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< | ''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 17 moi]]'''.''<br/> | |||
__TOC__ | |||
<pre style="text-align: center"> | |||
Number 18 - May-June 1993 | |||
Copyright 1993, 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. | |||
Logfest 93 - July 9-12 | |||
rafsi List Revised and Baselined | |||
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. | |||
Press run for this issue of ju'i lobypli: 130. We now have about 720 people receiving our publications, and 250 more awaiting textbook publication. | |||
''' Important Notices ''' | |||
Important: Your mailing label indicates the last issue of your subscription. If that issue is JL18, we need to hear from you, preferably with money for another year's subscription (US$28 North America, US$35 elsewhere). | |||
Note the new network address on page 2 for the Planned Languages Server if you wish to obtain electronic copies of our materials. The address published last issue turned out to be incorrect. | |||
''' 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 15 June 1993. Mailing codes (and approximate balance needs) are: | |||
<pre> | |||
Activity/Interest Level: Highest Package Received (Price Each) Other codes: | |||
B - Observer 0 - Introductory Materials ($5) JL JL Subscription ($28-$35/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-$6/- yr) | |||
R Review Copy (no charge) UP Automatic Updates (>$20 balance) | |||
</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 | |||
The biggest news this issue is the baselining of the rafsi list, the last major piece of the language to be frozen before dictionary publication. Two articles this issue deal with the Lojban rafsi, and the latest change, and the revised list is included with the issue. | |||
As soon as this issue goes to the printers, I will be starting to work intensively on dictionary publication, with the intent to have something to show off at LogFest, our annual gathering here in July. See the news section for more on the dictionary work, and on LogFest 93. Because JL issues are taking 1-2 months to prepare, I am not going to be able to get JL on the hoped for quarterly schedule and also get the dictionary and textbook published this year. As such, I will not start work on JL19 until September, to enable me to work all summer on getting the dictionary out. I also had to cut off work on this issue rather abruptly, though hopefully without too much loss in quality. Details in the news section. | |||
This issue summarizes all grammar changes proposed for the dictionary rebaselining, and the revised E-BNF form of the grammar. Articles detail the rationale behind several of the changes, with a focus on the most significant change relating to relative clauses. A selection of articles deal with usage issues that have come up on Lojban List, and we have a couple of more philosophical discussions on the goals of the language. As is usual, material derived from the Lojban List computer, as well as from the 'conlang' mailing list, is edited, revised, and corrected from the original. | |||
dictionary rebaselining, and the revised E-BNF form of the grammar. | |||
Articles detail the rationale behind several of the changes, with a | |||
focus on the most significant change relating to relative clauses. | |||
selection of articles deal with usage issues that have come up on | |||
Lojban List, and we have a couple of more philosophical discussions on | |||
the goals of the language. | |||
Lojban List computer, as well as from the 'conlang' mailing list, is | |||
edited, revised, and corrected from the original | |||
There are 3 longer Lojban texts in this issue, one related to the ckafybarja project discussed in JL17. The discussions of grammar and usage issues., though have a lot of Lojban text in them, perhaps as much as in the longer pieces. I made an effort to update all lujvo in this issue to the new rafsi baseline, so that you can use the lists accompanying this issue to interpret them. However, since I did this manually, don't be surprised if I missed one or two. | |||
<pre> | |||
Table of Contents | Table of Contents | ||
Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms ---3 | Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms ---3 | ||
Line 152: | Line 84: | ||
Lojban; On le and lo and Existence; A Heated Exchange? ---53 | Lojban; On le and lo and Existence; A Heated Exchange? ---53 | ||
Language Goals: Lojban and Metaphydsical Bias; Sapir-Whorfian | Language Goals: Lojban and Metaphydsical Bias; Sapir-Whorfian | ||
Thoughts; Metacognition-friendly Languages ---61 | Thoughts; Metacognition-friendly Languages ---61 | ||
Line 159: | Line 90: | ||
1993; 06/01/93 Lojban baseline rafsi list | 1993; 06/01/93 Lojban baseline rafsi list | ||
</pre> | |||
(including things for JL publication) to la lojbangirz./Bob at: | ''' 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 supersedes the prior "snark" address.) | (This supersedes the prior "snark" address.) | ||
70 subscribers). | You can also join the Lojban List mailing list (currently around 70 subscribers). Send a single line message (automatically processed) containing only: | ||
containing only: | |||
"subscribe lojban yourfirstname yourlastname" to: | "subscribe lojban yourfirstname yourlastname" to: | ||
listserv@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu | |||
If you have problems needing human intervention, send to: | If you have problems needing human intervention, send to: | ||
lojban-list-request@snark.thyrsus.com | |||
Send traffic for the mailing list to: | 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. | |||
A good portion of our materials are available on-line from the Planned Languages Server (PLS). See JL16, or send the messages "help" and "send lojban readme" to the server address: | |||
langserv@columbia.edu | |||
This is a new address since JL17 was published. | |||
The following explicitly identifies people who are referred to by initials in JL. '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' - 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 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). See pg. 2 for email address. | |||
== Brief Glossary of Lojban Terms == | |||
Following are definitions of frequently used Lojban terms. Longer explanations are in the Overview of Lojban. cmavo - Lojban structure words | |||
'''gismu''' - Lojban root words; currently 1342; | |||
'''rafsi''' - short combining-forms for the gismu; | |||
'''lujvo''' - compound words built from rafsi; | |||
'''le'avla''' - words borrowed from other languages (there are people who would like to see another term, with a better metaphor, for this concept, but "le'avla" will remain a valid term for the indefinite future; suggestions are welcome); | |||
'''brivla''' - Lojban predicate words, consisting of gismu, lujvo, and le'avla; (a few cmavo have the grammar of a brivla); | |||
Lojban | |||
'''tanru''' - Lojban 'binary' metaphors, the most productive and creative expression form of the language, unambiguous in syntax/grammar, but ambiguous in semantics/meaning; tanru generally have a modifying portion (generally on the left) that serves the function of an English adjective or adverb, and a modified portion (on the right). | |||
'''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; the concept was formerly called "kunbri" in error in some of our early publications; | |||
in | |||
'''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' (this is an artifact of the computer language "C" in which the formal Lojban grammar is defined for the YACC processor; C forbids apostrophes in 'tokens' representing single words. | |||
== News == | |||
===JL Status=== | |||
I remain short of my goal of publishing every three months, at least partially because getting all of the mailings out the door last issue took more than a month in the first place. But hopefully 4 months is better than the delays we had been having. | |||
I delayed a little in hopes of seeing some more submissions for the ckafybarja (coffeehouse) writing project, especially from those of you who first became aware of the project with the publication of last issue. Nick Nicholas revised one piece that was in progress when JL17 was published. Then, at the last minute, he submitted a character description on behalf of a friend. But otherwise, alas, only silence. As a result, the period for submission of characters and/or setting ideas has been extended indefinitely, until the various people who have contributed feel that enough has been submitted to either vote, or to at least turn fully to the Lojban writing endeavor that is intended. | |||
Unfortunately, this issue of JL has taken even longer to produce, almost 2 months from the day I started. And I had thought that the issue was partially done when I started. Family life, supporting the computer network discussion, and administrative tasks have kept me from working efficiently, and the types of materials we are publishing are taking longer to edit than older issues, because of the need to ensure clarity and accuracy of technical content. | |||
The books have been too long delayed while I tried to get JL on a more frequent schedule. We've improved the JL frequency, though not to the quarterly level I want, or need in order to get 2nd class mailing from the Postal Service. As such, I have decided to cut off work on this JL and go directly to work on the books for the whole summer. I will not be starting JL19 until September (which means publication probably in October, or perhaps even November). Hopefully the dictionary will be done by then, and maybe (but not likely) the textbook. I'm sure that the decision to put book publication higher priority than regular JL publication is one which the community will find acceptable, provided that we maintain some minimum publication frequency; 3 issues this year, while not the desired 4, is considerably better than we did the last two years. | |||
This delay will also serve to give more time for people to submit writings for the ckafybarja project, per the above discussion, before the next decision point. Let's see some more participation this time. | |||
As partial recompense for the delay, this issue is larger than intended. Our prices were set on an assumed average of 60-70 pages per issue, but both of the last two issues have been longer than that. I will wait till next issue to decide, but if issues continue to run long, I may have to increase the subscription price by about $1 per issue ($4 per 4 issues) as of next issue. Orders and renewals until then (up to a maximum 8 issues prepaid) will be at the rate of US$28 for 4 issues (US) and US$35 overseas. | |||
Because the rafsi change baseline took place at a date just before publication, and because the issue was so long already, I've put a minimum of Lojban text in this issue. Next issue will probably have quite a bit more text, since Nora is working on a program that will convert lujvo based on pre-baseline rafsi to the new baseline. | |||
===Subscriptions=== | |||
We are now fully on the subscription system, and for the most part, people who have not sent a request for JL are no longer receiving it. We have a slightly smaller subscriber list than last issue, but we know that everyone getting the issue really wants it. | |||
I now have to get publication solidly onto the quarterly schedule, in order to get 2nd class status, which means it probably won't happen this year while book publication takes precedence. Until then, people will get JL a little quicker, via first class mail, and of course we are going to still be losing some money as a result. | |||
As of the publication date, we have around 120 JL subscribers. For about 25 of these, JL18 is listed as their last issue, but I expect at least half of these to renew their subscription based on the experience of the last 4 months. Thus, the number of (all paid) subscribers will drop to around 110 for JL19, and seems likely to stabilize at around that level until books are published (when it hopefully will increase). US recipients will continue to get their issue by first class mail. | |||
===Finances=== | |||
We continue to expend money faster than we are taking it in, but the rate of hemorrhage has slowed (at least until this issue goes out). We already had a deficit for 1993 of a couple of thousand dollars by April, which has been remedied by the delay in publication, and significant donations from Jeff Prothero (totalling $1500 so far this year, or almost 1/2 of our income). We will still need a fund raising drive in order to make it through the year. I intend to ask for donations in the letter that announces publication of the first book. Substantial donations and/or massive orders will also be necessary to keep the price for the Lojban books reasonable, since small print-runs alone will add several dollars to the price of each book, and we cannot afford a larger print run. (Expected publication costs will run around $10,000. Donors welcome!) | |||
===LogFest 93=== | |||
The dates for LogFest 93, and the annual meeting of la lojbangirz. has been set. The gathering will take place at Lojbab's house in Fairfax VA (per the la lojbangirz. address and phone number) the weekend of 9-12 July 1993 (we traditionally open up on Friday, but schedule few organized activities for that day; people can feel free to arrive on Saturday the 10th, to come for only one day, etc.). As in previous years, families are welcome, although we are requesting that attendees bring sleeping bags, etc. if possible. One or more tents will be set up in the yard as applicable to ensure plenty of sleeping space. | |||
The invitation to families is a bit more meaningful this year, since we now have two kids. Child care duties will presumably be shared among the relevant adults to maximize people's abilities to participate in activities. | |||
Interest in participating in LogFest seems a bit higher than in previous years, perhaps because more people believe that they can do something with the language, and that books to help learn and use the language will shortly be coming out. Preliminary positive responses from around 20 people suggest that we will set a new turnout record this year. | |||
There is no required admission fee for LogFest. Our costs for putting on LogFest have averaged $20-$30 per attendee in previous years, and we ask attendees to donate at least enough to cover their share if possible. But we don't want money to stand in the way of your attending if you are interested in coming. | |||
As is typical for LogFests, we expect that this year will consist of mostly English-language activities, with an emphasis on Lojban-teaching and learning activities for those new or less experienced in the language. There will probably be significant discussion of the ckafybarja Project, which was significantly developed at last year's gathering. | |||
Several Lojbanists have expressed serious interest in having a major emphasis on Lojban conversation at this gathering, and we believe that there are enough people skilled enough in the language that we can do this, while providing mentoring/tutoring to those who are unable to understand what is being said without help. | |||
We are also trying to arrange international Lojban conversation during LogFest, most likely by live 'interaction' on the computer networks with Colin Fine and other British Lojbanists, and Nick Nicholas in Australia, using the "IRC" function (see 'Other News' below). Those not able to attend LogFest, but who have Internet access may want to contact us at lojbab@grebyn.com prior to LogFest, and we will try to set some definite times, so that you can also participate in these sessions. | |||
While the books will not be published before LogFest, I will be making a major effort to have copies of some or all of the books-in-progress available for people to look at, and possibly to use during Lojban sessions. | |||
The annual meeting will take place on 11 July 1993 at 10:30 AM. At this point, there is much less on the agenda than in previous years, and we are hoping that this means that the meeting will be shorter than usual. (People planning to attend who would like to see a policy topic discussed at the meeting are welcome to suggest agenda items.) | |||
===Other News=== | |||
DC Weekly Group - The DC weekly group, consisting of 4 Lojbanists (with a 5th planning to start regular particpation this month), continues to meet, and do a little conversation each week in Lojban. We seem to have plateaued in skill level, since only a couple of us are spending much time on Lojban on other days of the week, and my activities are not the type that enhance my Lojban skills. | |||
Bradford Group - Colin Fine's group in Bradford, UK, continues to grow and to meet regularly, and from postings on the net, is probably achieving a sophistication in Lojban use at least comparable to us in DC. There are 3 participants at this writing. | |||
UK LogFest - Colin Fine and Iain Alexander have been actively recruiting Lojbanists in the United Kingdom, and the numbers are growing significantly, now approximately 40. In addition, a higher percentage of British Lojbanists are active students of the language, whereas many American Lojbanists seem to be holding back on learning the language. | |||
As a result of the increased numbers, Colin and Iain proposed that a LogFest gathering be held in the UK this year, and this idea met with ready agreement from other Lojbanists. At publication, it appears that the UK LogFest will be held in September, probably at Colin's house in Bradford. Lojbanists throughout the UK, and indeed all of Europe, are encouraged to attend. Independent of JL publication, when a date for this LogFest is firmly set, we will try to send notice to all European Lojbanists of the details for this gathering. | |||
the | |||
when | |||
Colin is also planning a gathering the weekend of the American LogFest, as a 'dry run' for the bigger event, and Lojbanists are welcome to visit that weekend as well. | |||
For further details, please contact Colin Fine at (44) 274 733680 (home) or 274 733466 x3915 (work), or by mail at 33 Pemberton Drive, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1RA, UK | |||
CIX - A possible bolster to Colin's efforts to build a UK Lojban group was the formation within the last couple of months of a Lojban discussion group on the UK computer network 'CIX'. This group has grown rapidly, and is reported to have some 25 participants. Lojban List traffic is echoed to this group, and Colin plans to obtain CIX access later this year to assist those interested in studying Lojban in furthering their progress. | |||
IRC - Colin Fine, Nick Nicholas, and Mark Shoulson started a pattern of using the computer network system called "Internet Relay Chat" or IRC, in order to enable 'live' Lojban conversation between Lojbanists otherwise isolated. A group of Lojbanists is thus now meeting irregularly on the computer networks to converse in Lojban, recently including David Young and Sylvia Rutiser from the DC Lojban group. If you are on the Internet with access to the IRC function, and want to participate, contact us by e-mail per page 2. | |||
As described above, we are hoping to use the IRC facility in conjunction with LogFest, to bring more people into the activities here. | |||
Legal - The trademark on 'Loglan' has now been officially cancelled, in accordance with the court order following our legal victory on this issue. TLI did not include the trademark claim in the first publication after the cancellation. | |||
We have now paid off the legal debt, with money contributed by Lojbab and Jeff Prothero. | |||
The Loglan Institute - There is little to report about the Loglan Institute these days; not much seems to be going on. The organization continues to exist, and may be gaining supporters, although at considerable expense. TLI had an advertisement in the April 1993 Scientific American, although they reported in Lognet that they spent an amount for the ad that would take an enormous response in order to break even. TLI has apparently set up a computer network mailing list, but people who have subscribed to it report no activity. | |||
TLI may be nearing completion of their own dictionary revision, which will be issued in electronic form (a price of $50 has been mentioned). They are also reporting work on a substantial revision on the rules of their language version, in order to make it, like Lojban, truly 'self-segregating' at the word level (i.e., unambiguity demands that you always be able to break a stream of Loglan/Lojban sounds down into individual words uniquely; the TLI language version has been seriously defective in this area). | |||
This will be the last issue containing a regular report on TLI; we will, of course, continue to report any real news about the organization that I receive either through official or unofficial channels. But with the end of the legal battle, there seems to be little interest among the Lojban community in hearing about TLI, so long as they seem to be avoiding resolution of our differences. | |||
===Book Status=== | |||
Work continues on the books, but we cannot report any completion dates yet. Highest priority remains the dictionary/reference, and that occupies most of Lojbab's time in between JL issues, along with the administrative tasks involved in keeping the organization running (including responding to orders and questions from the community by mail). Unfortunately, these latter tasks continue to take too much time, with the inevitable continued delays. There is some significant progress though. In this issue, however, are two reports on the dictionary/reference: an outline, and a sample discussing our approach to doing the English-order portion of the dictionary. | |||
of | |||
in | |||
As the outline shows, the contents of the reference book have swollen to the point that we are strongly considering issuing the reference as two books - one more of a reference per se, while the other is a pure dictionary of English-Lojban and Lojban-English, emphasizing content words. A major reason for this has been Nick Nicholas's excellent and extensive work on lujvo, which promises to give us several thousand entries in each direction in the dictionary if it is completed. Nick is also writing a paper describing his treatment of place structures in lujvo-making, which will also be included in the reference book. | |||
John Cowan has completed a revision of the entire content of the draft textbook lessons, reorganizing the materials and updating them to the current language. The results will be merged with the new work that Lojbab has done towards a textbook, and will then result in the draft textbook. | |||
John also has continued writing his survey papers covering the entirety of the language from the standpoint of the grammar, which will be assembled into the Lojban Reference Grammar. This still will be the last of the scheduled books to be completed, since John has several papers left to write, and all of the papers must yet be reviewed by several people before they are finalized. | |||
will be | |||
==Language Development Status== | |||
===gismu=== | |||
Last issue we noted adding of 4 new gismu to support the new international metric prefixes, but did not list the words. They are (with the international prefix in parentheses): | |||
gocti 10-24 (yocto-) | |||
gotro 1024 (yotta-) | |||
zepti 10-21 (zepto-) | |||
zetro 1021 (zetta-) | |||
The major work on the gismu list continues to be the resolution of a few open issues on place structures. These issues will be decided as we prepare the dictionary reference. As soon as these issues are decided, the gismu list will be split into two forms, the current form that is intended for use with LogFlash, and a version oriented towards dictionary formatting. Once we have two lists, keeping them matching with each other will be a substantial requirement. In case of conflict, the dictionary format listing will be presumed to have precedence. | |||
===rafsi=== | |||
We are baselining the rafsi list, as changed and published in this issue, effective June 1, 1993. We had intended to have the baseline effective with the book publication, but the books aren't out, and the pending change has had a noticeable effect on people's willingness to make and use lujvo, as well as to write in Lojban in general. Since we expect no changes in the few months before the book comes out, it seems logical to make the change effective now. We are issuing a new list of rafsi as an attachment to this issue, in all of the various orders typically used by Lojbanists, and including the lujvo-making algorithm now excluding le'avla lujvo, which are handled by inserting "zei" between components, with no rafsi used. The place structures are not included in the rafsi list (a full gismu list in both Lojban and keyword order, would be larger than this issue). | |||
Included in this issue is a discussion of why the Lojban rafsi system works the way it does, and a report indicating why the changes were made and how we went about making the changes. Greg Higley also discusses his ideas on lujvo-making, and gives some samples of the words he has invented. (Other Lojbanists are invited to submit lujvo that you have coined, along with commentary/explanations of how you came to choose those words). | |||
rafsi system | |||
the | |||
Nora is integrating ad hoc software programs into a software capability to correct and revise older texts written with the earlier rafsi list. The current procedure is sufficiently complicated, and the baseline so close to publication, that I had to conevrt all lujvo manually this time. Luckily, this issue has less text than last issue. | |||
===Grammar=== | |||
This issue contains a complete summary of the changes to the Lojban grammar that are pending, and an attachment includes the revised E-BNF notation form of the Lojban grammar incorporating those changes. The grammar is effectively being rebaselined with this publication, as we are using a parser incorporating the changes to evaluate Lojban text, and do not otherwise intend to continue using the previous grammar baseline in any way. On the other hand, there is still the possibility of minor corrections before the official rebaselining in conjunction with book publication. If you have any disagreements with any of the proposed changes, we need to hear from you as soon as possible, but we will consider any comments. | |||
are | |||
The previous version of the E-BNF had typographical errors, making it difficult for some to use. Enough Lojbanists are actively using the E-BNF as a tool of studying the language that we felt that this should not wait any longer for published revision. Special thanks to John Cowan for devising and maintaining the E-BNF. | |||
We are not yet publishing a new version of the formal grammar definition (the 'YACC' grammar), which will appear in the published reference book. Note that the E-BNF, while computer-ish in style, is not the formal definition that has been verified as unambiguous. It was prepared manually from the formal definition, and has been checked many times, but the YACC grammar takes precedence in case of disagreement between the two versions. | |||
The summary of proposed changes, which may be written rather technically for some readers, shows that there continue to be minor changes proposed in the Lojban grammar, nearly all of which are extensions to the expressive power of the language. As John Cowan continues writing the papers that will eventually comprise the Lojban 'reference grammar', minor problems may be discovered that require further changes. We are hoping that all of these will be found before the first book is published, when the official rebaselining will take effect. | |||
the | |||
On the other hand, these changes are so minor that almost none of them affect any text written thus far. Some changes enable new usages where it was found that existing forms were leading to unacceptable semantic situations (see the discussions below of relative clauses - change 20, and JOI - changes 30 and 31 for examples of such changes). As a result of these changes, the changed semantics of some of the older forms may render some older texts as inaccurate, even while still being grammatical. | |||
This issue also contains edited discussions that led to some of the more significant proposals being adopted. These proposals often started as discussions of Lojban stylistics, and understanding these discussions will help you gain a better understanding of how you must think about what you are trying to say in order to properly phrase the Lojban. Note that many of the participants in these discussions are not especially advanced, or skilled, Lojbanists. It is worthwhile to plow through the occasional jargon-ridden passages (there is a limit to how much this editor feels he can change what people write, even for the sake of clarity) to follow the thought processes of these new and more advanced Lojban students. You'll learn a lot about the language and how it works, and maybe a little bit about how people at different levels of skill approach problems of expression in the language. | |||
===Lojban Proto-Reference Book=== | |||
Preliminary Outline with estimated page counts by section | |||
The following is the outline for the proto-reference book which Lojbab is using as of publication time. It includes a description of each section contemplated for inclusion, and an estimated page count. Major tables, forming the bulk of the book, are the most unpredictable portions in length; these are marked with asterisks (*). The estimated page counts in the following are in most cases just that - estimates (a bar indicates a page count for several related sections). The text is not in general written in any final form, although almost all of the materials exist in some preliminary form that mostly requires editing, rather than new writing. | |||
Due to space and publication cost, some of the materials listed in the outline may be left out. For example, many people would not be that interested in the gismu list etymologies, especially since they are in a rather preliminary form that may make them less easy to use than they eventually will be. On the other hand, the features documented in the outline are those that define Lojban officially, and all may be helpful to both language learners and to people looking over our shoulder to examine the quality of the Lojban design. | |||
in | |||
A study of the outline shows that, with the exception of the dictionary proper, no section of the book is particularly long, such that omitting it would substantially reduce the size of the books. The only real tradeoff that might make a major difference would be to avoid the practice of listing most data twice - once in the full dictionary, and once in a list specific to the type of information being presented. | |||
However, the nature of the language is such that people will want and need those separate lists fully as much as any combined dictionary list. When you are making new words, you need a handy list of the gismu and their rafsi, and other data, especially existing lujvo, would be a distraction. Similarly, people tend to use lists of cmavo in selma'o order as often, if not more often, than they use alphabetical lists. | |||
The reference will include three attempts that have been made to devise a thesaurus-style semantic index for Lojban. None of the efforts really can be considered authoritative, and indeed, Lojbab believes that there is a significant problem with the standard thesaurus technique, which tends to be more noun/adjective-oriented than verboriented. In dealing with a predicate language, which is probably more like a verborientation - most of the words have been categorized on the basis of the meaning of their x1 place, which is often not the only place that is important to classify. | |||
and | |||
However, semantic indexing of the gismu list seems to be something that most people have some use for, given the number of people who have reported doing something of that type on their own. Since we cannot produce a definitive and verified thesaurus solution, it seems better to present all three efforts, and let the user of the book decide which best suits his purpose and his understanding of the Lojban vocabulary system. Of course, this takes more pages, but we cannot honestly say, without a lot more research than we are likely to have time for in the next year, which effort is most accurate and/or useful, and what entries in each list are correct. Take all groupings therefore, with a large grain of salt, recognizing that at least one person, the compiler of the particular list, saw a semantic similarity between the various gismu that are grouped together. | |||
Comments on the outline, are of course welcomed. | |||
<pre> | |||
Pages Section Description | |||
4 Table of Contents | |||
Intro | |||
4 About Lojban | |||
3 About this book | |||
Lojban Orthography | |||
1 Letters and symbols | |||
3 | optional conventions | |||
| Cyrillic Lojban | |||
| Dates | |||
1 | compounds | |||
| text layout | |||
Lojban Phonology | |||
2 consonants | |||
1 permissible initials | |||
1 permissible medials | |||
2 vowels, diphthongs, divowels | |||
2 | syllables | |||
| hyphen | |||
| buffering | |||
1 stress | |||
1 | rhythm, phrasing | |||
| intonation | |||
Lojban Morphology | |||
1 Summary of types and how to tell them apart | |||
1 | cmene (names) | |||
| cmavo | |||
| V | |||
| VV | |||
| CV | |||
| CVV | |||
1 | brivla | |||
| gismu | |||
1 | lujvo | |||
| rafsi | |||
4 lujvo-making algorithm /tosmabru | |||
2 scoring/choice of form | |||
1 | le'avla | |||
| le'avla lujvo | |||
3 Resolver algorithm | |||
Syntax | |||
E-BNF | |||
2 About the E-BNF | |||
3 *E-BNF | |||
1 *selma'o/E-BNF terminal index | |||
YACC Grammar | |||
8 About the YACC Grammar | |||
1 Parser algorithm | |||
20 *YACC Grammar | |||
8 *selma'o/YACC grammar | |||
terminal index | |||
selma'o | |||
1 *selma'o list | |||
20 *short alphabetical definition, | |||
subcategories with cmavo in each subcategory | |||
terminals | |||
20 *YACC terminal list, definition, examples of each type? | |||
Lexicon | |||
The formation of gismu | |||
3 Lojbanizing rules used | |||
45 *composite gismu etymologies (may be omitted for space) | |||
1 *cultural gismu | |||
1 | *metric gismu | |||
| *internal gismu | |||
Place structures of gismu | |||
30 *Lojban gismu (rafsi, definition) Lojban order | |||
35 *gismu keywords; keywords/phrases for each place by gismu | |||
35 *Lojban and English order (no place structures) | |||
cmavo | |||
10 * cmavo in Lojban order | |||
10 * cmavo in selma'o/subtype/alphabetical order | |||
2 * cmavo compounds typically written as one word | |||
8 * non-Lojban alphabet and symbol set conventions | |||
1 * unassigned cmavo | |||
2 * experimental cmavo | |||
1 Categories within pro-sumti (KOhA) | |||
3 Categories within UI | |||
2 | Use of BAI to add places/cases | |||
| *list of BAIs typically used to add cases | |||
| *list of BAIs typically used as sumti modifiers | |||
rafsi | |||
1 Assignment of rafsi | |||
8 *rafsi, by type, | |||
alphabetically | |||
8 *rafsi, pure alphabetical | |||
20 How to determine place structures of lujvo | |||
lujvo lists | |||
45 *lujvo actually in use - estimated ~1800 | |||
45 *proposed lujvo (possibly intermingled with preceding) systematically created (using "se", "te", "ve", "xe", "nu", "ka", "ni", "ri'a", "gau", etc. estimated ~3000 | |||
22 *pre Eaton/TLI lists (heavily weeded and edited) - estimated ~1500 | |||
15 *collected old proposals ~1000 | |||
1 Lojbanizing of names | |||
4 *some personal names | |||
4 *some country/language names | |||
le'avla | |||
3 types of le'avla | |||
1 the culture word issue | |||
3 *cultural le'avla | |||
3 *some food items | |||
3 *some plants/animals | |||
3 *element words | |||
198 *Lojban order dictionary ??? (composed of all preceding lists) [gismu (25), cmavo (20), rafsi (8), cmene (names) (6), le'avla (12), lujvo(127)] | |||
310 *English-order dictionary [page counts dependent on Lojban order counts: gismu (est. pg. x 5), cmavo (x 2), names(x 1), le'avla(x 1), lujvo(x 1)] | |||
Thesaurus | |||
systems of categorization | |||
4 *Roget's/Athelstan/Lojbab | |||
4 *Carter | |||
4 *Cowan | |||
40 *gismu to category for each type | |||
30 *category to gismu for each type | |||
10 *English-order cross-index of categories | |||
30 Appendix - *Glossary of Lojban/Linguistic Terminology | |||
Appendix - Correspondences with historical TLI Loglan | |||
2 Alternate Orthography for Lojban | |||
Lojban gismu correspondence to historical TLI Loglan gismu and lujvo | |||
12 *Lojban gismu order | |||
8 *historical Loglan gismu order | |||
Lojban selma'o | |||
correspondence to historical TLI Loglan selma'o | |||
3 *Lojban selma'o order | |||
3 *historical Loglan selma'o order | |||
Lojban cmavo correspondence to historical TLI Loglan cmavo | |||
10 *Lojban cmavo order | |||
6 *historical Loglan cmavo order | |||
8 Index | |||
____ | |||
502 pages reference + | |||
508 pages dictionary + | |||
92 pages thesaurus + | |||
82 pages appendices = | |||
____ | |||
1184pg | |||
</pre> | |||
==Sample English-to-Lojban dictionary (intermediate step)== | |||
The following is a sample of the output from a KWIC (Key Word In Context) tool that John Cowan wrote specifically to help automate creating the English-to-Lojban dictionary. This is a trial effort, which will almost certainly play a part in the creation of the English portion of the dictionary. There may be some differences in style or format. Comments are welcome as to how usable you find this style of presentation of the vocabulary. | |||
This format is that used by the Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs, which has the problem of deciding how to alphabetize a list of proverbs. Just using the first word (or even the first content word) is not enough; what if you remember only the word "devil" from "Needs must when the devil drives"? Each proverb is listed, therefore, under all its content words. The word is rotated to the front, followed by a comma; the place from which it was removed is marked by a "|" character (omitted at the beginning or end). | |||
which | |||
or | |||
John took a similar approach here. The entire place structure definition is processed, and the corresponding gismu is attached to the end, set off by a "¯" sign. The rafsi, if any, are appended in parentheses. This version of the program omits all words appearing more than 20 times in the input; there is no point in listing words under "x4" or "event" or "the". An exception is made when the word is also the LogFlash keyword: thus "zvati" appears under "at", but no other word does because "at" is too frequent. Two different fonts and three sizes are shown. We will probably use trhe smallest that we think can be clearly read in reproduction. Comments welcome, especially from those with vision problems. | |||
<pre> | |||
abdomen: x1 is a / the | / belly / lower trunk of x2; ¯betfu (bef be'u) | |||
able: x1 is | to do / be / capable of doing / being x2 under conditions x3; ¯kakne (kak ka'e) | |||
above: x1 is directly | / upwards-from x2 in gravity / frame of reference x4; ¯gapru (gar) | |||
abrupt: x1 is sudden / | / sharply changes at stage / point x2 in process / property / function x3; ¯suksa (suk) | |||
absolute: x1 is a fact / reality / truth, in the | ; ¯fatci (fac) | |||
absorbs: x1 soaks up / | / sucks up x2 from x3 into x4; ¯cokcu (cok cko co'u) | |||
abstracted: x1 is | / generalized / idealized from x2 by rules x3; ¯sucta (suc) | |||
academy: x1 is a school / institute / | at x2 teaching subject x3 to audience / community x4 operated by x5; ¯ckule (cu'e) | |||
accessing: x1 is a street / avenue / lane / drive / cul-de-sac / way / alley / at x2 | x3; ¯klaji (laj) | |||
accident: x1 is an | / unintentional on the part of x2; x1 is an accident; ¯snuti (nut nu'i) | |||
accommodates: x1 contains / holds / encloses / | / includes contents x2 within; x1 is a vessel containing x2; ¯vasru (vas vau) | |||
a | |||
accompanies: x1 is with / | / is a companion of x2, in state / condition / enterprise x3; ¯kansa (kas) | |||
accompaniment: x1 dances to | x2; ¯dansu | |||
accomplishes: x1 succeeds in / achieves / completes / | x2; ¯snada | |||
according: x1 is a dimension of space / object x2 | to rules / model x3; ¯cimde | |||
according: x1 is a family / clan / tribe with members x2 bonded / tied / joined | to standard x3; ¯lanzu (laz) | |||
according: x1 is a history of x2 | to x3 / from point-of-view x3; ¯citri (cir) | |||
according: x1 is an heir to / is to inherit x2 from x3 | to rule x4; ¯cerda (ced) | |||
according: x1 is polite / courteous in matter x2 | to standard / custom x3; ¯clite (lit) | |||
according: x1 is to the east / eastern side of x2 | to frame of reference x3; ¯stuna | |||
according: x1 is to the north / northern side of x2 | to frame-of-reference x3; ¯berti (ber) | |||
according: x1 is to the south / southern side of x2 | to frame of reference x3; ¯snanu | |||
according: x1 is to the west / western side of x2 | to frame of reference x3; ¯stici | |||
according: x1 is / reflects a pattern of forms / events x2 arranged | to structure x3; ¯morna (mor mo'a) | |||
account: x1 is an | / bill / invoice for goods / services x2, billed to x3, billed by x4; ¯janta (jat ja'a) | |||
accountable: x1 is responsible / | for x2 to judge / authority x3; ¯fuzme (fuz fu'e) | |||
accruing: x1 is a profit / gain / benefit / advantage to x2 | / resulting from activity / process x3; ¯prali (pal) | |||
accuracy: x1 measures / evaluates x2 as x3 units on scale x4, with | x5; ¯merli (mel mei) | |||
achieve: x1 helps / assists / aids object / person x2 do / | / maintain event / activity x3; ¯sidju (sid dju) | |||
achieves: x1 succeeds in / | / completes / accomplishes x2; ¯snada | |||
acid: x1 is a quantity of / contains / is made of | of composition x2; x1 is acidic; ¯slami | |||
acidic: x1 is a quantity of / contains / is made of acid of composition x2; x1 is; ¯slami | |||
is | |||
acids: x1 is a quantity of protein / albumin of type x2 composed of amino; ¯lanbi | |||
acquires: x1 gets / | / obtains x2 from source x3; ¯cpacu (cpa) | |||
acrid: x1 is bitter / | / sharply disagreeable to x2; ¯kurki | |||
across: x1 is a bridge over / | x2 between x3 and x4; ¯cripu (rip) | |||
across: x1 is located | x2 from x3; x1 is opposite x3; ¯ragve (rav) | |||
across: x1 ranges / extends / spans / reaches | / over interval / gap / area x2; ¯kuspe (kup ku'e) | |||