L17-02

This course and other languages

Different languages present the same information in a different way.

When adapting this course for speakers of a particular language we should first present those features of Lojban that are familiar to speakers of this language. This will allow users to start constructing sentences in Lojban faster. Features that can look strange are to be presented later in such adapted Crash Course. Luckily, Lojban is a flexible language so this task is not inconceivable.

Chinese

• left-branching of relative clauses

• topic and comment
• double negation
• co'i
• "yes/no" questions

Japanese

• left-branching of relative clauses

• topic and comment

French

• adjectives are to the right

Russian

• co'i

Spanish

• this, that, that over there
• este, ese, aquel
• double negation is double
• estar and ser

Portuguese

• "good night" and "good evening"

Quechua

• evidentiality

Chinese and Russian: event as a whole

In Chinese and Russian you can easily distinguish between an event still going on (imperfective), and a verb indicating that an event is viewed as a whole (perfective).

When in English we say I have spoken to the doctor, we are also indicating that we have now finished doing so — we are after the end of the event. When we say I am speaking to the doctor, on the other hand, we are also indicating that we are in middle of the event: the event is continuing, and is not yet over.

Chinese uses the particle 了 （le） to express this perfectivity.

To explicitly express perfectivity in Lojban we use the preposition co'i, which treats an entire event, from the beginning to the end as one single point:

mi pu zi co'i penmi lo dotco prenu I have recently met a German person.

A little while ago, I was at the point in time where i met a German person.

penmi = x₁ meets x₂ at location x₃

Chinese: "yes/no" questions

There is another method of asking 'yes/no' questions in Lojban. If the main verb consists of only one verb word you can use repeat that verb word two times linking it with ji:

pei do nelci lo tcati = je'u

Do you like tea? — Yes.

do nelci ji nelci lo tcati = je

When using such method

• yes is je
• no is na je nai

Spanish: estar and ser

The difference is usually idiomatic and is related to the verbs being used.

When it's a long term happiness you can say {mi ru'inai gleki}, with describing the current situation {mi ca gleki} or even {mi ca jarco lo ka gleki} (I demonstrate my happiness). When (nonsense but still) you were just born happy and will be happy forever then it'd be {mi se jinzi lo ka gleki}. As for feelings it'd be {mi cinmo lo ka gleki}. The simple {mi gleki} is just vague in this regard. Also "ser" might be expressed with {mi me lo gleki} (I am one of the happy ones). There is a lot of philosophy here. Usually in Lojban we just rely on what we mean, not on how it is expressed in a particular language. However, i just gave you some alternatives

English and Turkish: different words for why

The word why can ask different questions and the because can give different kinds of answers. In some languages, in fact, we would use different words for them: Turkish has three words for why, and until recently even English had two (the other being wherefore, as in wherefore art thou Romeo?). That's why in Lojban there are two words for why, although we can use more precise verbs instead of se ja'e.

Omitting tenses

Most of the time the time is obvious, and pu or ba can be omitted!