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The particle '''zoi''' is a quotation mark for quoting non-Lojban text. Its syntax is '''zoi X. text .X.''', where X is a Lojban word (called the delimiting word) which is separated from the quoted text by pauses, and which is not found in the written text or spoken phoneme stream <u>inside that quotation</u>. It is common, but not required, to use the name of some letter, which corresponds to the Lojban name of the language being quoted:
{{mu|zoi gy. John is a man .gy. cu glico jufra|“John is a man” is an English sentence.}}
where '''gy.''' stands for '''glico'''. Other popular choices of delimiting words are '''.kuot.''', a Lojban name which sounds like the English word ''quote'', and the word ''zoi'' itself. Another possibility is a Lojban word suggesting the topic of the quotation.

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(A minor note on interaction between “lo'u ... le'u” and “zoi”: The text between “lo'u” and “le'u” should consist of Lojban words only. In fact, non-Lojban material in the form of a “zoi” quotation may also appear. However, if the word “le'u” is used either as the delimiting word for the “zoi” quotation, or within the quotation itself, the outer “lo'u” quotation will be prematurely terminated. Therefore, “le'u” should be avoided as the delimiting word in any “zoi” quotation.)
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Lojban strictly avoids any confusion between things and the names of things:
{{mupli|'''zo .bob. cmene la bob.'''<br><code>The-word “Bob” is-the-name-of the-one-named Bob.</code><br>}}
'''zo .bab.''' is the word, whereas '''la bab.''' is the thing named by the word. The particle '''la'e''' and '''lu'e''' convert back and forth between references and their referents:
{{mu|zo .bab. cmene la'e zo .bab.|The-word “Bob” is-the-name-of the-referent-of the-word “Bob”.}}
{{mu|lu'e la bab. cmene la bab.|A-symbol-for Bob is-the-name-of Bob.}}
Last two examples mean the same. But this is different:
{{mu|la bab. cu cmene la bab.|Bob is the name of Bob.}}
and says that Bob is both the name and the thing named, an unlikely situation. People are not names.

The particle '''la'o''' serves to mark non-Lojban names, for example the Linnaean binomial names (such as "Homo sapiens"), which are the internationally standardized names for species of animals and plants.

Internationally known names which can more easily be recognized by spelling rather than pronunciation, such as ''Goethe'', can also appear in Lojban text with '''la'o''':

{{mu|la'o dy. Goethe .dy. cu me la'o ly. Homo sapiens .ly.|Goethe is a Homo sapiens.}}
Using '''la'o''' for all names rather than Lojbanizing, however, makes for very cumbersome text. A rough equivalent of '''la'o''' might be '''la me zoi'''.


Everything expressed in text should also be expressed in speech and vice versa. Therefore, there cannot be any punctuation which is not pronounced. This means that Lojban has a wide range of words to quote other words. All Lojban convert a text into a noun.

'''lu''' ... '''li'u''' quote only text that is grammatically correct. To quote any Lojban text we use '''lo'u''' ... '''le'u''' quote instead.
{{mu|xu lo'u je le'u lojbo sumtcita . i je'unai|Is "je" a preposition? No.}}
{{mu|ma xe fanva zoi gy.What's up?.gy. la .lojban.|How to translate "What's up?" to Lojban?}}
'''zo'oi''' quotes next word only. Next word is identified by pauses in speech or whitespace/dot in writing:
{{mu|ri pu cusku zo'oi Doh! .u'i|Ha ha, he said "Doh!"}}

There is also the word '''la'oi''', which forms a one-word name but unlike '''la''' even out of non-Lojban words:
{{mu|la'oi Safi glico nanmu. It's his name.|Safi is an English guy. .i lu'e ri cmene ri}}

The word '''me'oi''' converts next word into a verb even if it's not a Lojban word. It is used to create necessary verb words on the fly or when you forget a Lojban verb:
{{mu|lo xirma ca me'oi gallop|The horse gallops}}

General use of '''zo'oi''', '''la'oi''' and '''me'oi''' is problematic. You should be aware that the word following '''zo'oi''' should not include a period, a glottal stop or a pause. For example, the following sentence is not correct:

:'''mi penmi la'oi Mei Li''' is not correct since '''la'oi''' attaches only one word, ''Mei''.

:'''la'oi uli.uli zgike tutci''' for ''Uli uli is a musical instrument'' is not correct since '''la'oi''' takes only the first word before the dot: "uli" ("`uli`uli" is a Hawaiian musical instrument).

==[[Borrowing from Loglan]]==