                       an  amphibian  of  compels event x2 to
                       species/breed x2      occur;    x1    de-
                       species/breed x2      occur;    x1    de-
                     bangu                                                                                                                                                     termines  property
                     bangu                 termines  property
                       language -  x1  is  x2  to  manifest;
                       language -  x1  is  x2  to  manifest;
                       a/the    language/-  (cf. jitro,  rinka,
                       a/the    language/-  (cf. jitro,  rinka,
Line 5,573: Line 3,162:
                       people(s)      x2;  rafsi:  bap  bai;
                       people(s)      x2;  rafsi:  bap  bai;
                       rafsi: ban bau        cognate: 'compel'
                       rafsi: ban bau        cognate: 'compel'
                     banli                                                                                                                                                   barda                                                                                                        
                     banli                 barda
                       great  -    x1  is  big -  x1 is big/-
                       great  -    x1  is  big -  x1 is big/-
                       great/grand      in  large in property/-
                       great/grand      in  large in property/-
Line 5,582: Line 3,171:
                       rafsi:  bal;  cog-  rafsi:  bad;  cog-
                       rafsi:  bal;  cog-  rafsi:  bad;  cog-
                       nate: 'grand'        nate: 'large'
                       nate: 'grand'        nate: 'large'
                     banro                                                                                                                                                   bargu                                                                                                        
                     banro                 bargu
                       grow -  x1 grows/-  arch -  x1 arches/-
                       grow -  x1 grows/-  arch -  x1 arches/-
                       expands  into  x2  curves  over    x2
                       expands  into  x2  curves  over    x2
Line 5,591: Line 3,180:
                       x2 of  material x3;  pose  x3,  made  of
                       x2 of  material x3;  pose  x3,  made  of
                       rafsi: bag            material x4
                       rafsi: bag            material x4
                     barja                                                                                                                                                   bavmi                                                                                                        
                     barja                 bavmi
                       bar  -    x1  is  a  barley -  x1  is a
                       bar  -    x1  is  a  barley -  x1  is a
                       tavern/bar/pub  at  quantity of  barley
                       tavern/bar/pub  at  quantity of  barley
                       x2  serving  x3  to  (grain)          of
                       x2  serving  x3  to  (grain)          of
                       audience/patrons      species/strain x2
                       audience/patrons      species/strain x2
                       x4; (cf. gusta)      baxso                                                                                                        
                       x4; (cf. gusta)      baxso
                     barna                                                                                                                                                     Malay-Indonesian  -
                     barna                 Malay-Indonesian  -
                       mark -    x1(s)  is  x1 reflects  Malay-
                       mark -    x1(s)  is  x1 reflects  Malay-
                       a/are mark/marks on  Indonesian  common
                       a/are mark/marks on  Indonesian  common
                       x2 of  material x3;  language/culture in
                       x2 of  material x3;  language/culture in
                       rafsi: ba'a          aspect  x2;  (cf.
                       rafsi: ba'a          aspect  x2;  (cf.
                     bartu                                                                                                                                                     meljo,      bindo);
                     bartu                 meljo,      bindo);
                       out -  x1 is on the  rafsi:  ba'o;  cog-
                       out -  x1 is on the  rafsi:  ba'o;  cog-
                       outside  of  x2/-  nate: 'Bahasa'
                       outside  of  x2/-  nate: 'Bahasa'
                       exterior  to  x2;  bebna                                                                                                        
                       exterior  to  x2;  bebna
                       rafsi: bat            foolish -    x1  is
                       rafsi: bat            foolish -    x1  is
                     basna                                                                                                                                                     foolish/silly    in
                     basna                 foolish/silly    in
                       emphasize  -    x1  event/action/-
                       emphasize  -    x1  event/action/-
                       emphasizes/gives      property  (ka)  x2;
                       emphasizes/gives      property  (ka)  x2;
Line 5,613: Line 3,202:
                       x2 by  [action] x3;  rafsi:        beb;
                       x2 by  [action] x3;  rafsi:        beb;
                       cognate: 'accent'    cognate: 'boob'
                       cognate: 'accent'    cognate: 'boob'
                     basti                                                                                                                                                   bemro                                                                                                        
                     basti                 bemro
                       replace  -      x1  North  American  -
                       replace  -      x1  North  American  -
                       replaces/-            x1  reflects  North
                       replaces/-            x1  reflects  North
Line 5,620: Line 3,209:
                       rafsi:        bas;  geography in aspect
                       rafsi:        bas;  geography in aspect
                       cognate:              x2; rafsi: bem
                       cognate:              x2; rafsi: bem
                       'substitute'        bende                                                                                                        
                       'substitute'        bende
                     batci                                                                                                                                                     crew -    x1  is  a
                     batci                 crew -    x1  is  a
                       bite -  x1 bites x2  crew/team/gang/-
                       bite -  x1 bites x2  crew/team/gang/-
                       on/at  x3;  rafsi:  squad/band/or-
                       on/at  x3;  rafsi:  squad/band/or-
                       bac                  chestra of  persons
                       bac                  chestra of  persons
                     batke                                                                                                                                                     x2  directed/led/-
                     batke                 x2  directed/led/-
                       button -  x1  is a  conducted by direc-
                       button -  x1  is a  conducted by direc-
                       button/knob/-        tor/leader/con-
                       button/knob/-        tor/leader/con-
Line 5,634: Line 3,223:
                       rafsi:  bed  be'e;
                       rafsi:  bed  be'e;
                       cognate: 'band'
                       cognate: 'band'
                     bengo                                                                                                        
                     bengo
                       Bengali  -      x1
                       Bengali  -      x1
                       reflects    Bengali
                       reflects    Bengali
Line 5,641: Line 3,230:
                       guage in aspect x2;
                       guage in aspect x2;
                       rafsi: beg be'o
                       rafsi: beg be'o
                     benji                                                                                                        
                     benji
                       transfer  -      x1
                       transfer  -      x1
                       transfers/sends/-
                       transfers/sends/-
Line 5,655: Line 3,244:
                       rafsi:  bej  bei;
                       rafsi:  bej  bei;
                       cognate: 'send'
                       cognate: 'send'
                     bersa                                                                                                        
                     bersa
                       son -  x1 is a son
                       son -  x1 is a son
                       of  mother/father/-
                       of  mother/father/-
Line 5,662: Line 3,251:
                       biological); rafsi:
                       biological); rafsi:
                       bre
                       bre
                     berti                                                                                                        
                     berti
                       north -  x1  is to
                       north -  x1  is to
                       the  north/northern
                       the  north/northern
Line 5,672: Line 3,261:


   besna                                  96                                  brodo
   besna                                  96                                  brodo
                     besna                                                                                                                                                     ports  ordered  as
                     besna                 ports  ordered  as
                       brain -  x1 is a/-  well); rafsi: biz
                       brain -  x1 is a/-  well); rafsi: biz
                       the  brain  (body-  bidju                                                                                                        
                       the  brain  (body-  bidju
                       part)    of    x2;  bead -    x1  is  a
                       part)    of    x2;  bead -    x1  is  a
                       (metaphor:            bead/pebble
                       (metaphor:            bead/pebble
                       intelligence,  men-  (shape/form)    of
                       intelligence,  men-  (shape/form)    of
                       tal      control);  material x2
                       tal      control);  material x2
                       rafsi: bes          bifce                                                                                                        
                       rafsi: bes          bifce
                     betfu                                                                                                                                                     bee  -    x1  is  a
                     betfu                 bee  -    x1  is  a
                       abdomen -    x1  is  bee/wasp/hornet  of
                       abdomen -    x1  is  bee/wasp/hornet  of
                       a/the    abdomen/-  species/breed  x2;
                       a/the    abdomen/-  species/breed  x2;
                       belly/lower  trunk  rafsi: bic
                       belly/lower  trunk  rafsi: bic
                       (body-part) of  x2;  bikla                                                                                                        
                       (body-part) of  x2;  bikla
                       (metaphor:            whip -  x1 whips/-
                       (metaphor:            whip -  x1 whips/-
                       midsection);  (cf.  lashes  (a  sudden
                       midsection);  (cf.  lashes  (a  sudden
Line 5,690: Line 3,279:
                       be'u;      cognate:  rafsi:        bik;
                       be'u;      cognate:  rafsi:        bik;
                       'belly'              cognate:    'beat,
                       'belly'              cognate:    'beat,
                     betri                                                                                                                                                     lash'
                     betri                 lash'
                       tragedy -  x1 is a  bilga                                                                                                        
                       tragedy -  x1 is a  bilga
                       tragedy/disaster/-    obliged -    x1  is
                       tragedy/disaster/-    obliged -    x1  is
                       tragic  for    x2;  bound/obliged  to/-
                       tragic  for    x2;  bound/obliged  to/-
                       rafsi:        bet;  has  the  duty  to
                       rafsi:        bet;  has  the  duty  to
                       cognate: 'tragic'    do/be  x2    in/by
                       cognate: 'tragic'    do/be  x2    in/by
                     bevri                                                                                                                                                     standard/-
                     bevri                 standard/-
                       carry  -        x1  agreement/frame x3;
                       carry  -        x1  agreement/frame x3;
                       carries/hauls/bears  x1  must  do  x2;
                       carries/hauls/bears  x1  must  do  x2;
                       cargo x2 to x3 from  rafsi: big
                       cargo x2 to x3 from  rafsi: big
                       x4  over  path  x5;  bilma                                                                                                        
                       x4  over  path  x5;  bilma
                       rafsi:  bev  be'i;  ill -  x1 is ill/-
                       rafsi:  bev  be'i;  ill -  x1 is ill/-
                       cognate: 'bear'      sick/diseased  with
                       cognate: 'bear'      sick/diseased  with
                     bi                                                                                                                                                       symptoms  x2  from
                     bi                     symptoms  x2  from
                       8 -  digit/number:  disease x3;  rafsi:
                       8 -  digit/number:  disease x3;  rafsi:
                       8  (digit);  rafsi:  bi'a
                       8  (digit);  rafsi:  bi'a
                       biv                  bilni                                                                                                        
                       biv                  bilni
                     bi'i interval      -  military -  x1  is
                     bi'i interval      -  military -  x1  is
                       non-logical          military/-
                       non-logical          military/-
Line 5,717: Line 3,306:
                       purpose x3;  rafsi:  positive that x2 is
                       purpose x3;  rafsi:  positive that x2 is
                       bil                  true; rafsi: bit
                       bil                  true; rafsi: bit
                     bindo                                                                                                                                                   bisli                                                                                                        
                     bindo                 bisli
                       Indonesian  -    x1  ice  -    x1  is  a
                       Indonesian  -    x1  ice  -    x1  is  a
                       reflects Indonesian  quantity of/is made
                       reflects Indonesian  quantity of/is made
Line 5,724: Line 3,313:
                       aspect  x2;  rafsi:  composition/-
                       aspect  x2;  rafsi:  composition/-
                       bid                  material x2; rafsi:
                       bid                  material x2; rafsi:
                     binra                                                                                                                                                     bis
                     binra                 bis
                       insure  -      x1  bitmu                                                                                                        
                       insure  -      x1  bitmu
                       insures x2 (person)  wall -    x1  is  a
                       insures x2 (person)  wall -    x1  is  a
                       against x3  (event)  wall/fence
                       against x3  (event)  wall/fence
Line 5,732: Line 3,321:
                       benefit(s)      x5  in  structure  x4;
                       benefit(s)      x5  in  structure  x4;
                       (event)              rafsi: bim bi'u
                       (event)              rafsi: bim bi'u
                     binxo                                                                                                                                                   blabi                                                                                                        
                     binxo                 blabi
                       become  -      x1  white  -    x1  is
                       become  -      x1  white  -    x1  is
                       becomes/changes      white/very-light
                       becomes/changes      white/very-light
Line 5,738: Line 3,327:
                       conditions x3; (cf.  adjective);  rafsi:
                       conditions x3; (cf.  adjective);  rafsi:
                       cenba,      galfi);  lab
                       cenba,      galfi);  lab
                       rafsi: bix bi'o      blaci                                                                                                        
                       rafsi: bix bi'o      blaci
                     birje                                                                                                                                                     glass -  x1  is  a
                     birje                 glass -  x1  is  a
                       beer -  x1 is made  quantity of/is made
                       beer -  x1 is made  quantity of/is made
                       of/contains/is    a  of/contains  glass
                       of/contains/is    a  of/contains  glass
                       amount  of  beer/-  of composition x2
                       amount  of  beer/-  of composition x2
                       ale/brew    brewed  blanu                                                                                                        
                       ale/brew    brewed  blanu
                       from x2              blue -  x1 is blue
                       from x2              blue -  x1 is blue
                     birka                                                                                                                                                     (color  adjective);
                     birka                 (color  adjective);
                       arm -  x1 is a/the  rafsi: bla
                       arm -  x1 is a/the  rafsi: bla
                       arm (body-part)  of  bliku                                                                                                        
                       arm (body-part)  of  bliku
                       x2;      (metaphor:  block -  x1  is  a
                       x2;      (metaphor:  block -  x1  is  a
                       branch        with  block  (at-least-2-
                       branch        with  block  (at-least-2-
                       strength;      cf.  dimensional shape/-
                       strength;      cf.  dimensional shape/-
                       jimca); rafsi: bir    form)  of  material
                       jimca); rafsi: bir    form)  of  material
                     birti                                                                                                                                                     x2,  dimensionality
                     birti                 x2,  dimensionality
                       certain -    x1  is  x3; rafsi: bli
                       certain -    x1  is  x3; rafsi: bli
                       certain/sure/-      bloti                                                                                                        
                       certain/sure/-      bloti
                                             boat -    x1  is  a
                                             boat -    x1  is  a


Line 5,760: Line 3,349:
                       boat/ship (vehicle)  box bo'o;  cognate:
                       boat/ship (vehicle)  box bo'o;  cognate:
                       for  carrying  x2;  'foil'
                       for  carrying  x2;  'foil'
                       rafsi: lot blo lo'i  boxna                                                                                                        
                       rafsi: lot blo lo'i  boxna
                     bo                                                                                                                                                       wave -    x1  is  a
                     bo                     wave -    x1  is  a
                       short scope  link -  wave (periodic pat-
                       short scope  link -  wave (periodic pat-
                       short scope joiner;  tern) in medium x2,
                       short scope joiner;  tern) in medium x2,
Line 5,768: Line 3,357:
                       single unit; causes  frequency      x5;
                       single unit; causes  frequency      x5;
                       right  grouping  in  rafsi: bon bo'a
                       right  grouping  in  rafsi: bon bo'a
                       tanru; rafsi: bor    bradi                                                                                                        
                       tanru; rafsi: bor    bradi
                     bolci                                                                                                                                                     enemy -  x1  is an
                     bolci                 enemy -  x1  is an
                       ball -    x1  is  a  enemy/opponent/-
                       ball -    x1  is  a  enemy/opponent/-
                       ball/sphere/orb/-    adversary of  x2 in
                       ball/sphere/orb/-    adversary of  x2 in
Line 5,776: Line 3,365:
                       is  a    spherical  darlu);    cognate:
                       is  a    spherical  darlu);    cognate:
                       object  (made  of  'adversary'
                       object  (made  of  'adversary'
                       x2); rafsi: bol boi  bratu                                                                                                        
                       x2); rafsi: bol boi  bratu
                     bongu                                                                                                                                                     hail  -    x1  is
                     bongu                 hail  -    x1  is
                       bone -  x1 is a/the  hail/sleet/freezing
                       bone -  x1 is a/the  hail/sleet/freezing
                       bone (body-part) of  rain/solid
                       bone (body-part) of  rain/solid
Line 5,783: Line 3,372:
                       calcium);    rafsi:  material/-
                       calcium);    rafsi:  material/-
                       bog bo'u              composition    x2;
                       bog bo'u              composition    x2;
                     botpi                                                                                                                                                     (cf. carvi, snime);
                     botpi                 (cf. carvi, snime);
                       bottle -  x1  is a  this  is  the  sub-
                       bottle -  x1  is a  this  is  the  sub-
                       bottle/jar/urn/-      stance, not the act
                       bottle/jar/urn/-      stance, not the act
Line 5,789: Line 3,378:
                       for  x2,  made  of  falling,  which  is
                       for  x2,  made  of  falling,  which  is
                       material  x3  with  carvi
                       material  x3  with  carvi
                       lid    x4;    (cf.  brazo                                                                                                        
                       lid    x4;    (cf.  brazo
                       baktu); rafsi:  bot  Brazilian  -    x1
                       baktu); rafsi:  bot  Brazilian  -    x1
                       bo'i                  reflects  Brazilian
                       bo'i                  reflects  Brazilian
                     boxfo                                                                                                                                                     culture/-
                     boxfo                 culture/-
                       sheet -  x1  is  a  nationality/-
                       sheet -  x1  is  a  nationality/-
                       sheet/foil/blanket    language in  aspect
                       sheet/foil/blanket    language in  aspect
                       (2-dimensional        x2; rafsi: raz
                       (2-dimensional        x2; rafsi: raz
                       shape/form flexible  bredi                                                                                                        
                       shape/form flexible  bredi
                       in 3 dimensions) of  ready  -    x1  is
                       in 3 dimensions) of  ready  -    x1  is
                       material x2; rafsi:  ready/prepared  for
                       material x2; rafsi:  ready/prepared  for
Line 5,803: Line 3,392:
                       x2 (event);  rafsi:  assignable variable
                       x2 (event);  rafsi:  assignable variable
                       red re'i              predicate
                       red re'i              predicate
                     bridi                                                                                                                                                   brodi                                                                                                        
                     bridi                 brodi
                       predicate  -    x1  predicate var  3  -
                       predicate  -    x1  predicate var  3  -
                       (du'u)    is    a  x1  is  the  3rd
                       (du'u)    is    a  x1  is  the  3rd
                       predicate            assignable variable
                       predicate            assignable variable
                       relationship  with  predicate
                       relationship  with  predicate
                       relation  x2  among  brodo                                                                                                        
                       relation  x2  among  brodo
                       arguments            predicate var  4  -
                       arguments            predicate var  4  -
                       (sequence/set)  x3;  x1  is  the  4th
                       (sequence/set)  x3;  x1  is  the  4th
                       rafsi: bri            assignable variable
                       rafsi: bri            assignable variable
                     brife                                                                                                                                                     predicate
                     brife                 predicate
                       breeze -  x1  is a  brodu                                                                                                        
                       breeze -  x1  is a  brodu
                       breeze/wind/gale      predicate var  5  -
                       breeze/wind/gale      predicate var  5  -
                       from  direction  x2  x1  is  the  5th
                       from  direction  x2  x1  is  the  5th
                       with  speed    x3;  assignable variable
                       with  speed    x3;  assignable variable
                       rafsi: bif bi'e      predicate
                       rafsi: bif bi'e      predicate
                     briju                                                                                                                                                   bruna                                                                                                        
                     briju                 bruna
                       office -  x1 is an  brother -    x1  is
                       office -  x1 is an  brother -    x1  is
                       office/workplace of  brother        of/-
                       office/workplace of  brother        of/-
Line 5,825: Line 3,414:
                       bij;      cognate:  parent(s) x3;  (not
                       bij;      cognate:  parent(s) x3;  (not
                       'bureau'              necessarily
                       'bureau'              necessarily
                     brito                                                                                                                                                     biological); rafsi:
                     brito                 biological); rafsi:
                       British  -      x1  bun bu'a
                       British  -      x1  bun bu'a
                       reflects  British/-  bu'a some selbri 1 -
                       reflects  British/-  bu'a some selbri 1 -
Line 5,833: Line 3,422:
                       glico,      skoto,  some  selbri    1;
                       glico,      skoto,  some  selbri    1;
                       merko); rafsi: rit    rafsi: bul
                       merko); rafsi: rit    rafsi: bul
                     broda                                                                                                                                                   budjo                                                                                                        
                     broda                 budjo
                       predicate var  1  -  Buddhist  -      x1
                       predicate var  1  -  Buddhist  -      x1
                       x1  is  the  1st  pertains  to  the
                       x1  is  the  1st  pertains  to  the
                       assignable variable  Buddhist  culture/-
                       assignable variable  Buddhist  culture/-
                       predicate            religion/ethnos  in
                       predicate            religion/ethnos  in
                     brode                                                                                                                                                     aspect  x2;  rafsi:
                     brode                 aspect  x2;  rafsi:
                       predicate var  2  -  buj bu'o
                       predicate var  2  -  buj bu'o
                       x1  is  the  2nd  bukpu                                                                                                        
                       x1  is  the  2nd  bukpu
                                             cloth -  x1  is an
                                             cloth -  x1  is an


  besna                                  100                                  brodo
  besna                                  100                                  brodo
                       amount  of  cloth/-  bunre                                                                                                        
                       amount  of  cloth/-  bunre
                       fabric  of  type/-  brown  -    x1  is
                       fabric  of  type/-  brown  -    x1  is
                       material x2; rafsi:  brown/tan    (color
                       material x2; rafsi:  brown/tan    (color
                       buk bu'u              adjective);  rafsi:
                       buk bu'u              adjective);  rafsi:
                     bumru                                                                                                                                                     bur bu'e
                     bumru                 bur bu'e
                       fog  -      x1  is  burcu                                                                                                        
                       fog  -      x1  is  burcu
                       foggy/misty/covered  brush -  x1  is  a
                       foggy/misty/covered  brush -  x1  is  a
                       by  a  fog/mist  of  brush  for  purpose
                       by  a  fog/mist  of  brush  for  purpose
                       liquid  x2;  rafsi:  x2  (event)  with
                       liquid  x2;  rafsi:  x2  (event)  with
                       bum                  bristles  x3;  (cf.
                       bum                  bristles  x3;  (cf.
                     bunda                                                                                                                                                     komcu); rafsi:  buc
                     bunda                 komcu); rafsi:  buc
                       pound -  x1  is x2  bru
                       pound -  x1  is x2  bru
                       local        weight  burna                                                                                                        
                       local        weight  burna
                       unit(s)      (non-  embarrassed -    x1
                       unit(s)      (non-  embarrassed -    x1
                       metric)    (default  is    embarrassed/-
                       metric)    (default  is    embarrassed/-
Line 5,863: Line 3,452:
                       standard x4; rafsi:  about/under
                       standard x4; rafsi:  about/under
                       bud                  conditions x2
                       bud                  conditions x2
   
</pre>
</pre>

Latest revision as of 05:22, 19 August 2020

For a full list of issues, see zo'ei la'e "lu ju'i lobypli li'u".
Previous issue: me lu ju'i lobypli li'u 15 moi.
Next issue: me lu ju'i lobypli li'u 17 moi.

Number 16 - May-June 1992
Copyright 1992, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031 USA (703)385-0273
Permission granted to copy, without charge to recipient, when for purpose of promotion of Loglan/Lojban.


DOUBLE YOUR LOJBAN FUN -- TWO LOGFESTS THIS YEAR

JUNE 26-28 AND AUGUST 14-17, 1992

NEW DC AREA LOJBAN CLASS STARTING -- SIGN UP NOW!
DETAILS IN NEWS SECTION

ju'i lobypli (JL) is the quarterly journal of The Logical Language Group, Inc., known in these pages as la lojbangirz. la lojbangirz. is a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of completing and spreading the logical human language "Lojban - A Realization of Loglan" (commonly called "Lojban"), and informing the community about logical languages in general.

la lojbangirz. is a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Your donations (not contributions to your voluntary balance) are tax-deductible on U.S. and most state income taxes. Donors are notified at the end of each year of their total deductible donations.

For purposes of terminology, "Lojban" refers to a specific version of a logical human language, the generic language and associated research project having been called "Loglan" since its invention by Dr. James Cooke Brown in 1954. Statements referring to "Loglan/Lojban" refer to both the generic language and to Lojban as a specific instance of that language. The Lojban version of Loglan was created as an alternative because Dr. Brown and his organization claims copyright on everything in his version, including each individual word of the vocabulary. The Lojban vocabulary and grammar and all language definition materials, by contrast, are public domain. Anyone may freely use Lojban for any purpose without permission or royalty. la lojbangirz. believes that such free usage is a necessary condition for an engineered language like Loglan/Lojban to become a true human language, and to succeed in the various goals that have been proposed for its use.

Page count this issue: 48 + 40 enclosures = 88 ($8.80 North America, $10.56 elsewhere). Press run for this issue of ju'i lobypli: 265. We now have about 726 people receiving our publications, and 240 more awaiting textbook publication.

Your Mailing Label

Your mailing label reports your current mailing status, and your current voluntary balance including this issue. Please notify us of changes in your activity/interest level. Balances reflect contributions received thru 30 May 1992. Mailing codes (and approximate balance needs) are:

Activity/Interest Level:                        Highest Package        
Received (Price Each)                           Other flags:           
B - Observer     0 - Introductory Materials ($5)  JL JL Subscription   
($28/yr)                                                               
C - Active Supporter                            1 - Word Lists and     
Language Description ($15)                      (followed by           
expiration issue #)                                                    
D - Lojban Student                              2 - Language Design    
Information ($10)                               * indicates            
subscription prepaid                                                   
E - Lojban Practitioner                         3 - Draft Teaching     
Materials ($30)  LK LK Subscription ($5/yr)                            
                                                R  Review Copy (no     
charge)                                                                
                                                UP Automatic Updates   
(>$20)                                                                 

Please keep us informed of changes in your mailing address, and US subscribers are asked to provide ZIP+4 codes whenever you know them.

Contents of This Issue

Important: Due to financial constraints, ju'i lobypli is converting to a full subscription basis, starting with the next issue (JL17). Please read the section on subscriptions for details.

It's been a while since last issue, as we attempted to get our finances back on an even keel. Our financial health plan is taking effect, and we expect future issues of JL to resume quarterly appearance (if you are a subscriber, of course). (I also want to apologize to people who have had to wait an excessively long time for materials ordered during the last 6 months. Hopefully the order backlog will have been corrected when you get this issue.)

As will usually be the case, this issue contains much material derived from the Lojban List computer mailing list on the Internet. Nearly all such material has been edited, revised, and corrected from the original.

We continue to be flooded with Lojban text from several writers, and some of this material will be found in this issue.

Several pieces in this issue relate to Lojban and computer applications, and our first research proposal is reprinted.

The main body of this issue will be short, because we are including two long enclosures: a major paper by John Cowan on Lojban tense structures, and a major revision/improvement of the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban Grammar Forms, which is becoming the mainstay of our introductory materials. Some of the material originally prepared for this issue, including about 10 pages of discussion of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, will be delayed until JL17 (which, having this extra preparation done, is much more likely to come out on time!)

                          Table of Contents                        
                                                                   
Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms                                ---3 
News                                                               
  Subscriptions and Finances                                  ---3 
  Athelstan Injured                                           ---4 
  Language Education                                          ---5 
  Electronic Distribution                                     ---5 
  Logfest 92                                                  ---7 
  Language Development Status                                 ---8 
  Status of Products                                          --12 
  Schedule                                                    --19 
  Using the Language                                          --19 
  Research Using Lojban                                       --20 
  International News/Publicity                                --21 
  News From the Institute                                     --21 
le lojbo se ciska                         --22, 25, 31, 35, 37, 41 
Text of the Court of Appeals Decision                         --23 
lei lojbo                                                     --26 
la lojbangirz.'s First Research Proposal                      --27 
DLT - Esperanto-based Machine Translation                     --34 
A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory                                  --36 
Morphology Algorithm                                          --39 
Translations of le lojbo se ciska                             --42 
Next Issue                                                    --46 
Sample Pages from Forthcoming Dictionary                      --46 

Computer Net Information

Via Usenet/UUCP/Internet, you can send messages and text files (including things for JL publication) to la lojbangirz./Bob at: lojbab@grebyn.com (This is a new address and supersedes the prior "snark" address.)

You can also join the Lojban List mailing list (currently around 80 subscribers). Send a single line message (automatically processed) containing only:

"subscribe lojban yourfirstname yourlastname" to: listserv@cuvmb. cc.columbia.edu

If you have problems needing human intervention, send to: lojban-list-request@snark.thyrsus.com

Send traffic for the mailing list to: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu

Please keep us informed if your network mailing address changes.

Compuserve subscribers can also participate. Precede any of the above addresses with INTERNET: and use your normal Compuserve mail facility. If you want to participate on Lojban List, you should be prepared to read your mail at least every couple of days; otherwise your mailbox fills up and you are dropped from the mailing-list. FIDOnet subscribers can also participate, although the connection is not especially robust. Write to us for details if you don't know how to access the Internet network.

Whether you wish to participate in the news-group or not, it is useful for us to know your Compuserve or Usenet/Internet address.

We've been requested to more explicitly identify people who are referred to by initials in JL, and will regularly do so in this spot, immediately before the news section. Note that 'Athelstan' is that person's real name, used in his public life, and is not a pseudonym. 'pc' - Dr. John Parks-Clifford, Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri - St. Louis and Vice-President of la lojbangirz.; he is usually addressed as 'pc' by the community.

'Bob', 'lojbab' - Bob LeChevalier - President of la lojbangirz., and editor of ju'i lobypli and le lojbo karni.

'Nora' - Nora LeChevalier - Secretary/Treasurer of la lojbangirz., Bob's wife, author of LogFlash.

'JCB', 'Dr. Brown' - Dr. James Cooke Brown, inventor of the language, and founder of the Loglan project.

'The Institute', 'TLI' - The Loglan Institute, Inc., JCB's organization for spreading his version of Loglan, which we call 'Institute Loglan'.

'Loglan' - This refers to the generic language or language project, of which 'Lojban' is the most successful version, and 'Institute Loglan' another. 'Loglan/Lojban' is used in discussions about Lojban where we wish to make it particularly clear that the statement applies to the generic language as well.

'PLS' - The Planned Languages Server, a no-charge computer-network-accessed distribution center for materials on Lojban (and other artificial languages).

Brief Glossary of Lojban

Terms Following are definitions of frequently used Lojban terms. More complete explanations of the following are in the Overview of Lojban.

cmavo - Lojban structure words

gismu - Lojban root words; currently 1337;

rafsi - affix combining forms for the gismu;

lujvo - compound words built from rafsi;

le'avla - words borrowed from other languages;

brivla - Lojban predicate words, consisting of gismu, lujvo. and le'avla.

tanru - Lojban metaphors, the most productive and creative expression form of the language;

sumti - the arguments of a logical predicate;

selbri - Lojban predicates which indicate a relation among one or more sumti. A selbri is most often a brivla or tanru; formerly called "kunbri" in error;

bridi - Lojban predications, the basic grammatical structure of the language; a bridi expresses a complete relationship: the selbri expresses the relation and the sumti express the various things being related;

selma'o - grammatical categories of Lojban words; the basis of the unambiguous formal grammar of the language. Traditionally and erroneously called "lexeme" in the Loglan community. These categories typically have a name derived from one word in that grammatical category; the name is all capitals, except that an apostrophe is replaced by a small letter 'h'.

News

Subscriptions and Finances

This may be your last issue of ju'i lobypli.

We are converting JL to a subscription basis. This is the last issue sent to those not explicitly requesting (and in most cases paying for) a subscription.

At this point some 65 people have returned forms requesting a subscription. Perhaps half of these have sufficient balances to cover their subscription price.

Our new special fund for 'scholarship subscriptions' will not allow us to support more than a few people on a non-paying basis, and these free subscriptions will be reserved for those who are actively working in the language, but cannot pay (mostly international supporters).

So here's where things stand:

  • For US and Canadian subscribers, the subscription price will be US$28 for 4 issues (hopefully 1 year - but our commitment will be for a number of issues rather than a date, just in case). For those in other countries, the subscription price will be US$35 for 4 issues.
  • If you have not returned a subscription form, and have a negative balance worse than $-10 after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a "JL 16" on it indicating that your 'subscription' expires with the current issue. We must receive a signed subscription request form and enough money to cover the subscription price AND at least 1/2 of your negative balance. If you cannot afford this amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form, but you will be lowest priority for such subscriptions unless you are a very active volunteer. Contributing some of the amount required will raise your priority considerably.
  • If you have not returned a subscription form, and have between $-10 and $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a "JL 16" on it indicating that your 'subscription' expires with the current issue. We must receive a signed subscription request form and enough money to cover the subscription price. If you cannot afford this amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form. Contributing some of the amount required will raise your priority considerably.
  • If you have not returned a subscription form, and have more than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 20" on it indicating that your subscription expires with the indicated issue. Your balance will be deducted at a rate of $10 per issue (substantially above the subscription price for US and Canada recipients, less so for overseas recipients), for up to 4 issues, until your balance drops below $10, or until we receive a form and/or other instructions from you. You will be given the lower-priced 4-issue subscription rate when we receive your signed subscription request form (and preferably enough money to raise your balance above the subscription minimum). If you cannot afford the subscription amount, you may request scholarship assistance on the subscription form. You will receive highest priority after the most active volunteers to gain such assistance to fill out your balance to a 4-issue subscription.
  • If you have returned a subscription form and have more than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 20" on it; your subscription expires with the indicated issue. You have either been given a full four-issue subscription (if there is enough in your balance to cover the price), or a partial-year subscription prorated to your balance amount ($7/issue for US/Canada). The subscription price has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you by direct mail prior to your last subscription issue for renewal.
  • If you have returned a subscription form and have less than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), and you sent at least $40 in balance contributions between 1 Dec. 1991 and 15 April 1992, your mailing label will have "JL 20" on it. You have been given a full four-issue subscription. The subscription price has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you prior to your last subscription issue for renewal.
  • If you have returned a subscription form and have less than $10 in your balance after deducting for JL16 (this issue), and you have sent less than $40 in balance contributions since 1 December 1991, your mailing label will have a number between "JL 17" and "JL 19" on it indicating that your subscription expires with the indicated issue. You been given a part-year subscription. We have deducted the cost of this issue from your contribution (if any), and determined your prorated subscription period based on 1/2 of the remaining contribution (if any), with a minimum of 1 issue. The amount of the subscription has been deducted from your balance, and an "*" on the mailing label indicates that your subscription has been paid. You need do nothing to continue receiving JL; we will notify you prior to your last subscription issue for renewal. However, we ask that you contribute to bring your balance positive if possible.
  • If you have returned a subscription form and asked for scholarship support for your subscription: we have not yet decided who will get such support, but given the above policy, you will at least receive JL17.
  • If you are an overseas recipient of JL, then you are slated to receive at least through "JL 17" since you have received no chance to send in a subscription request form until now. Your balance will be charged $10 for JL17 if we have not received a form prior to that issue.
  • When you stop receiving JL after the subscription expiration issue, you will automatically be switched to a subscription to the newsletter le lojbo karni (LK - subscription price of around $5 per year). We expect to cull the LK mailing list after the next fund-raising mailer, dropping those people with balances less than $-30.

We haven't yet received enough subscription forms to justify applying for a 2nd class postage (though we are close). The highest subscription price has been selected because we'll have to pay 1st class/air mail postage rates for at least one issue, as well as at least $275 to obtain the 2nd class permit (about $4 for each subscriber) that will allow us to save postage costs thereafter.


Final financial results from last year - Our 1991 income totalled $14,462.59, with expenses of $14,746.31, for a net loss on the year of about $300. Of that amount $10,725.73 was donations (around $6000 of this was from Lojbab and Nora). In total, only $3700 was contributed toward balances from over 850 people on our mailing list. Only through our end-of-year fund-raiser did we even do this well. We received $2500 during the last 20 days of December, much of it as a result of the fund-raising drive, reducing us from a deficit of over $2000 for the year that might have crippled us.

At the end of 1991, we owed about $5800 in legal fees on the trademark battle, which we're repaying at $500 per month. This is taking every penny that Lojbab, Nora and Jeff Prothero, who are financing the legal fees, can contribute. We must count on the rest of you to keep the organization going financially.

Status this year - So far in 1992, we're losing money. Up to now, against some $2500 in income, we've spent around $2800; JL16 and LK16 will cost another $1200, and we have over $1500 precommitted towards future JL subscriptions. Thus, we expect to need another fund-raising drive within a couple of months. I hope to tie such a fund-raiser to the announcement of the first Lojban book. But please don't wait until then. Contribute now! We don't know yet how we will finance book publication, which will cost several thousand dollars.

Our Numbers - Support for Lojban continues to grow at an outstanding rate; we lose few people (mostly people who move and forget to tell us their new address), while averaging 1 new person every 2-3 days for the last year.

Following are our numbers by level of interest and subscription, as of this publication (numbers in parentheses include multiple persons per address):

Level E - Practitioner (people who have actually produced Lojban text, are actively working with the language, and receiving materials from us) - 13 (17)
Level D - Lojban Student - 95 (113)
Level C - Active Observer - 139 (149)
Level B - Inactive Observer - 627 (663)
JL16 subscribers - 241 (272)
JL17 subscribers - 114 (130)
JL subscription request returned - 66 (72)
Prepaid beyond JL17 - 55 (61)
LK subscribers
Total active mailing list 897 (965)

Athelstan Injured

Our efforts on Lojban here in the Washington DC area were dealt a severe blow at the end of February. Athelstan, one of la lojbangirz.'s Directors, received a head injury in an auto accident, causing severe brain damage. He was in a coma for over 2 weeks, but has made good progress since. Early in April, he was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where he is slowly regaining memory and living skills; he is expected to remain in the hospital until at least mid-July. Regaining his full abilities is uncertain, and doing so will take many more months, if not years.

Athelstan was one of the most skilled of Lojbanists, and a major participant in our weekly conversation sessions here in the DC area. We have had to change from conversation sessions to teaching, reading, and translations sessions; the 3 remaining conversation-skilled people (Nora, Lojbab, and Sylvia Rutiser) are not enough 'critical mass' to keep conversations lively and interesting.

We've also lost Athelstan's contribution to the endless work that is being done around here. Athelstan had written up his oft-taught mini-lesson in text form, and was in the middle of revising it for publication when the accident occurred. I may be able to finish it, but not quickly - too much else to do. Athelstan was also one of the principal reviewers of ju'i lobypli and other la lojbangirz. publications that I and others write; we can only hope that the quality of our products is sustained without his excellent efforts at catching typos and more serious technical errors.

The good news is that it appears that the damage has not destroyed Athelstan's capacity for language, nor his interest in Lojban. In mid-April, he responded to my "coi. .atlstan." with a hearty "coi." in return. At the end of our otherwise English-language visit, I asked him if he remembered how to say goodbye; with only minimal hesitation, he came back with a confident "co'o."

Given my close friendship with Athelstan, I have had to undertake commitments in helping his family and other friends support his recovery; this has taken a fair amount of time away from Lojban, though I now seem to be back in control of my schedule. Indeed, the incentive of knowing how fragile our effort is while so few of us know the details of the language seems to have remotivated me to get the community of Lojbanists who are expert in the language up to a self-sustaining level. Even amidst tragedy, there can be growth and progress.

Language Education

DC Class - Even before Athelstan's accident, we needed to build up the activity of the local Lojban community. Now, local teaching activities are even more vital. As such, starting in June, we'll be trying to organize a new Lojban class here in the Washington DC area. The class will probably meet in Fairfax VA (although a Rockville MD location is also being considered), on a weekly basis starting near the end of June and last throughout the summer. A principal goal will be to raise the students' skill level so that they can confidently participate in in-language activities in the August LogFest, and be able to continue in Lojban conversation sessions or translation activities after the class ends.

Needless to say, if you will be in the DC area this summer, and are interested in participating in such a class, please contact me at the masthead address or telephone, or via electronic mail per page 2.


Other education efforts - Most of our education efforts in the last several months have been through electronic mail on the computer networks. I've been able to delegate much of this teaching effort out to other Lojbanists who are active on Lojban List, and the numbers and competency of those attempting to write on Lojban List has continued to grow with each passing month.

The network has also served as a testing ground for new teaching materials. Athelstan's draft text version of his mini-lesson (see below) was tried out by about 2 dozen people who returned comments and answers to exercises. These will be lead to a significantly revised and improved version for publication.

Similarly, a draft of the Diagrammed Examples paper enclosed with this issue has been extensively distributed on the networks (as well as to many new mail order Lojbanists) during the last 6 months. French-Australian linguist Jacques Guy finally culminated this review with some enormously detailed comments, leading to the major revision and expansion included with this issue.

Even before this final version, the Diagrammed Examples, with explanatory text, has proved in recent months to be the most significant learning aid to new Lojbanists actually attempting to learn to use the language. Several Lojbanists used only this paper and word lists (that were generally obtained by electronic distribution per the next section), to self-teach themselves to the level of being able to translate Lojban text written by more experienced Lojbanists. Then, with a few such efforts to give them experience, we have seen these Lojbanists start to write in Lojban, making relatively few and minor errors given the lack of a full teaching text. (Those who have study the draft textbook and/or used LogFlash have done still better, but the effectiveness of this relatively brief description has astounded several of us to the point of motivating this new version.)

Electronic Distribution

What is available and how - The electronic distribution policy announced last issue has been implemented, more-or-less. We have been unable to place JL and LK back-issues and a few other longer materials on the Planned Languages Server - our primary electronic distribution point. We have also been unable to implement the file verification program that we intended because of incompatibilities between computer systems that causes such techniques to fail.

In spite of this, there is now a lot of material available electronically, including most of the now public domain language definition materials like word lists and formal grammars. I've been told that some of this material has been transferred to Compuserve, and I'm hoping that more will be moved to that network, as well as to Genie and other public computer networks. (Let us know if you do so, and what stuff you are posting where, so we can report accurately to the community as to what is available).

Following is a list of all materials (and their filenames) available on the Planned Languages Server as of this publication date, and instructions for obtaining them from the Server.


This is an updated version of the file posted to the PLS entitled "readme" which includes an annotated and categorized index to all files on the list.

Following the "readme" file is an abbreviated set of instructions for obtaining files from the server. Send the one line message 'help' to:

langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu

to get the full help listing. While you can put multiple requests in a file, my experience has been that if there is any error on any command, the entire set is disregarded. I would therefore suggest getting 1 file at a time until you are sure what you are doing.

"gismu.lst" is the official, public domain baseline that many Lojbanists already possess in printed form. It has 40-character definitions of the Lojban gismu, and has been relatively unchanged for a few years now. Only minor corrections have been put into the posted file, and the 20 new words adopted last year were never added.

"logdata.raw" is a preliminary version of the new gismu list baseline. I intend the new baseline to take effect shortly after the publication of JL16, hopefully within a month. I would recommend using the current "logdata.raw" file, and ignoring the "gismu.lst" file, UNLESS it is vital to you to be using a public domain version. We won't object to any copying of the still copyrighted draft as long as the copyright notice and the notice that it is a draft stays intact with the file. To all intents and purposes, the old 40-character file is obsolete. I would recommend that any new text be written using the "logdata.raw" place structures. (All text in this issue probably presumes this newer version.)

Questions on any file? Contact Bob LeChevalier at the masthead address or via:

lojbab@grebyn.com

See the file "epolicy.txt" for a more complete explanation of la lojbangirz. electronic distribution policy. We ask that users of these files consider donating money for the support of The Logical Language Group, Inc. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and such donations are tax-deductible in the US, to the extent they exceed the price of things we send you. While it costs us little for you to get a copy of the files on this archive, the network is not free. la lojbangirz. spent some $2000 during 1991 on network access, supporting Lojban List, this archive, and responding to people like you. We do not make a profit on our printed materials, so it is your donations that will allow us to continue to serve the network community of Lojbanists and people curious about Lojban.

The files listed following are the official postings of The Logical Language Group, Inc. on this server. All other postings should be considered unsanctioned, and possibly incorrect.

Language design materials are explicitly listed here and in the documents themselves as being in the public domain. All other documents are copyrighted under the same heading listed above for this document.

Note on file names. All file names ending with ".unf" may contain lines up to about 120 characters long. Original documents published by la lojbangirz. are formatted using longer than 80 character lines, and this wider line-length was determined to give a more readable text when that formatting was removed. File names ending with ".txt" are generally under 80 characters in width. Other file name extensions have no implication.

Many files are compressed using a rather simplistic program that tabifies every 8 characters INCLUDING A SINGLE SPACE IN A 0 MOD 8 POSITION. We have since learned that some tab expanders will take a TAB in a 0 mod 8 position and expand it to 9 spaces instead of 1. This could cause you problems, which hopefully this notice will help you correct if it affects you. We consider this a failed experiment: when we next send data to PLS for uploading we will send files without the tab compression, but this may be a few months.

The PLS has very limited disk space. la lojbangirz. has convinced Mark and Jerry to post much of the material we sent them, but they do not have room for all of it. In particular, back issues of JL and LK, and a LOT of Lojban text could not be posted. I want to see some or all of this material available, if only on a limited time basis. Therefore, in about 3 months, I will be asking Mark and Jerry to tell me the rates of access for Lojban directory files. Seldom accessed files may be deleted to allow us to make room for new stuff, as listed at the end of this document. So please don't delay too long if you want to get a copy of a file listed here.

File Name Bytes Date Description
Control documents
readme 7668 01-09-92 A version of this index.
epolicy.txt 2912 10-09-91 The la lojbangirz. Electronic Distribution Policy
orderfrm.unf 9497 10-14-91 Current la lojbangirz. Product List & Order Form; Include Paper Postal Address on any order, please.
Language Design Materials and Drafts
grammar.28 64552 10-11-91 Baselined Lojban Grammar - YACC version; Public Domain. Without explanatory text included in printed versions.
bnf.28 7872 10-11-91 EBNF form of the Baselined Lojban Grammar. Not verified. Public domain.
pronounc.unf 9718 10-14-91 Pronunciation guide. Public domain.
gismu.lst 88717 01-09-92 Baselined gismu list. Public domain. Expected to be superseded soon by a modified version of "logdata.raw", which will the be renamed "gismu.lst"
logdata.raw 115603 01-09-92 Lojban gismu (root word) draft update >80 characters wide
roget.lst 40612 10-14-91 gismu sorted by Roget category. Draft.
logdata3.cma 88312 10-14-91 Lojban cmavo (structure word) list. Public domain. cmavo order >80 characters wide
logdata3.lex 88312 10-14-91 Lojban cmavo (structure word) list. Public domain. selma'o (grammar category) order >80 characters wide
lehavla.alg 2326 10-14-91 Draft proposal for borrowing words.
Introductory Materials in Suggested Order
loglan.txt 8598 10-14-91 Introduction and history for those familiar with other Loglan versions
brochure.eng 62820 10-14-91 Basic Lojban Brochure - formatted for electronic distribution
postbroc.txt 28312 10-14-91 An edited version of brochure.eng abbreviated so as to be more suitable for electronic transmission.
minilsne.txt 30917 10-16-91 Draft introductory Draft Lojban mini-lesson. Return answers to la lojbangirz. for correction.
overview.unf 63143 10-14-91 Overview of the language and intro. to specialized terminology
diagexam.unf 10851 10-09-91 Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Text (the original version of the one in JL16 - the new version will replace this file shortly, and is a much longer file)
Teaching Materials and Detailed Discussion
useoldl1.txt 15233 10-14-91 How to use 1975 Loglan 1 to study Lojban (partially correct for 1989 version)
newrafsi.unf 77773 10-14-91 List of Lojban rafsi (combining forms) and how to make compounds (lujvo).
negation.unf 127903 10-14-91 Negation in Lojban. Many examples.
scrabble.unf 6098 10-14-91 Suggested game rules based on Lojban letter frequencies
Why Lojban?
whylojb.txt 198651 10-14-91 General discussion on 'Why Lojban?' extracted from ju'i lobypli, Includes JCB on Sapir Whorf. Many contributors.
mactrans.txt 12681 10-14-91 Lojban and machine translation by Patrick Juola
moody.txt 18972 10-14-91 Lojban and other planned languages by Todd Moody
lojb_esp.txt 180734 10-14-91 Lojban and Esperanto - JL discussions including comments from Donald Harlow and Lojban's 'Answer' to the '16 Rules'
lojling.txt 18942 10-14-91 Lojban's relevance to linguistics and linguistics research
reply.txt 38747 10-14-91 1991 Reply to Arnold Zwicky's 1969 "Language" Review of Loglan 1
netdisc.txt 178912 10-14-91 Extracted Network Discussions of Lojban and Sapir-Whorf - mostly 8-9/90
Lojban Text
lordpray.unf 7781 10-14-91 Lojban Paternoster, updated to current language. A prosaic version.
Other materials
l1longrv.txt 70543 6-08-91 unpublished draft review - Loglan 1

--------------

The following unofficial files are known to be in the lojban directory of the Planned Languages Server:

brochure.french 49403 05-11-90 A French translation of a somewhat earlier version of the Lojban brochure.
Description 2334 01-09-92 The official PLS description file of all files in the Lojban directory. Not as detailed or as accurate as this file.
elecread.me 815 06-24-91 An obsolete version of this file that should soon be deleted
Index 1280 01-03-92 The file list you get in response to the command "index lojban"
lojbroch.e-o.tex 69755 09-12-91 The draft Esperanto translation of the Lojban brochure in brochure.eng Comments and suggestions welcome.
metflidjimao-vedsia 23871 12-19-90
welding-shop 27415 12-19-90 Jim Carter's 1984 Loglan short story and English translation - not Lojban compatible nor consistent with the current TLI language, it is still one of the longest Loglan texts written originally in Loglan rather than in translation.

Forthcoming Material we hope to post this year

  • 6 Draft Textbook Lessons - updated to 1992 language
  • New Draft Textbook Lesson 1
  • Esperanto Translation of Lojban Brochure - Official Release (the unofficial "lojbroch.e-o.tex" above is a draft version of this release)
  • Glossary of Lojban/linguistic terminology
  • Lojban and Sapir-Whorf Bibliography
  • Lojban and Prolog demonstration example from JL16
  • Lojban gismu etymologies
  • Rebaselined gismu list
  • Revisions to the Lojban mini-lesson
  • the JL16 version of the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban
  • Synopsis of Lojban Orthography, Phonology, Morphology - updated to 1992
  • tense paper - introduction to Lojban tense structures
  • attitudinal paper - updated to 1992
  • logical connectives paper - introduction to logical and nonlogical connectives
  • MEX paper - Lojban expression of mathematical text
  • lerfu paper - expressing alphabets and special symbols in Lojban
  • (papers are planned to cover other aspects of the Lojban grammar and will also be posted as available)
  • All published Lojban text; Not updated to current language. Mostly translated & with commentary. Probably with some kind of difficulty and quality grading to help you choose appropriate materials.

Abbreviated instructions for the PLS server

To make the archive server do something you should send an electronic mail message to:

langserv@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu

Use a null subject line. The body of the message should consist of one command per line. The case of the text does not matter. Note, however, that the server runs on a UNIX system, and thus, for filenames, the case DOES matter, so be sure the files you request are properly capitalized.

You can find out what files are available with the command "index lojban".

path <mail-path>

"Path" is used to override the mail path that the archive server chooses from the header of your mail message. You should use this whenever you know that the return address of your message will not be useful to the archive server. The archive server only knows about domain style address.

e.g. path jbaltz@hebrew.cc.columbia.edu

send <archive> <file..>

"Send" mails to you the files in the specified archive. All of the files that you request will be sent to you archived together possibly encoded and split up into messages that are small enough to be mailed. You may have as many "sends" in the body of your mail message as you wish.

e.g. send lojban logdata.raw

By default, files that are mailable are simply stuck together with the text "cut here" between files and; non-mailable files are archived via Unix "tar". Non-mailable files must be converted to something mailable. By default this is done with "uuencode". Some large or long-lined Lojban files may be considered non-mailable, and you will need to run the companion program "uudecode" which will decode a message that was encrypted using "uuencode". This is a standard Unix command; Unix users should see your system administrator if you don't know how to do this. On MS-DOS machines, there are a variety of utility versions of the decoding tool; we have no information about other computer system versions.

Logfest 92

Because of Athelstan's injury and other schedule problems, we have delayed LogFest 92, la lojbangirz.'s annual meeting and gathering of Lojbanists until August. The planned date for this gathering here in Fairfax VA, is August 14-17, 1992. If you're interested in coming, and especially if you will be travelling from out-of-town, please let us know. As usual, we can accommodate several out-of-town visitors as sleeping-bag guests here at Bob and Nora's house. You can get here via subway from all major transportation services into Washington DC, and you're unlikely to need a rental car. Thus, it's a cheap weekend of Lojban fun - we ask only that attendees donate around $25-$40 or whatever to cover food costs for the weekend.

Originally, LogFest was planned for the last weekend in June (June 26-28, 1992). Because some people already made plans to come in from out-of-town, we will dedicate that weekend to Lojban activities as well, and others are invited to come, too, making in effect a second LogFest this summer. This first gathering in June will be informal; since there will be no formal meeting, there should be plenty of time for a variety of Lojban activities, especially activities for new people who want to get started in learning the language. Let us know if you are planning to come, so we can make plans.

Language Development Status

The language has been quite stable in the last several months. With the breakup of the USSR, we have added cultural gismu for "Ukrainian" and "Slavic". There have been a few cmavo additions, and one or two deletions in connection with work by John Cowan on papers describing the Lojban tense system, mathematical language, and representation of foreign alphabets.

Far more significant has been those papers themselves, which have greatly refined the specificity of the language definition in three areas that have not been much used by people trying to use Lojban. John is continuing to work on papers, which, added to (updated versions of) the negation and attitudinal papers that were done before he started, will eventually amount to a complete and detailed description of the language.

People have been justifiably frustrated by the continuing delay in textbook and dictionary publication. However, this state should not stop most people from being able to learn and use Lojban. Indeed, with the possible exception of Esperanto (and only then because so much has been written about it in 100 years), it can safely be said that Lojban is by far the most thoroughly defined artificial language that has ever existed. And we continue to refine that definition - not so much because people need such details to learn the language, but because linguists and computer researchers seeking to use Lojban for applications need as much detail as possible to plan research activities.

The final development activities of significance are those that are tied to preparation of the first Lojban book, which is a proto-dictionary and reference book. Preparing this book has required a complete and detailed review of the gismu list place structures, trying to make them as clear and detailed as possible, given limited space. There also were some place structure changes needed as a result of the 'sumti-raising' change discussed last issue, and also as a result of other design decisions made over the last few years. We also wanted to add in multiple English synonyms where applicable, so that the English side of the resulting dictionary will no longer be limited to the sometimes-inaccurate unique English keywords that the gismu list currently is based on. In a few cases, actual usage has pointed up a need for change, either because the place structure was too vaguely defined for use, or because the sumti values that were required for some place structure places were too difficult to specify for 'real' language use. As a result, there are a lot of little changes to the working draft versions of the gismu list. The final draft is expected to go out for review within a couple of weeks after this issue is mailed (over 1100 of the 1400 Lojban entries were completed and verified at this writing). After a few weeks for that review, the first book will be assembled and published.

Weekend Meeting

We finally knew for sure that the design of the language was solidified after an all-weekend meeting that took place January 18-20, 1992. John Cowan came to town, and several of us met, settling nearly all open design questions. Following is a more thorough report on that meeting, what happened, and what design decisions took place. Attendees included Bob LeChevalier (lojbab), John Cowan, Nora LeChevalier, Athelstan, and Sylvia Rutiser, with pc joining in by phone a couple of times.

The original agenda included:

  • A 2nd review of papers on the Lojban tense system and MEX (mathematical expressions) system, with the intent of having them ready, if possible, for publication with JL16.
  • Nora and John have been working on a formal statement of the Lojban morphology algorithm, and some issues needed resolution and decision.
  • Deciding on all open cmavo questions, to allow a baseline of that list.
  • Reviewing all open comments on the place structures and definitions of gismu
  • Review of the progress in switching JL over to a subscription basis and the current fundraising drive
  • Preliminary decisions on book publishing
  • Determining a policy on efforts by Dave Cortesi, Bob Chassell, and others to put together Lojban reference books.
  • Including John in a Lojban conversation session (he has never before been able to participate in one, since no one else in the NYC area seems to be actively studying).

John arrived late Friday night, and we started the weekend right by talking till 4 AM. Athelstan arrived about 2 AM to join the party. Most of Saturday was spent socializing and discussing business matters, and various minor issues, and reviewing the tense paper. Saturday night, we again quit late, around 5 AM this time, with everyone rising in time to be fully awake for the Lojban conversation session. That ended up starting late, but the 5 of us participated in fairly lively discussion for about 2 hours. John had no real trouble following what was said, and throwing his own comments in. We then talked in English for about an hour until Sylvia and Athelstan had to leave.

After dinner, we started on place structures, and kept going until 5 AM again. We resumed around 11 AM, and kept cranking till 5 AM Tues. morning. Athelstan was there for all of Monday's discussions, Nora lasted until 10:30 PM, since she had to work on Tuesday. There was a long conversation with pc in the afternoon to resolve issues that he needed a voice/vote in. Monday evening, we took a break from the x1's and x2's of place structures to work on the x's and y's of MEX.

On Tuesday, John and I woke around 11 AM, and kept talking till I dropped him at the bus station around 1 PM. Whew! Everything accomplished.

Now here is the summary of effects:

Grammar

The grammar is of course baselined and frozen until we make updates and republish it in the Lojban books. Because we want the books to reflect the grammar after the books are done, we do our writing based on that next revision of the grammar. There are now 15 minor changes planned for that revision, all but 4 being extensions to the language. When we write and publish materials in JL, they should be in accordance with the current baseline. Next- baseline grammar changes will only be used in the unlikely circumstance that something needs to be phrased using a construct that is now illegal, but which would be allowed under the new grammar. Because we want people to stick with the current baseline, we are not going to distribute or talk much more about the next one until it is ready for adoption (at the time of publication of the first book), but people who have an early need for the information can request it. I will summarize the changes in store so people know what is going on:

  1. correction of a precedence error, so that EK+KE and GIhEK+KE bind more tightly than other connective structures;
  2. adding JEK+BO to parallel BO connective structures for other logical connectives;
  3. permitting free modifiers in several new places;
  4. adding selma'o ZEI to support a morphology algorithm change (see below);
  5. permitting "GEK sentence GI observative";
  6. in the current baseline grammar, it is impossible to use a PA+MAI free-modifier after a number even though it is apparently grammatically legal: the number will absorb the added PA values because there is no implicit "BOI" at the end of these numbers. The problem was fixed by reworking the rules specifying how free modifiers attach to numbers so that BOI can be added to separate them.
  7. after long analysis, the relative-modifier logical connective selma'o ZIhE was determined not to be especially useful as a logical connective, and the group has been stripped down to the single word "zi'e", which now simply indicates the attachment of multiple relative modifiers to a single sumti. The multiple logical connective grammar rules that were present for ZIhE were stripped down to a single rule supporting simple connection;
  8. allowing I+BO-initial sentences at the beginning of text;
  9. allowing NAI at the beginning of text;
  10. allowing any kind of JOI non-logical connectives to be used in forethought, in parallel with forethought causal connectives: JOI GI construct GI construct;
  11. POhO, which has been required at the end of incomplete sentences, will be eliminated; POhO was added at one point due to problems found in some versions of YACC (including the one we were using) that caused a parser to falsely declare an ambiguity in such incomplete sentences. POhO has been shown to no longer be necessary;
  12. NIhE, one of the converters used to integrate MEX with the rest of the grammar, now permits an entire complex selbri construct to be converted;
  13. NAhE is disallowed in forethought 'termsets'. The rule permitting it had been erroneously generated from a similar structure. Contrary negation of a termset is not defined in the negation paper.
  14. Multiple I and/or I+BO are permitted at the beginning of text (a benefit primarily for those who stutter);
  15. Allow SE conversions of abstract and negated selbri without KE/KEhE parentheses.

If that list doesn't make a lot of sense, don't worry about it. These truly are abstruse 'little' changes in the grammar that are unlikely to affect anyone's conversation and writing very much, if at all.

Morphology

John and Nora have resolved all open issues regarding the morphology algorithm, and it is included in JL16 for final review before publication in the reference book. Problems included strings of vowels and lujvo involving le'avla. Since the morphology is baselined, technically any change is a baseline change, but all changes being considered are in areas not well-defined in the existing informal 'Synopsis' that describes the morphology. Highlights (again, these are post-book baseline features.):

  • Adding selma'o ZEI, with only cmavo "zei", will eliminate various other schemes of making lujvo using le'avla, all of which involved either tricky stress/- pronunciation problems or had potential breakdowns of a nature similar to the 'Tosmabru test' used in regular lujvo. The result would have been rules so unintuitively complicated as to make them impractical to use on-the-fly, when most such compounds will be made. ZEI is processed in advance of lexer rules (as is BU for lerfu and ZO, LOhU, ZOI, SI, SA, and SU) as part of the metalinguistic grammar. It causes one word immediately before it and one word immediately after it to be considered joined into a single construct equivalent to a BRIVLA. With the exception of some of those metalinguistic cmavo just listed, any Lojban word can be so joined to any other, allowing lujvo to be based on cmavo that have no rafsi, as well as le'avla. Many-part le'avla lujvo will have a ZEI between each pair of terms. Regular gismu and lujvo may also be used as terms in a ZEI lujvo.
  • cmavo space is now recognized to include certain structures with 0 or 1 consonant, followed by more than two vowels, with apostrophe used between every pair (except when diphthongs occur). Thus "zo'o'o'o" could be a legal cmavo (with an obvious meaning of a more intense humor?) These will not be considered for defined use, but are added to the experimental cmavo space. The grammar will treat all experimental and undefined cmavo as if they were members of UI.
  • When one word ends in a vowel, and the following begins with one, a pause, and not a glide, must be used to pronounce them. This confirms the original design decision. Actual usage has been that some UI members have not been separated from each other and other vowels by pauses, and this was determined to be too difficult for the resolver to handle, so it remains forbidden. An example is ".ua.ui" which has been pronounced "/wah,wee/", but must be pronounced as "/wah.wee/". An example showing the problems that can result is ".ui.iu", which if pronounced without a pause is indistinguishable from ".ui,u".
  • Names will be permitted to have "la", "lai", and "doi" in them WHEN PRECEDED BY A CONSONANT. This means that the 'd' or 'l' must be the at-least-2nd in a consonant cluster such that the preceding letter and the d/l form a permissible cluster, or are initial at the beginning of a word. This means that a name "zdoil." or "jdoil." is legal, and every consonant except another "l" is permitted before "la" and "lai". Thus while "*nort.kerolainas." remains illegal, it can easily be changed to "nort.kerlainas.". This will then allow a certain erroneous comic strip to be corrected, by naming the cat "mlat.", "*lat." remaining illegal. It also corrects the embarrassment that the other English name of the language - "loglan." - has been an illegal name in "lojban."
  • Names are formally restricted from having impermissible medial consonant clusters in them. The most significant effect of this is to require the name "*djeimz." to be changed, since "mz" is not a permissible medial. "djeimyz." is acceptable.

cmavo

The following cmavo changes are made. Note that one the cmavo, "zei", has grammar contingent upon the next baseline. It will be in the next draft of the cmavo list anyway, even though the current grammar will not handle it.

zei ZEI lujvo glue joins preceding and following word into a lujvo
ne'o VUhU factorial reassigned from "zei" to make room for above
bu'u FAhA coincident with space/time tense equivalent of CA
be'a FAHA north of from "berti"
ne'u FAhA south of from "snanu"
du'a FAhA east of from "stuna"
vu'a FAhA west of parallel with "du'a"

(these are added for compatibility with languages/cultures that use a fixed reference frame for directions instead of a speaker-based one. A secondary if trivial advantage is that a Lojban wind-vane is more interesting, instead of having the letters B-S-S-S for the four cardinal points.)

voi NOI descriptive clause non-veridical restrictive clause used to form complicated le- like descriptions using "ke'a"

This is in a way similar to "goi"/GOI, but used with clauses (bridi) on the right. It defines a sumti on the left as being the thing the speaker has in mind which fills "ke'a" in the clause. Nick Nicholas asked for this in connection with an alternate approach to sumti-raising that he prefers to "tu'a". Example:

ko'a voi lenu ke'a cisma cu pluka mi cu zutse
The it1 whose smiling pleases me sits.
The one whose smile pleases me is sitting down.
to'a BY lower case shift reassigne d from current "voi"; from "tordu"
ma'e BAI of material used to add a material to a bridi more specific than the existing "seta'i"; from "marji"
de'a ZAhO pausitive event contour for a temporary halt and ensuing pause in a process; from "denpa"
di'a ZAhO resumptive even t contour for resumption of a paused process

Example:

mi de'a citka ca lenu la noras. tavla
I pausitively eat while Nora talks.
I stop eating while Nora talks.
vu'i LUhI the sequence converts other sumti types to sequences, even if the order is vague
va'u BAI benefited by indication of a beneficiary when formulated as "seva'u" = "for the benefit of"; from "xamgu" (replaces a useful function of the word "du'a", deleted last year as an English-biased member of BAI)
bi'u BAhE de-emphasize next the reverse of "ba'e" which emphasizes the next word - added in emulation of a similar function word in the Mongolian language Dagur
ce'a LAU font shift change of selma'o; indicates that the following character specifies a new font (e.g. italic, block print, or manuscript). Supersedes old "ce'a" and "pe'e" which were too limited; the latter is now unassigned.

(In addition, the grammar changes described above also freed up po'o, zi'a, zi'i, zi'o, and zi'u.)

remaining unassigned (27):

bi'a bi'e bu'o (bo'a bo'e bo'i bo'o bo'u) ce'e ce'u ci'a do'i ja'u ju'e mi'i na'a ne'e pe'e po'o re'u te'i va'e vu'o zi'a zi'i zi'o zi'u

gismu

The following two gismu are proposed for addition to the baselined list, and will be adopted pending no objection:

vukro vuk vu'o Ukrainian x1 pertains to the Ukrainian language/- culture/nation in aspect x2
slovo lov Slavic x1 pertains to Slavic languages/culture/- ethnos in aspect x2
(lovle'u Cyrillic x1 is a letter of Cyrillic alphabet symbolizing x2)

These have been reviewed by Ivan Derzhanski, as our only active native-Slavic Lojbanist. The breakup of the Soviet Union, has made Ukraine a large country with a Russian speaker base, one with a Slavic language of its own and a nationalistic interest in being clearly distinct from Russia and the ex-Soviet Union. (The definition of "softo" is being broadened to cover the old Russian empire and the new Commonwealth, but remains tied to the keyword 'Soviet' because there really is no other distinct word.) Our standards for cultural gismu clearly put Ukraine in the group that should have a gismu. (The other republics, except Russia itself, will be covered with le'avla.)

With two Slavic peoples represented, the family name also requires a gismu (as "semto" exists to cover Hebrew and Arabic commonalties). As shown, this gismu will also be used to generate a lujvo for "Cyrillic", a better choice than "rusko" or "softo" for making a lujvo for that concept, anyway.

Keyword changes

The following constitute baseline changes, even though there is no significant change of meaning. They will be considered adopted unless there is objection.

All metric prefixes currently have keywords of the form:

megdo     10E6

It has been pointed out that this does not conform to most exponential notations. The keywords will be globally changed to use "1" instead of "10" giving:

megdo     1E6

The following are being changed to make them consistent with other culture words by referring to the culture rather than to the defining element of the culture.

budjo Buddhist x1 pertains to the Buddhist culture/- religion/nation in aspect x2
dadjo Taoist x1 pertains to the Taoist culture/religion/nation in aspect x2
jegvo Jehovist x1 pertains to culture/religion of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity in aspect x2
xriso Christian x1 pertains to the Christian culture/- religion/nation in aspect x2

The change in keyword of "mukti" to "motive", part of the last baseline change, did not get into the Planned Languages Server file for some reason, along with appropriate definition wording changes. Some copies of LogFlash were distributed with this change omitted.

rafsi

"du" will be added to the list as a result of being assigned the rafsi "dub" and "du'o". "selci" is being given "sle" from "selfu", which in turn will be given "sef" from "sefta". (Since the January meeting, we have compiled a list of all lujvo used thus far in Lojban text. This will be used to generate a more accurate tuning of the rafsi assignments to reflect expected usage. A few additional rafsi changes are likely to result, and will appear in the completed book.

Place structures

We cannot list all of the place structure changes and definition changes being made for the new baselined list. Based on decisions at the weekend meeting, about 20% of the words will have some change from the draft "logdata.raw" list posted to the PLS and distributed to advance recipients of the new LogFlash (We were BUSY!). Most of these are minor and clarifying. (The complete review that Bob is doing while typing in these changes has resulted in many more minor changes, mostly clarifications in wording).

Some general notes:

  • Bob Chassell proposed a large set of synonyms be listed; these are being added to the definition field to make computer searches of the list easier. These synonyms will also show up in the dictionary as additional English entries.
  • A clarification of sets and masses and sequences and their roles as place holders in bridi caused many changes in wording. All places where these have been identified as likely placeholders have been examined and will be identified if space permits.
  • Several 'properties' gismu which are generally considered subjective, have gained a 'by standard' place. The standard may only the personal one of the observer, whatever that may be. Colors are NOT included in this change.
  • More care is being taken with 'under conditions' places. In many cases, an 'under conditions' place may be appropriate to some event/state within a single place of a bridi, rather than applying to the main bridi itself.
  • The use of "du'u" abstractions is clearly distinguished in place structures dealing with truths. Some places dealing with knowledge and truth have been cleft paralleling the "djuno" place structure change in JL15.
  • All known cleft place structures have been reviewed, with more than half eliminated by putting an event clause in x1. A few, such as "simlu", are remaining cleft, but are worded so as to suggest "ka" property abstractions instead of events in the cleft abstraction place.

The following are particularly significant changes in meaning. Since there is no keyword change, these are not considered relevant to the baseline; place structures have never been frozen. The wording is abbreviated and approximate, and there may be further changes before the list is finally frozen. For now, however, this will clarify the meanings of many words, and should give a good idea as to the nature of the most major changes being made.

balvi x1 is in the future of/- later than/after x2 in time (ONLY; cf. lidne)
bilni x1 is military/- regimented/strongly organized/prepared by system x2 for purpose x3
caxno (paralleling condi below)
cfari x1 (nu) commences/- begins/initiates/starts (intransitive) [no change, but cf. sisti)
cimde x1 is a dimension of space/object x2 according to rules/model x3
clupa x1 is a loop/circuit in/of material x2 defined by (set of points) x3
cmavo x1 is a structure word having grammar exemplified by word x2 with meaning function x3 in language x4
condi x1 is deep in extent in x2 (ka) at locus x3 away from observation point x4 by standard x5
cpare x1 climbs/clambers/- crawls/creeps on surface x2 in direction x3 using x4 (tools, limbs)
danfu x1 is the answer/- response to question x2
dargu x1 is a road with route x2
fancu x1 is a function/single- value mapping from domain x2 to range x3 defined by rules x4
fasnu x1 is an event that happens/occurs
flalu x1 is a law specifying x2 (nu) for community x3 (mass) under conditions x4 by law-giver x5
funca x1 (nu) is determined by the luck/fortune of/for x2
gasnu x1 is agent in event x2; x1 'does' x2
gradu x1 (magnitude) is a unit/degree of/on scale/- reference standard x2 (idea/- si'o) measuring x3 (ka)
gunma x1 is a mass/team/is together, of components x2 considered jointly
jbini x1 is between/among set of boundaries x2 in x3 (ka)
jdika x1 is decreased/reduced in x2 (ka) by amount x3 (no change but cf. zenba)
kancu x1 counts the number in set x2 to be x3 (ni/number) in units x4
karli x1 is a collar surrounding x2 of material x3
krefu x1 is a recurrence/- repetition of x2 (nu) for the x3th (ni/number) time; x1 happens again
kusru x1 (person) is cruel/- mean to x2
lacpu x1 pulls/tugs/drags x2 by handle at locus x3
lafti x1 lifts/applies lift to x2 at locus x3
lidne x1 leads/precedes x2 in sequence x3
naxle (paralleling dargu above)
pajni x1 judges/is a judge determining/deciding matter x2 (ka/ni/jei abstraction) (estimate/evaluate)
panra x1 is parallel to x2 in property/pattern x3 by standard/geometry x4
pikta x1 is a ticket entitling x2 to privilege/entitlement x3 (nu) under conditions x4
platu x1 plans/designs/plots plan/plot/arrangement x2 for state/process x3
porsi x1 (sequence) is sequenced/ordered by comparison/rules x2 on set (unordered) x3
prami (paralleling xebni below)
prina x1 (agent) prints x2 on x3 using tool x4
purci (paralleling balvi above)
ritli x1 is a rite/ceremony/- ritual/is formal(legal) for purpose x2 under custom x3, under rules/form x4
selci x1 is a cell/atom/- molecule/unit of x2; x1 is an indivisible basic subunit of x2 (cf. English 'atom')
simlu x1 appears to have property x2 to x3 under conditions x4
sirji x1 is straight/direct/- line segment/interval between x2 and x3
sisti x1 (agent) ceases/- stops/halts doing/being x2 (cf. cfari WHICH IS DIFFERENT)
skiji x1 is a ski/skid/skate/- runner for surface x2 (for) supporting skier/skater/sled/- cargo x3
suksa x1 (nu) is sudden/abrupt at stage/achievement x2 in process x3; x1 (ka) suddenly changes at point x2 over interval x3
talsa x1 (person) challenges x2 in x3 (ka)
trene x1 is a train (segmented-vehicle) of cars/- units (mass/sequence) in system/railroad/of owners x3
trina x1 attracts/lures x2 (person/action) with x3 (ka)
venfu x1 (person(s)) takes revenge on/retaliates against x2 (person(s)) for wrong x3 (nu) with vengeance x4 (nu)
vorme x1 is a door/gate between x2 and x3 of/in/- through structure x4
xamsi x1 is an ocean/sea/- gulf/atmosphere of planet x2 of fluid x3
xanri x1 (si'o) exists in the imagination of/is imagined by/is imaginary/unreal to x2
xebni x1 hates x2 (object/- abstract)
xendo (paralleling kusru above)
xlura x1 (agent) influences x2 into action/event/state x3 by influence/threat/lure x4 (cf. trina)
xrani x1 (nu) injures/harms/- damages victim x2 in property x3 resulting in injury x4 (za'i/ka)
zarci x1 is a market/store/- exchange/marketplace selling x2 operated by x3/with participants x3 (mass agent)
zenba x1 is increased/- augmented in x2 (ka/ni) by amount x3 (parallels with jdika)
zukte x1 is an 'entity' employing means x2 for/towards end/purpose/goal x3

John Cowan writes the following as further explanation of the set/mass/sequence/individuals changes:

One of the aims of the place structure review was to examine all the place structures that were labeled "(plural/set)" to see whether an actual set was wanted, or merely one or more individuals. In addition, sometimes a mass seemed to be the right thing. The new place structures which Lojbab is typing up will contain a good deal of clarification.

Essentially, a true set is required if the relationship does not hold of each member but only of the totality. For example, "kampu", "cnano", and "fadni" are all relationships between a set and one of its members (or a property thereof). If I am typical of ("cnano") the set of persons, that doesn't mean that the relation "typical-of" holds between me and every individual person -- indeed, the idea of one person being typical of another makes no sense.

On the other hand, we decided that "casnu" should have a mass, rather than either a set or plural individuals, in its x1 place. People may "casnu", or participate in a discussion, even though not all of them say anything.

In many cases, "(plural/set)" came up where "between" or "among" was involved. Most of these we tried to reword to avoid the problem, which often resulted from excess generality. Thus a wall now separates exactly two things, and a door connects exactly two. (A wall may separate multiple pairs of things - my house from yours, my property from yours, Country 1 from Country 2 - all at once, but the relationship is still pairwise.)

In addition, the phrase "ordered set" was changed throughout to "sequence", and the place structure of "porsi" is now something like "x1 is a sequence of the members of set x2 ordered by rules x3". Sequences do not have the same level of support in Lojban as individuals, masses, and sets; however, we have long had the non-logical connective "ce'o" which constructs them item by item. In addition, we added "vu'i", a converter of selma'o LUhI, transforming a set into a sequence, as well as individuals into a sequence-in-extension.

It now seems that "fa'u", the non-logical connective for "respectively", may be taken to generate a sequence-in-extension, thus:

mi fa'u do se cmene zo djan. fa'u zo lojbab.
(I respectively-with you) are- benamed ("John" respectively-with "Lojbab").

Using ".e" logical connection will not do, as that would claim that each of us is named both "John" and "Lojbab".

Status of Products

We have a lot of products in the works, and a few of them are done or nearly done. More significantly perhaps, several new products have been identified, and are in progress and in some cases near completion. The variety of Lojban products continues to multiply as new people get involved in its development.

One is of course the Diagrammed Summary of Lojban Grammar, included as an insert in this issue. This will form the major language explanatory text about the language for our introductory package. The Overview will be recast to talk mostly about the ideas of the language and not the grammar, and a glossary will be added. Eventually, this package will be assembled into one of our several book publications. Now for the other products:

Mini-Lesson - Athelstan set the material of his "Lojban Mini-Lesson", an hour-long presentation, down in text last summer and fall before his accident. We distributed draft copies electronically (the draft is available on the PLS - see above), and some two dozen people from 6 different countries have tried it and sent comments. Alas the revision effort was only partially done when the accident occurred, so the mini-lesson, planned for this issue and at one time an excuse for its delay, isn't yet ready.

People have in general found the mini-lesson to be a very good introduction to the language, as they found Athelstan's oral presentation similarly useful. Alas, on paper it takes a good deal more than an hour to work through. People have generally said that there are too many exercises and too few examples. A few of the examples and explanations are perhaps too oriented to English-native speakers, but we haven't figured a good way to correct that.

Given the accident, it is likely that I (Bob) will have to finish the revision, and it will thus not be ready until JL17 or even JL18. The revised mini-lesson will also form part of the introductory package.

LogFlash - We have released the new version of LogFlash described in the last several issues. Both LogFlash 1 (gismu) and LogFlash 3 (cmavo) are being successfully used by several people.

For those who want to learn rafsi, the older combined LogFlash 1/2 will continue to be available (LogFlash 2 teaches rafsi) until a new version is created - a new version of LogFlash 2 will be more difficult to develop than the other programs because the type of testing used in lessons is more diverse. The lujvo-making program will also be incorporated into the next revision of LogFlash 2. The priority of this revision depends primarily on people being interested in obtaining it - if you are ready to start using this program, or expect that you will be within 6 months, let us know and Nora will put more effort into this upgrade. The files for the old version are not being updated, hence several newly-added rafsi assignments and the couple of changes that have been made are not reflected in this old version. This has not proven to be a significant limitation.

There are two 'problems' with the current release, neither of which prevents effective use. The first is that we've had no time to rewrite the user documentation. There are now an enormously increased number of user-selectable features in LogFlash, and documentation is needed to intelligently choose among them. You can experiment or ask - most of these functions are self-explanatory as to how they work, and playing around is not damaging to your learning effectiveness (though it can be time consuming given the number of options). However, explaining when and why each option is intended to be used takes a bit of work. Luckily, Nora has made the program effectively self-channelled - the default option at each menu choice progresses you through fairly optimal usage. I'd like to promise the documentation soon, but I'll have to admit that it keeps getting shoved off for other priorities. When more people start buying the program, we will of course put high priority on completing the support documentation, and it will be available free-of-charge to those of you who have done without until then.

The other 'problem' is that because of the above-mentioned revision of the gismu list, especially affecting place structures, the version of the list we are giving out at any particular time is subject to changes. These changes don't generally affect the learning process since place structures are provided for information purposes only, but since the lists being distributed are unofficial, people receiving them need to be fore-warned. Again, we will make updated files available to those who purchase copies now, probably at the time the first book is released.

The instability of the word files affects LogFlash 3 a bit more significantly because we are more freely changing words and keywords, as well as making a small number of additions and deletions to the cmavo list. The changes being made are typically minor, however, enough that we can finally feel comfortable in recommending that people use LogFlash 3 without too much fear of having to do a lot of relearning due to changes.


MacLojFlash - Both versions of LogFlash for the Apple MacIntosh are being updated for the new data files. Each version already had some of the features now incorporated into the original MS-DOS version, and will probably add new ones to keep the different versions roughly comparable in capabilities. The Hypercard Mac version by Dave Cortesi is being upgraded to Hypercard II; Richard Kennaway's original MAC version doesn't use Hypercard, is somewhat faster, but does not have voice synthesis of the words, and supports both the gismu and cmavo lists in one program. Richard's program is basically ready, awaiting only reasonably final word files. (Our difficulties in supporting the Mac continue, and we aren't going to release incremental in-progress Mac versions of the word-lists as we are doing with the original program.) The Mac programs are liable to be cheaper than the MS-DOS versions, partly because of the lower quality of support that we have been able to provide.

Serious Volunteers Sought for LogFlash Research - The new version of LogFlash (MS-DOS version only) is instrumented for research into how well people learn Lojban words. This finally allows testing of the 'word recognition scores' that were the basis of Loglan/Lojban word-making ever since the project started in the 1950s, as well as formally verifying the effectiveness of the LogFlash technique.

We are looking for volunteers to use LogFlash in learning the Lojban vocabulary. At this point we have no constraint on who can volunteer, as long as you can state more or less honestly that you don't yet know much of the Lojban gismu vocabulary. Later on, we will have to add restrictions to ensure that our statistics are valid, but for now we are looking for patterns in the learning of individuals.

We have no funding for this experiment - we can't pay anyone to participate. You will even have to buy the copy of LogFlash that you use to learn the words, because we need the money to stay in business right now. What we can promise is that someone who volunteers AND STICKS WITH THE EXPERIMENT ENOUGH TO GIVE US USEFUL RESULTS will be credited afterwards for the price of LogFlash and any other Lojban teaching materials you buy to study while participating in the experiment. We'll also give priority (subject to our limited funds) for volunteers who need financial assistance to obtain Lojban materials.

This isn't a lot to offer for a commitment of 3-7 hours a week for 4-8 months (probably 100-150 hours total, about the same as the homework time for a typical college class), but the work isn't hard, and you will be doing it anyway if you are planning on learning the language. We need is people who will use LogFlash more or less daily for at least 1/2 hour a day (preferably an hour - learning may go 3 times as fast or better, at this more intense study rate; you learn quicker, and the experiment is shorter and more likely to show expected results.)

Other teaching products - We have contacted two firms that commercially produce language learning materials and gotten interest in assisting the Lojban project from each of them. One produces software that teaches you words and structures as you read a story or stories in Lojban (not a simplified text - you would learn to read most any Lojban text you come across). The other, International Learning Corporation, produces a series of materials called "The Learnables (tm)", which are books of cartoons and pictures associated with extensive tapes. These materials are used effectively in college classes.

Both products have been recommended to us by more than one Lojbanist. Both organizations have indicated that they would be willing to license us to develop Lojban versions of their products at no cost to us other than the effort of developing the materials. The resulting materials should be extremely effective in teaching Lojban and offer the confidence of having been used effectively with other languages. The down-side of these materials is that they will probably be more expensive than our self-developed materials (for existing languages, the software package costs around $100 plus a small amount per story, while The Learnables costs around $45 for a book and 6 tapes, with 4 beginning and 4 advanced books covering the typical language - we can't promise to be able to sell Lojban materials for any less than the prices these organizations charge for other languages).

These are significant opportunities to get awareness of Lojban out to a much larger audience, but we cannot justify the time to produce the materials unless there is some significant interest in the community in buying and using the resulting products. So we need to hear from you if you think you would buy the materials.

Interlinear Glosser (and Parser) - This new project of Nora's stems from four unrelated problems. Because of the massive volume of Lojban text now being produced, Nora and I can no longer read and check it all - our own command of the language is not thorough enough for us to quickly check words and place structures, much less to comment the results thoroughly.

People writing Lojban text tend to make word choice errors (e.g. lujvo-making errors, misspellings), and find it hard to catch these errors before 'inflicting' them on others. A simple computerized spelling checker cannot fully solve this (even if you can build a dictionary file easily) because nearly all possible cmavo and lujvo word-forms are plausibly valid words.

In addition, people using the Lojban parser to check their work have found the outputs to be hard to use in an odd way. When there is an error, the parser tells you (approximately) where the error occurred, and you know where to look. If it finds no errors, the rather lengthy fully-parenthesized output contains complete grammatical structure information. Unfortunately, a lot of simple errors, including misspellings (noted above) and omitted terminators can lead to grammatically perfect text that means something quite different from what you intended. Reading the parser output to find such errors requires great care, as well as a certain sense of what types of errors to look for. It isn't being done too well, and people have found errors in text that seemed perfectly valid, even to the parser, when read carefully. (Though this might seem to be a threat to Lojban's viability as a understandable and logical language, the types of errors that are occurring seem to be of the types that fluent speakers wouldn't often make.)

Finally, one of the easiest first steps towards the computer applications for which Lojban is especially suitable is a Lojban-to-English translator. Nora has long been interested in producing a simple form of such a translator, both for study of the problems of machine translation, and as an effective teaching tool. She first did a rudimentary translator, handling a subset of the grammar of single Loglan sentences, on a tiny TRS-80 home computer back in 1981. Updating this program to use with Lojban has been difficult, because the varieties of sentences that are typical for Lojban are much more numerous than for earlier Loglan versions.

A few months ago, we discovered a free-ware program called "Shoebox" (Summer Institute of Linguistics) that produces interlinear glosses from one language to another, using a simple word look-up technique and a specially designed word database. Mark Shoulson and others have set up this program to produce quite pretty glosses for Lojban text, but the translation is rather difficult to read, even when you know Lojban grammar - the words that are substituted are the keywords of our word-lists, which are not intended necessarily to be good translations; there is no provision for lujvo compounds, even though they are quite regular; several cmavo have no valid English gloss because they serve purely grammatical roles; and finally, Lojban's predicate grammar means that you need to analyze the grammatical situation to know whether to interpret the English equivalent of a Lojban word as a noun, a verb, and adjective, or an adverb - Shoebox is not sufficiently tailored to Loglan/Lojban's unique regularities to take advantage of them to produce a readable output.

Inspired by this, Nora started designing a grammar-smart interlinear glosser. Carl Burke has aided with some good design ideas, and the project is well underway. Indeed, the program already produces better glosses than the comparable Shoebox versions, even without many 'grammar smarts', because it recognizes Lojban word types, disassembles lujvo, recognizes numbers as a unit, and other simple Lojban-specific functions. It processes outputs from John Cowan's Lojban parser, separating a long text into separate sentences and other logical chunks for easier reading, and optionally retaining or deleting the structure bracketing and inserted elidable marker words that the parser provides in its output. We also have developed a 'dictionary' suited for this program.

If there is demand, we can make the program available fairly shortly in its in-development form bundled with the parser (which it requires). We'll set a tentative price of $50 for the combination, partly because the program is incomplete; the final program may be more expensive. John Cowan's parser by itself is available for $25 (and may be available for some UNIX machines as well as MS-DOS). People who are writing a LOT of Lojban text, and sending it to us or posting it onto Lojban List, can probably convince us to provide a test version of either or both for free (especially if you cannot afford to pay for it) - we'd rather have you be checking your text before we get it rather than be doing it ourselves. The user documentation and support on these programs will be quite limited until the glosser is completed.

We are making these programs available primarily because some people are already finding them useful, not because we believe they are optimal products yet - if you are working often with the language, the program limitations will not much hinder their usefulness. Also, frankly, we need people to contribute more for our support, and having new products to sell gives you something for your money besides the good feeling of contributing to keeping this project alive.

The Cowan Papers, or "The Lojban Textbook Effort Grows Up" - 3 1/2 years ago (October 1988) I started to write a technical description and reference for Lojban. 40 pages and the first descriptive cmavo list were completed. Reviewers at that point basically told me that the text was not working - most people did not know the language well enough to use a reference that presumed basic knowledge of the grammar. The format was very poor as a teaching text. The result was the recommendation that I write a Lojban textbook.

From January through June 1989, I wrote 6+ draft chapters of such a textbook while teaching the first Lojban class. About 150 people have gotten those lessons now, and a couple of dozen of these have studied the language well enough to write fairly effectively in the language. These draft lessons remain available and are the most thorough teaching materials we have for those trying to learn the language.

Alas, the draft lessons, though they've 'aged well', remain incomplete. I stopped writing when we realized that the basic structure of the course was not working in the way we intended and it was getting harder and harder to write lessons that built constructively on what had gone before. The completed textbook would be over 1000 pages, and simply wasn't good enough to justify that much effort.

I started a new draft in 1990, but it got only to page 50. Throughout 1990 and 1991, as others learned the language, the advances in teaching technique outstripped my writing ability. Indeed, under the able leadership of Nick Nicholas, the last year has shown a truly outstanding increase in the sophistication of our knowledge of Lojban expression, its style, and its semantics. But that evolution, and the dozens of little tiny changes in the corners of the language were stresses that hurt my confidence that I was teaching the language appropriately to the ways it is coming to be used. I've also spent too much time dealing with our unending financial problems and simply coordinating the rapid expansion of our organization.

The reference materials of the language continued to evolve as well, and, although the language itself is quite stable, our published descriptions of the language have edged towards obsolescence. The gismu list place structures were too short and vague, but the words themselves were quite stable, as were the rafsi affixes. The cmavo list was nearly as stable, but incessant little changes in the grammar coupled with major advances of our knowledge of how to communicate in Lojban have made a simple list of cmavo inadequate. The YACC-based formal grammar has similarly been quite stable; there were little changes and we had to update the baseline a year later, and a new baseline will take place when the first book comes out (though the number of grammar change proposals in the second baseline year have been less than half of those in the first year).

Since every example in the textbook must be accurate and consistent with the reference lists, the more examples I've put into the text, the shakier the result has become. Simply checking every example in the existing 6 chapters requires hours of work - the new textbook has several times as many examples for each key grammar point.

In addition, the YACC grammar is not too well understood by those who aren't used to that type of grammar definition. There are a lot of trees, with no sense of the forest. The shorter EBNF form of the grammar is better for some people, but it is still formalized and difficult for non-computer people. An especial lack is a series of examples showing all the various structures of the grammar, and discussing why they were present.

This lack of examples was a big hang-up in textbook writing, as well. I spent endless time trying to concoct meaningful examples of sentences that exemplified the points I was trying to make, which were limited in vocabulary, but still interesting. This is NOT my strong skill. Still, the 50 pages of the new draft textbook has dozens of examples and even more exercises.

When John Cowan first became involved in Lojban, 2 years ago, his first promised goal was the rather ambitious one of writing an example sentence for every gismu. He then decided instead to write one sentence for every cmavo, covering every variety of grammatical usage.

A nice ideal, but far too ambitious, as John found out. Some cmavo are permitted in a variety of usages but aren't pragmatically useful in most of them - at least not in a way that we English speakers can easily recognize. For example, it seems rather odd to contemplate the mathematical number "pi" treated like all other numbers and used as a digit, or to enumerate objects or events: "pi events of Mary going to the store" is irrational in more than one sense of the word.

John's continuing work with the grammar has made him even more expert in its details than I am. He has performed the modifications to the YACC grammar for all the little changes of the last two years. In developing that expertise, he learned how thoroughly the language is defined, while how little of that design is yet set down on paper. He set to remedy this problem in the context of his previous goal, choosing to write a "selma'o catalog" that would list all the grammatical components of the language, giving explanations and examples of the use of each of them. Maybe he wouldn't find one example for every word in every grammatical context, but at least there would be an example of each such grammatical form, and the result would show how the rules of the grammar interacted in actual usage (as opposed to the arcane formulae of the YACC grammar).

John spent several months on the selma'o catalog, and created a very nice document that a few people have used effectively to learn about the language structures. The document has remained a draft, though, for several reasons. Basically, though, John realized that his goal remained far beyond what he was capable of writing. I'm going to exaggerate the negatives to make the reasons clear - as I said, the document proved quite useful and informative for the limited audience of reviewers who already knew a bit about the language. Everyone who read it, including me, learned a lot from John's explanations.

The draft selma'o catalog is a couple of hundred paragraphs, with a couple of hundred cross-references; but the latter is not nearly enough. It turns out that so many of the structures are redundant to each other that it is difficult to write about individual word categories without referring to what is said elsewhere, or without repeating the same thing many times over. John also had to make use of so many technical jargon terms that a explanatory glossary was going to be needed that was fully as large as the catalog text, in order for the catalog to be understood by a beginner. Finally, because John wrote the catalog from start to end, it reads fairly well as a textual explanation of the selma'o.

However, as a catalog reference work not intended to be read from start to finish, the document failed. Individual entries are hard to understand - even with all the cross-references, too much of the text presumes that the reader has read and understood what comes 'before it' in the catalog. The result is like a dictionary wherein you must know and understand almost every word in the 'A' section before trying to understand the 'B' words, while 'C' requires knowledge of both 'A' and 'B', etc.

Finally, although John created over a hundred example sentences for the selma'o catalog, this is not nearly enough to exemplify the entire Lojban grammar.

The selma'o catalog will appear in print, probably in the first book to be published (see below). However, it needs to be integrated with other materials in that book, which will take a bit of work. It unfortunately cannot serve the purpose John originally set out for it - to exemplify the variety of cmavo and their usages in the grammar.

To accomplish the latter, John has undertaken and made excellent progress on a new approach. He has divided the grammar of Lojban into some 15 topics. There will be a paper on each topic, covering the cmavo used in the portion of the grammar that addresses that topic. A half dozen of these papers are done or nearly complete.

The topics are not an even division of the grammar - some topics can be covered in very few pages, while others need a lot of explanation and examples. On the average, the topics are being covered to at least the level of detail as the "On Lojban Negation" paper, which was published a couple of years ago with JL and is now distributed with "Package 3" for active language students. (John's writing in these new papers seems to me to be much more readable then my own in the negation paper.) Each paper has dozens of examples; in some of them, over a hundred examples may be found.

The most important of the papers completed thus far is the tense paper included with this issue. One of the most thoroughly analyzed and designed aspects of Lojban, as distinguished from earlier versions of Loglan, the tense system benefits from pc's expertise in tense logic and its expression in the languages of the world.

I've said that the Lojban tense system is overdesigned - it allows the entire variety of tense-related expressions used by any of the world's languages, without particularly favoring any one approach. But each natural language has evolved a highly specialized and often idiomatic approach to expressing tense. The English speaker tackling Russian or Greek or Irish, all Indo-European languages, must learn elaborate tense systems involving perfective tenses that work entirely unlike those of English. Making the matter even worse, most English speakers are ill-educated as to the complexity of the tense structures of their own language, and the subtleties of nuance implicit in various forms of expression. As a result, a major failing people have in learning foreign languages is that they are unable to grasp the new ways of relating time and space embodied in the foreign language, and speak in a very stilted dialect that is difficult for natives to understand. (Most artificial languages have little or no thought put into their tense system, and probably never achieve the subtleties of meaning conveyed by natural language tenses.)

The tense paper included in this issue will likely stretch your mind to envision new relationships in time and space as expressed in language, relationships that are not easily conveyed in English, if at all.

For example, at the moment I am writing this, I say that "I am writing JL16". But since JL16 is not yet published, it doesn't yet exist while I write it (except as a figment of my imagination). In Lojban, we can make this clear by stating that I am writing the inchoative JL16.

Another example, long my favorite, was coined by pc. Suppose X has a dog which he hits in punishment whenever it chews X's clothes. Indeed, he hits it so long that it sustains lasting injury, though a trip to the vet remedies much of this damage. Now suppose over a period of time, X continues this cruel behavior, the dog's condition deteriorates, and it dies. In English, we might say that "X kept on: kept on hitting the dog too long, too long." But without the long-winded explanation, you would almost certainly consider that sentence both ungrammatical and nonsense, when it is neither. (And there is no way to clearly punctuate the sentence, either, as I just found out.) Lojban expresses this situation easily.

Now think of one of those cartoons where the main character drives a motorboat across the lake, then continues up on shore and across the land. This situation is expressed in Lojban using a tense quite similar to that of the last example: the character kept on driving the motorboat too far 'on' the lake.

There are all manner of other tense structures permitted in Lojban, some of which have no parallel in natural language. Lojban's tenses are symmetrical with respect to time - you can talk about future events in as elaborate detail as you can talk about past ones, whereas some natural languages (including English) have only a very degenerate grammar for talking about things to come.

Will people find Lojban's tense grammar enabling? Or will its many unusual forms never find use, and fall by the wayside. We'll only come to know after people have a chance to learn from a thorough explanation of the tense system, such as John has now provided us.

Here is a list of the papers currently planned, and their status:

  • morphology, phonology, and orthography (written and published, needs stylistic rewrite to match later papers);
  • negation (written and published, needs minor update and reworking to be stylistically consistent with later papers);
  • attitudinals/metalinguistics (written and published, needs major rewrite adding many examples);
  • tense (written and published with this issue);
  • MEX: mathematical expressions (written and internally reviewed - to be published with JL17);
  • logical connectives (written and in internal review);
  • text structure (written and in internal review);
  • lerfu (written and in internal review);

Not yet written (though in some cases planned in considerable detail) are:

  • abstraction;
  • logical quantification;
  • sumti structures - anaphora, descriptions, names, quotes, numbers;
  • places and place structures;
  • selbri structures;
  • tanru making;
  • anaphora;
  • elidable terminators;

John will write most of these papers. I (Lojbab) will probably do a couple of them, possibly including the major rewrite of the attitudinal paper, a lesser rewrite of the negation paper, and writing some or all of the papers on tanru, elidables, and abstraction. These papers will probably take another year to be completed, reviewed, and integrated for publishing, but the resulting book will be a detailed explanation of all aspects of the Lojban grammar (called a 'reference grammar' by linguists).

These papers will be an invaluable resource in creating examples and exercises to enrich the long-delayed Lojban textbook. Teaching of the intermediate and advanced aspects of the language that were not covered in the 6 draft lessons already written will be especially helped.

As I went to describe John's papers, and the role that they fit in the documentation of the Lojban design, I realized that these collected papers will be nothing other than the Lojban technical description that I started back in 1988, before the textbook was conceived.

We have come full circle. In a year, when the papers are complete and published, Lojban will be well-documented, and the language and its community will be much the richer for it.


Bob and Nora Studying Russian - Nora and I have started an intensive study of Russian. We are trying to adopt one or more young children from Russia, and will have to travel to that country, deal with children who have likely started to understand or even to speak Russian, and also to teach those children about their heritage as they grow up. (Yes, we also plan to teach our kids Lojban.)

What does this have to do with Lojban?

Our learning efforts started in April, and have already had a significant effect on the future textbook. Our situation in learning Russian is not too unlike the typical Lojbanist who wants to learn Lojban - we want to very quickly acquire as much competency in the language as we can, but have minimal opportunity to take formal classes or interact with native speakers.

We've spent a good chunk of money on textbooks, tapes, and other learning aids; we've adapted LogFlash to the study of Russian vocabulary (surprisingly easy due to Nora's excellent program design foresight, even though Russian uses a keyboard and alphabet rather different from what normally appears on your computer screen).

Only a month into the effort, I'm learning what methods work for rapid self-teaching, and which do not.

When Nora and I learned Loglan/- Lojban, we acquired it slowly, over several years, without prepared materials to work from, and our level of skill until the last couple of years did not approach a useful level. Our experience was unlike what the new Lojbanist faces in trying to learn the language, and even more strongly different from the way we hope Lojbanists will learn the language in the future after the books and other materials are complete.

However, our experience in studying Russian from prepared materials in a short time will more closely approximate the typical Lojbanist's situation.

What have we learned? We need many more examples and exercises - each of the books we are using gives dozens of very simple exercises for each point taught, several exercises requiring use of each vocabulary word to be added to the learner's 'active' vocabulary, and an incremental approach that adds new grammar features quickly (at least at our study pace) but only one at a time. We have also found that tapes are useful and indeed important to giving students confidence that they can actually speak the language, as they copy what is being said. Tape exercises give practice in listening to the language, as well as correction of the errors and other problems that creep into the self-teaching student's pronunciation.

I am also getting specifically helpful samples of style: how much explanation is appropriate and useful, and what type of wording is clearest. Indeed, some specific Russian pronunciation explanations will prove quite useful in explaining similar points about Lojban.

I've spent a lot of thought on the textbook writing problem, and sent out a questionnaire to potential Lojban students on the computer networks. The problems I've had in writing the textbook have included a lack of time, too many things to do, instability in the details of the language, and low morale. But the real problem was that I was trying to write a textbook with no real understanding of what a language textbook needs to contain.

I've spent a lot of time over the last 5 years examining language textbooks, their structure, and teaching techniques. I've read over a dozen books on standard and unorthodox language teaching methodologies and on textbook writing for both commonly studied languages and for little-known languages for which native speaker materials are hard to acquire.

(You would be surprised how little agreement there is on teaching methodologies among language teaching professionals. Simply speaking, there is no methodology that has proven to work effectively for the wide variety of student backgrounds and goals. The best materials are those for learning English, but English-speaking natives like me cannot look at these materials and truly understand the methods being used, and how they might relate to designing materials for other languages - the best materials are quite unlike the ones native speakers study in English grammar class.)

This reading means that I actually understand the techniques being used by the Russian textbook writers as they use them on me (the best Russian textbooks on the market were written in Russia by professionals there, and then translated and adapted for English-speaking audiences). I can see which techniques work well with a self-teaching student, and which would need two or more people, or even a class, to be effective.

It is no big surprise that the techniques that work best on me are quite similar to the LogFlash flash card technique. It IS significant, both to me, and potentially to people who design materials for other languages, how valuable an understanding of WHY I am doing an exercise helps me do that exercise better - I concentrate on what is important, and don't worry about the rest (I can tell this benefit because I can see the problems that Nora is having, not having had this background in language teaching theory.)

It turns out that this new information will not affect the textbook writing I've done thus far. We decided a long time ago to totally rewrite the materials in the draft 6 lessons in the new textbook, which will have a different organization, as well as a different style. The draft lessons, updated to the current language with minimal stylistic changes, will still be put out as a book later this year, because we can get it done quickly and because people have proven able to learn from the book.

The rewritten textbook has been stalled near the end of Chapter 1 for over a year - partly from lack of time, more recently from reduced priority. Chapter 1 is an overview of the entire language, a big-picture summary that attempts to get across the fundamental differences between Lojban and other languages in hopes that when we turn to a detailed, incremental buildup of language skills in succeeding chapters, people will have a framework to build upon. (It is rather difficult to properly teach about Lojban sentence features without knowing that Lojban sentences themselves are conceptually unlike English sentences.) It will take little work to adapt Lesson 1 for this new approach, but I now, finally, have some idea how to write Lesson 2 - which has been a significant hindrance on my writing.


Book Plans - Last issue, I expected that we would have one or two books completed by the end of the year, those books being composed of updated versions of already published materials.

Surprising few people, the books haven't yet happened. The distractions of the financial situation hurt both morale and concrete progress. More important, the documents that we intended to incorporate into book form have lots of elusive little inconsistencies which are taking a long time to resolve and document so that we don't introduce new errors as we correct the old. The January weekend meeting discussed above led to a lot of changes in the gismu list place structures, and all other documents have to be reconciled with those changes. A lot of progress has been made, though, and I can surely state that, except for the time I'm taking to produce this JL issue, la lojbangirz. is decidedly in a book-producing mode.

The number of books planned has increased as we produce the two originally identified. Here's the current plan:


Textbook - The existing draft textbook lessons will be updated to the current language and minor changes put in to reflect specific difficulties that people had with an explanation. This revision will take time, but isn't too difficult. Some added tutorial materials, dealing with topics not covered in the 6 lessons that are important to new Lojbanists will be appended, and the first chapter of the new draft textbook will serve as an overview at the beginning.

Thereafter, work will commence on writing the 'real' textbook, using some of the ideas I've learned from teaching the language since the first draft textbook was started in 1989, as well as from our learning Russian, as described above. This writing may take a year or two, so that the revised draft textbook is what there will be until then. The full textbook may run to 2 volumes - I haven't yet seen a textbook that gives conversational fluency in a language in even two books.

Lojban, while simpler than most languages, still has a large vocabulary to learn. There is a minimum amount of vocabulary that must be mastered to converse fluently in any language. We have had little success in convincing people to get that head start on the vocabulary needed to make textbook learning flow smoothly. The draft lessons averaged 100 new words per lesson, and people in the first class did not do enough self-study of this vocabulary to have the vocabulary keep up with their grammar learning. The answer is smaller, shorter lessons, and some additional work on vocabulary teaching and drilling techniques. But language textbooks seem to set a target of around 1000-1200 words for a typical textbook, and this is only enough for rudimentary communication in most languages, including Lojban. Thus we will need 2 books to get people to active use vocabularies of 2000+ words, which is almost certainly the minimum needed for any real comfort in communicating.

Of course people using LogFlash can get to that 2000 word level much more quickly, and without a book, since the gismu and cmavo in LogFlash 3 together amount to around 2000 words, and most of these have some use in conversation and writing.


Reference Book/Dictionary - Originally the dictionary was going to come after the textbook. This has changed. As indicated last issue, we decided to assemble the various draft reference materials into a single book replacing our motley collection of printed handouts and reference lists with a single cheaper volume that is also up-to-date.

Because we need up-to-date references in order to revise the draft textbook, we decided last year that this book was to come first. It has turned out that producing it was not a simple assembly of old documents because bringing those documents into consistency with the current language has taken a lot of time. However, the added time has provided insights that will make the new document better than originally expected. The revised gismu list, for example, now typically has 2 or more English glosses for each Lojban word, and the English order list will be much more useful for those looking up words. We've had side projects going on regarding Lojbanization of names, and are even starting to assemble some of the lujvo used in Lojban text so far into lists (there have been over 2000 such lujvo actually used in Lojban text, which can be added to some 5000 proposed words that are on paper and computer disk from earlier Loglan work). I expect that the slow production process will allow me enough time to put a non-trivial sampling of these into the book. The resulting lists will be less thoroughly checked and standard than the well-analyzed gismu and cmavo lists, but the reference book is now looking more like the dictionary that people really want to see.

It won't be the dictionary I WANT to produce, but it will have more to it than most first dictionaries of artificial languages, and will serve as a good start.

I have been calling this book the 'proto-dictionary'.

The proto-dictionary will also have the formal grammar in both YACC and BNF forms, a glossary of Lojban and technical/linguistic jargon that often appears in discussion of Lojban, the morphology rules, and other useful reference material. I plan to include a form of the selma'o catalog started by John Cowan (described above).

A more complete dictionary will be built after this one is done, but it again will take a couple of years - I've always known this was a big project for one person, and without funding for more than myself to work on it, it will take a lot of time.

Nora has found a purse-sized gismu list that I prepared for her as an experiment to be very useful. therefore, we are considering putting out a tiny pocket version of the protodictionary with word lists only. If you think such a book would be useful enough for you to buy in addition to the full protodictionary, let us know - the market for this book will determine whether it is produced in this generation of Lojban materials, rather than waiting until there are more Lojbanists to buy it.


Grammar Description - John Cowan's papers, described above, along with the ones I have written and will write in the future, will form the third basic Lojban book.


Introduction to Lojban - The cost to us of our introductory package is quite high, and only some 10-20% of the people who ask for information send us payment. By assembling the introductory package into a small book, we can get better postal rates for mailing it, as well as reducing our printing costs. The savings is only a few hundred dollars a year, but every little bit helps, and a lower price might encourage more to pay.


Lojban Phrase Book - We started doing a phrase book for LogFest last year, and a few dozen pages of materials have been assembled. The concept is similar to the standard 'Berlitz' phrase-books for travellers, recognizing that the phrases a Lojbanist needs are not quite the same as those that a traveller to a foreign country would want.

Lojban Reader - We are still talking about this book, though it will likely be delayed because the other books are more important and the market for a reader is still small. The amount of Lojban text that has been written or translated is now enormous. However, checking the translations are slow and inefficient; even small changes in the language require a rechecking. We are also hoping that more Lojbanists will start writing new things in the language rather than translating. Most things people wish to translate are covered by copyright, and tracking down of permissions to reproduce such translations commercially is something we haven't figured out how to do efficiently (along with the fact that we might have to pay royalties).

Schedule

We may not be too good lately at meeting our schedules, being too dependent on both time and money that are not under our control, but having a schedule helps us keep priorities straight, and helps you know what he are doing to bring the language to you.

Here are the current plans:

(June 92)

LogFest 92A

Printed:
JL16
LK16
Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Sentences
Tense Paper

Electronic postings to PLS:
Diagrammed Examples of Lojban Sentences
Tense Paper
Mex Paper
lerfu Paper draft
Text Structure Paper draft
Logical Connectives Paper draft
Revised cmavo list

(August 92)

LogFest 92B - Annual Meeting

Printed:
JL17
LK17
Lojban Mini-Lesson
Mex Paper
What is Lojban - la lojban. mo Brochure (Esperanto version)

Electronic postings to PLS.:
lerfu Paper
Text Structure Paper
What is Lojban - la lojban. mo Brochure (Esperanto version) - updated
A comparison of Lojban and 1989 Institute Loglan (Cowan)
Glossary of Lojban/linguistic terminology

(September 92) 

Books:
Lojban Reference Materials/- Proto-Dictionary
Lojban Pocket Dictionary

Software:
Hypercard LogFlash/Mac - (Revised and New versions)

(November 92) 

Printed:
JL18
LK18
Lojban Learning Materials (Book)

Electronic postings to PLS.:
Revised Draft Lessons 1-6
Negation paper (updated)
Attitudinal Paper (updated)
Synopsis of Lojban Orthography, Phonology, and Morphology (updated)

(Dec 92)

Software
Lojban Parser (PC and some UNIX versions)
Lojban Parser/Glosser
Logflash 2 - rafsi (Revision 7)

Unscheduled But Planned 

Printed:
Lojban Textbook
Lojban Dictionary
Lojban Reader
Lojban Phrase Book

Printed and Electronic:
Lojban gismu Etymologies

Software:
Lojban Adventure Game

Using the Language

The most heartening development of the last several months has been the spread of regular and active Lojban work to several people outside of the DC area. These people, primarily in contact with each other through the computer networks, are doing a variety of translations and other writings, games, and discussions. The activities being undertaken often rely on advanced Lojban skills. That people are able to do these activities without direction or instruction from those of us who did the language design proves that the language has now been defined well enough that it is no longer totally dependent on Nora, pc, John Cowan and myself for survival.

Even more significantly, the people participating in these activities come from a variety of language backgrounds. Ivan Derzhanski, in Scotland, is native Bulgarian. Nick Nicholas, in Australia, is native Greek/English. Colin Fine, in the UK, of course uses British English, while Mark Shoulson uses American English (though he does most of his translating to Lojban from Hebrew). A new Lojbanist, Veijo Vilva is Finnish.


Lojban Conversation Group - Before Athelstan's accident in February, the Lojban conversation group here in DC passed its first anniversary of regular weekly conversation sessions in Lojban. Without Athelstan, we have shifted to non-conversation activities such as translations to and from Lojban of simple texts, while teaching new Lojbanist David Young enough of the language that he can comfortably participate in conversation. As described above, we expect to merge the conversation group into a new Lojban class here in the DC area that will swell our numbers of conversant speakers.


On the Net - Lojban List has remained steady at around 60-80 members, though the last few weeks have shown a new group of people joining in. While most of the subscribers to this list are 'lurkers' in net terminology (they read what's posted but seldom contribute), the number who contribute to discussions has grown to a couple of dozen.

The intensity of discussion varies. Earlier this year, the list was averaging a dozen messages a day, some of considerable length. Lately, things have been quiet, with only one or two messages a day.

The technical level of discussions has increased. Indeed, we've had a little problem in that new subscribers who haven't received our materials tend to be a bit lost in the details of the fairly advanced discussions, and very little is posted for beginning Lojbanists. I keep urging beginners to post questions, but few participate.


Phone Game - The old party game called variously "the phone game" or "whisper down the line" has found a new incarnation in Lojban. Originally started by Jack Bennetto, this game is just completing its 3rd 'round'. Lojbanists are each given a message, originally in English. They translate it into Lojban and pass it to the next person, who translates it back to English, then the next back to Lojban, etc. until the message has gone full circle. The requirement is to translate about two lines once a week, so the time commitment is rather small.

Participants in the latest 5 message round include Ivan Derzhanski, Sylvia Rutiser, Mark Shoulson, Colin Fine, and Nora LeChevalier, with Nick Nicholas coordinating things and assembling the results.

At the end of the game, Nick collects comments from everyone on the obvious and not-so-obvious errors that creep into the translations, and they are posted to Lojban List. Two sample messages from the 2nd round, with post-game commentary, appear in le lojbo se ciska below. People participating in the game learn much from trying to find ways to rephrase what they receive. Nick is hoping to increase the number of participants in the next round.

Translations and other Writings - The volume of Lojban text, mostly translations, continues to grow. So does the diversity of translators and sources. Nick Nicholas is still by far the leading translator into Lojban, with about 10 new efforts of length comparable to that in JL15 since that issue was published. Some of these translations are from Greek, both ancient and modern, some are from Esperanto, and even a couple from English. Nick has also completed translating the text of the original 'Adventure' computer game, known as 'Colossal Cave' (badbarda kevna), and we hope to have a Lojban version of this game available by the end of the year.

Ivan Derzhanski has translated two stories from Bulgarian into Lojban. One of these will probably appear in the next issue, unless we get the final review done in time for this issue's deadline. Ivan has been complimented for his 'natural' Lojban use that is very easy to read.

Mark Shoulson has translated sections of Genesis from the original Hebrew, as well as some traditional Hebrew songs. Colin Fine has translated the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea", and several songs, including one of his own. John Cowan has translated a short tale from Hakka, a rural Chinese dialect. Veijo Vilva and And Rosta have each translated haiku poetry, and Lojbab translated a Gilbert and Sullivan song. Jamie Bechtel revised his translation of an Ursula Leguin science fiction story, which we will print if we can get copyright release. And of course the DC group has done a variety of translations, mostly of simple texts from the 19th century schoolbooks called "McGuffy's Readers".

Michael Helsem recently sent a new poem written in Lojban, after several months of inactivity while relocating to Seattle. Thus far he's the only one emphasizing original writing in Lojban.

Discussions - Lojban List has had discussions on innumerable topics, and space is forcing us to leave most of these out of this issue. These discussions have been very helpful in resolving some of the issues that come up as we clean up the loose ends in the language documentation. Some of the discussions are excerpted in this issue, and more will appear in later issues, but we can hardly start to include the volume of material appearing on Lojban List.


Linguist List - John Cowan and Lojbab have also been active in "Linguist List", a mailing list for professional linguists who are conducting research. Our activity has earned us, and Lojban, name recognition in this critical community, and we have garnered considerable respect for Lojban's potential value in linguistics research (see research news below).

Conlang - A third mailing list exists for people interested in constructed languages in general as opposed to Lojban or some other particular language. Many of the participants are people inventing their own languages, often for fun or for use in fiction. Lojbanists contribute frequently on this forum, and we have gained several new supporters as a result.

Research Using Lojban

As we have gained respect in the linguistics community, a few linguists have offered ideas for how Lojban would be useful in their work. I'll highlight three key contacts.

Alexis Manaster-Ramer - Alexis is a noted linguist at Wayne State University in Michigan. He is active in a variety of linguistics arenas, and leads in international relations with the Russian linguistics community, computational linguistics, and historical linguistics (he has a forthcoming paper that will be the first in-depth technical review by American linguists of the 'Nostratic' theory of language evolution, which has been much-discussed in the popular press.

Alexis has suggested that Lojban may be well-suited for use in semantic analysis of differing natural languages. Specifically, if you have, for example, a word in Polish, and a word in English, they might be translated into two separate words in Lojban, but then using some of Lojban's features to serve as a metalanguage for talking about the relationships between the meanings. He says that linguists often make nonsensical claims/errors because in dealing with glosses of words from other languages, they often forget that the gloss is not necessarily identical in meaning.

(He cites as an example a guy who did his thesis demonstrating that English "if" was not a logical connection by examining how translations of "if" s sentences into Tagalog were not logical connectives because the word used in Tagalog definitely doesn't ever act like such a connective. Alexis notes that this argument is silly - the Tagalog word was not necessarily identical in meaning to the English word, even if it WAS used in translation. Ideally you want to never assume that two words in different language map to exactly the same semantic space.

Another example, from Polish (which is Alexis' native language). 'Orange' in its Polish incarnation is not as primary a color as it is in English. Even though the archetype orange may be similar or identical in the two languages, the word for the concept covers a narrower band in Polish, so some things English calls 'orange' Alexis sees as a flavor of yellow and more rarely as red. Lojban has the capability, independent of the vaguely defined Lojban narju, to add words glinarju and polskrnarju for the two source language "oranges". Having different words, a Lojban-using analyst wouldn't assume them to be identical in meaning, and would perhaps also have the metalanguage capability through adding BAI places and the like, to clearly distinguish the meanings and the transformations needed to relate the two. Each word would have an archetype and a range in both hue and saturation - the limits between orange and other colors being different in Polish than in English.

Alexis thus sees in Lojban the basis for a general or universal semantic theory after the concept that none other than Whorf had (Whorf apparently thought that gestalt psychology could serve as the basis of an independent universal semantic theory). Lojban's cultural independence (whether neutral or not, it is relatively independent of other cultures through the need to reformulate and reanalyze virtually every concept for both syntactic and semantic place structure values when you translate into Lojban), and its extensibility allow for a lot of power in semantic analysis.

While the goal is some kind of universal semantic analysis capability, just the ability to use Lojban to tackle small problems, like the color words, or Nootka sentence words or 57 Inuit words for snow, would be a boon to linguists doing their work. The longer term goal need not even be dealt with at first.

It is interesting that an opportunity like this comes up in semantics, the area where we have done the least work in Lojban, and yet the lack of work done is not a handicap for the research Alexis has in mind.

For the technically minded, linguist David Elworthy attempted to reformulate my description in more formal terms. In some ways his version seems more clear than my presentation. David writes:

We are considering lexical translation between two languages lg1 and lg2. Such a translation will only rarely be an isomorphism, in the sense that the words (or whatever) in the language will have identical meanings; most of the time we have a homomorphism, i.e. in going from lg1 to lg2 we discard some of the meaning and add in some extra bits of meaning. The problem is that linguists and others who work with translations forget that they are using a homomorphism and treat it as an isomorphism: hence the "if" in English and Tagalog example. The picture of what happens at the moment is thus:

lg1 -----------------> lg2
            h

(using h for the homomorphism).

The proposal is to use a three stage process: lg1 to the nearest object (word, phrase) in Lojban, some object in Lojban to lg2, and something to link the two Lojban objects, i.e.:

lg1 ----> Lojban ----> Lojban ---- > lg2
     h1           h2           h3

such that composing the three homomorphisms h1, h2 and h3 gives you h.

The suggestion is that Lojban is a good tool for this because we can produce objects for the middle stages which have a very precise meaning (so we get h1 and h3 right), and furthermore that these meanings can be reduced to members of a small collection of primitive objects joined with well-defined connective. Hence we should be able to get h2. So we have reduced h to simpler terms, and so we can get a more precise understanding of the original translation.

When I started to write this I was trying to work out why I felt skeptical about it, and I think I now find that I am less skeptical than I thought! The major difficulty is in h1 and h3. To know whether you have got these right, i.e. found or constructed the right Lojban objects, you have to make reference to something outside the languages involved, and this might just mean that you have replaced the need to do this once (in h) with a need to do it twice (h1 and h3). But perhaps this is really the aim: to reduce one hard problem to two easier ones.


Ivan notes further that Lojban may be most helpful where it is important to forget about cultural concepts or about the Indo-Europeanish concept of parts of speech. He also mentions family relationship words and tenses as fruitful areas of investigation.

Anyone interested in actively keeping abreast of this research project should let us know. If you have access to the computer nets, this is helpful, since that is likely where most discussion will take place as we attempt to focus this into a more formal research proposal. We will of course keep people generally aware of how this develops in JL.


Ivan Derzhanski - Ivan is pursuing his own research interests at the University of Edinburgh. He plans to use Lojban significantly in his research. Among other activities, Ivan has written and submitted a paper addressing the variety of modification strategies that languages use in tanru (modifier/- modificand pairings). He includes some Lojban examples.

Alan Libert - Alan is a linguist at McGill University in Canada. In April he gave a presentation at the International Linguistics Association meeting in Washington DC, which I attended. Alan's paper was on the use of artificial languages, especially those (like Lojban) which do not attempt to copy the structures of some other language or group of languages (a priori languages) to research in language universals. He hypothesizes that those who invent languages will unconsciously incorporate true universals in their language design even when they are trying to depart from their native language constraints.

His initial efforts, dealing with the well-known analyses of word order in languages, were inconclusive. However, we noted in discussion of the paper that such 'obvious' features of language design are too well-known and hence likely to be an intentional choice on the part of the language inventor. For example, the recently publicized "Klingon" language used in the Star Trek movies was explicitly invented to have Object before Subject order, a rare feature found only in a few Amazon-region languages.

International News/Publicity

There is not much news in these areas that isn't already covered elsewhere. With active Lojbanists now scattered around the world (indeed, while our mailing list is heavily concentrated in the US, the people actually learning and using the language seem exceptionally spread out), news about Lojban is often 'international'.

In the publicity arena, we have had some useful international developments. The major international Esperanto monthly Monato had a short article mentioning Lojban and giving our mail and computer addresses. A couple of dozen have responded, almost all from outside the US, and we hope to encourage this development into a further spurt of international Lojban use.

The second development is Nora and my eventual trip to Russia as part of our adopting a child. The nature of that process is such that we will not be able to do much lead planning of the trip, but I certainly intend to take advantage of our visit to promote Lojban in that country, noted for its diverse ethnic and linguistic heritage. (I'm hoping to have a Russian translation of the Lojban brochure and perhaps other materials before leaving).

There is a good possibility that la lojbangirz. will lose its capability to accept credit card orders/contributions, which we started primarily for the benefit of non-US supporters. We are now paying US$15/month minimum and no annual fee; this will rise in October to US$50 per year and US$25/month minimum. We will be paying more in fees most months than we gain in income from credit cards. Unless we find a new, cheaper avenue for processing credit cards, this service will have to be dropped. We will still be able to process non-US denominated cheques using Thomas Cook, for a US$3.50 fee. If you are planning a credit card contribution, though, I recommend that you do so before summer ends.

News From the Institute

The Loglan Institute (TLI) continues to survive, though this remains fairly invisible on the forums that we see. Since our last issue, two more issues of Lognet have appeared. Each contains a short piece of Loglan text, and discussions of various technical issues. Lognet seems to look like some of our early JL issues, only much smaller.

Most entertaining is how users of the TLI version are discovering many of the improvements we made in creating Lojban 5 years ago, or have added since. Indeed, almost every change reported in TLI Loglan was already part of Lojban. Given the wide overlap between TLI supporters and readers of this publication and our computer net discussions, there may be a reason for this.

JCB has been especially invisible the last several months. Having moved TLI to San Diego when he relocated there last summer, JCB has apparently spent the time since last November preparing and sailing his yacht from Florida around to his new home.


TLI Legal Appeal Rejected - As reported last issue, TLI appealed the US Patent and Trademark Office ruling in our favor that 'Loglan' was not a valid trademark for TLI's "dictionaries and grammars" because it is a generic name for a language and not an indication that the source of those products is TLI. This ruling, the result of a long dispute between us and TLI, would allow us to use 'Loglan' freely in our promotion of our materials, especially in attempting to reach the people who have heard of Loglan through the 1960 Scientific American article, Heinlein's reference in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and other such instances that predate or are otherwise unrelated to TLI and its products. The legal battle was started in 1988 after TLI threatened legal action over our use of the term 'Loglan' in JL in ways they did not approve.

Oral arguments on the appeal were held on 7 November 1991, before three judges of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Bill Herbert of Staas and Halsey argued for la lojbangirz., while Wesley Parsons argued for TLI. JCB was present in the courtroom, as were Athelstan and myself.

Oral arguments lasted only about a half hour; then a long wait for the decision, which was finally issued on 28 April. The decision was clearly and strongly in our favor, and makes further likelihood that our position will be refuted quite remote. Mr. Parsons has filed a request for rehearing, as is often done, but the appeals court rarely grants such requests.

The Circuit Court of Appeals is normally the court of last resort for trademark and other intellectual property cases. The only higher court is the U. S. Supreme Court, and they take perhaps one such case every several years; the grounds for such a Supreme Court appeal have to typically require some particular controversy, a significant constitutional issue, or disagreement between lower courts (which cannot happen in trademark cases, since there is now only one appeals court that handles trademark issues). These grounds are going to be particularly difficult to find in the Loglan decision. A Supreme Court case is also quite expensive to file for such a low chance of success, and with this appeal decision, the courts have started requiring TLI to pay some of our costs in refuting their appeals.

In discussing the appeal in Lognet, JCB made statements suggesting that he was confident of victory and that it was just a matter of time until this occurred. As a result of these statements, our attorney has urged that we publish the Appeals decision in full so that there is no question that TLI's case has little on which to stand. We are doing so below, omitting only legal case citations that wouldn't mean much except to lawyers (we'll supply a copy of the decision, and of the original trademark cancellation decision to those wanting these details, at reproduction cost).


One more settlement attempt rejected - While we continue to defend our right to use the term "Loglan" in promoting the language, we have continued, whenever avenues present themselves, to pursue more productive resolutions of our disputes with TLI. Discovering on short notice that JCB was coming to Washington to attend the hearing, we initiated contact through our attorneys to set up a mediated discussion of differences leading to a resolution of those differences. When TLI seemed to show interest, we hurriedly drafted a lengthy proposal to serve as an agenda for such a meeting, indicating several options that could be pursued. However, TLI quickly rejected the proposal/agenda without comment, and indicated that they found no basis for mutual discussions. Thus, even though JCB and I were in the same courtroom in November, at his choice no meeting occurred.

le lojbo se ciska

Excerpt from the 2nd Round of the Phone Game

Here is the first of two sample sentences from the phone game played on the computer nets. This one communicated very well. Commentary courtesy of Nick Nicholas.

The original phrase was:

Hot?! Man, it was so hot, if you cracked an egg on the sidewalk, it'd fry in ten seconds flat! Honest!

Mark Shoulson translated this as:

xu pu glare paunai .i leni glare zo'u lenu karpo'i da'i lo sovda vi lo dzuklaji cu rinka lenu ra bazi binxo lo se jukpa ba'o lo snidu be li pano sa'e .i ba'ucu'i
(Was it hot? (This is not a question). For the amount of heat, (something) open-breaking (suppose) into an egg (pieces) at a walk-street causes that it (the egg pieces) become a cooked-thing after 10 seconds (exactly!). (Accuracy!))

Mark justified not explicitly flagging exaggeration by saying: A little strange, in that the speaker claims not to be exaggerating, but then that's the most common form of exaggeration. It hardly seems likely to expect Lojban speakers to be honest with their attitudinals and lose the power their hyperbole. Then again, we can assume that the sentence really is true, so that's okay.

The main blunder is with the place structure of porpi: it has x1 breaking into pieces x2, not agent x1 breaking x2 into pieces x3 (this is popygau or some variant of popri'a). I like prenexes too, but I would put leni glare into an explicit BAI place (ki'u...).

What I was in fact looking for is the translation of "so hot that..." suggested by Lojbab in a past JL: ".i glare seja'e lenu co'eli'o". Are we sure that, if the breaking of the egg is hypothetical, that its effect (it's being cooked) is also hypothetical; ie. the Lojban doesn't necessarily imply "If you were to break the egg, it will ca'a cook"? I suppose so.

One may debate whether Mark's translation was good Lojban (personally, I think it was). In any case, it was excellent English :), as Colin's translation shows:

WAS IT HOT! The heat - if you cracked an egg on the pavement it would be cooked in ten seconds, no more, really!

(I don't have any comment to make: this is the first almostfully successful message relay in this game).

Sylvia came up with:

.u'e glare .ije da'i lo sovda cu selporpi di'o le dagysfe seri'a seljukpa snidu ja'e li su'e pa no
((Wonder!) Heat. And (suppose) an egg is broken at the locus of the road-surface causing (that: {lenu} omitted) (something) is- cooked lasting- -(some)-seconds result the number at most 10.)

This has me a bit worried. The place of da'i in the sentence can be argued about, but the seljukpa snidu ja'e sequence doesn't make much sense to me. Well it does, but it circuitous. What's happening is: "it's a being-cooked lasting-n-seconds thing" which makes sense, sorta, but you're waiting to find out what n is, and instead of n being the second place (seljukpa snidu li su'epano), it shows up as a ja'e place: "resulting in the number 10". Now this could mean "it's an n-second cook ending up being 10 seconds" (cf.: it's a ten-second wait) which is fine, but it in fact ends up as "it's an n-second cook resulting in the number ten." In Lojban, of course, it's easier to deduce from the second phrase that the first was meant. I would still, however, regard this use of ja'e as anomalous, and dangerously vague.

None the less, the meaning is still retrievable, and there hasn't been any significant distortion, as in other sentences.

[Another phone game extract will be found below.]

Text of the Court of Appeals Decision

As stated above, this is the text of the decision by the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in TLI's appeal of our successful petition for cancellation of TLI's registered trademark for 'Loglan'. The text is printed verbatim, except for asterisks in brackets substituting for multitudinous legal citations that mean little to the average reader.

92-1254
Cancellation No. 18,026
THE LOGLAN INSTITUTE, INC., Appellant,
v.
THE LOGICAL LANGUAGE GROUP, INC., Appellee.

DECIDED: April 28, 1992

Before PLAGER, Circuit Judge, SKELTON, Senior Circuit Judge, and LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

LOURIE, Circuit Judge.

The Loglan Institute, Inc. (Institute), appeals the final decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) in Cancellation No. 18,026 (February 4, 1991). The Board granted The Logical Language Group, Inc.'s (Language Group) motion for summary judgement, holding that the Institute's mark, LOGLAN, is generic and ordered the registration cancelled. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In 1955, Dr. James Brown invented a "logical language" which was designed to test the theory that natural languages limit human thought. It has been described by Dr. Brown as "symbolic logic made speakable" which "derives its word-stock impartially from the eight most widely spoken natural languages and so is culturally and politically neutral as well as suitable for cross-cultural linguistic experimentation." Dr. Brown coined the word "Loglan" (derived from logical language) to designate the new language. He first used the term Loglan in a publication in 1956; several years later, in 1962, he formed the Institute to promote the development and use of Loglan. On August 17,1987, the Institute applied for registration of Loglan as a mark for "Dictionaries and Grammars." The registration issued on April 12, 1988.

Apparently unhappy with the Institute's progress in developing the language, a member of the Institute left and in November 1988 founded the Language Group. In February 1989, the Language Group published a newsletter regarding the progress of its logical language. In the newsletter, several references were made to Loglan, prompting the Institute to threaten the Language Group with a trademark infringement suit.

On May 23, 1989, the Language Group petitioned the Board to cancel the Institute's registration of the mark Loglan, alleging that Loglan is merely a contraction of, or generic name for a logical language. The Language group also contended that the application for registration had been fraudulently made, or, if a trademark ever existed for Loglan, the mark had been abandoned. After both parties moved for summary judgment, the Board granted the Language Group's motion and ordered cancellation on the ground that Loglan is "a generic designation identifying a language rather than a trademark to indicate the source of goods." Additionally, the Board found that the application had not been fraudulently made and that the abandonment issue was moot. The Board refused to consider the affirmative defenses raised by the Institute, stating that some were not within the Board's jurisdiction and others were not good defenses against a charge of genericness. The Institute argues here that the Board erred in holding that Loglan was a generic term and in refusing to consider the affirmative defenses.

DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment

The requirements for granting summary judgment in a trademark cancellation proceeding are the same as in any other case, viz., that there be no genuine issue of material fact and the movant be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. [*]. We review the propriety of summary judgment de novo. [*]

The parties agree that the factual issues underlying genericness are undisputed. Though genericness itself has been categorized as a question of fact [*], the parties have each moved for summary judgment on that question. The Board considered the lengthy affidavits and numerous exhibits each party submitted in support of its motion, and concluded that Loglan was generic. Our review requires us to determine whether, based on the evidence of record, the Board was correct in that conclusion. After examining the record, we do not believe the Board erred in concluding that the Language Group was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

B. Genericness

The Lanham Act provides for the cancellation of a mark which is or has become the generic name for goods or services [*]. While a trademark registration has a presumption of validity, in a cancellation proceeding that presumption may be rebutted by evidence from the party seeking cancellation [*]. Before the Board, the Language Group presented numerous pieces of evidence to show that Loglan is used generically to designate a logical language.

The parties do not dispute that if Loglan is used generically to designate a language, the term cannot properly be registered as a trademark for "dictionaries and grammars" any more than English can be registered for a dictionary. That Loglan is not as well known as English is immaterial. Because a language is not "goods" or "services" under the Act [*], a name originated for a new language is inherently not registrable for the language. By the same token, a generic name of a language alone cannot function as a trademark to indicate origin of a dictionary describing that language. Thus, our determination hinges on whether the Board was correct in concluding that the term Loglan is, "a generic designation identifying a language."

The Institute argues that the relevant public does not perceive Loglan as generic, but rather sees it as indicating a single source of the language. The public's perception is the primary consideration in a determination of genericness [*].

The Institute concedes that the relevant public is "the small group of persons who have written about the language or have been involved in the invented language research effort as well as those to whom the Loglan language has been or is being marketed." The Institute's definition of "relevant public" is consistent with this court's reading of the term as encompassing both "actual [and] potential purchasers of ... goods or services." [*]. Evidence of what the relevant public understands the term to mean may come from direct consumer testimony, surveys, dictionary listings, newspapers, and other publication [*]. Although in many situation a survey is desirable to establish the public's perception, given the limited size of the relevant group here, the numerous examples submitted by the parties are sufficient to determine how the relevant group perceives the term Loglan.

The evidence indicates the Dr. Brown himself has used the term Loglan only in a generic sense. For example, in 1984, Brown stated to the Institute's membership:

I'm insisting on moving in the right direction for Loglan whether this means losing control of the institute I founded or not... Your can always write me if you still want to talk to me about Loglan, or to help me in putting it to use. As a private person I shall always be available to my old Loglandian friends... Loglan may not suffer very much... Health permitting I'll still write those couple of books. Perhaps with my example others will too.

His encouragement for others to write Loglan books or books in Loglan negates the claim now asserted of proprietary rights in Loglan.

Also, the Institute published a book, entitled "Loglan (1): A Logical Language." Included in the 1989 version is the statement

In my English idiolect, as in Loglan and French, words like "loglanist", "loglandic" and "loglandical" are general terms like "cat" and "dog" (i.e., common nouns or adjectives) and therefore uncapitalized, whereas words like "Loglan" and "Loglandia" are singular terms (words with single designata, like "John" or "Greenland") and therefore capitalized. Both Loglan and French are more fastidious about such logical matters than Standard English.

As he stated, Loglan is a name for a language like French or English. Based on all this evidence, the Board had adequate basis to conclude that both Brown and the Institute adopted the term Loglan as the generic name of a language.

The Institute argues that no one else has used the term Loglan in a generic fashion and that by capitalizing Loglan in its newsletter, the Language Group itself treats the term in a non-generic manner. We disagree. Capitalization is the correct form for the name of a language, e.g., English, French, or German [*]; this it is compatible with generic use. Moreover, the Language Group's own logical language, "Lojban", is referred to as a type of Loglan. The Language Group refers to "[Brown's] version of 'Loglan'" and states that "Lojban is indeed a Loglan."

In addition to generic use of the term Loglan by the Institute and the Language Group, others have so used the term. Numerous letters have been written to the Language Group inquiring about Loglan, requesting to be maintained on its Loglan mailing lists, and even inquiring about the status of the Loglan language being developed by the Language Group. The fact that the "consuming public" would write to someone other than the Institute regarding the Loglan language indicates that third parties understand Loglan to be a generic term; this understanding did not arise only from actions of the Language Group. Rather, the Language Group and the public merely followed the generic usage of the Institute.

C. Equitable Defenses

As part of its answer, the Institute alleged various affirmative defenses, including the equitable defenses of unclean hands, estoppel, fraud, acquiescence, and waiver. The Board found that the unclean hands, fraud and estoppel defenses were based on allegation of trade secret theft and infringement and therefore were not within the jurisdiction of the Board. Further, the Board stated that the equitable defense of acquiescence was not valid against the claim that the mark was generic. We affirm.

Application of these defenses must be considered in light of the clear purposes of the Trademark Act that a registered mark may be cancelled at any time on the ground that it is generic [*], and also in light of the Board's discretionary power to apply the defenses.

To support the defenses of unclean hands, estoppel, and fraud, the Institute pleaded that the Language Group "wrongfully acquired the trade secrets of the [Institute]..., and has converted and used such trade secrets to [Language Group]'s benefit... [and that the Language Group] wrongfully used the mark 'Loglan' in interstate commerce..., thereby infringing on [the Institute's] trademark." As pleaded, these defenses are essentially claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition premised on the Institute's assertion of trademark rights in Loglan. The Institute also alleges that after it demanded that the Language Group stop using its "mark," the latter acquiesced and ceased using Loglan to designate its logical language.

The Lanham Act specifically provides that "[i]n all inter partes proceedings equitable principles of laches, estoppel, and acquiescence, where applicable may be considered and applied" [*]. While the Board must consider such defenses, we determine that it properly exercised its discretion in not allowing the defenses to prevail here. As the Board stated, these defenses cannot override the controlling fact that Loglan is the generic name for a language and that it cannot therefore be a trademark for dictionaries. The Board did not err in declining to apply the defenses, as the public interest in a cancellation proceeding to rid the register of a generic mark transcends them. The Board may have erred in stating that it lacked jurisdiction over the defenses, but that error was harmless under the circumstances.

We, of course, do not rule on whether the Institute may have an action against the Language Group on any matters of unfair competition. The record here simply show that the term Loglan has never been a trademark, but rather entered the public domain as a generic name from the time of its inception.

CONCLUSION

The decision of the Board is therefore

AFFIRMED


le lojbo se ciska (cont.)

Back when I was writing the draft textbook lessons, Nora was busily inventing examples for me. I never finished writing draft Lesson 7, but Nora had plenty of examples. Here are those examples, without the textual explanation that was never finished. As with most of Nora's examples, they stand quite well on their own, anyway. The primary topics are abstraction, logical connection, and the mathematical selbri words.

Examples of bridi logical connection

mi dansu gi'e sanga
I dance and sing.

.i lenu mi dansu gi'e sanga cu nibli lenu mi dansu
(The event that I dance and sing) logically necessitates (the event that I dance).
My dancing and singing necessarily implies my dancing.

.i lenu mi dansu gi'e sanga cu nibli lenu mi sanga
(The event that I dance and sing) logically necessitates (the event that I sing).
My dancing and singing necessarily implies my singing.

do limna gi'a bajra
You swim or run.

.i la'edi'u goi ko'a cu na nibli lenu do limna
The event of the last sentence (ko'a) doesn't logically necessitate (the event of you swimming).
This doesn't necessarily imply that you swim.

.i ko'a cu na nibli lenu do bajra
It doesn't logically necessitate (the event of you running).
It also doesn't necessarily imply that you run.

mi djica lenu sipna gi'a citka
I desire (the event of sleeping or eating).
I want to sleep or eat.

.i do djica lenu sipna ku gi'a citka
I desire the event of sleeping, or eat.
I either want to sleep, or I eat.

ti berti ta gi'o se snanu ta
This is north of that if-and-only- if be-southed by that.
This is north of that if-and-only- if that is south of it.

.i ti ta berti gi'o se snanu
This, of that, is north if-and- only-if be-southed.

ro da jetnu gi'o na jitfa
All-somethings are true if-and- only-if not false

ro da jetnu gi'onai jitfa
All-somethings are true exclusive- or false.
All-somethings are true or false (but not both).
All-somethings are true if-and- only-if not false.

ko gasnu gi'o se minde
(Imperative!) You! do if-and-only- if as-commanded.
(Imperative!) You! Do equivalently-to as-commanded.
Do as you are told, and ONLY as you are told!

le bloti cu marce gi'u spofu
The boat is a vehicle, whether-or- not broken.

le ka prane cu se troci gi'u se kakne
The quality of perfection is attempted, whether-or-not within-the-ability.

ti vinji nagi'a vofli
This is-an-airplane Not! or flies.
This is-an-airplane only-if (it) flies.
If this is an airplane, then it flies.

mi klama le lalxu nagi'a limna
I go-to the lake Not!, or swim/am- a-swimmer.
I go to the lake only if a swimmer.
If I go to the lake, then I'm a swimmer

ti blaci nagi'a ralci .i ti ralci gi'anai blaci
This is glass Not!, or delicate. And this is delicate or not: glass.
This is glass only-if delicate. And this is delicate if glass.

do kakne lenu cilre ku gi'anai troci
You are able at (the event-of- learning) or not: trying.
You are able to learn if (you) try.

Examples of sumti Logical Connection

la rik. .e la .alis. cu klama le cilre nu penmi
Rick and Alice go-to the learner- (event-of-meeting).
Rick and Alice go to class.

mi ba cuxna le xunre .a le xekri .i mi ba na cuxna le xunre .e le xekri
I will choose the red or the black. And I will not choose the red and the black.

.iseni'ibo mi ba cuxna le xunre .onai le xekri
Therefore-logically I will choose the red exclusive-or the black.
Therefore I will choose the red or the black, but not both.

mi djica loi ladru .anai loi ckafi .i mi na nelci loi na ladru ckafi
I want Milk, or not: Coffee. And I not: fond-of not: Milky- coffee.
I want milk, if coffee. I'm not fond of things that aren't milked-coffee.

do ba viska la rik. .o la .alis. ni'i lenu la rik. ba kansa la .alis.
You will see Rick if-and-only-if Alice, logically-because (the event of Rick will be-with Alice.)
You will see Rick when Alice, because Rick will be with Alice.

la djos. na.a la rut. ba zvati mu'i lenu ri nelci ra
(Joe Not! or Ruth) will be present-at, motivated by (the event of the latter is fond of the former).
Joe, only-if Ruth, will be present, because she is fond of him.
If Joe (will be present) then Ruth will be present, because she is fond of him.

lenu ti jubme gi'e bunre cu nibli lenu ti jubme .e lenu ti bunre
(The event of this is-a-table and is-brown) logically necessitates (the event that this is-a-table) and (the event that this is- brown).
That this is a table and brown logically necessitates that this is a table AND that this is brown.

More examples below.

la lojbangirz.'s First Research Proposal

Following is the text of our first research proposal, a preliminary project description made to the US defense agency DARPA last August. DARPA is the major funding organization for natural language processing within the US government. Our proposal was rejected as being unlikely to win funding at this time; we obtained no other information. The competition drew dozens of proposals, and ours was probably weeded out as being particularly high risk or likely to need too much of the very limited money available for 'seed projects'. The project description is very brief, in accordance with the constraints of the Request for Proposal, but should give some idea of how we envision approach- ing the use of Lojban in natural language processing. We welcome, and indeed strongly encourage, comments on how we can improve this proposal, and also commit to support as best we can others that wish to submit research proposals to DARPA and other funding sources.

Lojban Natural Language Processing
PROPOSAL ABSTRACT 19 July 1991
Submitted to: DARPA/SISTO,
Arlington VA 22203-1714 In
Response To: BAA 91-15, by:
The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax, VA 22031- 1303
Technical/Administrative Point of Contact: Robert LeChevalier, 703-385-0273
19 July 1991

Mr. Charles L. Wayne, DARPA/SISTO
Virginia Square Plaza
3701 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington VA 22203-1714

Subject: The Logical Language Group, Inc., Response to BAA 91-15

Dear Mr. Wayne:

The Logical Language Group, Inc. (LLG) is pleased to respond to BAA 91-15 for innovative research in linguistics and natural language processing (NLP). We propose research and development towards a prototype NLP system based on Lojban, a human-speakable, syntactically unambiguous predicate language.

Lojban's design has numerous possibilities for enormous impact on the processing of natural languages. LLG proposes a research approach, using Lojban as both tool and target language, that maximizes the applicability of our results to potential DOD applications, and advances the state of the art by making Lojban available to other NLP efforts.

Research into NLP applications of Lojban suits DARPA's mission, and is the type of research sought under this BAA. The BAA is well-timed for LLG; we are now ready to undertake such research, having just completed the prototype Lojban parser after years of research. Meanwhile, our novel approach makes obtaining traditional funding for this next step in Lojban NLP research difficult. Applying Lojban to NLP is beyond the scope of our current all-volunteer effort, though such application has been a long-term research goal.

LLG is proud of its efforts to date. What we have accomplished without funding speaks for itself, and we've demonstrated an ability to deliver a product on a very tight budget. Several key personnel, including myself, are experienced in military systems development and familiar with the standards and practices expected. LLG has access to personnel with NLP experience and with demonstrated skill at producing complete, working systems within schedule and budget constraints.

I will be managing the overall project and will technically lead several tasks, closely monitoring the others. I am confident that the results of this promising effort will contribute substantially to the state of the art in natural language processing.

Very truly yours,
Robert LeChevalier, President
The Logical Language Group, Inc.

Section 1 - Innovative Claims

Lojban, an artificial human-speakable (and hence 'natural') language with an unambiguous syntax based on predicate logic, has several potential applications in natural language processing (NLP). No prior attempt has been made to design such a language and apply it to NLP. The Logical Language Group, Inc. (LLG) has unique expertise in Lojban's design and applications; its corps of volunteers will multiply efforts by funded researchers.

LLG plans to research and implement an NLP system that processes Lojban, but which also uses Lojban as a tool for NLP. Using a highly regular yet 'natural' language reduces the difficulty of NLP processing, resulting in a faster, more accurate NLP system.

Specific applications for a Lojban NLP system include: using Lojban as an interface control medium for NLP engineers to more easily and accurately input knowledge and dictionary information into an NLP system; using Lojban as a systems requirements and design language and using NLP deduction to detect and query system design flaws; and partially translating mass text from English or other languages into an unambiguous Lojban interlingua, using NLP to intelligently select text and speech for detailed human analysis.

Using Lojban in such systems offers the unique potential for the system to understandably explain decisions, interacting with analysts in 'natural' language (not requiring intermediary engineers or programmers) to heuristically evolve better criteria. Lojban allows natural expression in such interactions while enforcing non-ambiguity in the input, simplifying NLP implementation.

While being used to develop such practical NLP systems, Lojban can be viewed as a simplified linguistic 'model' of a natural language, providing insights that will enhance development of other-language NLP systems.

LLG's proposes proving our concept in a relatively small effort that provides further innovative benefits that can be applied to other NLP efforts:

  1. Lojban's analytical semantics allows LLG to research semantic regularities in word structures of a language, such as the compound morphemes of Chinese (similar to Lojban's compounds), seeking patterns that will allow rapid expansion of the data base. LLG will investigate a variety of texts, and both English and non-English words and word-forms, in building its data base.
  2. Because of Lojban's unambiguous syntax, a Lojban parser is much simpler and faster than parsers for other human languages. LLG will produce a fast, portable parser for Lojban.
  3. Lojban's simple, unambiguous isomorphism between spoken and written forms make Lojban speech recognition at least an order of magnitude easier than for other human languages, allowing faster, higher accuracy real time processing. LLG will implement a module for its parser that converts phoneme and stress data, derivable from a digital signal processor, into parsed text.
  4. LLG will prove its NLP concept in a restricted, much-researched application: designing and implementing a NLP text-to-data-base module to serve as a front-end for the dictionary data base; in this case, however, the interface module will use the data base it interfaces with. The module will be expandable, by adding a knowledge engine and interactive heuristics, into the complete control interface for NLP engineers or text analysts described above.
  5. A Lojban-interlingua machine translator modelled after the Netherlands DLT effort would offer advantages over that system due to Lojban's unambiguous syntax and special structures for metalinguistics and discursive comments, tense and modality, and speaker attitude and emotion. LLG will build a Lojban-to-English translator based on its parser, which will ease verification of inputs via the data base interface just mentioned.

Section 2 - Deliverables

LLG will produce the following formal deliverables, subject to funding of the corresponding tasks. Implementations of more advanced applications described in Section 1 are options partially dependent on initial results. Formal delivery of software produced during the research effort is also an option.

Task 1 - Lojban Dictionary Data Base

a) A Lojban dictionary data base will contain all root concepts and selected supplementary data sets supporting specific NLP applications.

b) A technical report will describe the dictionary data base design, and the nature of the concepts included. LLG will report on patterns found in the analysis that provide insight into the process of NLP, or that suggest methods of accelerating or automating the building of dictionaries.

Task 2 - Lojban Parser

a) A technical report will document the design of the Lojban parser, and the formal grammar of Lojban as implemented therein.

Task 3 - Lojban Speech-Recognition Stub

a) A technical report will document the design of a Lojban speech recognition stub for the Lojban parser, and the Lojban morphology algorithm. LLG will report on analysis of identified issues that affect the practical implementation of speech recognition of Lojban.

Task 4 - Parsed-Text-to-Data-Base NLP

a) A technical report will document the design of the data base interface module. LLG will discuss problems encountered, and conclusions regarding the practicality of Lojban as an input language for NLP control interfaces. LLG will identify other NLP systems found to have commonalties allowing a Lojban control interface processor to be integrated with those systems, thus reducing the effort of incorporating Lojban into practical applications.

Task 5 - Lojban-to-English Translator

a) A technical report will document the design of the Lojban-to-English translator. LLG will describe conventions used, and identify prospects for producing refined English translations as an enhancement.

Task 6 - Final Technical Report

a) A technical report will summarize the research completed as an integrated effort. LLG will report conclusions regarding the practicality of Lojban's use in NLP of other languages as well as the capability for NLP of Lojban text, and suggest options for further research.

Task 7 - Cost and Management Reports

a) Formal progress reports will be submitted every 2 months.

b) Formal cost reports will be submitted every 2 months.

Section 3 - Schedule and Milestones

Deliverables are marked with an asterisk.

Task 1 - Start - 0 Months after start of contract (MAC)

  • Preliminary data base design - 1 MAC
  • 1337 Lojban root predicates in data base - 4 MAC
  • 4000 commonly used predicates in data base - 14 MAC
  • 1000 new predicates from American newspaper text - 16 MAC
  • 1000 new predicates from foreign English-language newspaper text - 18 MAC
  • 1000 new predicates from selected Chinese or other-language text - 22 MAC
  • *Task 1 technical report: Preliminary - 15 MAC, Final - 23 MAC
  • *Data base delivery - 24 MAC

Task 2 - Start - 0 MAC

  • Enhancement of existing parser for error reporting - 2 MAC
  • Enhancement of speed of parser - 4 MAC
  • Enhanced output reporting for parser - 6 MAC
  • Investigation of error-detection/correction techniques for parser - 8 MAC
  • Parser user's manual and high-level design document - 9 MAC
  • *Task 2 technical report - 10 MAC

Task 3 - Start - 9 MAC

  • Lojban morphology algorithm - 10 MAC
  • Implementation of speech recognition front-end stub - 12 MAC
  • Front-end stub high-level design document - 13 MAC
  • *Task 3 technical report - 14 MAC

Task 4 - Start - 4 MAC

  • Implementation of data base interface NLP processor - 16 MAC
  • Data base interface high-level design document - 17 MAC
  • *Task 4 technical report - 18 MAC

Task 5 - Start - 12 MAC

  • Lojban-to-English translator - 22 MAC
  • Translator users manual and high-level design document - 23 MAC
  • *Task 5 technical report - 24 MAC

Task 6

  • *Final technical report - 24 MAC

Task 7

  • Weekly or bi-weekly informal reports will be prepared, as desired by the contracting organization.
  • *Progress reports - 2 MAC, 4 MAC, 6 MAC, 8 MAC, 10 MAC, 12 MAC, 14 MAC, 16 MAC, 18 MAC, 20 MAC, 22 MAC, 24 MAC
  • *Cost reports - 2 MAC, 4 MAC, 6 MAC, 8 MAC, 10 MAC, 12 MAC, 14 MAC, 16 MAC, 18 MAC, 20 MAC, 22 MAC, 24 MAC

LLG also plans to publish articles regarding its work in technical journals to enhance Lojban's credibility as a language, a research tool, and a tool for NLP, and to validate LLG's NLP approach with other researchers. Articles warranted by project accomplishments will be incorporated in the schedule so as not to interfere with project milestones.

Section 4 - Proprietary Claims

No proprietary claims are expected to interfere in the use of results of this research. However, specific known claims that might affect such applications indirectly are identified herein.

A founding principle of The Logical Language Group, Inc. is that all Lojban language design information that it produces is placed directly in the public domain. This principle has motivated our volunteer force and is vital to our integrity as an organization. For this effort, language design information includes the dictionary data, as opposed to the actual dictionary data base produced in Task 1, the Lojban morphology algorithm produced for Task 3, and any modified version of the Lojban formal grammar produced in support of any task. This claim should not affect the ability to use the results of this research, and indeed guarantees that potential use of Lojban will not be impeded by any proprietary claims on language design information.

Archives, working documents, and software produced by The Logical Language Group, Inc., or its volunteers, and publications of The Logical Language Group, Inc., not released into the public domain, and not produced directly on time charged to the Government, and including all such documents and software started prior to the start of funded tasking, are the property of The Logical Language Group, Inc., or the individual or collective authors. Since this claim does not cover language design information, no effect on use of the results of this research is anticipated.

Rights in certain prolegomena of the current Lojban language are generally held as copyrights on published and unpublished material. Such materials, sometimes associated with the names 'Loglan', and/or 'The Loglan Project', are owned by Dr. James Cooke Brown, by The Loglan Institute, Inc., by The Logical Language Group, Inc., by Linker Systems, Inc., or possibly by other parties unnamed or unknown. Lojban is a version of the Loglan language invented as part of the Loglan Project by Dr. Brown and others, including all key personnel on this project. None of these materials should be necessary for use of the results of this research, but LLG acknowledges the owners' rights.

The Logical Language Group, Inc. intends itself to use the results of this research, reserving the right to produce, distribute, and/or sell to the public, derivative works based on any of the tasks performed as part of this project. These derivative works will incorporate LLG's specialized experience with Lojban. Rights to those works will be owned by LLG and/or the authors of those works. This claim should not affect the ability of others to use the results of this research.

Section 5 - Technical Rationale

Two points regarding LLG's approach to NLP must be emphasized: Uniqueness - Among artificial languages, Loglan is unique in being designed principally as a tool of research in linguistics. The Lojban reimplementation has incorporated recent gains in comparative linguistics, and NLP research. Professionalism - The Lojban effort led by LLG, though staffed by volunteers, differs from other artificial language efforts in its professional approach, and in having linguists, computer scientists, and systems engineers as leaders.

The approach described in Section 1 takes advantage of our resources, builds on recent accomplishments in Lojban development, and moves directly to show Lojban's relevance and viability for NLP. The following addresses the five implementation tasks identified in that section.

1. Dictionary Data Base Development and Related Research - The first step in the research effort is development of a Lojban dictionary data base. A language dictionary is vital to study and use of that language by non-native speakers - and Lojban obviously lacks native speakers. Thus, for this and other Lojban-related efforts, LLG needs to develop a high quality dictionary. Our approach develops this dictionary in the form of a data base suitable to NLP activities, later adding modules to interface with this system.

Thousands of words have been generated during the Loglan project. This data must be filtered and often modified for use; definitions must be specific and conform to Lojban's predicate structure, and distinctions relevant to NLP must be codified. Unlike preparing a data base for a natural language, such work is language prescription and not description; it drives usage instead of following it as the rules of a computer language drive that language's use. Consistent filtering by experts in the language will lead to an extensive, semantically regular vocabulary, incorporated in the NLP data base.

As part of this review process, LLG expects to discover semantic patterns in both Lojban words and the source-language words that represent the Lojban concepts. In addition, while building the dictionary data base, LLG will analyze texts particularly relevant to DARPA's mission. LLG will extract concepts from those texts, expressing them as new Lojban words, while identifying additional semantic patterns. Texts will include scientific and technical texts, American and foreign English-language newspaper text, and vocabulary from foreign language dictionaries or text. LLG plans to emphasize Chinese vocabulary, from which we expect to find particularly interesting semantic patterns. LLG will also use volunteer linguists to study additional texts in Russian, Spanish, German, French, and/or Arabic. LLG seeks limited funding to support particularly promising studies by such linguists.

2. Lojban Parser Enhancement - After fifteen years of volunteer efforts at formalizing Loglan/- Lojban grammar, LLG recently completed a parser for the complete Lojban grammar, based on a YACC LALR(1) formal grammar specification. This formal grammar is the first complete specification of the grammar of any human-speakable language. Extensive testing has found no limits to Lojban's expressive ability over the total range of human linguistic activity.

The completed parser is a prototype. LLG must refine it, checking Lojban text against the formal grammar, performing basic error detection, correction, and reporting, and passing completely analyzed text structures to application software. The parser must be optimized for speed. Previous experience suggests that current processing times (1 minute for a 4K-byte text with a 386/25MHz) can be easily reduced by a factor of 4.

3. Lojban Speech Recognition Parser Module - Lojban is audiovisually isomorphic, allowing phonemes and stress from a speech stream to resolve into a unique string of words. This design was specifically intended to ease speech recognition (SR) processing. Application of this design to SR requires specialized equipment, and is not part of the initial effort. However, implementing a front-end to the parser that turns phoneme and stress data into unambiguous parsed text will both verify Lojban's design and justify later efforts to implement a Lojban SR system.

4. Lojban Data Base Interface/- NLP Prototype - Processing Lojban text through NLP is a useful research end in itself; LLG has determined that certain applications described in Section 1 offer pragmatic benefits. Meanwhile, the Lojban NLP system, by avoiding the ambiguities of naturally-evolved human languages, will offer insights that aid in bypassing the difficulties of processing those ambiguities.

LLG will capitalize on Lojban's unambiguous predicate grammar and its similarities to PROLOG, to establish Lojban as a control language usable in NLP systems for efficient entry and analysis of data. This activity is a miniature of the NLP problem as a whole, and a highly regular one. Users are aware of system limitations and skilled at expressing concepts in restricted computer languages, and are thus likely to avoid usages that make NLP difficult.

LLG expects to show that Lojban is itself suitable for internal processing of NLP data, reducing the front-end processing of Lojban inputs to a minimum. LLG will study NLP systems based on predicate computer languages to determine if this approach is viable. LLG will incorporate results of this study in its NLP effort.

Developing an NLP interface module supporting the Lojban dictionary data base ties the entire research effort together, simultaneously:

  • implementing and demonstrating NLP of that restricted subset of Lojban that is useful to such dictionary input;
  • demonstrating an application where Lojban is useful as an input language for use by NLP processors;
  • enabling more rapid input and analysis of dictionary data, including automated techniques identified by LLG based on its analyses.

Aspects of Lojban minimize the use of idiom and other difficult expressions in the language, and help clarify queries to the user when difficult expression occurs. Lojban's distinct metalinguistic and discursive forms, analytical tense and modality, and expressions of speaker attitudes toward the discourse, all help make Lojban a clear, concise means of expressing data for NLP use.

The data base interface module, while modeled on similar prior work, is the most ambitious task in the research program. LLG plans to work for maximum functionality of this processor, but to monitor the scope of the effort, deferring aspects for later efforts rather than risk not completing other portions of the research effort.

5. Lojban-to-English Translation Module - A Lojban-to-rough-English translator is less risky to develop. A translator developed for an earlier version of Loglan produced understandable results, but was not based on a full-language parser. The translation module will be well-integrated into the total research effort, being used to check data base interface module processing and to verify Lojban text used to input dictionary data. It will use the dictionary data base itself, easing verification of that data, and provide a window into the system for those not skilled in Lojban. LLG will investigate techniques to improve translation quality, and research whether this translator could serve as the basis of a machine translation system similar to the Netherlands DLT project based on Esperanto.

Section 6 - Previous Accomplishments

The Logical Language Group was founded in 1987 to develop what it calls "Lojban - A Realization of Loglan". LLG incorporated in November, 1989, and was approved by the IRS in 1990 as a non-profit educational/scientific organization tax-exempt under I. R. C. 501(c)(3). Prior to that time, other versions of the language called 'Loglan' were produced in an evolutionary effort led by Dr. James Cooke Brown. Brown first conceived of Loglan and started work on the language as early as 1955. The original purpose of Loglan was as a test vehicle for linguistics research, especially into the concept known as the 'Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis'.

Early work in the language was devoted to word-making and developing the morphology and predicate structure of the language. The best-known prolegomenon of the language, written by Brown, was published in the June, 1960 Scientific American. From 1962-64, research was funded under an NIMH linguistics grant to produce a Loglan dictionary and teaching materials. Brown published early editions of these materials from 1965-69. Almost all work on Loglan and Lojban since 1964 has been performed by volunteers; progress has been correspondingly slow.

The Loglan Institute (TLI) incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1974; it published a printed dictionary and language description in 1975.

Most of the early work on the language was done without computers, although Brown developed the first dictionaries using punched-card sorting techniques. Brown 'verified' his language grammar as 'unambiguous' using manual techniques developed by linguists. In the 1970s, computer science caught up with Loglan, and people started to see its potential for use in NLP. Funding for NLP research couldn't be arranged, but the prospect has inspired volunteers from the computer sciences since then.

In 1976-77, Sheldon Linker first proposed using the Bell Labs program 'YACC' to develop an LALR(1) formal grammar of the language, thus formally verified to be unambiguous. Work by Linker and later by others proceeded slowly, as much of the language grammar was reinvented from 1976- 81. Finally, a complete trial corpus of sentences was accurately parsed.

In 1981, Nora Tansky LeChevalier developed a Loglan random sentence generator and a Loglan-to-English translator for a subset of the Loglan grammar. The translator used the full 4000-word dictionary. Despite primitive equipment, the translator produced understandable English.

From 1981 through 1984, the Loglan grammar and vocabulary continued to evolve. After a political dispute within TLI, though, most volunteers became inactive; little progress occurred from 1984-86. Bob LeChevalier then set about revitalizing the community. This proved to require setting up a community of volunteers separate from TLI; this community became LLG.

In creating Lojban, LLG analyzed and rebuilt the entire vocabulary of Loglan, and redeveloped the formal YACC grammar. These efforts went much faster than original efforts due to intense volunteer work, better management of volunteers, and better knowledge of the language. LLG baselined the Lojban root vocabulary in 1988, and the YACC grammar in August 1990, and just re-baselined the grammar in June 1991, while documenting other aspects of the language, and training the first speakers of Lojban. The community interested in Lojban now exceeds 800, and includes many AI and NLP researchers, several dozen supporters outside the U.S., and dozens of active language students. LLG supports a quarterly journal, a newsletter, an Internet-based mailing list, local study groups, an annual gathering, and weekly conversation sessions at its primary office.

Section 7 - Key Personnel

All technical personnel on this project will work under consulting agreements with LLG, either directly or as employees of Linker Systems, Inc. (LSI). LLG is capable of staffing several additional positions with highly qualified programmers, linguists, and engineers, many of whom have experience in AI and NLP applications. The key people listed below are the core team that will lead efforts based on their knowledge and understanding of both Lojban and our research approach.

Robert LeChevalier, President and Director, LLG - 60% time during year 1 and 50% during year 2. He will work on project management (Task 7), expertise in Lojban, dictionary data base work for Task 1, documentation and technical reports for all tasks (Task 6), and task leadership for Task 1, 6, and 7. Mr. LeChevalier also will manage a large corps of volunteers who will contribute to the dictionary data base work at no cost to the Government. Mr. LeChevalier's unfunded time will be as a volunteer worker for LLG doing work not covered under funded tasks. This work includes editing and publishing the journal and newsletter and writing a Lojban textbook.

Athelstan, Director, LLG - 100% over the life of the project, working primarily on the dictionary data base (Task 1), and providing expertise in Lojban for volunteer workers.

Jeffrey Taylor, Voting Member, LLG - 100% over the life of the project, subject to funding of Tasks 2, 3, 4, and 5. Less than 25% participation in the 2nd year if Tasks 4 and 5 are not funded. Mr. Taylor will lead the effort for Tasks 2 and 3 and 5. Either he or Sheldon Linker of LSI will lead Task 4.

Sheldon Linker, Vice President, LSI - Up to 100% during Tasks 4 and 5. Mr. Linker will share leadership of Task 4, and consult in overall system design and data base design.

John Parks-Clifford, Vice President and Director, LLG - intermittent up to 30% working on all tasks over the life of the project, primarily as a linguistics and NLP consultant and expert on Lojban, but also leading production of technical papers. Dr. Parks-Clifford is an Associate Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Section 8 - Qualifications of Key Personnel

Robert LeChevalier, President and Director, LLG - Mr. LeChevalier has worked on the Loglan project since 1980, and very actively since early 1986. He led the rebirth of Loglan as Lojban in 1987, and co-founded LLG. He has led all tasks associated with the redevelopment of the language, and is the most skilled speaker and writer of Lojban. He has been working full-time on Lojban since May 1988.

Mr. LeChevalier was a programmer from 1974-81, then a systems engineer and systems requirements analyst from 1981 to the present. Mr. LeChevalier worked for Syscon Corp. from 1975-84, and SDC/Unisys Corp. from 1984-88. He worked on Navy systems development and design, and finally as SETA engineer leading tasks supporting the Air Force on the GLCM program until the program ended. He is expert in systems documentation, complex systems requirements analysis, operator-machine interface, configuration management, and quality assurance. He has a BS in Astrophysics, and is knowledgeable in comparative linguistics.

Mr. LeChevalier also will work on unfunded Lojban activities, and may seek additional grants or contracts. No proposals are pending or specifically planned.

Athelstan, Director, LLG - Athelstan has worked on Lojban since 1988, specializing in lexicon development, teaching, and translation. He is knowledgeable in comparative linguistics, and is a translator of Ancient Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse. He is working on degrees in Mathematics and Linguistics.

Jeffrey Taylor, Voting Member, LLG - Mr. Taylor has worked on Loglan since 1982, and is a co-founder of LLG. His Masters thesis included developing an SLR1 parser for Loglan. He served on the Loglan 'Word-Makers Council' in 1986-87, becoming skilled in the lexicon. In 1988-89 he helped redevelop the Lojban formal grammar and wrote a preliminary parser as a test vehicle for that grammar. In 1989, he wrote a preliminary dictionary of the Lojban structure word lexicon.

Mr. Taylor has 17 years experience in programming, specializing in compiler and parser development and later in task and project management, and including extensive work in developing military systems. He has an BSEE and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of California, Davis.

Sheldon Linker, Vice President, LSI - Mr. Linker has worked on Loglan since 1975. He led initial efforts to develop a YACC grammar for Loglan from 1975-80, and has been less active in Loglan and Lojban since then. He has 20 years experience as a programmer and software developer, including NLP experience. If his time is not fully funded, Mr. Linker will be employed by LSI on efforts unrelated to this effort.

John Parks-Clifford, Vice President and Director, LLG - Dr. Parks-Clifford has worked on Loglan since 1975. He edited the Loglan journal 'The Loglanist' from 1975-84, and was President of the Loglan Institute, Inc., from 1982-84. He is generally acknowledged as second only to founder J. C. Brown in expertise on earlier versions of Loglan, with several man-years total volunteer effort. He was co-founder of LLG, and consultant on all aspects of the language redesign. His degrees include BA Philosophy, MA Linguistics from UCLA, with field work in India, and a PhD Philosophy from UCLA. He worked directly in NLP with Rand Corp. in the 1960s, and now works in tense logic and logic education. Dr. Parks-Clifford is an Associate Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

le lojbo se ciska (cont.)

In keeping with the above proposal, here is a demonstration of Lojban's potential in the computer processing field. Some of the technical details will be of interest only to computer programmers and logicians, but the Lojban in the following is a human language, not a computer language.

But it also happens that, as cited in the proposal above, Lojban is so thoroughly defined as to be a logical equivalent of Prolog, a computer language that is one of those most frequently used in artificial intelligence and natural language processing. To demonstrate this, John Cowan prepared a couple of examples. The first is an implementation, in a Lojban "computer language" subset, of a complete Prolog algorithm. Then John goes the other direction - from a Lojban translation of a complex English language 'logic problem' into a Prolog equivalent - showing the applicability of Lojban both as an intermediate to computer program expression as well as logical analysis. John:

Except for the universal quantification at the beginning of each Lojban sentence (which is there because Prolog variables are implicitly quantified universally), the Prolog and the Lojban are formally equivalent. Of course, Lojban is far richer than Prolog -- it is a complete human language, which Prolog surely is not.

The following algorithm, expressed in Lojban, describes how to sort a list of numbers (or anything comparable with "zmadu" and "mleca") into least-first order using Hoare's quicksort algorithm. It is a direct translation of a Prolog equivalent, except that the arguments have been re-ordered to bring results to the beginning, in conformity with Lojbanic conventions.

ni'o roda zo'u: 
    da poirvelmi'a la nil. da
  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u: de ce'o dixire poirvelmi'a de ce'o di da
    .inaja dixire poirvelmi'a di da

ni'o roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodi zo'u:
    de ce'o daxipa daxire skamrpartiti de di ce'o da
    .ijanai de mleca di
      .ijebo daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
  .i roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodi zo'u:
    daxipa de ce'o daxire skamrpartiti de di ce'o da
    .ijanai de zmadu di
      .ijebo daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
  .i roda zo'u:
    la nil. la nil. skamrpartiti da la nil. 

ni'o la nil. poirja'e la nil.
  .i roda rodaxipa rodaxire rode rodexipa rodexire rodi zo'u:
    de poirja'e di ce'o da
    .ijanai daxipa daxire skamrpartiti di da
      .ijebo dexipa poirja'e daxipa
      .ijebo dexire poirja'e daxire
      .ijebo de poirvelmi'a dexipa di ce'o dexire

pau? li ci ce'o li pa ce'o li vo ce'o li pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a ma?
li ci ce'o li pa ce'o li vo ce'o
li pa ce'o li mu poirvelmi'a
li pa ce'o li pa ce'o li ci ce'o li vo ce'o li mu

The 'program' consists of definitions of the following 3 functions, which use the place structures as indicated:

poirvelmi'a: x1 is the result of appending x2 to x3

skamrpartiti: x1 and x2 are a partition on pivot x3 of list x4
[For non-technical people, this means that a list of values is divided into to sub-lists (greater and lesser) based on comparison with a single value (the pivot). A complicated lujvo based on "fendi" could perhaps have been used instead of this borrowing: x1 and x2 of this function correspond to the x3 of fendi (joined together by a non-logical connective in the latter case), x3 corresponds to the x4 of fendi, and x4 to the x2 of fendi]

poirja'e: x1 is the result of ordering x2

la nil. is the name of the null list.

Thus a translation of the first function is:

ni'o roda zo'u:
For all-X,

  da poirvelmi'a la nil. da
  X is-the-result-of-joining that- named "nil" and X.

  .i roda rode rodi rodixire zo'u:
  For all-X, all-Y, all-Z, all-U:

    de ce'o dixire poirvelmi'a de ce'o di da
    Y ordered-with U is-the- result-of-joining (Y ordered- with Z and X.

    .inaja dixire poirvelmi'a di da
    only-if U is-the-result-of- joining Z and X. 
append(X, nil, X).
append([Y | U], [Y | Z], X) :-
append(U, Z, X).

Translation of the other two functions is left as an 'exercise'. The last two lines of the Lojban ask the correct sort order of a list of numbers, and present the correct sorted answer.

Prolog is effectively a subset of Lojban, using many of the same concepts and terminology. The following English word problem, from John F. Sowa of IBM, neatly illustrates the process that can make Lojban machine-intelligible.

Sowa's original English: Washable allergenic things are washed. Nonwashable allergenic things are vacuumed. Everything that is gray and fuzzy is allergenic. Shirts, socks, pajamas, dogs, and llamas are washable. Lamps, sofas, cats, and computers are nonwashable. Following are my gray, fuzzy possessions: my pajamas, my sofa, my cat Thothmes, and my llama Mil-licent.

... [D]etermine which of my possessions are washed and which vacuumed.

A free Lojban translation of the English:

ni'o ro lu'ircumki je bilmrsalergeni cu jaurselylumci

.i ro nalylu'icumki je bilmrsalergeni cu sakcyselylumci

.i ro grusi je sulpo'e cu bilmrsalergeni

.i ro creka .e ro smoka .e ro siptaxfu .e ro gerku .e ro tcokumte cu lu'ircumki

.i ro tergu'imi'i .e ro sfofa .e ro mlatu .e ro skami cu nalylu'icumki

.i lemi siptaxfu .e lemi sfofa .e la totmes. poi mlatu .e la milisent. poi tcokumte cu grusi je sulpo'e je selponse be mi

.i ro ma jaurselylumci

.i ro ma sakcyselylumci

Literal rendering of the Lojban:

All wash-possible and sick- allergenic things are water-be- washed.

All non-wash-possible and sick- allergenic things are suck-be- washed.

All gray and wool-possessing things are sick-allergenic.

All shirts and all socks and all sleep-garments and all dogs and all South-American-camels are wash-possible.

All illumination-source-machines and all sofas and all cats and all computers are non-wash- possible.

My sleep-garment and my sofa and Thothmes who is-a-cat and Millicent who is-a-South- American-camel are gray and wool-possessing and possessed by me.

All what-things are-water-be- washed?

All what-things are-suck-be- washed?

Formalized Lojban suitable for Prolog conversion:

ni'o roda zo'u:
    da jaurselylumci
    .ijanai da lu'ircumki
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da sakcyselylumci
    .ijanai da nalylu'icumki
      .ijebo da bilmrsalergeni 
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da bilmrsalergeni
    .ijanai da grusi
      .ijebo da sulpo'e 
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da creka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da smoka
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da siptaxfu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da gerku
  .i roda zo'u:
    da lu'ircumki
    .ijanai da tcokumte 
ni'o roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da tergu'imi'i
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da sfofa
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da mlatu
  .i roda zo'u:
    da nalylu'icumki
    .ijanai da skami
ni'o mi ponse le siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu siptaxfu
  .i le siptaxfu cu grusi
  .i le siptaxfu cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse le sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu sfofa
  .i le sfofa cu grusi
  .i le sfofa cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la totmes.
  .i la totmes. cu mlatu
  .i la totmes. cu grusi
  .i la totmes cu sulpo'e
ni'o mi ponse la milisent.
  .i la milisent. cu tcokumte
  .i la milisent. cu grusi
  .i la milisent. cu sulpo'e 

ni'oni'o ma? jaurselylumci
  .i le siptaxfu cu jaurselylumci re'i
  .i la milisent. jaurselylumci re'i
  fe'o
ni'o ma? sakcyselylumci
  .i le sfofa cu sakcyselylumci re'i
  .i la totmes. cu sakcyselylumci re'i
  fe'o

Literal translation of the formalized Lojban:

[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-water-be-washed
    if (x is-wash-possible 
      and x is-allergenic).
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-suck-be-washed
    if (x is-non-wash-possible 
      and x is-allergenic).
[New-topic] For-all x
    x is-allergenic
    if (x is-gray 
      and x is-wool-possessing)
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-shirt.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sock.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sleep-garment.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-dog.
  For-all x:
    x is-wash-possible
    if x is-a-South-American- camel.
[New-topic] For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-an-illumination-source- machine.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-sofa.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-cat.
  For-all x:
    x is-non-wash-possible
    if x is-a-computer.
[New-topic] I possess that- described-as-a sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-a-sleep-garment.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-gray.
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-wool-possessing.
[New-topic] I possess that- described-as-a sofa.
  That-described-as-a sofa is-a- sofa.
  That-described-as-a sofa is- gray.
  That-described-as-a sofa is- wool-possessing. [New-topic] I possess that-called Thothmes.
  That-called Thothmes is-a-cat.
  That-called Thothmes is-gray.
  That-called Thothmes is-wool- possessing. 
[New-topic] I possess that-called Millicent.
  That-called Millicent is a South-American-camel.
  That-called Millicent is-gray.
  That-called Millicent is-wool- possessing.

[Entirely-new-topic] What is- water-be-washed?
  That-described-as-a sleep- garment is-water-be-washed. [Ready-to-receive]
  That-called Millicent is-water- be-washed. 
[Ready-to-receive]
  [end-of-transmission] 
[New-topic] What is-suck-be- washed?
  That-described-as-a sofa is- suck-be-washed [Ready-to-receive]
  That-called Thothmes is-suck-be- washed 
[Ready-to-receive]
  [End-of-transmission]

Sowa's original (English-based) Prolog, converted from IBM to Edinburgh syntax:

washed(X) :- washable(X), allergenic(X). 

vacuumed(X) :- nonwashable(X), 

allergenic(X). allergenic(X) :- gray(X), fuzzy(X).

washable(X) :- shirt(X).
washable(X) :- sock(X).
washable(X) :- pajama(X).
washable(X) :- dog(X).
washable(X) :- llama(X).
nonwashable(X) :- lamp(X).

nonwashable(X) :- sofa(X).
nonwashable(X) :- cat(X).
nonwashable(X) :- computer(X).

possess(me, pj1). 
  pajama(pj1). 
  gray(pj1). 
  fuzzy(pj1).
possess(me, sf1). 
  sofa(pj1). 
  gray(pj1). 
  fuzzy(pj1).
possess(me, thothmes). 
  cat(thothmes). 
  gray(thothmes). 
  fuzzy(thothmes).
possess(me, millicent). 
  llama(millicent). 
  gray(millicent). 
  fuzzy(millicent).

?- washed(X)
washed(pj1)
;
washed(millicent)
;
no

?-vacuumed(X)
vacuumed(sf1)
;
vacuumed(thothmes)
;
no 

DLT - Esperanto-based Machine Translation

As our last item on the topic of computer natural language processing, we reprint a short report on the status of the Distributed Language Translator (DLT) project in the Netherlands. Dan Maxwell, who writes this, has been on the project staff. DLT is the machine translation system cited in the proposal above (see page 30) which uses a modified Esperanto as its interlingua.

Dan Maxwell, maxwell@ltb.bso.nl, responds to the following:

By the way, with all this discussion of interlinguas for computer translation, it might be interesting to hear from Dan Maxwell why BSO chose Esperanto for their DLT project and not Loglan (which already had two decades behind it at the time) or some other conlang, of which there are quite a number, or even one developed specifically for the purpose. Why they would choose a conlang instead of an ethnic language seems more readily apparent.

The decision to use Esperanto was made by the creator of DLT, Toon Witkam, back in 1979. As far as I know, he never seriously considered another conlang, taking Esperanto as a given fundamental property of the project, although at the time he was not a speaker of Esperanto. He probably knew little or nothing about other possibilities, and maybe it never occurred to him to look into this.

He is no longer with the former DLT group, but is still on the BSO payroll. I can find out how to contact him in BSO if anyone is interested.

Lojban seems to have certain theoretical advantages over Esperanto as an interlingua. On the other hand, Esperanto has been more tested in practice (well, as a language for humans at least) and had a larger pool of speakers to draw the people in the project from.

Hmm. Maybe the advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto compared to Lojban are the same as the advantages and disadvantages of English compared to Esperanto. Comments invited.

Several people sent me questions about DLT. So instead of writing individual responses, I decided to write a general one for all conlangers.

The use of Esperanto does not solve all problems involved in machine translation - I hope that we never claimed it would - but does reduce some of them and provide an interesting framework for attempting to solve others. Even though our modified Esperanto was, we think, structurally unambiguous, this only gives us a way of representing alternative meanings (both lexical and structural) in the source language (This was English in our prototype), not of choosing among them.

In order to choose among them, we devised a module called SWESIL (Semantic Word Expert System In the Inter-Lingua), which made use of a probability-based algorithm drawing on a knowledge bank about semantic relatedness in Esperanto. This is described in some detail (c. 250 pages) in Working with Analogical Semantics: Disambiguation techniques in DLT, 1989, by Victor Sadler, Foris Publications, Box 5904, Dordrecht, Netherlands. It is number 5 of the DLT series.

You can also get a less detailed (30 pages) and less expensive summary of the entire project in: Distributed Language Translation: A Multilingual Machine Translation Project, 1990., available from: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 720 Atwater St., Bloomington, IN 47401. You can get it from the above address for a few dollars.

For Esperantists, there will be a paper by me called "Perkomputila Tradukado: la revo kaj la realo" published in the series Oficialaj Esperanto-Dokumentoj coming out in a few months. This deals more generally with the problems of machine translation and is aimed at a wider (Esperanto) public than just linguists. But also the one from Indiana is fairly nontechnical.

SWESIL was implemented on a limited scale in our prototype (first version 1987, second version 1988). We felt that it achieved what were in principle reasonable results for the amount of money and manpower expended. But our prototype, like most prototypes, needed to be redesigned and expanded. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to test this, because our funding ran out. We had a sixyear grant from the Dutch government (matched by our company), but this ended in mid-1990. We had hoped to find an industrial partner to continue the funding of the project by then, but our search was unsuccessful. We are still keeping our eyes open, but are not actively searching.

The modifications to Esperanto in the early planning stages (early 1980s) were relatively radical, but perhaps about 80% of them were eliminated after the project started for real. This all happened before I joined the project in 1986. The move back toward normal Esperanto was done mainly for a practical reason: we needed the support of the Esperanto community. That is, we needed Esperantists to work in the project, and this would be made more difficult by changes which hindered their understanding of the language.

The most important remaining modifications were: dividers between the morphemes within a word; e.g., "util'ig'ebl'a" instead of "utiligebla", and extra spaces to distinguish between the readings of sentences like "I ate the fish on the table" and "old men and women".

Outside of these we had various lexical innovations like "antaw ke" (the subordinating conjunction "before") instead of "antaw ol". "kaw" in place of "kaj" (and) if the coordinated objects have the same referent, as in "my friend and companion". Compound tenses written as one word ("trink'ont'is"= "was about to drink" instead of "estis trinkonta"). Many of these minor modifications are in fact used by some Esperantists. A complete description of these is available on paper in Esperanto, but not in English.

le lojbo se ciska (cont.)

More of Nora's examples from the incomplete draft lessons.

Examples of numerical predicates

2 + 2 = 4 3 + 3 = 6 4 + 4 = 7

ti cimei sumji
This is a three-some sum.
.i le cimoi sumji cu na drani
And the three-th sum is not: correct.
.i le pamoi remei sumji cu drani
And the one-th two-some sums are correct.

do bimoi le liste be le cpedu le se detri be lenu cpedu
You are two-th in the list of the requestors, ordered by date of the event of requesting.
You are the second one to ask, in date order.
.i la rik. so'imoi
And Rick is the many-th.
.i .uu mi romoi
And (Pity!) I am the all-th (the last).
.i lo romoi ba pamoi
And the all-th will-be one-th. (The last shall be first.)

le cutci remei cu barda
The shoe two-some is large.
The pair of shoes is large.
.i le se remei be le'i cutci cu barda
And the members of the two-some of the set of shoes are large.
.i le se remei poi jadni le cutci cu barda
And the members of the two-some which adorn the shoes are large.
(The two things ornamenting the shoes are large.)
.i le se remei poi ponse le cutci noi se vomei cu barda
And the members of the two-some that possess the shoes, which are members of a four-some, are large.
The two owners of the shoes (of which there are four), are large.

vi le gusta
At the restaurant:
A: do xomei
You are a how-many-some?
How many in your party?
B: mi vomei
We are a four-some.

ko poi romoi cu ganlygau le vorme
(Imperative!) You the all-th one!, closed-do the door.

ti soso pivovo ce'isi'e curve
This is-99.44%-portion pure

ti botpi le plise pipasi'e jisra
This is-a-bottle of the apple-.1- portion juice.
This bottle of juice is 10% apple juice.

lenu carvi cu pizemu cu'o
The event of rain is .75- probability.


Examples of the less well-known abstractors

mi pu nelci lesi'o mulri'a le bangu .enai lepu'u mulri'a le bangu
I was fond of the idea of completing the language, and- not: the process of completing the language. [Ed. note - this accurately reflects Nora's views on the drawn-out completion of Loglan/Lojban.]

la fred. na nelci lezu'o limna
Fred is not: fond-of the activity of swimming

leli'i terpa cu rinka lenu morsi
The experience of being-afraid causes the event of being-dead.
Fear causes death.

leli'i cortu le na zasti tuple cu cizra
The experience of feeling-pain in the not: existing-leg is strange. [The experience abstractor was proposed by a Lojbanist who has lost a leg, noting that such amputees feel such 'phantom pains' in the non- existent leg. "li'i" provides a way to talk about such personal experiences that may be otherwise distinct from 'reality'.

lemu'e prane roda cu na cumki
The achievement-point of perfection in everything is not: possible.

do viska mi va'o lemu'e mi snada
You see me in-environment the achievement point of my being successful.
You see me at the point of success.

da pu dicra leza'i do sipna
Something interrupted the state of you being asleep.
Something interrupted your sleep.

A more complex example

mi ba logji cipra le za'i nelci la rik. .e la .alis.
I will logically-prove the state of fondness for Rick and Alice.

.i pamo'o xu la rik. nelci la .alis.
Section 1 - Is-it-true? Rick is fond of Alice.

  .i pamai roda na.a la rik. cu nelci la .alis.
  1. Everyone1 Not!, or Rick, is fond of Alice.
  1. If everyone, then Rick, is fond of Alice.
  
  .ije remai la fred. cu nelci la .alis.
  And 2. Fred is fond of Alice.
  
  .ije cimai di'u cu nibli le za'i de nelci la .alis.
  And 3. The last sentence logically necessitates the state of someone2 being fond of Alice.
  
  .ije .ua leza'i la rik. cu nelci la .alis. cu se nibli
  And (Discovery!) The state of Rick being fond of Alice is logically necessary.
  [Ed. note. Needless to say, this proof is logically flawed..]
  
.i remo'o xu la .alis. nelci la rik.
2nd section is-it-true? alice is fond of rick.

  .i pamai la .alis. cu nelci rodi poi nelci ri
  1. alice is fond of everyone3 who is-fond-of her.
  
  .ije remai la rik. cu nelci la .alis. ni'i le pamoi mu'e cipra
  And 2. rick is fond of alice logically-necessitated by the first achievement of proof.
  
  .ije .ua la .alis. cu nelci la rik ni'i le puvi jufra remei
  And (discovery!) alice is fond of rick logically necessitated by the previous-here sentence two-some.

.i la rik la .alis. cu nelci gi'e .ui se nelci 
rick, of alice, is fond and (happiness!) is-be-fonded-by.
rick is fond of alice and vice versa. 

A Lojbanic Cultural Allegory

For a lighter touch, comes the following, assembled by Nick Nicholas from computer net messages. The metaphors suggested by the allegory given have caught on among the most skilled Lojbanists, those referred to in the discussion. These include Nick Nicholas, Ivan Derzhanski, Bob Lechevalier, John Cowan, Colin Fine, Mark Shoulson. Other names referenced in the text are Zamenhof, inventor of Esperanto, Jim Brown, Founder of the Loglan project, Schleyer, inventor of Volapk, and Jim Carter, who I addition to supporting Lojban, has developed his predicate language. Bruce Gilson, has similar spurred a recent effort on the net to invent a 'predicate language without place structures'.

The following very interesting exchange happened on conlang list:

by Don Harlow <72627.2647@compuserve.com>:

Bear with me for a moment. Much of the conlang discussion I've seen over thirty years - this includes not only a month and a half of the conlang list, but also the Hardins' "International Language Review," various magazines published by proponents of various language projects, etc. - makes me think of a group of would-be rock-climbers clustered at the foot of El Capitan, a 1000-meter sheer wall on the north side of Yosemite Valley, who are arguing among themselves about the proper technique for starting their climb to the top. Two or three have actually tried to start; a couple got three meters off the ground and then fell back, bruising their glutei maximi (gluteos maximos, but I don't want to offend anybody by using an accusative ending) in the process, and one has actually attained the twenty meter level, is gritting his teeth in sheer determination, and glumly contemplates the 980 meters ahead of him. Meanwhile, the only thing the ones on the ground seem able to agree on is that the guy at twenty meters up bought his equipment at a fire sale and learned his climbing technique in a sandbox. They may be right; this is, after all, his first climb, too, just as it is theirs. One of them even shouts at him that if he had any consideration, he'd rapelle back to the ground and make way for some competent climbers.

(I should add that there's a gang of apes at the top who, every now and then when they see someone actually climbing, will kick a 100 kg. rock down at him to try to n knock him off. They own the top of the cliff, and don't want you to forget it. If you doubt this, read Ulrich Lins's La dan<gera lingvo, all 500+ pages of it.)

As to proper climbing technique, the main question on which they cannot agree is this: is the best tool with which to start our climb a three-legged stool, a kitchen chair, or a Sears & Roebuck folding metal stepladder?

Stools, chairs and stepladders all have their places in climbing - getting that book off the top shelf, cleaning out the rain gutters, getting to the faucet when you're three years old. But they're out of place at the foot of El Capitan. In other words, the climbers are asking the wrong question.

Similarly, if you're a scientific, experimental, literary, or simply curious conlanger, questions about linguistic structure, vocabulary sources, etc. are all important and valid ones. Not only that, they're fun to argue (if you don't make the mistake of taking them too seriously). But if you're a "global" conlanger - a proponent of some particular conlang, or even of just any old conlang, as a global interlanguage, they are ultimately irrelevant, or at best only marginally relevant. Yeah, that stepladder's the best of the three - it'll get you two meters off the ground, and leave you a mere 998 meters to go, using techniques that have nothing whatsoever to do with stools, chairs or stepladders.

...

Incidentally, that guy's still twenty meters up and climbing; he learned early to use pitons. And he's a lot more worried about those apes at the top than he is about you. Maybe you can pass him while he's sleeping. Maybe he'll fall off when he tries to sling a hammock. Maybe the apes will hit him with a rock. Maybe, once you actually start climbing, they'll hit you with a rock!

by Nick Nicholas <nsn@mullian.ee.Mu.OZ.AU>:

Don, a very good response there. Just a couple of clarifications.

Not everyone is going rock-climbing up the wall you talk about. Some see the apes abseiling down, for instance, and aren't that fussed. Sure, the apes tend to collide with each other. but they do tend to cover a lot of ground.

A few members of the El Zamenhofo climbing team, on the other hand (schismatics led by Il Silferissimo), and more than half the Lojbo Jimbobs (not to mention a fair few types clothed in elvish gear) aren't as fussed about the wall as the others. They've found a few relatively shallow pits, and are usually happy to jump in and out of them. The Jimbobs like somersaulting in their soft sandpit. The Silferistas go around performing home improvement operations on their somewhat deeper pit, taking advantage of the fact that their pit has been boot camp for the Zamenhofos for a long time. Some of the stones hurled by the apes have landed in this pit; some even think that lends the pit atmosphere.

I don't know how valid the analogy is; as for me, I receive mail at both pits, and am usually not that distressed about the niches the mainstream Zamenhofos, yonder-ways, are carving into the face of the wall with their penknives.

Ugh. I don't do this analogy thing as well as you, Don :) In any case; it is not true that all the subscribers of conlang eat, drink, and sleep the wall. Me, I'm finding my sandpit a lot of fun. So does Ivan derJimbob, Mark Joulsonbob, and Colin Jinebob. Bob LeJimbob doesn't hang around our particular sandpit these days, but he isn't really at the wall you're at, either. He's found himself a 500 meter wall, and he's got rungs, but he's still waiting for the hammers. As to whether your shouted instruction, from your wall across the sandpits to his, will help him (and those in the sandpit), time will tell. (That and, as you say, the skeleton of the "Schleyer ist Herrgot" team-member you passed by in 1895).

I really should lay offa them drugs. Apologies to anyone who has felt offended by this very confused analogy.

by John Cowan <cowan@snark.thyrsus.com>:

Nickbob writes:

Me, I'm finding my sandpit a lot of fun. So does Ivan derJimbob, Mark Joulsonbob, and Colin Jinebob. Bob LeJimbob doesn't hang around our particular sandpit these days, but he isn't really at the wall you're at, either. He's found himself a 500 meter wall, and he's got rungs, but he's still waiting for the hammers.

John McJohnbob, who always seems (inexplicably) to get left out of these lists, is squatting in the bottom of the sandpit, feverishly re-reading his three-foot shelf of climbing documentation (poorly bound, unindexed, and typeset entirely in mono-spaced Flyspeck 3). In the other hand, he holds a much-marked-up list of needed equipment. "Let's see: rope, hammers, pitons, crampons, tampons, clamp-ons, spit, chewing gum....", he mutters.

And then we mustn't forget Carter Jimbob, who sits at the side of the pit with his back to the rest of the Jimbobs (he does look over his shoulder occasionally). He is engaged in digging out a small but deep excavation with his bare hands, and is sometimes heard to wonder why he can't seem to keep the sand from falling back in so fast. Next to him are Bruce Jilsonbob and his merry men, who are doing the same with their larger but much shallower hole. The sand is falling back into their hole as well, but they are digging so fast they haven't really noticed yet.

There is a rumor among the Jimbobs that somewhere in the pit, or perhaps in a different pit of the same size and shape (this question being hotly debated among the Jimbobs) there still exists the legendary First Digger, Jim- brownbob. But whereas the First Digger was formerly notorious for the volume of his voice, audible at every part of the pit, those who claim to have spoken with him in recent years say that he has become much subdued and hard to hear, and even (in one of his rare public appearances) completely inaudible. (The title of "First Digger" signifies only that in meetings of the Jimbobs, he digs first.)

And so on....

Nick responds:

John McJohnbob, who always seems (inexplicably) to get left out of these lists...

Yeah, it is strange that I keep doing this, isn't it? Hm. If the conlangistanis will pardon the Lojban politics, part of the reason is that you seem to be the only person around writing up shopping lists for climbing equipment (and toy shovels). In that respect, you are, I daresay, a tad above the sandpit. After all, when I tell Mum all the great friends I made at kindergarten today, the Teacher doesn't spring to mind, any more than does the School Principal. Perhaps he should. Especially as Teach is no stranger to the sandpit games, the latest of which involved Beowulf :). [Editor's note - John Cowan recently translated a small piece of Beowulf into Lojban]

My hats off, though, for a brilliant sandpit tale, which deserves to get into a JL or three.

[Signed] Nick, splashing sand far and wide, currently running a game in which a circle of people pour the same cupful of sand into each other's hands (the phone game).

John Cowan responds to Nick's comments about his 'Jimbob name' and kindergarten:

John McJohnbob writes:

(By the way, John, why the "Mc"?)

Is simple. "Cowan" is an Irish name, "Mac Eoin", where "Eoin" (pronounced roughly "Owen") is the earlier Irish form of "John". So I am John, son of John.

After all, when I tell Mum all the great friends I made at kindergarten today, the Teacher doesn't spring to mind, any more than does the School Principal. Perhaps he should. Especially as Teach is no stranger to the sandpit games...

That's what you say. When my four-year-old daughter actually went to kindergarten, the first friend she mentioned was the teacher. (I should mention that this is one-a-dem progressive places wherein Teach is known as "Julie" instead of "Ms. Kirkpatrick.")

le lojbo se ciska (cont.)

Now here is Nick's summary of a second 'phone game' message, one that did not pass as clearly from person to person. Note that the group is fairly tolerant of Lojban grammar errors, which is after all one reason why errors in 'transmission' can occur in the phone game. Since this is a game, it is desirable that some errors occur - that is how the participants (and you who read this) learn what is important in Lojban translation, which after all is a science in its early infancy. Here's Nick:

The second phrase to go through the phone game was:

As Prince once said, sweetheart, (if I remember correctly) "If I was your girlfriend, would you still tell me all those things only girlfriends talk about".

Sylvia handled it as:

doi titselprami cu'u la .prins ju'ocu'i xu do cusku roda poi selcasnu no de poi na fetypendo ku'o ku'o mi noi da'i fetypendo do
(Oh sweet-beloved, (this sentence is expressed by Prince (uncertain) (was it?)) you express everything which is discussed by none other than a female friend to me who is (suppose) a girlfriend of you.)

The "noi da'i fetypendo" is an excellent compression of the English. By the way, fetpendo is quite alright. The fault creeps in with the form of quotation used. Does the "xu" tie with the whole sentence (as intended) or only with the name Prince? (Actually, both make sense.) More importantly, is the "do" of the phrase the "do" Prince spoke to, or the person I'm speaking to? I tend to favour the latter: the "cu'u la prins." is a tagged-on part of the sentence, and shouldn't, I feel, alter the referent of "do". And finally, is "doi titselprami" included in the quote or not? I see no reason why it shouldn't be included. The result thus comes out (assume I am talking to Kate, and Prince was talking to Cat):

I think Prince said this:

Sweetheart, do you, Kate...

as opposed to:

I think Prince said this:

"Sweetheart, do you, Cat..."

but not I think (others may disagree):

I think Prince said this, sweetheart Kate: "Do you, Cat..."

This is critical. The conclusion, regrettably, is that "cu'u" is not the safest way of quoting in a sentence, unless the whole sentence is quoted - including "doi" (about UI I'm not sure), AND I still think "do" outside quotes (even with a "cu'u" tag) stills refers to your addressee, not the quotee's.

Colin comments:

I think it's deeper - though in a way simpler - than your argument. "cu'u la prins" is an adjunct not of the jufra, still less the selcu'u, but strictly of the bridi. We have a selbri "cusku" relating several sumti: "do", "roda li'o" and "mi" ... AND "la prins."

You express all that ... to me who ... as said by Prince.

I started off writing this comment thinking that you were basically right, and the Lojban did not work, but having written the above, I think it does, and is very clever indeed (once the "xu" is moved to the proper place). It is NOT a literal translation, but it works for me. The basic bridi is saying "Do you tell me all the things, supposing ..." so the "cu'u" phrase adds "As prince said, I think, ..." I think your vocative stuff is missing the point: "cu'u" cannot be asserting that anything in particular was actually said by Prince, since (except in the construction "pecu'u" etc.) there isn't anything there to be the quotation.

(Nick gripes that that's pretty much what he was saying :)

I notice that the translation omits "still".

Adds Mark:

The original sentence is pretty convoluted to start with. Might have worked better with "doi titselprami la prins. ju'ocu'ipei cusku lu xu do cusku... li'u", that is, use lu/li'u to scope the quote. Hence the problem with the "xu" getting attached to Prince. Something is sorta strange about "roda poi selcasnu no de poi na fetypendo", but something in me likes it. It's not literally what the original had, but I didn't misunderstand it, and it's elegant and logical. I'm a little unsure about "titselprami"; I'd think that attaching figurative qualities such as "sweet" to a person would be cultural. I mean, is your sweetheart literally sweet? To the taste? I'd feel better with a culture-flag ("ku'u"?) or "pe'a" or "zabna" or their rafsi somewhere in there to clear things up. Or even drop it entirely. 'Course, then subsequent people wouldn't think "Sweetheart" where they did now, but remember we have the advantage of all having good colloquial command of English.

Something about "cu'u": It's a BAI, so it attaches to the selbri, and thus in some sense I see it as attaching to the x1.

[Lojbab: No! A bridi is not necessarily a claim about x1 in particular among the sumti, but about all of the sumti. The only special role of x1 in the language comes from its accessibility to "le" for making description sumti.] My translation probably didn't use this logic, but consider it a moment. "mi klama cu'u la bab." This doesn't mean "Bob says, "I'm coming". It means "I am-a-goer with-expressor 'bob'", so "mi" is the speaker (I guess I'm agreeing with you here, Nick). I really don't know exactly what the semantics of this sentence would be, since "going" doesn't make too much sense with an "expressor" place; barely more than it would make with a "chocolate" place (fi'o cakla). I don't think I trust "cu'u" in this particular sentence (the one I just said and the Prince sentence).

Oh, and grammatically the "xu" had to attach to "la prins.", the way things were written.)

[Lojbab notes that the intent with "cu'u" is to be used to quote either directly or indirectly. Quote marks would indeed delimit a direct quote most accurately, in which case you must have "cu'usa'a" to indicate that the 'said by' isn't part of the quote proper. Thus the tradeoff is whether, in the original, the quote is merely an accurate direct quote, or whether the intent is, as for most English speakers who quote famous sayings in analogy to their own lives, that the meanings of referenced 'variables' be adapted to the analogy. As an indirect quote, an expressor place makes plenty of sense. "mi klama cu'u la bab." means "Bob says that I went", not "Bob says 'I went'" An indirect quote is usually intended to reflect fairly accurately what the speaker actually said without trying for literal quotation. "du'o" is a more vague source attribution that is available, meaning 'according to'; it would typically be used when reporting (in paraphrase) the information content of the source material.]

Mark was in two minds between:

Sweetheart, was it Prince who said you'd tell me everything that only girlfriends talk about, if I were your girlfriend?

and:

'Sweetheart,' said Prince, 'Would you tell me everything discussed by only girlfriends if I were your girlfriend?'

Nick:

The first alternative points out the fact that the referent of "do" is still the addressee. It is, I feel, the more natural interpretation of the Lojban text. It has the question hanging on the identity of Prince rather than the whole statement; again, this is what the Lojban text implies. "doi titselprami" refers to the addressee as does "do".

The second alternative has Mark trying to guess what was really meant: namely, that "cu'u" was an attempt at literal quoting. Unfortunately, you can't have the "ju'ocu'i" tying to the name Prince and the "xu" to the main sentence; thus the "Prince, I think" is lost. Furthermore, the "doi titselprami" is assumed to be part of what Prince is saying. Apart from that, it's an accurate guess, but Mark felt it more honest to rely on the text given, and chose the first alternative, which Colin translated as:

doi selprami la prins. xu du le cusku be ledu'u do ba cusku fi mi fe ro te tavla befi da na.a lo pendyfetsi va'o mi do pendyfetsi da'i
Beloved, was Prince the one who expressed the sentence: you will tell me all the things talked about by X only if a girlfriend does, in the environment of me, in the medium of you, undefined argument: girlfriend (suppose).

The main error is the omission of "va'o lenu". "da na.a lo pendyfetsi", surprisingly to me after a half-minute's truth-table, works well; but I don't know if it's that intuitable. I don't think the "be ledu'u" 'quoted' sentence is that elegant as a whole (the nesting and reordering seem unnecessary), but the meaning is conveyed, though the "ba" seems to me misleading.

Colin comments:

As often, there's a tension between precision and elegance. "la prins xu cusku ledu'u" might have done, but seemed to lose the force of "Was it Prince who". I tend to use "fi mi fe role ..." to get a light sumti before a heavy one even when the original doesn't have that order.

Correcting the omission: we started with:

As Prince once said, sweetheart, (if I remember correctly) "If I was your girlfriend, would you still tell me all those things only girlfriends talk about".

and ended up with:

Beloved, was it Prince who said that you would tell me everything talked about by people only if they're girlfriends, supposing that I was your girlfriend?

Close-ish, but not quite.

Morphology Algorithm

Internal Revision 4.1, 8 June 1992

The following will become the official baseline algorithm for resolution of Lojban text into individual words from sounds, stress, and pause. As such, it is the ultimate standard of Lojban's unambiguous resolvability, which may make Lojban speech recognition by computers more possible than for other languages. While the algorithm looks very complicated, almost all of it is resolving special cases, and performing what error detection and correction may be possible.

We have a string representing the speech stream, marked with stress and pauses. We want to break it up into words.

  1. First, break at all pauses (cannot pause in the middle of a word).
  2. Then, pick the first piece that has not been uniquely resolved.
    1. The first thing is to deal with some constructs which are required to end with a pause:
      1. Names:
        1. If the last letter of the piece is a consonant, we have a name. A name must have a pause before it UNLESS it is immediately preceded by a /la/, /lai/, /la'i/ or /doi/ as a marker, and it cannot contain any of these markers unless the marker is immediately preceded by a consonant. So, look backwards from the end of the piece for any of the allowed markers. If we don't find one (e.g. /jonz/), then the whole piece has been resolved as a name.
        2. If you do find such a marker, then check what immediately precedes it. If there is nothing (e.g. /ladjAn/), or if a vowel precedes (e.g. /mivIskaladjAn./, break off the marker as a resolved piece (/la/), and what follows it is also a resolved piece, a name (/djAn/), leaving us with whatever preceded the marker, if anything, as still unresolved (/mivIska/).
        3. If what precedes the marker is a consonant (e.g. /karoslAInas/) then ignore the marker and continue looking backwards. This exception is allowed because /karos/ with no following pause cannot represent a separate word.
      2. ".y.", the hesitation:
        If the piece consists solely of /y/, then it resolves as the hesitation word (which is required to be surrounded by pauses).
      3. Some lerfu words: specifically, the last lerfu word of a string if it ends in a "y" (e.g. /abubycydy/ or /y'y/) must be followed by a pause:
        1. If the "y" is preceded by a consonant, break off the consonant+"y" as a resolved lerfu word (e.g. /abubycydy/ gives /abubycy/ unresolved, and /dy/ resolved as a lerfu word). Continue breaking off any Cy pieces as lerfu words if they're there (e.g. unresolved /abubycy/ gives unresolved /abuby/ + resolved /cy/; then /abuby/ gives unresolved /abu/ plus resolved /by/).
          Note that the Cy-type lerfu words will NEVER come before the other lerfu word pieces in a breath-group - the "abu" and "y'y" types - since they begin with vowels, they MUST be preceded by pauses; and Cy followed by anything but another Cy must be followed by a pause (because "y" is used as glue in lujvo, it could cause resolvability problems if not separate; e.g. /micybusmAbru/ would not uniquely resolve).
        2. If the "y" is preceded by "V'" (e.g. /y'y/, break before the "V", and the "V'y" is resolved as a lerfu word.
        3. If the "y" is preceded by an "i" or "u" ("iy" and "uy" are reserved) the piece cannot be resolved. d) If the "y" is preceded by a vowel (V) other than "i" or "u", the piece is in error and cannot be further resolved.
    2. Next, see if the piece is composed entirely of cmavo.
      1. Check the piece to see if there are any consonant clusters (a consonant cluster is of one of the forms CC or CyC). If there are none, break up the piece before each consonant, resolving each piece as a cmavo (e.g. /alenumibaca'a/ breaks into the cmavo /a/ + /le/ + /nu/ + /mi/ + /ba/ + /ca'a/). If there are no consonants, the piece is a single cmavo. In either case, the piece is completely resolved.
    3. Now we have a piece which we are sure contains a brivla (a gismu, a lujvo or a le'avla). We know that a brivla must have a consonant cluster (CC or CyC) within the 1st five letters (ignoring apostrophes in the count), and must have penultimate stress (ignoring "y" syllables, which are not allowed to be stressed).
      1. First, let's check for a potential error (a form which shouldn't arise):
        1. If the piece contains no stress, but has a consonant cluster (CC or CyC), it is in error. The consonant cluster indicates it contains a brivla (gismu, lujvo or le'avla), which requires penultimate stress. The only place this MIGHT validly occur is inside a zoi-quote (and therefore need not be resolved at all).
        2. However, if stress information is not available, assume the brivla ends at the end of the piece. (This rule gives the right behavior with canonical written Lojban, where spaces separate all words except for some cmavo compounds and stress is normally not marked.)
      2. Next, let's find the end of the first brivla in the piece:
        1. Find the first consonant cluster (CC or CyC) and then the first stress after it (the brivla is expected to end after the syllable following the stress, ignoring "y" syllables). If the stress is on a diphthong, treat the entire diphthong as stressed (So that "find the next vowel" will not get just the second half of the diphthong).
        2. If there is no vowel in the piece after the stress, it can't be a penultimate stress, so the piece is in error (unresolvable). This is also true if "y" is the only vowel after the stress (e.g. */stAsy/ is not a valid breath-group).
        3. If the NEXT vowel following the stress (skipping over "y"'s ) is immediately followed by "'V" (as in /mlAtyci'a/), then the syllable following the stress cannot be the last syllable of a word (since the 'V cannot begin the next word). Ordinarily we would count this as an error, but let's instead assume that this was a secondary stress and ignore the fact that there is some stress on it. Go find the next stress to use as THE penultimate stress for this brivla (e.g. in /mlAtyci'abrIjuti/, assume the penultimate stress is "I", not "A").
        4. Having eliminated all the potential problems with finding the end, let's cut the piece after the end of the brivla:
          Find the first vowel (not counting "y") after the stress. If it is part of a diphthong, break after the diphthong; otherwise, break after the vowel itself.
      3. Now let's find the beginning of the brivla in the front part of the piece we just broke off:
        1. First, break off as many obvious cmavo pieces off the front as we can:
          1. If there is no consonant cluster (CC or CyC) in the first 5 letters (ignoring apostrophes in the count), then, if the piece starts with a vowel, break off before the first consonant (e.g. /alekArce/ becomes /a/ = cmavo) + /lekArce/ = unresolved), otherwise break off before the second consonant (e.g. /vilekArce/ becomes /vi/ = cmavo + /lekArce/ = unresolved). The front piece is then resolved as a cmavo.
          2. Repeat the above as many times as we can (so, /lekArce/ becomes /le/ = cmavo + /kArce/ = unresolved. Since /kArce/ has a consonant cluster in the first five letters, we can't go any further).
          3. If the piece we have left starts with a vowel, find the first consonant. If the first consonant is part of a consonant cluster (only CC-form this time), and this consonant cluster is NOT a valid initial cluster, then we can resolve the entire piece as a le'avla (e.g. /antipAsto/); otherwise (if the first consonant is NOT part of a consonant cluster, or the consonant cluster IS a valid initial cluster), break off before the first consonant as a cmavo (e.g. /a'ofArlu/ becomes /a'o/ = cmavo + /fArlu/ = unresolved; or, /aismAcu/ becomes /ai/ = cmavo + /smAcu/ = unresolved).
        2. What's left begins with a consonant and has a consonant cluster (CC or CyC) in the first 5 letters. The whole thing may be a brivla, or there may be (at most) one consonant-initial cmavo in front. Here are the possibilities for the start of the piece, and their resolutions:
          1. CC... :
            Resolve whole thing as a brivla (a gismu, lujvo, or le'avla).
          2. CyC... :
            Invalid form. Unresolvable.
          3. CVVCC... :
            (Note: stressing a cmavo on the final syllable before a brivla is not allowed.)
            1. If there is no stress on the VV and the CC is a valid initial cluster, then break off the CVV, and resolve it as a cmavo; the remaining piece can then be resolved as a brivla (see "CC....", above). For example, /leiprEnu/ becomes /lei/ = cmavo + /prEnu/ = brivla.
            2. Otherwise (i.e. there IS a stress on the VV, or the first consonant cluster is not a valid initial cluster), resolve the whole thing as a brivla (e.g. /cAItro/ = brivla)
          4. CV'VCC... :
            (Note: stressing a cmavo on the final syllable before a brivla is not allowed.)
            1. If there is no stress on the final vowel of the V'V) and the CC is a valid initial cluster, then break off the CV'V, and resolve it as a cmavo; the remaining piece can then be resolved as a brivla (see "CC....", above). For example, /so'iprEnu/ becomes /so'i/ = cmavo + /prEnu/ = brivla.
            2. Otherwise (i.e. there is a stress on the final vowel of the V'V, or the first consonant cluster is not a valid initial cluster), resolve the whole thing as a brivla (e.g. /cA'Itro/ = brivla)
          5. CVCC... (This is the hard one. Is the front CV a separate word?):
            1. If the whole piece is CVCCV, then the whole thing resolves as a gismu.
            2. If the CC is not a valid initial cluster, then the whole piece can be resolved as a brivla (gismu, lujvo, or le'avla). For example, /selfArlu/.
            3. If there is a "y", we need to look at the sub-piece up to the first "y":
              1. If the sub-piece consists entirely of CVC's repeating (at least 2 needed: e.g. /cacric/), and all the CC's of the sub-piece are valid initial clusters, then resolve the initial CV as a cmavo, and the rest of the whole piece is a brivla (a lujvo or le'avla).
              2. Otherwise, if the sub-piece can be broken down into a valid lujvo "front" in front and any number (including zero) of valid lujvo "middles" thereafter, resolve the whole piece as a brivla.
                1. Valid fronts (we've eliminated all but those starting with CV): CVC CVCC
                2. Valid middles: CVV CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC
              3. Otherwise, the front CV should be resolved as a cmavo, and the remaining piece is resolved as a brivla (a lujvo or le'avla)
            4. If there is no "y":
              1. If the piece consists of CVC's repeating (at least 2 needed) up to a final CV (e.g. /cacricfu/), and all the CC's of the sub-piece are valid initial clusters, then resolve the initial CV as a cmavo, and the rest of the piece is a brivla (a lujvo).
              2. Otherwise, if the piece can be broken down into a valid lujvo "front" in front and any number (including zero) of valid lujvo "middles" followed by a valid lujvo "end", then resolve the whole piece as a brivla (a lujvo).
                1. Valid fronts (we've eliminated all but those starting with CV): CVC CVCC
                2. Valid middles: CVV CV'V CVC CCV CCVC CVCC c> Valid ends: CVV CV'V CCV CCVCV CVCCV
              3. Otherwise, the front CV should be resolved as a cmavo, and the remaining piece is resolved as a brivla (a le'avla).

le lojbo se ciska (cont.)

It's time for our feature texts of this issue.

The real test of an artificial language is how well it can convey ideas from a variety of cultures and languages. This issue, we present tales translated directly from two languages that few Lojbanists know.

The first several texts are 6 of the moralistic tales of the classical Greek fabulist Aesop, translated from the Ancient Greek by Nick Nicholas. The first thing you will undoubtedly note is how brief the stories are, as originally written. This makes each story a pleasant little chunk of Lojban to translate, and since you will likely find the stories at least a little familiar, you should be able to work through the occasionally difficult result of Nick's efforts at matching the Greek syntax and style.

You will need a complete cmavo list, including the changes reported in JL14 and JL15, to completely succeed with these texts, though most of the text will be understandable without all of the updates handy.

Here's Aesop:

1.
me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
.i lo fetcinfo noi se ckasu lo lorxu lenu ra roroi se jbena lo pamei cu bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u loni xamgu cu .ei se merli fi lo klani na.e leni srana loka vrude

2.
me lo resprtestudine .e lo cicractu
.i lo resprtestudine kuce lo cicractu leni sutra cu dabysnu .isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice tu'a le detri .eji'a le stuzi cu ba sepli bajra simjvi .i le zu'u cicractu noi ki'u leke'a rarna ka sutra cu na'eke se mukti jundi lenu bajra ku'o ca'o lenu vreta te'e le dargu cu sipna .i le zu'unai resprtestudine. noi sanji leke'a ka masno na sisti lenu bajra .ije seki'ubo le go'i noi bajra zo'a le cicractu noi sipna cu mo'u klama le co'e pe lenu cnemu fi lenu jinga
ni'o tu'a le selsku cu xe ctuca fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se na'eke se mukti jundi ku'o lenu troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau

3.
me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba
.i lo lorxu noi xagji ku'o ca lenu viska loi vanjba gunma noi dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu ra gi'eku'i naka'e cpacu .i le go'i ca lenu cliva cu cusku fi vo'a fe <<lu lei jbari cu slari li'u>>
ni'o si'a so'i prenu poi naka'e xagmaugau lei cuntu ki'u loka ruble cu pantypai le tcini

4.
me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be ri
.i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu se tavla .iji'a le cilmo rokci leko xadni mlana na te mosra li'u>> .i ke'unai le danlrkankre cu bacru <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca ctuca cu mo'ica'u cadzu .ija'ebo mi fau lenu viska do cu smizu'e li'u>>
ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u lei pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti je cadzu sa'enai cei bu'a .iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo lenu bu'a

5.
me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti
.i ze'aca loi dunra lei maxri noi se prucimri'a ku'o loi manti goi ko'a cu se sudgau .ike'unai lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji cu cpedu loi cidja ko'a .i lei manti cu crusku fi ko'u fe <<lu ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na jmaji loi cidja li'u>> .i ko'u bacru <<lu mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i zgike sanga li'u>> .i ko'a noi ca cmila cu bacru <<lu do sanga ze'aca le crisa .ije .uunai ko ca le dunra cu dansu li'u>>
ni'o tu'a le lisri cu xelctu fi ledu'u xamgu fa lenu gunka jundi roda kei fi lenu badri najenai selckape

6.
me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu
.i lo cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu lo rectu cu ca'o zutse lo tricu .i lo lorxu noi viska ra gi'e djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri lo dratra bo selxadni joi melbi gi'eji'a bacru lu'e ledu'u ge ra nu'o turni .ei lei cipni gi le da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu nibli lenu pu'i turni .i le cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi le lorxu fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu krixa .i le lorxu cu bajrykla gi'e bacru ba'o lenu kavbu le rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda fau le da'i nu do se menli lo xamgu cu fanta lenu do turni roda li'u>>
ni'o le prenu poi bebna ku'o le se cusku cu pilno se xamgu

The next piece is a little tougher, since the story is unfamiliar to most readers, as is the Chinese culture from which the story comes. The text is John Cowan's translation of a short tale from Hakka Chinese.

Hakka is a rural dialect spoken in inland Southeast China. As shown in the translation section, Hakka Chinese has a different tonal structure, and the text has many roots quite unlike that of standard Mandarin Chinese. Indeed, John had to go to great lengths to find suitable informants who could explain subtle points of Hakka semantics, since John, of course, doesn't know Hakka Chinese either.

John deserves a lot of credit, indeed! I like his philosophy that good translation, especially of cultural ideas, requires translation from the original. Thus, he did not use an available colloquial English translation of the story, choosing instead to work from the English and Mandarin glosses found below in the translation section (asking lots of questions of knowledgeable informants, when appropriate).

Here is John's text. Enjoy!

ni'oni'o di'e se tcita <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>

.i tu'e

la .asun. jo'u la .aniis. bruna remei .i la .asun. jbena le purci mamta .ije la .aniis. jbena le cabna mamta .i le cabna mamta goi ko'a cu to'e lanxe tarti .i ci'o ko'a le jbebersa be ko'a cu dirba .i ro bu'a zo'u: la .aniis. cu djica lenu bu'a .inaja bu'a .i la .asun. te cinmo to'ebo la'edi'u .i la .asun. goi ko'e citka nalculno gi'e dasni nalglare .iji'a so'iroi darxi ko'e .i le cabna mamta ta'e plafinti lenu catra la .asun.

.i paroikiku le cabna mamta cu cuxna re so'etsi .i pa so'etsi cu nalseljukpa .ije pa so'etsi cu seljukpa .i dunda le seljukpa la .asun. .ije dunda le nalseljukpa
la .aniis. .i cusku
<<lu re ko cu mo'ine'i klama le kevna poi betfu le barda tricu .i ko pilno loi cilmo dertu lo tagji gacri be le so'etsi .i ko poi leke'a so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe cu pamoi zdaxru li'u>>

.i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu kei la .aniis. zgana lenu le le bruna ku so'etsi noi badmau cu farlu
.ibazibo fo le bruna cu canja .i bazuku le la .asun. so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe .i ko'e morji le se cusku be le mamta .isemu'ibo ko'e pamoi zdaxru .i le mamta cu zgana lenu le jbebersa be ko'a na xruti .i na kurji lejei ko'a jmive .i sutra sutra bajrykla mu'i lenu facki lejei la .asun. lidne da

.i lo cmana cevni cu makfa tisna le tricu kevna loi dertu .i le cabna mamta ba cusku fi la asun. fe
<<lu ko cuxna lo cnadakfu gi'e klama fa'ertisna le tricu kevna li'u>>

.i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri .i pa cipni goi ko'i cu vofli cliva gi'ecabo klaku cusku zoi <<.xakkas go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> no'u <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
.i vofli ze'abaku .i ti'e ca'o ro crisa ko'i rolnicte sanli le tricu forca gi'e cusku zoi <<.xakkas. go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> .i cusku pu'o lenu le molko'a cu ciblu vikmi

tu'u

Translations of le lojbo se ciska

Translation of lei lojbo

Katrina: mi xatra be la .alis. ciska bau la lojban. .i .e'o ko sidju lenu fanva
I (letter-to-Alice)-write in- language Lojban. (Petition!) You! (Imperative!) assist the- event of translating.
I've written a letter to Alice in Lojban. Please help me translate it (to English).

Sam: .ui .oinai
(Happiness! Pleasure!)
I'd be happy to! My pleasure!

Katrina: <<lu xu? la teris. cu se pluka le cukta poi ri te dunda fi mi li'u>>
"Is it true? Terry is-pleased with the book(s) which he/she was given by me?
Did Terry like the book(s) I gave him/her?

Sam: pamai: ma? te kancu le cukta
Firstly, what-value? is-the- counted-value of the books.
First: How many books are there? [to know whether to translate "cukta" as singular or plural].

Katrina: li ci .i ku'i mi na jimpe le mukti be lenu do terpreti .oi
Three. However, I not: understand le motive of the event of your asking. (Complaint!)
Three. But I don't understand why you ask such an irrelevant question!

Sam: le'onai mi troci lenu sidju (Defensive!)
I try to assist.
I'm only trying to help!

Katrina: .o'ocu'i .e'o ko go'i .e'u
(Mere tolerance!) (Petition!) You! (Imperative!) do-the-previous. (Suggestion!)
Grrr! Then DO so, for Pete's sake!

Sam: ta'onai la teris. cinse ma?
(Returning to main point!) Terry exhibits sexuality/sexual- orientation of-what-kind?
OK. Getting on with it, what gender is Terry? [to determine the gender of the pronoun translating "ri".]

Katrina: .i'anai se'inai .i ka'u do bilga lenu na terpreti de'u .a'unai
(Blame! Other-directed!) (I know culturally!) You are-obliged to the-event-of not: asking the recent utterance. (Repulsion!)
Arrgh! You aren't supposed to ask such disgusting questions!

Katrina: ju'i mamta la sam. cusku lo cinse preti .i'enaicai
Attention, Mother! Sam expressed a sexual question (Strong disapproval!)
Hey Mom!!! Sam just asked me a dirty question!

[Needless to say, Nora was playing around with the problems of machine translation between language, while also trying to show how fluent speakers might use the Lojban attitudinals to very expressively communicate feelings that don't record too accurately on paper. We hope everyone enjoyed!]

Translation of Aesop

1.
me lo fetcinfo .e lo lorxu
Pertaining to a lioness and a fox.

.i lo fetcinfo noi se ckasu lo lorxu lenu ra roroi se jbena lo pamei cu bacru <<lu go'i lo pamei noi ku'i cinfo li'u>>
A lioness, who incidentally is mocked by a fox about the event of giving birth to a singleton, utters "Yes, I did (give birth) to a singleton, which incidentally, however, is a lion".

ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u loni xamgu cu .ei se merli fi lo klani na.e leni srana loka vrude
Teaching-method for the fact that the amount of goodness is (Obligation!) measured in units a quantity Not! and (but) in amount of pertaining to qualities of virtue.

Lioness and Fox. A Lioness being mocked by a fox on always giving birth to one, said "One, but a lion."
That the good should not be measured in quantity, but in its relation to virtue.

The only difficulty in this last story is the "go'i" within the quotes, which technically should not refer to text outside the quote (which the lioness couldn't have 'heard' to refer back to). This is poetic license of a type that makes sense, though, since she is responding to ridicule that might indeed have used the presumed relation "gave birth to a singleton".

2.
me lo resprtestudine .e lo cicractu
Pertaining to a tortoise and a hare (wild-rabbit).

.i lo resprtestudine kuce lo cicractu leni sutra cu dabysnu .isemu'ibo le go'i noi tugni jdice tu'a le detri .eji'a le stuzi cu ba sepli bajra simjvi .i le zu'u cicractu noi ki'u leke'a rarna ka sutra cu na'eke se mukti jundi lenu bajra ku'o ca'o lenu vreta te'e le dargu cu sipna .i le zu'unai resprtestudine. noi sanji leke'a ka masno na sisti lenu bajra .ije seki'ubo le go'i noi bajra zo'a le cicractu noi sipna cu mo'u klama le co'e pe lenu cnemu fi lenu jinga
A tortoise, a hare, about the amount of swiftness, do combatively-discuss. Motivationally therefore they, who incidentally agreeingly decide (something about) the date and- also the site, do afterwards separately-runningly mutually- compete. The, on-the-one-hand, hare, who incidentally justified by his natural quality of swiftness other-than motivatedly attends-to the event of running, during the reclining alongside the road, sleeps. The, on-the-other- hand, tortoise, who incidentally is conscious of his quality of slowness, not: ceases the event of running. And justifiably therefore he (the tortoise), who incidentally runs past the hare, who incidentally sleeps, completitively comes to the [thing] pertaining-to the event of rewarding for the event of winning.

ni'o tu'a le selsku cu xe ctuca fi ledu'u le rarna se ckaji poi se na'eke se mukti jundi ku'o lenu troci cu so'eroi se tervlimau
The expression being something (told) is a teaching method for the fact that the natural characteristics which are other- than motivatedly attended-to, by the event of trying, is usually as-conditions-of-having-power,-is- exceeded.

Tortoise and Hare. A tortoise and a hare argued on their speed. So, having agreed on the date and the place, they ran raced apart. The hare, on the one hand, who because of its natural speed did not take pains with its running, having lied down by the road slept. The tortoise, on the other hand, being aware of its slowness, did not stop running. And thus it, running past the sleeping hare, arrived at the trophy of victory.

The word shows that natural quality which has not had pains taken over it is often overpowered by effort.

3.
me lo lorxu .e lo vanjba
Pertaining to a fox and a/some grape(s).

.i lo lorxu noi xagji ku'o ca lenu viska loi vanjba gunma noi dandu lo tricu cu djica lenu cpacu ra gi'eku'i naka'e cpacu .i le go'i ca lenu cliva cu cusku fi vo'a fe <<lu lei jbari cu slari li'u>>
A fox, who incidentally hungers, simultaneous with the event of seeing of the mass of Grape Masses, which incidentally hang from a/some tree(s), desires the event of getting of-them (the Masses and-but not: is-innately- capable-of getting. He (the fox), simultaneously with the event of leaving, expresses to him(self) "The mass of berries are sour".

ni'o si'a so'i prenu poi naka'e xagmaugau lei cuntu ki'u loka ruble cu pantypai le tcini
Similarly, many persons who not: are-innately-capable of good-more- bringing- about (improving) affairs justified by qualities of weakness, protestingly-judge (blame) the situation.

Fox and grape bunch. A hungry fox, upon seeing bunches of grapes hanging from some trellis, wished to obtain them and could not. Removing itself it said to itself: They are sour.

Thus too some people unable to improve things because of weakness blame the times.

4.
me lo danlrkankre .e lo mamta be ri
Pertaining to a crab and a mother-of-it.

.i <<lu ko na na'emo'ica'u cadzu seisa'a lo danlrkankre le mamta cu se tavla .iji'a le cilmo rokci leko xadni mlana na te mosra li'u>> .i ke'unai le danlrkankre cu bacru <<lu doi mamta ko noi ca ctuca cu mo'ica'u cadzu .ija'ebo mi fau lenu viska do cu smizu'e li'u>>
"You! (Imperative!) not: other- than-forward-movingly walk [A crab, by the mother is talked-to]. Also, the moist rock, by Your! (Imperative!) body-side not: is rubbed" Continuing, the crab utters "O Mother!, You! (Imperative!), who incidentally now teach forward-movingly walk. Resultingly, I on-the-event-of the event of seeing you, similarly- act-with-purpose."

ni'o xe ctuca fi ledu'u lei pajni cusku cu .eiro'a vrude tarti je cadzu sa'enai cei bu'a .iba'ojenaipubo .ei ri cu ctuca fo lenu bu'a
Teaching method for the fact that the-mass-of judgemental- expressors (critics) do (Obligation-social!) virtuously behave and walk (loosely- speaking), which is equivalent to some-relation1. Aftermathly-and- not-previously (Obligation!) they (the mass of judges teach about the event of it-relation1.

Crab and Mother. Not to walk crooked, a crab was told by its mother, nor to rub its sides on the wet stone. And it said: "Mother, you who teach walk straight, and watching you I will imitate."

That it is meet for the critical to live and walk straight, and then to teach the same.

5.
me lo cinkrkikada .e loi manti
Pertaining to a cicada and of- the-mass-of Ants.

.i ze'aca loi dunra lei maxri noi se prucimri'a ku'o loi manti goi ko'a cu se sudgau .ike'unai lo cinkrkikada. goi ko'u noi xagji cu cpedu loi cidja ko'a .i lei manti cu crusku fi ko'u fe <<lu ki'u ma? ca le crisa do si'anai na jmaji loi cidja li'u>> .i ko'u bacru <<lu mi pu gunka nagi'eku'i zgike sanga li'u>> .i ko'a noi ca cmila cu bacru <<lu do sanga ze'aca le crisa .ije .uunai ko ca le dunra cu dansu li'u>>
For-a-medium-time-interval- during Winters, the mass of wheat, which incidentally was previously- moistened, by some-of-the-mass-of Ants (them1) is dryly-brought- about. Continuing, a cicada (it5), who incidentally hungers, requests of-the-mass-of Food of them1. This-mass-of ants ut- teringly-expresses to it5 "Justified by what? simultaneous with the summer you dissimilarly not: gather of the mass of Food?" It5 utters "I worked Not! and-but musically-sang." They1, who incidentally simultaneously with this (statement) laugh, utter "You sing for-a-medium-time-interval- during the summer. And (Cruelty!) You! (Imperative!), simultaneous with the winter, dance."

ni'o tu'a le lisri cu xelctu fi ledu'u xamgu fa lenu gunka jundi roda kei fi lenu badri najenai selckape
The expression being something (told) is a teaching method for the fact that [it] is-good, that the event of workingly attending to all-things, by standard-of- goodness the event of being-sad Not! and not: being-endangered.

Cicada and Ants. At the time of winter the ants dried the moistened grain. And a cicada hungering asked them for food. And the ants said to it: "For what reason in the summer did you not gather food as well?" And it said "I wasn't working, but I sang musically." And they having laughed said "But if you at the time of the summer sang [The Greek actually says "played the flute"], dance in the winter."

The myth shows that it is not meet that one should neglect any thing, so that s/he may not be saddened and imperiled.


6.
me lo cipnrkorvo .e lo lorxu
Pertaining to a crow and a fox.

.i lo cipnrkorvo noi ba'o kavbu lo rectu cu ca'o zutse lo tricu .i lo lorxu noi viska ra gi'e djica lenu cpacu le rectu cu sanli gi'e zanru skicu le cipnrkorvo. ri lo dratra bo selxadni joi melbi gi'eji'a bacru lu'e ledu'u ge ra nu'o turni .ei lei cipni gi le da'i nu ra cu se voksa lo xamgu cu nibli lenu pu'i turni .i le cipnrkorvo noi djica lenu jarco fi le lorxu fe lenu pu'i se voksa lo xamgu cu renro le rectu gi'e cladu krixa .i le lorxu cu bajrykla gi'e bacru ba'o lenu kavbu le rectu kei <<lu doi cipnrkorvo noda fau le da'i nu do se menli lo xamgu cu fanta lenu do turni roda li'u>>
A crow, who incidentally in-the- aftermath-of capturing some meat, is-in-the-middle of sitting-on a tree. A fox, who incidentally sees it (vague - probably the meat, but possibly the crow) and desires the event of getting the meat, stands and approving describes the crow to it (the crow) as a <correct-form be-bodied mixed-with beautiful> thing and- also utters the-symbol-for the fact that both it (the crow) is- capable-of-but-hasn't governed (Obligation!) the mass of birds, and the (Supposing-that!) event of it (the crow) was be-voiced by the good-thing logically-necessarily- entails the event of actually governing. The crow, who incidentally desires the event of showing to the fox of the event of actually being be-voiced by the good-thing, throws the meat and loudly cries-out. The fox runningly-goes-to and utters in- the-aftermath-of capturing the meat "O Crow!, Nothing, in-the- event-of the (Supposing!) event of you are be-minded by the good- thing, prevents the event of you governing everything."

ni'o le prenu poi bebna ku'o le se cusku cu pilno se xamgu
For the person who is foolish, the expression is usingly-being- good.

Crow and Fox. A crow having snatched some meat sat on some tree. And a fox seeing it and wishing to obtain the meat, having stood praised it as well- proportioned and beautiful, also saying that it should indeed be king of the birds, and that this would have happened, if he had a voice. And it wishing to show it that it also had a voice, having thrown off the meat shouted loudly. And it having run to it and having snatched the meat said: "O Crow, and if you had brains too, nothing would be lacking for you to be king of everything."

The word is opportune for a foolish man.

The Hakka Translation

Title: "Brother Bored With A Chisel, Mother Worried In Vain"
Source: Yuan Jiahua et al., Hanyu fangyan gaiyao [An Outline of the Chinese Dialects], quoted in S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China. [This latter is a much recommended non-technical book for those interested in learning about Chinese.]
Translation by: John Cowan

Format:
Lojban
Hakka
Standard Chinese (Mandarin - Pinyin Romanization)
English-1
English-2.

The Hakka is transcribed as follows:

  • initials are as in Pinyin;
  • rhyme vowels are as in IPA, except that "y" is schwa;
  • "un" is "u"+"n", not equivalent to "uen".Hakka tones 7 (high) and 8 (low) are associated with syllables ending in "-p", "-t", or "-k".

The Standard Chinese version (in Pinyin) is a cross between a literal translation and a list of etymological correspondences. A dash (---) represents a Hakka morpheme for which no Standard equivalent could be found.

English-1 is a list of English words roughly corresponding to the Hakka morphemes, not a translation.

English-2 is a literal translation of the Lojban.

I wish to gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the following:

Lojbab (Lojban reviewer), Nora LeChevalier (Lojban reviewer), Jim Carter and Alice (Wang2 Yi3) Carter (Mandarin informants), Hua T. Lin (Hakka informant).

Of course, the responsibility for any errors or infelicities remaining is solely mine.

ni'oni'o di'e se tcita
[Totally new topic] The following is labelled

<<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8
ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 -- -
brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
"The brother hole-digs with-tool a spade-knife. And the mother is thinkingly-betroubled."

.i tu'e
Start of utterance-block

.i la .asun. jo'u la .aniis. bruna remei
A1 sun4 tung2 a1 nyi4 he4 liong3 hiung1 ti4.
A1 shun4 tong2 a1 yi4 xi4 liang3 xiong1 di4.
Asun with Anyi be two brothers.
Asun in-common-with Anyi are-a brotherly twosome.

.i la .asun. jbena le purci mamta .ije la .aniis. jbena le cabna mamta
A1 sun4 he4 cien2 oi1 giung1 ge4, a1 nyi4 he4 heu4 oi1 giung1 ge4.
A1 shun4 xi4 qian2 mu3 sung4 de, a1 yi4 xi4 hou4 mu3 sung4 de.
Asun be before-mother bear 's Anyi be stepmother bear 's
Asun is-born-to the past mother. And Anyi is-born-to the present mother.

.i le cabna mamta goi ko'a cu to'e lanxe tarti
Heu4 oi1 zo4 nyin2 m2 gung1 tao4,
Hou4 mu3 zuo4 ren2 bu4 gong1 dao4, stepmother behavior not just
The present mother (she1) opposite-of in-equilibrium-ly behaves.

.i ci'o ko'a le jbebersa be ko'a cu dirba
ci1 ga1 ge4 cin1 sen1 zy3 ciu4 kon4 zo4 bao3 bi4,
zi4 jia1 de qin1 sheng1 zi3 jiu4 kan4 zuo4 bao3 bei4,
oneself 's one's own son then regard-as treasure
According-to her1, the birth-son of her1 is-dear.

.i ro bu'a zo'u: la .aniis. cu djica lenu bu'a .inaja bu'a
a1 nyi4 oi4 mak7 ge4 ciu4 mak7 ge4,
a1 yi4 ai4 --- de jiu4 --- de,
Anyi want something then something
For-all <predicate> [If] Anyi desires the event-of <the predicate> then <the predicate>.

.i la .asun. te cinmo to'ebo la'edi'u
dui4 a1 sun4 sim1 gon1 ciu4 m2 he4 an3 yong4.
dui4 a1 shun4 xin1 gan1 jiu4 bu4 xi4 yi1 yang4.
toward Asun feelings then not be this-way
About Asun is-felt the-opposite-of the-referent-of-the-previous- sentence.

.i la .asun. goi ko'e citka nalculno gi'e dasni nalglare .iji'a so'iroi darxi ko'e
A1 sun4 syt8 m2 bao3, cok7 m2 sao1 han2 sy2 song2 da3 gi2.
A1 shun4 shi2 bu4 bao3, zhao2 bu4 --- hai2 shi2 chang2 da3 ta4.
Asun eat not full wear not warm also often hit him
Asun (he2) is-eater-ly non-full and is-wearerly non-warm. Also often hits him2.

.i le cabna mamta ta'e plafinti lenu catra la .asun.
Heu4 oi1 cung3 siong3 hoi4 si3 a1 sun4.
Hou4 mu3 zong2 xiang3 hai4 si3 a1 shun4.
stepmother always think murder Asun
The present mother habitually plan-creates the event-of killing of-Asun.

.i paroikiku le cabna mamta cu cuxna re so'etsi
Yu1 it7 bai3, heu4 oi1 na1 liong3 zak8 vong2 teu4,
You3 yi1 ze4, hou4 mu3 na1 liang3 zhi1 huang2 dou4,
exist one time stepmother take two seed soybeans
One time [sticky] the present mother chooses two soya-seeds.

.i pa so'etsi cu nalseljukpa .ije pa so'etsi cu seljukpa
it7 zak8 sang1 ge4, it7 zak8 suk8 ge4,
yi1 ge sheng1 de, yi1 ge shu2 de,
one seed raw 's one seed cooked 's
One soya-seed is-non-cooked. And one soya-seed is-cooked.

.i dunda le seljukpa la .asun. .ije dunda le nalseljukpa la .aniis.
suk8 ge4 bun1 a1 sun4, sang1 ge4 bun1 a1 nyi4,
shu2 de fen1 a1 shun4, sheng1 de fen1 a1 yi4,
cooked 's give Asun raw 's give Anyi
Gives the cooked to-Asun. Gives the non-cooked to-Anyi.

.i cusku <<lu re ko cu mo'ine'i klama le kevna poi betfu le barda tricu
vong3 gi2 liong3 ge4 nyin2 do4 tai4 su4 lung1 du3 li3 ki4,
ciao4 ta4 liang3 de ren2 dao4 da4 shu4 long2 du3 li3 qu4,
tell them two thing person to big tree hole belly inside go
Expresses "Two of You! [imperative] inwardly go-to the cavity that bellies the big tree. .i ko pilno loi cilmo dertu lo tagji gacri be le so'etsi

vong2 teu4 yung4 nai2 tun2 gin3 ki4,
huang2 dou4 yong4 ni2 --- jin3 qu4,
soybean use mud cover tight go
You! [imperative] use of-a-mass-of Wet dirt as-a snug cover for the soya-seed.

.i ko poi leke'a so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe cu pamoi zdaxru li'u>>
kon4 man3 nyin2 ge4 sien1 bao4 nga2, ciu4 man3 nyin2 sien1 zon3 vuk7 ha1.
kan4 --- ren2 de xian1 bao4 ya2, jiu4 --- ren2 xian1 zhuan3 wu1 xia4.
see who 's first sprout then who first return home
You! [imperative] such-that your soya-seed first is-dirt-born, shall firstly home-return."

.i ba lenu dzukla fo pimu le dargu kei la .aniis. zgana lenu le le bruna ku so'etsi noi badmau cu farlu
Hang2 do4 ban4 lu4, a1 nyi4 kon4 do3 gia1 go1 ge4 teu4 zy3 go4 tai4,
Xing2 dao4 ban4 lu4, a1 yi4 kan4 dao3 ta4 ge1 de dou4 zi3 guo4 da4,
walk to half road Anyi see fall his brother 's bean pass big
After the event-of walkingly-going by-route half-of the road, Anyi observes the event-of the brother's soya-seed, which-in- cidentally-is bigger, falling.

.ibazibo fo le bruna cu canja
ciu4 tung2 gia1 go1 gao4.
jiu4 tong2 ta4 ge1 ta4.
then with his brother trade
Then-shortly-after, with the brother, exchanges.

.i bazuku le la .asun. so'etsi cu pamoi derjbe
Go4 e2 ho3 giu3, a1 sun4 ge4 teu4 zy3 sien1 bao4 nga2,
Guo4 la4 hao3 jiu3, a1 shun4 de dou4 zi3 xian1 bao4 ya2,
pass -ed really long Asun 's bean first sprout
[future] [long time] Asun's soya- seed is-first from-dirt-born.

.i ko'e morji le se cusku be le mamta .isemu'ibo ko'e pamoi zdaxru
gi2 ciu4 zao4 gia1 me1 ge4 fa4 sien1 zon3 vuk7 ha1 ki4 e2.
ta4 jiu4 zhao4 ta4 mu3 de hua4 xian1 zhuan3 wu1 xia4 qu4 la4.
he then reflect his mother 's speech first return home go -ed
He2 remembers the expressed-thing by the mother. Motivated-by- that, he2 firstly-home-returns.

.i le mamta cu zgana lenu le jbebersa be ko'a na xruti
Gia1 me1 kon4 do3 ci1 ga1 ge4 cin1 sen1 zy3 mo2 zon3 loi2,
Ta4 mu3 kan4 dao3 zi4 jia1 de qin1 sheng1 zi3 mei2 zhuan3 lai2,
his mother see fall oneself 's one's own son not return come
The mother observes the event-of the birth-son of her1 not return.

.i na kurji lejei ko'a jmive .i sutra sutra bajrykla mu'i lenu facki
ciu4 miang4 nga1 m2 mai4 e2, giak8 giak8 zeu3 ki4 kon4.
jiu4 ming4 ye bu4 ai4 le, guai4 guai4 zou3 qu4 kan4.
then life even not want -ed quick quick run go see
Not taking-care-of the truth- value-of her living. Swiftly- swift runningly-goes with-motive the event-of discovering

lejei la .asun. lidne da
Mang2 di1 zy4 a1 sun4 cut7 loi2 heu4,
--- zhi1 zi4 a1 shun4 chu1 lai2 hou4,
where know from Asun emerge come after
the truth-value-of Asun preceding someone.

.i lo cmana cevni cu makfa tisna le tricu kevna loi dertu
san1 syn2 tu3 ti4 sy3 e2 fap7, su4 lung1 set7 bet8 e2.
shan1 shen2 tu3 di4 shi3 le fa3, shu4 long2 sai1 diao4 le.
mountain god earth use -ed magic tree hole fill-in away -ed
A mountain god magically stuffed the tree hole with-a-mass-of dirt.

.i le cabna mamta ba cusku fi la asun. fe <<lu ko cuxna lo cnadakfu gi'e klama fa'ertisna le tricu kevna li'u>>
Heu4 oi1 ciu4 vong3 a1 sun4 na1 it7 ba3 cok8 zy3 ki4 cok8 kai1 su4 lung1 loi2,
Hou4 mu3 jiu4 ciao4 a1 shun4 na2 yi1 ba3 zao2 zi3 qu4 zao2 kai1 shu4 long2 lai2,
stepmother then tell Asun take one-handle chisel go bore open tree hole come
The present mother [future] expresses to Asun "You [imperative] choose a spade- knife and goingly reverse-stuff the tree hole."

.i ca lenu kenkalri noda nenri
mang2 di1 cok8 kai1 loi2 mak7 ge4 ya1 mo2.
--- zhi1 zao2 kai1 lai2 --- de ye3 mei2.
where know bore open come something even not-exist
Simultaneous-with the event-of hole-opening, nothing is-within.

.i pa cipni goi ko'i cu vofli cliva gi'ecabo klaku cusku
Zong3 yu1 it7 zak7 diao1 zy3 bi1 cut7 loi2, giao4 den3,
Zong3 you3 yi1 zhi1 niao3 zi3 fei1 chu1 lai2, jiao4 zo1,
assemble exist one head bird fly emerge come call -ing
One bird [it3] flyingly leaves and-then weepingly expresses

zoi <<.xakkas go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>> no'u <<lu le bruna cu kenkakpa sepi'o lo cnadakfu .ije le mamta cu pensi selraktu li'u>>
"Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8!"
"Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 - --!"
brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
the-expression "go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 o1 zy3 pak8 sok8" which- incidentally-is "the brother hole-digs with-tool a spade- knife. And the mother is think- betroubled."

.i vofli ze'abaku
bi1 do4 ban4 tien1 ki4 e2.
fei1 dao4 ban4 tian1 qu4 le.
fly to half day go -ed
A-flyer [for-a-medium interval] [into the future].

.i ti'e ca'o ro crisa ko'i rolnicte sanli le tricu forca
Tang1 gong3 mi1 nyian2 ge4 ha4 gi2, gi2 ya4 ya4 a1 diao4 den3 su4 va1 hong4,
Ting1 jiang3 mei3 nian2 de xia4 ji4, ta4 ye4 ye4 --- diao4 zo1 shu4 cha4 shang4,
hear say each year 's summer he night night even drop -ing tree crotch top
[I hear!] During all summers it3 each-nightly stands-on the tree fork

gi'e cusku zoi <<.xakkas. go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8 .xakkas.>>
giao4 den3, "Go1 zy3 cok8 cok8, oi1 zy3 pak8 sok8!"
jiao4 zo1, "Ge1 zi3 zao2 zao2, mu3 zi3 bai2 ---!"
call -ing brother chisel bore mother waste thoughts
and expresses "go1 zy3 cok8 cok8 o1 zy3 pak8 sok8".

.i cusku pu'o lenu le molko'a cu ciblu vikmi
oi4 giao4 dao4 zoi4 gok7 teu2 cut7 hiat8 zang4 m2 giao4.
ai4 jiao4 dao4 zui3 jiao3 tou2 chu1 xue3 zai4 bu4 jiao4.
want call until mouth corner bleed finally not call
Expresses up-until the event-of the mouth-corner blood ex- creting.

tu'u
End-of-utterance-block.

Next Issue

Next issue (for those who have sent in your subscription forms and money at least), includes a lengthy discussion of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and related aspects of linguistic research from the point of view of several linguists. We also plan to publish John Cowan's paper on Lojban expression of mathematical expressions (MEX), a story translated from Bulgarian by Ivan Derzhanski, as well as more of Nick Nicholas's extensive work.

Sample Page from Forthcoming Proto-Dictionary

I wanted to give the community some feeling that we actually are getting somewhere on the long-promised books. The best way I know to do this is to show you. The following page is the first section of the gismu list, starting with the letter 'B' as it has been expanded and formatted for the dictionary. While this is still a draft, it should give a good idea of our intentions. We of course would like comments on whether the print size is adequate, as well as the explanations (there is some limit to what we can do to improve the latter without delaying publication, but I still would like to know what people think).

The larger margins on the back page reflect the actual dimensions of the pages of the book (standard 5.5" x 8" trade paperback).

  bacru                                   92                                  berti
                              B            bakri
                                            chalk -   x1  is  a
                     bacru                  quantity       of/-
                      utter -   x1 utters   contains/is made of
                      verbally/says/-       chalk  from  source
                      phonates   (vocally   x2 in form x3
                      makes  sound)   x2;  baktu
                      (cf. krixa, cusku);   bucket -   x1  is a
                      rafsi: cru            bucket/pail/can/-
                     badna                  deep, solid,  wide-
                      banana -   x1  is a   topped container of
                      banana/plantain       contents  x2,  made
                      (fruit)          of   of   material   x3;
                      species/breed x2      (cf. botpi,  patxu,
                     badri                  tansi)
                      sad -   x1 is sad/-  balji
                      depressed/dejected    bulb -    x1  is  a
                      about  x2;   rafsi:   bulb (body-part) of
                      dri                   plant/species   x2;
                     bajra                  (metaphor: rounded,
                      run -   x1  runs on   bulgy; (cf. punli);
                      surface  x2   using   rafsi:         baj;
                      limbs x3  with gait   cognate: 'bulge'
                      x4                   balni
                     bakfu                  balcony -   x1 is a
                      bundle -   x1  is a   balcony/overhang/-
                      bundle/package        ledge/shelf      of
                      (shape/form)   con-   building/structure
                      taining   x2,    of   x2; (cf. kajna)
                      surrounding          balre
                      material        x3;   blade -   x1  is  a
                      cognate: 'pack'       blade   of   tool/-
                     bakni                  weapon   x2;   (cf.
                      bovine -   x1  is a   dakfu); rafsi: ba'e
                      cow/cattle/kine/-    balvi
                      ox/(bull)/(steer)     future -   x1 is in
                      (beef-producer/-      the future of/later
                      bovine)          of   than/after  x2   in
                      species/breed   x2;   time  (only);  (cf.
                      rafsi:         bak;   lidne); rafsi:  bav
                      cognate: 'ox'

  bacru                                   93                                  berti
                      ba'i;      cognate:  banxa
                      'later'               bank -    x1  is  a
                     bancu                  bank at location x2
                      beyond   -       x1   owned  by   x3  for
                      exceeds/is   beyond   banking function(s)
                      x2 in  property  x3   x4 (event);  rafsi:
                      (ka);  (cf.  dukse,   bax
                      ragve)               banzu
                     bandu                  suffice   -      x1
                      defend   -       x1   suffices/is
                      (event)   defends/-   enough/sufficient
                      protects         x2   for   purpose    x2
                      (object/state) from   under    conditions
                      threat/peril/-        x3;   (cf.   dukse,
                      potential        x3   claxu,      nitcu);
                      (event);  x1  wards   rafsi: baz
                      x3; rafsi: ba'u      bapli
                     banfi                  force -   x1 (force
                      amphibian -   x1 is   -   ka)    forces/-
                      an   amphibian   of   compels event x2 to
                      species/breed x2      occur;    x1    de-
                     bangu                  termines   property
                      language -   x1  is   x2   to   manifest;
                      a/the    language/-   (cf. jitro,  rinka,
                      dialect          of   krinu,      zukte);
                      people(s)       x2;   rafsi:   bap   bai;
                      rafsi: ban bau        cognate: 'compel'
                     banli                 barda
                      great  -     x1  is   big -   x1 is big/-
                      great/grand      in   large in property/-
                      property x2 (ka) by   dimension(s)     x2
                      standard  x3;  (cf.   (ka)  as   compared
                      barda,  nobli,   se   with  standard/norm
                      sinma,      pluja);   x3;  (cf.   banli);
                      rafsi:  bal;   cog-   rafsi:  bad;   cog-
                      nate: 'grand'         nate: 'large'
                     banro                 bargu
                      grow -   x1 grows/-   arch -  x1 arches/-
                      expands   into   x2   curves   over    x2
                      from    x3;    (cf.   (made of x3); x1 is
                      farvi); rafsi: bar    an arch over/around

  bacru                                   94                                  berti
                      x2 of  material x3;   pose  x3,  made  of
                      rafsi: bag            material x4
                     barja                 bavmi
                      bar  -    x1  is  a   barley -   x1  is a
                      tavern/bar/pub   at   quantity of  barley
                      x2  serving  x3  to   (grain)          of
                      audience/patrons      species/strain x2
                      x4; (cf. gusta)      baxso
                     barna                  Malay-Indonesian  -
                      mark -    x1(s)  is   x1 reflects  Malay-
                      a/are mark/marks on   Indonesian   common
                      x2 of  material x3;   language/culture in
                      rafsi: ba'a           aspect   x2;   (cf.
                     bartu                  meljo,      bindo);
                      out -  x1 is on the   rafsi:  ba'o;  cog-
                      outside   of   x2/-   nate: 'Bahasa'
                      exterior   to   x2;  bebna
                      rafsi: bat            foolish -    x1  is
                     basna                  foolish/silly    in
                      emphasize  -     x1   event/action/-
                      emphasizes/gives      property  (ka)  x2;
                      emphasis/stress  to   x1   is   a   boob;
                      x2 by  [action] x3;   rafsi:         beb;
                      cognate: 'accent'     cognate: 'boob'
                     basti                 bemro
                      replace   -      x1   North  American   -
                      replaces/-            x1  reflects  North
                      substitutes for  x2   American  culture/-
                      in circumstance x3;   nationality/-
                      rafsi:         bas;   geography in aspect
                      cognate:              x2; rafsi: bem
                      'substitute'         bende
                     batci                  crew -    x1  is  a
                      bite -  x1 bites x2   crew/team/gang/-
                      on/at  x3;   rafsi:   squad/band/or-
                      bac                   chestra of  persons
                     batke                  x2   directed/led/-
                      button -   x1  is a   conducted by direc-
                      button/knob/-         tor/leader/con-
                      (handle)     on/for   ductor x3 organized
                      item x2,  with pur-   for   purpose   x4;

  bacru                                   95                                  berti
                      rafsi:  bed   be'e;
                      cognate: 'band'
                     bengo
                      Bengali   -      x1
                      reflects    Bengali
                      culture/-
                      nationality/lan-
                      guage in aspect x2;
                      rafsi: beg be'o
                     benji
                      transfer  -      x1
                      transfers/sends/-
                      transmits   x2   to
                      receiver  x3   from
                      transmitter/origin
                      x4 via means/medium
                      x5;  (cf.   muvdu);
                      possibly "sharing";
                      no       (complete)
                      alienation     from
                      origin is implied);
                      rafsi:   bej   bei;
                      cognate: 'send'
                     bersa
                      son -   x1 is a son
                      of  mother/father/-
                      parents   x2   (not
                      necessarily
                      biological); rafsi:
                      bre
                     berti
                      north -   x1  is to
                      the  north/northern
                      side   (right-hand-
                      rule  pole)  of  x2
                      according to frame-
                      of-reference    x3;
                      rafsi: ber

  besna                                   96                                  brodo
                     besna                  ports  ordered   as
                      brain -   x1 is a/-   well); rafsi: biz
                      the  brain   (body-  bidju
                      part)    of     x2;   bead -    x1  is  a
                      (metaphor:            bead/pebble
                      intelligence,  men-   (shape/form)     of
                      tal       control);   material x2
                      rafsi: bes           bifce
                     betfu                  bee  -    x1  is  a
                      abdomen -    x1  is   bee/wasp/hornet  of
                      a/the     abdomen/-   species/breed   x2;
                      belly/lower   trunk   rafsi: bic
                      (body-part) of  x2;  bikla
                      (metaphor:            whip -   x1 whips/-
                      midsection);   (cf.   lashes  (a   sudden
                      canti); rafsi:  bef   violent    motion);
                      be'u;      cognate:   rafsi:         bik;
                      'belly'               cognate:     'beat,
                     betri                  lash'
                      tragedy -   x1 is a  bilga
                      tragedy/disaster/-    obliged -    x1  is
                      tragic   for    x2;   bound/obliged  to/-
                      rafsi:         bet;   has  the   duty  to
                      cognate: 'tragic'     do/be   x2    in/by
                     bevri                  standard/-
                      carry   -        x1   agreement/frame x3;
                      carries/hauls/bears   x1  must   do   x2;
                      cargo x2 to x3 from   rafsi: big
                      x4  over  path  x5;  bilma
                      rafsi:  bev   be'i;   ill -   x1 is ill/-
                      cognate: 'bear'       sick/diseased  with
                     bi                     symptoms  x2   from
                      8 -   digit/number:   disease x3;  rafsi:
                      8  (digit);  rafsi:   bi'a
                      biv                  bilni
                     bi'i interval      -   military -   x1  is
                      non-logical           military/-
                      connective:     un-   regimented/is
                      ordered    interval   strongly      orga-
                      between (rafsi sup-   nized/prepared   by
                                            system    x2    for

  besna                                   97                                  brodo
                      purpose x3;  rafsi:   positive that x2 is
                      bil                   true; rafsi: bit
                     bindo                 bisli
                      Indonesian  -    x1   ice  -    x1  is  a
                      reflects Indonesian   quantity of/is made
                      culture/national-     of/contains     ice
                      ity/language     in   (frozen crystal) of
                      aspect  x2;  rafsi:   composition/-
                      bid                   material x2; rafsi:
                     binra                  bis
                      insure   -       x1  bitmu
                      insures x2 (person)   wall -    x1  is  a
                      against x3  (event)   wall/fence
                      for     fee      x4   separating  x2  and
                      providing             x3 (unordered) of/-
                      benefit(s)       x5   in  structure   x4;
                      (event)               rafsi: bim bi'u
                     binxo                 blabi
                      become   -       x1   white  -     x1  is
                      becomes/changes       white/very-light
                      into    x2    under   colored      (color
                      conditions x3; (cf.   adjective);  rafsi:
                      cenba,      galfi);   lab
                      rafsi: bix bi'o      blaci
                     birje                  glass -   x1  is  a
                      beer -   x1 is made   quantity of/is made
                      of/contains/is    a   of/contains   glass
                      amount  of   beer/-   of composition x2
                      ale/brew     brewed  blanu
                      from x2               blue -   x1 is blue
                     birka                  (color  adjective);
                      arm -   x1 is a/the   rafsi: bla
                      arm (body-part)  of  bliku
                      x2;      (metaphor:   block -   x1  is  a
                      branch         with   block  (at-least-2-
                      strength;       cf.   dimensional shape/-
                      jimca); rafsi: bir    form)  of  material
                     birti                  x2,  dimensionality
                      certain -    x1  is   x3; rafsi: bli
                      certain/sure/-       bloti
                                            boat -    x1  is  a

  besna                                   98                                  brodo
                      boat/ship (vehicle)   box bo'o;  cognate:
                      for  carrying   x2;   'foil'
                      rafsi: lot blo lo'i  boxna
                     bo                     wave -    x1  is  a
                      short scope  link -   wave (periodic pat-
                      short scope joiner;   tern) in medium x2,
                      attaches  two   ad-   wave-form x3, wave-
                      jacent  words  into   length          x4,
                      single unit; causes   frequency       x5;
                      right  grouping  in   rafsi: bon bo'a
                      tanru; rafsi: bor    bradi
                     bolci                  enemy -   x1  is an
                      ball -    x1  is  a   enemy/opponent/-
                      ball/sphere/orb/-     adversary of  x2 in
                      globe  (shape/form)   struggle  x3;  (cf.
                      of material  x2; x1   damba,       jamna,
                      is   a    spherical   darlu);    cognate:
                      object   (made   of   'adversary'
                      x2); rafsi: bol boi  bratu
                     bongu                  hail  -     x1   is
                      bone -  x1 is a/the   hail/sleet/freezing
                      bone (body-part) of   rain/solid
                      x2;      (metaphor:   precipitation    of
                      calcium);    rafsi:   material/-
                      bog bo'u              composition     x2;
                     botpi                  (cf. carvi, snime);
                      bottle -   x1  is a   this  is  the  sub-
                      bottle/jar/urn/-      stance, not the act
                      closable  container   or  manner  of  its
                      for  x2,   made  of   falling,  which  is
                      material  x3   with   carvi
                      lid    x4;     (cf.  brazo
                      baktu); rafsi:  bot   Brazilian  -     x1
                      bo'i                  reflects  Brazilian
                     boxfo                  culture/-
                      sheet -   x1  is  a   nationality/-
                      sheet/foil/blanket    language in  aspect
                      (2-dimensional        x2; rafsi: raz
                      shape/form flexible  bredi
                      in 3 dimensions) of   ready  -     x1  is
                      material x2; rafsi:   ready/prepared  for

  besna                                   99                                  brodo
                      x2 (event);  rafsi:   assignable variable
                      red re'i              predicate
                     bridi                  brodi
                      predicate  -     x1   predicate var  3  -
                      (du'u)     is     a   x1   is   the   3rd
                      predicate             assignable variable
                      relationship   with   predicate
                      relation  x2  among  brodo
                      arguments             predicate var  4  -
                      (sequence/set)  x3;   x1   is   the   4th
                      rafsi: bri            assignable variable
                     brife                  predicate
                      breeze -   x1  is a  brodu
                      breeze/wind/gale      predicate var  5  -
                      from  direction  x2   x1   is   the   5th
                      with   speed    x3;   assignable variable
                      rafsi: bif bi'e       predicate
                     briju                 bruna
                      office -   x1 is an   brother -    x1  is
                      office/workplace of   brother        of/-
                      worker x2  at loca-   fraternal to  x2 by
                      tion   x3;   rafsi:   bond/tie/standard/-
                      bij;       cognate:   parent(s) x3;  (not
                      'bureau'              necessarily
                     brito                  biological); rafsi:
                      British   -      x1   bun bu'a
                      reflects  British/-  bu'a some selbri 1 -
                      United Kingdom cul-   logically
                      ture/nationality in   quantified
                      aspect   x2;   (cf.   predicate variable:
                      glico,       skoto,   some   selbri    1;
                      merko); rafsi: rit    rafsi: bul
                     broda                 budjo
                      predicate var  1  -   Buddhist  -      x1
                      x1   is   the   1st   pertains   to   the
                      assignable variable   Buddhist  culture/-
                      predicate             religion/ethnos  in
                     brode                  aspect  x2;  rafsi:
                      predicate var  2  -   buj bu'o
                      x1   is   the   2nd  bukpu
                                            cloth -   x1  is an

 besna                                   100                                  brodo
                      amount  of  cloth/-  bunre
                      fabric  of   type/-   brown  -     x1  is
                      material x2; rafsi:   brown/tan    (color
                      buk bu'u              adjective);  rafsi:
                     bumru                  bur bu'e
                      fog  -      x1   is  burcu
                      foggy/misty/covered   brush -   x1  is  a
                      by  a  fog/mist  of   brush  for  purpose
                      liquid  x2;  rafsi:   x2   (event)   with
                      bum                   bristles  x3;  (cf.
                     bunda                  komcu); rafsi:  buc
                      pound -   x1  is x2   bru
                      local        weight  burna
                      unit(s)       (non-   embarrassed -    x1
                      metric)    (default   is    embarrassed/-
                      1),   x3   subunits   disconcerted/flus-
                      (e.g.      ounces),   tered/ill-at-ease
                      standard x4; rafsi:   about/under
                      bud                   conditions x2