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'''NOTE:'''This lesson is somewhat out-dated but still valuable as an
I'd like to point you to a new conlang going after the Esperanto model (with at least one Lojban feature :) - do you discover it?) --[[jbocre: .aulun.|.aulun.]]


introduction to the basic concepts of Lojban.  
[http://anzwers.org/free/ulango/]


Copyright, 1991, by the Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane,
International Language Created by Chinese


Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA Phone (703) 385-0273 lojban@lojban.org
by David Curtis


All rights reserved. Permission to copy granted subject to your
It was in December 2002, in England, having campaigned for Esperanto for almost thirty years, that I first read, on Internet, that Mondlango had been launched in China. Its two main features strongly attracted me: it was based upon English and Esperanto; and it had no diacritical marks. English is obviously the most popular international language, but it is very difficult to learn. Esperanto is relatively easy to learn, but is largely ignored by the international community. Esperanto is hampered by its diacritical marks, whereas English has none and is therefore easily typed for e-mail.


verification that this is the latest version of this document, that
I was also attracted by another factor. China has the world's biggest population, and Esperanto-enthusiasts have always yearned for the development of Esperanto to reach the stage of critical mass, whereby a situation suddenly changes because of pressure. The teaching of English in China is a very expensive drain upon the resources of the Chinese government to improve the lives of its citizens: yet there seemed, until last year, no alternative. I was the only member from Britain at the First Asian Esperanto Congress, held in August, 1996, in Shanghai. Because of the many discussions I had there with Asians from many different countries, I learned that there was a great desire to be free from linguistic imperialism in the form of the necessity to learn English. As Esperanto-speakers, my fellow-members of the Congress and I hoped that the Zamenhof's aim, of providing the world with a neutral second language, would soon be achieved.


your distribution be for the promotion of Lojban, that there is no
Since that Congress, "El Popola Cxinio", the world's most popular Esperanto magazine, has ceased publication, and Monato is in difficulties. Whatever popularity Esperanto has enjoyed is now on the wane. In Europe, even the looming problem of communication between the 25 countries of the European Union does not offer Esperanto-speakers any hope. In a personal letter to me, published in "Heroldo" last December, Neil Kinnock, the European Commissioner responsible for language-diversity, declined to accept that Esperanto should be taught in the schools of member-states. To me, such teaching would obviously solve the problem of communication, but there is no likelihood of it happening.


charge for the product, and that this copyright notice is included
So, when I read that Mondlango had been launched in China, I could see that there was a real possibility of reaching Zamenhof's great goal, though not entirely because of his admirable invention. The power of American wealth and the former British Empire could be overcome if huge numbers of Chinese learned the new language and insisted upon using it internationally.Back to top


intact in the copy.
----


* {ALINK(aname=>intro)}Introduction{ALINK}
I think I know what Lojban feature it is. :) Mondlango/Ulango looks nice, but I disagree with Curtis' analysis -- requiring an auxlang to reach "critical mass" to be useful misses the whole point of Zamenhof's exercise, which is to let a language dominate through its own excellence, rather than through any sort of pressure. Also, I found a [http://omniglot.com/language/01042003.htm ilarious take] on the EU language situation. -- [[User:tk1@]]
* {ALINK(aname=>predicate)}The concept of the predicate{ALINK}


* {ALINK(aname=>placestr)}Place structures{ALINK}
''Note: This article is a spoof intended for your amusement. As far as I'm aware, none of the people mentioned have expressed these particular views and the organisations featured do not exist.'' :-)
* {ALINK(aname=>pronunciation)}Pronunciation{ALINK}


* {ALINK(aname=>singlewds)}Single words that can act as '' sumti''{ALINK}
Too nice to be true! Blair's (and the French politician's) statement sounded quite realistic - I didn't expect anything else :)
* {ALINK(aname=>ellipsis)}Ellipsis{ALINK}


* {ALINK(aname=>variant)}Variant forms of the '' bridi''{ALINK}
IMHO, it's astonishing this auxlang being invented by an Asian, given the fact that Mondlango is composed by Latin (French), English, German, and a bit of Greek! I guess - as a European - I could learn this tongue within a couple of weeks (the vocabulary is obvious, the grammar straightforward), but also the 'masses' in the People's Republic? --[[jbocre: .aulun.|.aulun.]]
* {ALINK(aname=>switching)}''sumti'' switching{ALINK}
 
* {ALINK(aname=>selbrimod)}''selbri'' modification{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>selbriconv)}Converting a ''selbri'' to a ''sumti''{ALINK}
 
* {ALINK(aname=>marking)}Marking the ''selbri''{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>names)}Names{ALINK}
 
* {ALINK(aname=>vocatives)}Vocatives and imperatives{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>greetings)}Greetings{ALINK}
 
* {ALINK(aname=>attitudinals)}Attitudinals{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>yesorno)}Yes or no questions{ALINK}
 
* {ALINK(aname=>other)}Other terms{ALINK}
* [[jbocre: Lojban Mini-Lesson Exercises|Lojban Mini-Lesson Exercises]]
 
=== {ANAME()}intro{ANAME}Introduction ===
 
This is the 16 September 1991 draft of the Lojban Mini-Lesson, an
 
introduction to the language that is intended to give readers a
 
basic idea as to how Lojban looks and sounds, and how it differs
 
from English and other languages.  For those familiar with it, this
 
corresponds to the first of the Esperanto Postal Course lessons,
 
except that thus far, this is the only lesson, and it covers a bit
 
more of the language in one unit.
 
This mini-lesson is expected to
 
become a mainstay of our introductory package for Lojban.  At this
 
posting we already have people committed to translate this into
 
Esperanto and Swedish, and other language versions are expected to
 
follow.
 
We are interested in comments on the readability and
 
understandability of this material.  We especially want people to go
 
through it, and then to try the exercises at the end, so we can
 
determine whether the lesson teaches the material and whether the
 
exercises are appropriate and within the capability of the student.  We
 
want responses from both active Lojbanists and people who have not seen
 
any of our material before.
 
We are interested in more than just
 
corrections of typos—we want to know what you understood, and what
 
needs more explanation.  LLG will commit to providing individual
 
responses to all questions generated from this draft circulation, and
 
will provide an commented answer key to anyone who returns a completed
 
response (please allow a little time for these responses—we have no
 
idea how much volume is to be generated).  For our benefit, if you do
 
the exercises. please let us know whether you did them as you went
 
along, or after reading the entire lesson text, and also give us a rough
 
idea how much time the entire lesson took.
 
Of course this may cause
 
reviewers to become more interested in learning Lojban, and we certainly
 
would not object to that.  Contact LLG at the address above for more
 
information.
 
('''Note:''' There are exercises at the end of the lesson for each
 
section.  You may do these exercises as you go along, or wait until you
 
complete the entire lesson.)
 
=== {ANAME()}predicate{ANAME}1. The concept of the predicate ===
 
Let us consider John and Sam and three statements about them:
 
<pre>
 
"John is the father of Sam"
 
"John hugs Sam"
 
and
 
"John is taller than Sam"
 
</pre>
 
These all describe relationships between John and Sam.  However, in
 
English, we
 
use a noun to describe a static relationship (1), a verb to describe an
 
active relationship (2) and an adjective to describe an attributive
 
relationship (3).  In Lojban we make no such grammatical distinctions;
 
these three sentences, when expressed in Lojban, are grammatically
 
identical.  The same part of speech is used to represent the
 
relationship.  In formal logic this whole structure is called a
 
predicate; in Lojban it is called a "''bridi''", and
 
the central part of speech is the "''selbri''".
 
Logicians refer to the things thus related as
 
arguments, while Lojbanists call them "''sumti''".
 
These Lojban terms will be used for the rest of the lesson.
 
<pre>
 
''bridi'' (predicate)
 
</pre>
 
~pp~
 
'''''''''''''''''''''|'''''''''''''''''''''_
 
|                              |
 
John  is the uncle of  Sam
 
|''''''| |'''''''''''''''''''''_| |'''_|
 
|          |            |
 
~/pp~
 
<pre>
 
''sumti''  ''selbri''  ''sumti'' (argument)
 
</pre>
 
=== {ANAME()}placestr{ANAME}2. Place structures ===
 
In a relationship, there are a definite number of things being
 
related.  In English, for example, "give" has three places:  the donor,
 
the recipient and the gift.  For example:
 
-+John gives Sam the book.+- and -+Sam gives John the book.+-
 
mean two different things because the relative positions of
 
"John" and "Sam" have been switched.
 
Further, -+The book gives John Sam.+- seems
 
strange to us merely because the places are being filled by unorthodox
 
arguments.  The relationship expressed by "give" has not changed.
 
In Lojban, a given ''selbri'' has a specified
 
number of arguments. The simplest ''selbri'' consists of a single root word, called a "''gismu''", and
 
the definition in a ''gismu'' word-list gives the place structure
 
explicitly.  The primary task of constructing a Lojban sentence, after
 
choosing the relationship itself, is deciding what you will use to fill
 
in the ''sumti'' places.
 
=== {ANAME()}pronunciation{ANAME}3. Pronunciation ===
 
Lojban has six recognized vowels: "a", "e", "i", "o", "u" and "y".
 
The first five are the pure Romance vowels: "a" as in "father", "e" as
 
in "let", "i" as in "machine", "o" as in "dome" and "u" as in "flute".
 
"y" is pronounced as the sound called "schwa"; that is, as the
 
unstressed "a" as in "about" or "around".
 
Twelve consonants in Lojban
 
are pronounced more or less as their counterparts are in English: "b",
 
"d", "f", "k", "l", "m", "n", "p", "r", "t", "v" and "z". The "c", on
 
the other hand is pronounced as the "sh" in "hush", while "j" is its
 
'voiced' counterpart, the sound of the "s" in "pleasure".  "g" is always
 
hard as it is in "gift", never as in "giant". "s" is as in "sell", never
 
as in "rose".  The sound of "x" is not found in English; it is like
 
'breathing through' a "k".  It is found as "ch" in Scottish "loch", as
 
Spanish "j", and as "ch" in some dialects of German. It gets easier to
 
say as you practice it.  "r" can be trilled, but doesn't have to be.
 
Lojban also has three 'semi-letters':  the period, the comma and the
 
apostrophe.  The period represents a glottal stop or a pause; it is a
 
required stoppage of the flow of air in the speech stream.  The
 
apostrophe sounds just like the English letter "h".  Unlike a regular
 
consonant, it is not found at the beginning or end of a word, nor is it
 
found adjacent to a consonant; it is only found between two vowels.  The
 
comma has no sound associated with it, and is used to separate syllables
 
that might ordinarily run together.  It is only found inside names taken
 
from other languages (it helps preserve the original sound of a
 
name).
 
Stress falls on the next to the last syllable of all words,
 
except if that vowel is 'y', which is never stressed; in such words the
 
third-to-last syllable is stressed.  If a word only has one syllable,
 
then that syllable is not stressed.
 
=== {ANAME()}singlewds{ANAME}4. Single words that can act as ''sumti'' ===
 
Some words can be used singly to fill in a ''sumti'' place. ''mi'' I, me, we, us, the speaker (and maybe others,
 
unspecified)&amp;mdash;Lojban words (unless explicitly quantified, i.e.
 
labeled with a number), do not
 
distinguish between singular and plural forms. ''do'' you, you all,
 
thou, the person(s) addressed by the speaker ''ti'' this thing, this person, this place (usually indicated by a gesture) ''ta'' that thing,
 
that person, that place ''tu'' that yonder
 
thing, that yonder person, that yonder place ''zo'e'' something, it's not important that you know
 
what ("''zo'e''" is used as a place filler) ''da'' something, I haven't determined what ("''da''" is the 'existential variable'
 
of logic) ''ma'' what?, fill in this blank ("''ma''" is used for
 
asking some kinds of questions) Let's look at a simple Lojban ''bridi''. The place
 
structure of the ''gismu'' "''tavla''" is -+ '''x{SUB()}1{SUB}''' talks to '''x{SUB()}2{SUB}''' about '''x{SUB()}3{SUB}''' in language '''x{SUB()}4{SUB}''' +- This ''bridi'' will
 
then have the form -+ '''x{SUB()}1{SUB}''' ''tavla'' '''x{SUB()}2{SUB}''' '''x{SUB()}3{SUB}''' '''x{SUB()}4{SUB}''' +-
 
For example:
 
''mi tavla do zo'e zo'e'' means  I talk to you about something in some language.
 
''do tavla mi ta zo'e'' means  You talk to me about that thing in a
 
language.
 
''mi tavla zo'e tu ti'' means  I talk to someone about that thing
 
yonder in this language.
 
''ta tavla ma mi zo'e'' means  That person talks to who(?) about me in
 
some language. or      Who is that
 
person talking to about me?
 
=== {ANAME()}ellipsis{ANAME}5. Ellipsis ===
 
There are many words in Lojban that do not need to be written or
 
spoken aloud for them to operate.  For example, when "''zo'e''" is left off of the end of the ''bridi'', it is understood that the ''sumti'' place still exists, and is filled with some
 
unstated ''sumti''.  This process is called
 
ellipsis. Trailing "''zo'e''"s are almost always
 
ellipsized.
 
''mi tavla do'' means  I talk to you.
 
''do tavla mi'' means  You talk to me.
 
''da tavla ta'' means  Someone talks to that person.
 
''do tavla zo'e'' mi  means  You are talking about me.
 
''zo'e tavla mi do'' means  Someone talks to me about you.
 
=== {ANAME()}variant{ANAME}6. Variant forms of the ''bridi'' ===
 
Thus far you have seen one ''sumti'' before the ''selbri'' with any
 
remaining ''sumti'' coming afterward.  In fact, the ''selbri'' may come after
 
any number of the ''sumti'' without changing the
 
meaning of the ''bridi'' (but not before all of
 
them).  So: -+''mi tavla do ti'' I talk to you about this. ''mi do tavla ti'' I, to you, talk about this. and ''mi do ti tavla'' I, to you, about this, talk. +- all represent the
 
same relationship.  The important thing is that the order of the ''sumti'' has not changed.  These variations similarly
 
apply to ''selbri'' with
 
different numbers of ''sumti''.
 
=== {ANAME()}switching{ANAME}7. ''sumti'' switching ===
 
For one reason or another you may want to change the order, placing
 
one particular ''sumti'' at the front of the ''bridi''.  The operator "''se''",
 
placed before the last word of the ''selbri'', will
 
switch the meanings of
 
the first and second ''sumti'' places.  So -+''mi tavla do ti'' I talk to you about this. +-
 
has the same meaning as -+''do se tavla mi ti'' You are talked to by me about this. +- The operator
 
"''te''",
 
used in the same place, switches the meanings of the first and the third
 
''sumti'' places. -+''mi tavla do ti'' I talk to you about this. +- has the same meaning
 
as -+''ti te tavla do mi'' This is talked about to you by me. +- Note that only the first and third
 
''sumti'' have switched places; the second ''sumti'' has remained in the second place.
 
The operators "''ve''" and "''xe''" switch the first and fourth ''sumti'' places, and the first and fifth ''sumti'' places, respectively.
 
More than
 
one of these operators may be used on a given ''selbri'' at one time, and in
 
such a case they are evaluated from left to right. However, in practice
 
they are used one at a time, as there are better tools for complex
 
manipulation of the ''sumti'' places.
 
=== {ANAME()}selbrimod{ANAME}8. ''selbri'' modification ===
 
When two ''gismu'' are adjacent the first one
 
modifies the second, and the ''selbri'' takes its
 
place structure from the rightmost word.  For
 
example, "''sutra''" means "'''x{SUB()}1{SUB}''' is fast at doing
 
'''x{SUB()}2{SUB}'''"; "''sutra tavla''"
 
means "'''x{SUB()}1{SUB}''' talks fast to '''x{SUB()}2{SUB}''' about '''x{SUB()}3{SUB}''' in language '''x{SUB()}4{SUB}'''".
 
Specifically, the meaning of the first place of the first word is what
 
modifies the next word: "''sutra tavla''" means
 
"'''x{SUB()}1{SUB}''' is a fast-thing type of talker to '''x{SUB()}2{SUB}''' about '''x{SUB()}3{SUB}''' in
 
language '''x{SUB()}4{SUB}'''".
 
When three or
 
more ''gismu'' are in a row, the first modifies the second, and that
 
combined meaning modifies the third, and that combined meaning modifies
 
the fourth, and so on.  For example, "''sutra tavla cutci''" means "'''x{SUB()}1{SUB}'''
 
is a fast-talker type of shoe (for '''x{SUB()}2{SUB}''' of material '''x{SUB()}3{SUB}''')". That is,
 
it is a shoe that is worn by a fast talker rather than a shoe that is
 
fast and is also worn by a talker.
 
=== {ANAME()}selbriconv{ANAME}9. Converting a ''selbri'' to a ''sumti'' ===
 
Often we wish to talk about things other than the speaker, the
 
listener and things we can point to.  Let's say I want to talk about a
 
talker other than "''mi''".  What I want to talk
 
about would naturally fit into the first place of "''tavla''".  Lojban, it turns out, has an operator
 
that pulls this first place out of a ''selbri'' and
 
converts it to a ''sumti''. "''le
 
tavla''" refers to "the talker", and may be
 
used as a ''sumti''.
 
(Note
 
that the double underline in examples marks the ''selbri'', while each
 
single underline marks a ''sumti''.  This notation
 
is only for clarifying the sentence structure and is not a part of the
 
language.)
 
~pp~
 
mi tavla do le tavla 
 
-- ===== -- --------
 
means
 
I talk to you about the talker
 
~/pp~
 
Similarly
 
"''le sutra tavla''" is "the fast talker", and "''le sutra te tavla''"
 
is "the fast subject of talk" or "the subject of fast
 
talk". (Which of these
 
related meanings is understood will depend on the context in which the
 
expression is used.  The most plausible interpretation within the
 
context will generally be assumed by a listener to be the intended one.)
 
=== {ANAME()}marking{ANAME}10. Marking the ''selbri'' ===
 
There is a problem when we want to say "the fast one is talking";
 
"''le sutra tavla''" means "the fast talker", not
 
"the fast one is talking". To solve this problem we mark the ''selbri'' with the word "''cu''".
 
The word "''cu''" has no meaning, and stands only to
 
mark the beginning of the ''selbri'' within the ''bridi'', separating it from a previous
 
''sumti''.  It comes before any other operator, such
 
as "''se''" or "''te''". So:
 
~pp~
 
le sutra tavla        means  the fast talker
 
--------------
 
le sutra cu tavla      means  The fast one is talking.
 
--------    =====
 
le sutra se tavla      means  The fast talked-to one.
 
-----------------
 
le sutra cu se tavla  means  The fast one is talked to.
 
--------    ========
 
~/pp~
 
"''cu''" is always assumed to be in front of the ''selbri''. It may be elided
 
(left out) if this will not alter the grammar of the sentence, as in "''mi cu
 
tavla do''".
 
=== {ANAME()}names{ANAME}11. Names ===
 
All words in Lojban end in vowels except for names.  Names end in a
 
consonant followed by a pause or glottal stop, either of which is
 
represented by a period.  Note that all grammatical punctuation in
 
Lojban is spoken and represented by words rather than symbols.  Names
 
are 'Lojbanized' by conforming them to Lojban spelling and providing a
 
final consonant if there isn't one; this consonant is typically "s" or
 
"n" for English names, but any Lojban consonant may be used.
 
Remember that a comma without spaces around it in the middle of a name can be
 
used to separate syllables that would ordinarily be run together in
 
Lojban.
 
To convert a Lojbanized name into a ''sumti'',
 
use the article "''la''".  "''la
 
djan.''" is "the one called John".  For obvious reasons, the
 
letter sequence "''la''" may not occur inside any
 
name.  Likewise, "''doi''" may not appear in a name,
 
for reasons that will be obvious in the following
 
section.  (If a name would use either of these two sound patterns, it
 
must be changed, perhaps to use "''ly''" or "''le''", "''do'i''" or "''dei''" instead.)
 
=== {ANAME()}vocatives{ANAME}12. Vocatives and imperatives ===
 
You may call someone's attention to the fact that you are
 
addressing them by using "''doi''" followed by their
 
name.  The phrase "''doi djan.''" means "Oh, John,
 
I'm talking to you".  It also has the effect of
 
setting the value of "''do''"; "''do''" now refers to "John" until it is changed
 
in some way in the conversation.
 
If you say "''do tavla''", it means "you
 
are talking".  For the imperative in Lojban, the word "''ko''" is
 
substituted for "do".  The phrase "''ko tavla''"
 
instructs the listener to do whatever is necessary to make "''do tavla''"
 
true. For example:
 
~pp~
 
ko tavla            means  Talk.
 
-- =====
 
ko sutra            means  Be fast.
 
-- =====
 
mi tavla ko          means  Be talked to by me.
 
-- ===== --
 
or      Let me talk to you.
 
~/pp~
 
"''ko''" can fill any appropriate ''sumti'' place, and can be used as often as
 
is appropriate for the ''selbri'': "''ko kurji ko''" and "''ko ko kurji''" both
 
mean "You take care of you" and "Be taken care of by you", or to put it
 
colloquially, "Take care of yourself".
 
=== {ANAME()}greetings{ANAME}13. Greetings ===
 
In all natural languages, greeting words are idiomatic.  In Lojban
 
"''coi''" means "hello" and "''co'o''" means "good-bye".  Either word may stand
 
alone, they may follow one another, or either may be followed by a pause
 
and a name.
 
<pre>
 
''coi. djan.''      means    Hello, John.
 
''co'o. djan.'' means    Good-bye, John.
 
</pre>
 
=== {ANAME()}attitudinals{ANAME}14. Attitudinals ===
 
Different cultures express emotions and attitudes with a variety of
 
intonations and gestures that are not included in the written language.
 
Some of these are available in some languages as ejaculations (i.e.
 
Aha!, Oh no!, Ouch!, Aahh!, etc.), but they vary greatly from culture to
 
culture. Lojban has a part of speech known as an 'attitudinal' which
 
specifically covers this type of commentary on spoken statements.  They
 
are both written and spoken, but require no specific intonation or
 
gestures.  Grammatically they are very simple:  one or more attitudinals
 
at the beginning of a ''bridi'' apply to the entire
 
''bridi''; anywhere else in the ''bridi'' they apply to the word immediately to the
 
left.
 
Some attitudinals are:
 
~pp~
 
Lojban      English attitude Ejaculations and other English used
 
'''''''''      ''''''''''''''''''''''''          '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''_
 
.a'o      hope hopefully, I hope
 
.e'o      request, petition, please!, get it done!
 
command (with rank)
 
.iu      love, endearment,
 
    affection
 
.oi      complaint, discomfort  Oy!, Ouch!
 
.ua        discovery Eureka!
 
.ui        happy, cheerful Whee!
 
.uu        pity, compassion      Aww! </pre>
 
~/pp~
 
Attitudinals represent scales of emotion,
 
and there are some indicators available to show where on the scale you
 
are:
 
~pp~
 
cai        intense or absolute          .iucai        intense love
 
extreme feeling
 
sai        strong feeling              .iusai        strong love
 
ru'e      weak or mild feeling        .iuru'e      mild love
 
cu'i      indifference                .iucu'i      "no love lost"
 
nai        single word negator          .iunai        hate, enmity
 
naicai    intense opposite            .iunaicai    intense hate
 
naisai    strong opposite    .iunaisai    strong hatred
 
nairu'e    mild or weak opposite        .iunairu'e    mild hatred
 
~/pp~
 
Intensity indicators may stand on their own, indicating intensity of
 
emotion while leaving the emotion unspecified, or they may be used to
 
modify another attitudinal, but they will only modify the word
 
immediately to the left.  Thus "''.a'o.uu''"
 
expresses hope mixed with pity, but "''.a'o.uucai''" expresses "hope mixed
 
with intense pity", not "intense hope mixed with intense pity". (Note
 
that, unlike in a ''selbri'', attitudinals do not
 
modify each other in any strict order, but are mixed.  If multiple
 
emotions are indicated, the one that the speaker wants most to express
 
usually comes first.)
 
=== {ANAME()}yesorno{ANAME}15. Yes or no questions ===
 
All yes or no questions in English may be reformulated to begin "Is
 
it true that ...".  In Lojban we have a word that asks precisely that
 
question in precisely the same way.  "''xu''" placed
 
in front of a ''bridi'' asks whether that ''bridi'' is true as stated.  "''xu''", however, is
 
technically an attitudinal and can go almost anywhere in the ''bridi'', in which case it asks the same question but
 
emphasizes the word immediately
 
to the left of it.  So
 
~pp~
 
xu do tavla mi  means  Is it true that you are talking to me?  
 
-- ===== --
 
do xu tavla mi        means  Are you the one talking to me?
 
--    ===== --
 
do tavla xu mi        means  Talking to me? Is that what you're doing?
 
-- =====    --
 
do tavla mi xu        means  Is it me you are talking to?
 
-- ===== --
 
~/pp~
 
An affirmative answer may be given by simply restating the ''bridi''. Lojban has a shorthand for doing this with
 
the word "''go'i''". This word stands for the whole
 
''bridi'' and assumes the values represented by the
 
''sumti'' are unchanged unless you specifically
 
replace them.  Instead of a negative answer, the ''bridi'' may be restated in such a way as to make it
 
true.  If this can be done by substituting ''sumti'', it may be done with "''go'i''" as well.
 
<pre>
 
question:  ''xu do kanro''        Are you healthy?
 
answer:     ''mi kanro''         I am healthy.  
 
or: ''go'i'' I am healthy. ("''do''" to the
 
questioner is "''mi''" to the
 
respondent)
 
or: ''le tavla cu kanro''  The talker is healthy.  
 
or: ''le tavla cu go'i''    The talker is healthy.
 
</pre>
 
A general negative answer may be given by "''na go'i''".  "''na''" may be placed before any ''selbri'' (but after the "''cu''").
 
It is equivalent to stating "It is not true that ..." before the ''bridi''.  It does not imply that anything else is true
 
or untrue, only that that specific ''bridi'' is not
 
true.
 
=== {ANAME()}other{ANAME}16. Other terms ===
 
All ''gismu'' have combining-forms associated with
 
them which may be combined into compounds called "''lujvo''".  All ''gismu'' have at least one
 
combining-form associated with them and may have as many as four, not
 
counting the full form of the word, which may only appear at the end of
 
a lujvo.  The short combining-forms or affixes are called "''rafsi''".  A
 
''lujvo'' may act in any way like a ''gismu'' within a ''bridi''.  Any
 
word that can behave in this way is called a "''brivla''"; that is, a ''brivla'' is any word
 
that can stand alone in a ''selbri'' or can modify
 
another ''brivla''.
 
When
 
two or more ''brivla'' are strung together in a ''selbri'' or a ''sumti'', the
 
combination is called a "''tanru''".  A ''tanru'' may also have "''se''"-type
 
operators as well as ''brivla'' in it, as well as
 
some other features not yet covered.
 
The little words that are not ''brivla'', and
 
usually indicate grammatical structure are called "''cmavo''".  The ''cmavo'' also
 
include the attitudinals and short ''sumti'' like
 
"''mi''" and "''do''".

Revision as of 17:06, 4 November 2013

I'd like to point you to a new conlang going after the Esperanto model (with at least one Lojban feature :) - do you discover it?) --.aulun.

[1]

International Language Created by Chinese

by David Curtis

It was in December 2002, in England, having campaigned for Esperanto for almost thirty years, that I first read, on Internet, that Mondlango had been launched in China. Its two main features strongly attracted me: it was based upon English and Esperanto; and it had no diacritical marks. English is obviously the most popular international language, but it is very difficult to learn. Esperanto is relatively easy to learn, but is largely ignored by the international community. Esperanto is hampered by its diacritical marks, whereas English has none and is therefore easily typed for e-mail.

I was also attracted by another factor. China has the world's biggest population, and Esperanto-enthusiasts have always yearned for the development of Esperanto to reach the stage of critical mass, whereby a situation suddenly changes because of pressure. The teaching of English in China is a very expensive drain upon the resources of the Chinese government to improve the lives of its citizens: yet there seemed, until last year, no alternative. I was the only member from Britain at the First Asian Esperanto Congress, held in August, 1996, in Shanghai. Because of the many discussions I had there with Asians from many different countries, I learned that there was a great desire to be free from linguistic imperialism in the form of the necessity to learn English. As Esperanto-speakers, my fellow-members of the Congress and I hoped that the Zamenhof's aim, of providing the world with a neutral second language, would soon be achieved.

Since that Congress, "El Popola Cxinio", the world's most popular Esperanto magazine, has ceased publication, and Monato is in difficulties. Whatever popularity Esperanto has enjoyed is now on the wane. In Europe, even the looming problem of communication between the 25 countries of the European Union does not offer Esperanto-speakers any hope. In a personal letter to me, published in "Heroldo" last December, Neil Kinnock, the European Commissioner responsible for language-diversity, declined to accept that Esperanto should be taught in the schools of member-states. To me, such teaching would obviously solve the problem of communication, but there is no likelihood of it happening.

So, when I read that Mondlango had been launched in China, I could see that there was a real possibility of reaching Zamenhof's great goal, though not entirely because of his admirable invention. The power of American wealth and the former British Empire could be overcome if huge numbers of Chinese learned the new language and insisted upon using it internationally.Back to top


I think I know what Lojban feature it is. :) Mondlango/Ulango looks nice, but I disagree with Curtis' analysis -- requiring an auxlang to reach "critical mass" to be useful misses the whole point of Zamenhof's exercise, which is to let a language dominate through its own excellence, rather than through any sort of pressure. Also, I found a ilarious take on the EU language situation. -- User:tk1@

Note: This article is a spoof intended for your amusement. As far as I'm aware, none of the people mentioned have expressed these particular views and the organisations featured do not exist. :-)

Too nice to be true! Blair's (and the French politician's) statement sounded quite realistic - I didn't expect anything else :)

IMHO, it's astonishing this auxlang being invented by an Asian, given the fact that Mondlango is composed by Latin (French), English, German, and a bit of Greek! I guess - as a European - I could learn this tongue within a couple of weeks (the vocabulary is obvious, the grammar straightforward), but also the 'masses' in the People's Republic? --.aulun.