Modern Lojban Theory (draft)

This document is maintained by spheniscine "amphora" gmail.com ; please submit corrections or comments. However, if I do not respond for a few days, please feel free to make the changes on your own, if this document should no longer reflect the most current thought.

Preface

This document is meant to describe the theory of the modern dialect of Lojban. It is meant to parallel/supplement the Complete Lojban Language, but better-reflecting the modern common-usage of phrases and sentence constructions, as well as the various changes in the grammar that have occurred since it was published.

This document is meant to be a reference, mostly for intermediate-to-advanced learners. A beginner might be able to learn the language from this document, however the Lojban Wave Lessons or the Crash Course might be more suitable for picking up conversational skill effectively.

Orthography and Phonology

Lojban has 26 phonemes; 6 vowels, 17 consonants, 1 semi-consonant (more on that below), and 2 semivowels. Each phoneme is represented by a single letter (in some Lojban documentation, you will find the word "letteral" being used to describe letters), with two exceptions: i and u become semivowels when they begin a syllable. This is, however, completely predictable from the spelling of the word (more on that in the morphology section); thus, Lojban spelling is completely regular.

Thus, Lojban has 24 letters: 6 vowels (with 2 that can become semivowels), 17 consonants, and 1 semi-consonant.

Some phonemes have allophones (different realizations of what is considered the same "sound" in the language). Some of them are due to influence by surrounding phonemes. Others are allowed variations to accomodate Lojban learners who speak different languages.