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| == Lojban - Die Logische Sprache == | | == Lojban - Die Logische Sprache == |
| | | == '''la lojban po'u le logji bangu''' == |
| == ''la lojban po'u le logji bangu'' == | | === Einführung === |
| | | '''Lojban''' (/LOHsch-bahn/) ist eine Plansprache. Anfangs wurde sie „'''Lojban'''“ vom Projektgründer '''Dr. James Cooke Brown''' genannt, der die Entwicklung der Sprache in '''1955''' anfing. Die Ziele der Sprache wurden im Artikel „Lojban” im ''Scientific American, Juni, 1960'' beschrieben. Loglan/Lojban wurde über fünf Jahrzehnte von dutzenden Projektmitarbeitern und hunderten Unterstützern entwickelt, die seit '''1987''' von der '''Logical Language Group''' geleitet werden. |
| * {ALINK(aname=>einführung)}Einführung{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>warum)}Warum wurde Lojban entwickelt?{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>einsatzgebiete)}Andere Einsatzgebiete für Lojban{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>aufbau)}Der Aufbau von Lojban{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>zustand)}Momentaner Zustand und Nutzung{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>eindeutigkeit)}Lojbans Eindeutigkeit{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>sapirwhorf)}Lojban und Sapir-Whorf{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>linguistisch)}Andere linguistische Anwendungen{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>international)}Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>gründe)}Einige Gründe, Lojban '''jetzt''' zu lernen{ALINK}
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| * {ALINK(aname=>wie)}Wie man Lojban lernt{ALINK}
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| * [[Contact US n Kontakt treten|Contact US n Kontakt treten]]
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| === Introduction{ANAME()}einführung{ANAME} === | |
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| '''Lojban''' (/LOHsch-bahn/) | |
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| ist eine Plansprache. Anfangs wurde sie „'''Lojban'''“ vom Projektgründer '''Dr. James Cooke Brown''' genannt, der die Entwicklung der Sprache in '''1955''' anfing. Die Ziele der Sprache wurden im Artikel „Lojban” im ''Scientific American, Juni, 1960'' beschrieben. Loglan/Lojban wurde über fünf Jahrzehnte von dutzenden Projektmitarbeitern und hunderten Unterstützern entwickelt, die seit '''1987''' von der '''Logical Language Group''' geleitet werden. | |
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| Es gibt viele künstliche Sprachen, aber Loglan/Lojban hat einige Eigenschaften, die es einzigartig machen. Das sind die Haupteigenschaften von Lojban: | | Es gibt viele künstliche Sprachen, aber Loglan/Lojban hat einige Eigenschaften, die es einzigartig machen. Das sind die Haupteigenschaften von Lojban: |
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| * Lojban wurde entwickelt, um von Leuten zur '''Verständigung''' untereinander, und in der Zukunft mit Computern benutzt, zu werden. | | * Lojban wurde entwickelt, um von Leuten zur '''Verständigung''' untereinander, und in der Zukunft mit Computern benutzt, zu werden. |
| * Lojban wurde dafür ausgelegt, '''kulturell neutral''' zu sein. | | * Lojban wurde dafür ausgelegt, '''kulturell neutral''' zu sein. |
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| * Lojban hat eine '''eindeutige Grammatik''', die auf den '''Prinzipien der Logik''' beruht. | | * Lojban hat eine '''eindeutige Grammatik''', die auf den '''Prinzipien der Logik''' beruht. |
| * Lojban erlaubt eine '''eindeutige Zuweisung''' von Worten zu deren Aussprache und umgekehrt. | | * Lojban erlaubt eine '''eindeutige Zuweisung''' von Worten zu deren Aussprache und umgekehrt. |
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| * Lojban ist im vergleich zu natürlichen Sprachen '''simpel'''; es zu lernen ist leicht. | | * Lojban ist im vergleich zu natürlichen Sprachen '''simpel'''; es zu lernen ist leicht. |
| * Lojbans '''1300 Grundwörter''' können leicht zu einem Wortschatz von '''millionen Worten''' kombiniert werden. | | * Lojbans '''1300 Grundwörter''' können leicht zu einem Wortschatz von '''millionen Worten''' kombiniert werden. |
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| * Lojban ist regelmäßig; die Regeln der Sprache sind '''frei von Ausnahmen'''. | | * Lojban ist regelmäßig; die Regeln der Sprache sind '''frei von Ausnahmen'''. |
| * Lojban versucht '''Beschränkungen zu entfernen''', um kreative und klare Gedanken und Kommunikation zu erleichtern. | | * Lojban versucht '''Beschränkungen zu entfernen''', um kreative und klare Gedanken und Kommunikation zu erleichtern. |
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| * Lojban hat einen '''Menge Einsatzmöglichkeiten''', die vom Kreativen zum Wissenschaftlichen und vom Theoretischen zum Praktischen reichen. | | * Lojban hat einen '''Menge Einsatzmöglichkeiten''', die vom Kreativen zum Wissenschaftlichen und vom Theoretischen zum Praktischen reichen. |
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| === Warum wurde Lojban entwickelt?{ANAME()}warum{ANAME} === | | === Warum wurde Lojban entwickelt? === |
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| Lojban wurde anfangs entwickelt, um ein Konzept, das unter dem Namen '''Sapir-Whorf''' Hypothese bekannt ist: „Die Struktur einer Sprache begrenzt die Gedanken der Leute, die diese Sprache benutzen“. Lojban hat die selbe Ausdruckskraft wie natürliche Sprachen, aber die Struktur unterscheidet sich enorm von anderen Sprachen. Das erlaubt es, Lojban als Werkzeug zu benutzen, um die Beziehungen von Sprache, Gedanken und Kultur wissenschaftlich zu erforschen. | | Lojban wurde anfangs entwickelt, um ein Konzept, das unter dem Namen '''Sapir-Whorf''' Hypothese bekannt ist: „Die Struktur einer Sprache begrenzt die Gedanken der Leute, die diese Sprache benutzen“. Lojban hat die selbe Ausdruckskraft wie natürliche Sprachen, aber die Struktur unterscheidet sich enorm von anderen Sprachen. Das erlaubt es, Lojban als Werkzeug zu benutzen, um die Beziehungen von Sprache, Gedanken und Kultur wissenschaftlich zu erforschen. |
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| === Andere Einsatzgebiete für Lojban{ANAME()}einsatzgebiete{ANAME} === | | === Andere Einsatzgebiete für Lojban === |
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| Lojban wurde als Menschensprache, nicht als Computersprache entwickelt. Darum ist es für den Einsatz zum Schreiben, Lesen, Sprechen und Denken gedacht. Da Lojban allerdings von einem Computer sehr viel leichter verarbeitet werden kann als natürliche Sprachen, ist die Nutzung von Lojban für Computer ein logischer nächster Schritt. Durch die eindeutige Grammatik und die simple Struktur kann Lojban von Computern leicht verstander werden, was dazu führt, dass Einsätze fur Computer-Mensch-Interaktion und Konversation in der Zukunft denkbar sind. Der Einsatz von Prädikatlogik in Lojban ähnelt dem in dem Feld der Künstlichen Intelligenz. Deshalb ist es denkbar, dass Lojban sich sehr für solche Einsatzmöglichkeiten eignet. Linguisten interessieren sich für Lojbans Eignung als Zwischensprache für Computerübersetzung. Andere Menschen interessieren sich für Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache. | | Lojban wurde als Menschensprache, nicht als Computersprache entwickelt. Darum ist es für den Einsatz zum Schreiben, Lesen, Sprechen und Denken gedacht. Da Lojban allerdings von einem Computer sehr viel leichter verarbeitet werden kann als natürliche Sprachen, ist die Nutzung von Lojban für Computer ein logischer nächster Schritt. Durch die eindeutige Grammatik und die simple Struktur kann Lojban von Computern leicht verstander werden, was dazu führt, dass Einsätze fur Computer-Mensch-Interaktion und Konversation in der Zukunft denkbar sind. Der Einsatz von Prädikatlogik in Lojban ähnelt dem in dem Feld der Künstlichen Intelligenz. Deshalb ist es denkbar, dass Lojban sich sehr für solche Einsatzmöglichkeiten eignet. Linguisten interessieren sich für Lojbans Eignung als Zwischensprache für Computerübersetzung. Andere Menschen interessieren sich für Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache. |
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| === Der Aufbau von Lojban{ANAME()}aufbau{ANAME} ===
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| Lojban's character set uses only standard keyboard keys;
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| capitalization is rare; punctuation is spoken as words. Written language
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| corresponds exactly to the sounds of the spoken language; spelling is
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| phonetic and unambiguous, and the flowing sounds of the language break
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| down uniquely into words. These features make computer speech
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| recognition and transcription more practical. Learning to write and
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| spell Lojban is trivial.
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| Lojban's predicate grammar was derived
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| from that of formal logic. Lojban sentences are stated as sets of
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| arguments tied together by predicates. These predicate structures can be
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| used to express 'non-logical' thought; logicians are able to analyze all
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| manner of verbal expressions by converting them into predicate notation.
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| But while Lojban will already be expressed in a predicate-based system,
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| allowing easy logical analysis, it also contains the wide variety of
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| elements found in natural language for expression of attitudes,
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| emotions, and rich metaphor.
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| Lojban has none of the standard
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| parts of speech. Lojban's 'predicate words' can serve as the equivalent
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| of a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Action and existence are equally
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| accessible to a speaker; the distinction can be ignored, or can be
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| explicitly expressed. A variety of operators deal with abstractions such
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| as events, states, properties, amounts, ideas, experience, and truth,
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| and with at least four pre-defined varieties of causality.
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| Lojban
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| has no mandatory inflections and declensions on nouns, verbs, and
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| adjectives. Natural languages evolved such variations to reduce
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| ambiguity as to how words are related in a sentence. Evolutionary
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| development made these inflections and declensions highly irregular and
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| thus difficult to learn. The simple but flexible predicate relationship
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| erases both the irregularity and the declensions.
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| Tense and
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| location markers (inflections), adverbs, and prepositions are combined
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| into one part of speech. New preposition-like forms can be built at will
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| from predicates; these allow the user to expand upon a sentence by
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| attaching and relating clauses not normally implied in the meaning of a
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| word.
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| Numbers and quantifiers are conceptually expanded from
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| natural languages. "Many", "enough", "too
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| much", "a few", and "at least" are among
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| concepts that are expressed as numbers in Lojban. Core concepts of
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| logic, mathematics, and science are built into the root vocabulary. On
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| top of the core concepts of predicate logic, Lojban adds in non-logical
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| constructs that do not affect or obscure the logical structure, allowing
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| communications that are not amenable to logical analysis. For example,
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| Lojban has a full set of emotional indicators, similar to such
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| ejaculations in English as "Oh!", "Aha!", and
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| "Wheee!", except that each has a specific meaning. Similarly,
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| Lojban has indicators of the speaker's relationship to what is said,
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| similar to those found in some American Indian languages.
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| Lojban
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| supports metalinguistic discussion about the sentences being spoken
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| while remaining unambiguous. Lojban also supports a 'tense' logic that
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| allows extreme specificity of time and space relationships, even those
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| implied by time travel. Lojban's grammar is designed to support
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| unambiguous statement of mathematical expressions and relations in a
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| manner compatible both with international usage and Lojban's
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| non-mathematical grammar.
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| Lojban is much simpler than natural
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| languages. Its grammar is comparable in complexity with the current
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| generation of computer languages (such as ADA). Lojban's pronunciation,
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| spelling, word formation, and grammar rules are fixed, and the language
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| is free of exceptions to these rules.
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| === Aktueller Zustand und Nutzung{ANAME()}zustand{ANAME} ===
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| The language, then
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| called '''Loglan''', was first described in the 1950's, by Dr. James
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| Cooke Brown. The 1960 Scientific American article "Loglan" was
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| his call for assistance in developing the language. A revolution in
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| linguistics was simultaneously taking place; the resulting increase in
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| knowledge of the nature of language changed the requirements for Loglan.
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| The first widely distributed Loglan dictionary and language description
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| did not appear until 1975; this description was incomplete, and
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| continued development work discouraged learning the language. Computers
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| caught up with Loglan just then, making it possible to refine the
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| grammar, eliminate ambiguity and mathematically prove its absence; this
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| work has just been completed. For over 35 years, this work has been
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| performed by volunteers, and without financial support. Now, after
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| several versions of the language, people are learning and using the
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| current version, which is the first called '''Lojban''' (from
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| the roots "logical-language" in Lojban).
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| This version is the first version with a stable vocabulary, and the
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| first to have a stable and completely defined grammar (the grammar of
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| mathematical expressions, for example, was not developed until 1990).
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| The basic Lojban vocabulary was baselined (stabilized against change) in
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| the last half of 1988, and the grammar similarly stabilized in
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| late-1990, after completion of the first Lojban courses, actual usage of
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| the language, and several iterations of careful analysis. The full
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| language design was baselined in 1997, and no changes will even be
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| considered until 5 years after the set of books describing the language
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| is published (thus at least 2005). Thus, while the language was first
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| started 35 years ago, Loglan/Lojban is a very new language.
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| To ensure Lojban remains stable while people learn it, the language
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| definition is prescribed and closely controlled. When the number of
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| speakers has grown significantly, and a Lojban literature has developed,
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| Lojban will be treated like a natural language and allowed to grow and
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| flourish without constraint, as do other natural languages.
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| Original text and poetry have been written in Lojban, and some has
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| been translated into the language. Lojban's powerful metaphor structure
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| allows building new concepts into words easily, as needed. A Lojban
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| speaker doesn't need a dictionary to use and understand millions of
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| words that can potentially exist in the language.
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| As of 1997, there are about 1200 people on our mailing lists,
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| including about 300 listed as actively trying to learn the language.
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| Over 100 of these have
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| demonstrated communicative ability to use the language in conversation,
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| translation, or original writing, and one person is sufficiently skilled
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| to be considered fluent in the language. Several of these regularly get
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| together in the Washington DC area for conversation, and an annual
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| meeting/mini-convention is held there every summer. This progress is
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| remarkable since there is no dictionary for the current language, and a
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| textbook exists only in partial draft form; people use the language
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| reference manual as a learning source, and we've evolved methods of
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| teaching the language at a distance that overcome this handicap.
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| === Lojbans Eindeutigkeit{ANAME()}eindeutigkeit{ANAME} ===
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| Lojban
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| has an unambiguous grammar (proven by computer analysis of a formal
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| grammar with YACC), pronunciation, and morphology (word forms). The
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| person who reads or hears a Lojban sentence is never in doubt as to what
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| words it contains or what roles they play in the sentence. Lojban has no
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| words that sound alike but have different meanings (like
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| "herd" and "heard"), that have multiple unrelated
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| meanings ("set"), or that differ only in punctuation but not
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| in sound (like the abominable "its" and "it's").
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| There is never any doubt about where words begin and end ("cargo
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| shipment" can be heard as 2, 3, or 4 words). The function of each
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| word is clear; there is nothing like the English "Time flies like
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| an arrow.", in which any of the first three words could be the
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| verb. Precision in no way confines the meaning of a Lojban sentence. It
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| is possible to speak nonsense, to tell a lie, or to be misunderstood.
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| You can be very specific, or you can be intentionally vague. Your hearer
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| may not understand what you meant, but will always understand what you
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| said.
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| Lojban is NOT entirely unambiguous; human beings
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| occasionally desire to be ambiguous in their expressions. In Lojban,
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| this ambiguity is limited to semantics, metaphor, and intentional
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| omission of information (ellipsis). Semantic ambiguity in language
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| results because words in natural languages represent families of
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| concepts rather than individual meanings, often with only weak semantic
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| relationships to each other. In addition, each individual's personal
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| experiences provide emotional connotations to words. By providing a
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| fresh, culturally-neutral start, Lojban attempts to minimize the
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| transference of these associations as people learn the language. By
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| intention, most Lojban words do not closely resemble corresponding words
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| in other languages; the differences aid in making this fresh start
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| possible. Lojban's powerful metaphor and word-building features make it
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| easy to make fine distinctions between concepts, discouraging individual
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| words from having families of meanings. Lojban metaphors are themselves
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| ambiguous, specifying a relationship between concepts, but not what the
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| relationship is. That relationship can be made explicit using
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| unambiguous logical constructs if necessary, or can be left vague as the
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| speaker (usually) desires. Similarly, portions of the logical structure
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| of a Lojban expression can be omitted, greatly simplifying the
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| expression while causing some ambiguity. Unlike in the natural
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| languages, though, this ambiguity is readily identified by a reader or
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| listener. Thus all ambiguity in Lojban is constrained and recognizable,
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| and can be clarified as necessary by further interaction.
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| === Lojban und Sapir-Whorf{ANAME()}sapirwhorf{ANAME} ===
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| This hypothesis
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| states that the structure of a language constrains thought in that
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| language, and constrains and influences the culture that uses it. In
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| other words, if concepts or structural patterns are difficult to express
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| in a language, the society and culture using the language will tend to
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| avoid them. Individuals might overcome this barrier, but the society as
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| a whole will not. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is important, and
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| controversial; it can be used as a sociological argument to justify or
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| to oppose racism and sexism (and a variety of other 'isms'). For
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| example, the assertion that since genderless expressions in English use
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| 'masculine' forms, English is 'sexist', presumes the Sapir-Whorf
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| hypothesis is true. Understanding the potential for Sapir-Whorf effects
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| could lead to better inter-cultural understanding, promoting
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| communication and peace.
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| It is known that people's ideas and
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| thought change somewhat when they learn a foreign language. It is not
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| known whether this change is due to exposure to a different culture or
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| even just getting outside of ones own culture. It is also not known how
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| much (if any) of the change is due to the nature of the language, as
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| opposed to the cultural associations.
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| The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
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| was important in linguistics in the 1950's, but interest fell off
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| partially because properly testing it was so difficult. Loglan/Lojban is
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| a new approach to such testing. Obviously, if a culture-independent
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| language could be taught to groups of people, the effects of language
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| could more easily be separated from those of culture.
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| Unique
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| features of Lojban remove constraints on language in the areas of logic,
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| ambiguity, and expressive power, opening up areas of thought that have
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| not been easily accessible by human language before. Meanwhile, the
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| formal rigidity of the language definition allows speakers to carefully
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| control their expressions (and perhaps therefore their thought
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| processes). This gives some measure of predictive power that can be used
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| in designing and preparing for actual Sapir-Whorf experiments.
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| One of the prerequisites of a Sapir-Whorf experiment is an
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| international body of Lojban speakers. We need to be able to teach
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| Lojban to subjects who know only their native (non-English) tongue, and
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| we need to know in advance the difficulties that people from each
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| language and culture will have in learning Lojban. Thus, the Lojban
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| community is actively reaching out to speakers of languages other than
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| English.
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| Lojban does not need to prove or disprove the
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| Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in order to be successful. However, if evidence
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| is produced supporting the Sapir-Whorf effect, Lojban will likely be
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| perceived as an outstanding tool of analytical and creative thought.
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| === Andere linguistische Anwendungen{ANAME()}linguistisch{ANAME} ===
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| An
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| artificial language is a simple model of a natural language. It is used
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| for communication like natural languages, simpler, more regular, and
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| relatively uncontaminated by culture effects. Unlike most natural
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| languages, an AL has not evolved through natural processes of internal
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| change or contact with other languages. In addition, to the extent to
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| which details of an AL is pre-defined, the internal structure of the
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| language is far better known than that of any natural language.
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| Such a pre-definition, a language 'prescription', makes an AL a
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| unique tool for studying the nature of language. As people learn the
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| language, the way they 'acquire' understanding of that prescription can
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| tell scientists how 'natural' the prescribed forms are. Actual usage of
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| the language can be compared to the prescription providing quantitative
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| data on specific patterns of usage. As the language evolves from its
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| relatively pristine initial state, it may deviate from its prescription.
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| Such deviations will better inform researchers as to the properties of a
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| 'natural' language. The process of language change itself will be open
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| to investigation in a way never before possible. Finally, the existence
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| of a relatively complete language prescription at the birth of the
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| language means that a 'description' of actual usage after that initial
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| state can be more simply created, maintained, and studied.
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| Lojban
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| is undoubtedly the most carefully designed and defined AL ever created.
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| All aspects of its design have been carefully engineered by several
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| people encompassing expertise in a variety of disciplines, including
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| linguistics. The language prescription is similarly the most complete of
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| any language. As such, it serves as a unique basis for the study of
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| language usage and language change.
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| A new language like Lojban,
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| with no native speakers, is a 'pidgin'. As the language evolves, native
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| speakers of other languages will learn it, and will bring into their
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| Lojban usage the perspective and patterns of their native language. This
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| interaction process, called 'creolization', affects all languages, and
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| may be the principle cause of language change. As Lojban is learned by
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| speakers of a variety of natural languages, this process can be studied
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| directly in a way never before possible, with the language prescription
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| serving as a standard by which deviations associated with speaker ori-
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| gin, and evolution of usage, can be measured and described in
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| detail.
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| An AL like Lojban has neither an associated 'native
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| accent' nor a culture base. Being much simpler and more regular than a
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| natural language, an adult speaker should acquire a fluency seldom
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| achieved when studying a natural language, and in a relatively short
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| time. Lojban thus makes possible relatively short-term studies of
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| language learning and language change. Processes that take generations
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| in natural languages may be observed in a few years in Lojban
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| speakers.
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| With the learning of other languages acquiring critical
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| importance in today's international economy, Lojban provides a tool for
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| research in language acquisition. Again, Lojban's simplicity allows the
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| results of such research to be obtained more quickly than in similar
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| studies of natural language acquisition.
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| No claim is made that
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| studying Lojban will tell 'all' about language. Lojban, at least for
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| several decades, will only be a 'model' of a language, whose
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| 'naturalness' will be suspect. However, to the extent that Lojban serves
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| the communicative and expressive functions of human language, any theory
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| about the nature of human language must apply to Lojban. Language
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| features and processes more easily identified in studying Lojban can
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| then be confirmed in natural languages. Similarly, theories of the
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| nature of language can be tested and refined against this simpler model
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| of a language before facing the more difficult and time-consuming
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| testing and analysis involved in natural language research.
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| Because Lojban is relatively culture-free, and because of its
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| prescribed structure that is consistent with predicate logic, Lojban is
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| an ideal medium for the analysis and description of other languages.
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| Currently, features in language must be compared against other natural
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| languages, and are usually described in scientific literature by glossed
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| translation into English. Lojban is simple and regular enough to be
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| acquired as a metalanguage for describing other languages; its
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| structures allow clearer reflection of the patterns of the language
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| being described, without interference from the competing patterns of
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| English.
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| Finally, Lojban's predicate grammar, makes it eminently
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| suited for ongoing computer research into natural languages. Lojban can
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| be used for parsing and analysis, as an internal medium of data storage,
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| or as an intermediate language for machine translation. Having a
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| combination of logical and natural language structures, Lojban combines
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| the best of both major structural approaches to language processing in
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| computers.
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| The exercise of trying to invent a language can teach
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| us things about language that probably can't be learned in any other
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| way. Even if Lojban should fail as a language, we will learn. However,
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| to the extent Lojban succeeds, its potential as a basis for testing
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| ideas about language, its structure, and usage, is unlimited. The
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| invention of Lojban is the invention of the science of experimental
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| linguistics.
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| === Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache{ANAME()}international{ANAME} ===
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| Lojban may be the first artificial
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| language NOT in direct competition with Esperanto, in that Lojban's
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| potential success is not dependent on its immediate practical use as an
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| international language. Indeed, we use Esperanto as one means of rapidly
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| spreading information about Lojban to non-English speakers, speeding a
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| process that would take decades using direct translation to all target
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| languages. Lojban has proven attractive to Esperantists interested in
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| acquiring a new perspective on their own international language; these
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| feel less threatened because Lojban has different goals. Lojban's
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| supporters recognize that it will take decades for Lojban to acquire
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| both the number and variety of speakers and the extensive history of
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| usage that marks Esperanto culture. Meanwhile, each language community
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| has much to learn from each other; this process has started and is most
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| active.
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| === Einige Gründe, Lojban '''jetzt''' zu lernen{ANAME()}gründe{ANAME} ===
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| Those working with the language now are actively consulted
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| for their opinions on how to teach and spread the language. People who
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| write in the language are contributing to the growth of the lexicon, and
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| establishing the conventions and idioms that will guide language use in
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| future years. People who are especially active have joined the project
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| leadership within a few months of becoming involved.
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| Those with a computer background can lead development of the first
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| computer applications for the language. Expertise in the language will
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| no doubt be valuable as Lojban becomes recognized as a useful tool for
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| computer applications by the computer industry. Computer-oriented
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| Lojbanists can also aid in developing computer-aided instruction tools
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| or converting existing software to run on new computers.
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| Regardless of background, learning Lojban is a mind-expanding
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| experience. Learning any language other than your native tongue broadens
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| your perspectives and allows you to transcend the limited viewpoints of
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| your native language culture. Lojban, being much simpler to learn than
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| natural languages, provides this benefit much more quickly than does the
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| study of other languages. Being so strongly different, the intensity of
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| the effect seems to be heightened. When Lojbanists talk about language,
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| the discussion has been observed to be more sophisticated as well as
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| qualitatively different from the talk of students of second natural
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| languages.
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| The logical organization embedded in Lojban aids in organizing and
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| clarifying thoughts. Having done so, your new perspective on language,
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| ambiguity, and communication will allow you to express those thoughts
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| more clearly, even when you use an ambiguous natural language.
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| A relatively short study of Lojban by high school (or younger)
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| students has been proposed, providing the linguistic understanding that
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| was once associated with studying Latin and other languages for much
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| longer periods of time. Such study can be tied in with concepts of
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| logic, and possibly with computer-related activities, helping to show
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| the essential interrelated nature of language and other human
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| endeavor.
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| You needn't learn Lojban for any practical purpose, however. Many of
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| those learning Lojban are doing so because it is fun. Learning Lojban is
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| intellectually stimulating, and provides human interaction and mental
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| challenge. Lojban has all the benefits of games designed for
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| entertainment, with the added prospect of developing useful skills as a
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| side benefit. Learning Lojban as an 'intellectual toy' means that you
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| can get enjoyment from learning Lojban without nearly the effort needed
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| to benefit from studying other languages. While becoming fluent in
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| Lojban will probably take hundreds of hours over several months, you can
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| feel some sense of accomplishment in the language after just a few hours
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| of study. You can use Lojban immediately for fun, while gaining skill
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| with greater experience.
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| === Wie man Lojban lernt{ANAME()}wie{ANAME} ===
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| Write to [http://www.lojban.org/llg/contact.html he Logical Language Group, Inc.],
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| and we will be happy to provide information, though our
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| collected Web and file archives contain all information that we have in
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| distributable form. For printed matter, we request a contribution of $5
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| to cover the costs of introductory materials (including a copy of this
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| essay), but will send this package on speculation. Additional materials
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| available total hundreds of pages, which are priced approximately at our
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| costs; we are a non-profit educational/scientific organization. [[Contact Us|Contact Us]]
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| us regarding international payment; we offer several options. A limited
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| policy exists for providing materials to people who cannot afford
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| payment.
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| We encourage new people to concentrate on vocabulary. Almost any use
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| of Lojban requires some mastery of the basic vocabulary (1000-2000
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| words). You can learn enough Lojban grammar to support conversation in
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| just a couple of hours, but face many hours of vocabulary work in order
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| to effectively use that grammar. We distribute flash cards and have
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| developed flash card techniques that are extremely efficient in learning
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| vocabulary. These techniques have been automated into
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| computer-aided-teaching programs sold and distributed as Shareware under
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| the name "LogFlash", with MS-DOS and MacIntosh versions
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| currently available.
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| You can learn the Lojban grammar in several ways, including study of
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| examples in the quarterly journal '''''ju'i lobypli''''' or by inspection
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| and analysis of YACC and E-BNF formal grammar descriptions. There is now
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| a published language reference,[http://www.lojban.org/publications/cll.html The Complete Lojban
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| Language], by John Cowan. Draft lesson materials (about 180 pages)
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| are the best materials available for self-study. A Lojban text-book is
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| being written to reflect what is learned from the first learning
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| efforts, and is being designed so that it can be used for
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| self-instruction, classroom teaching, or group study. A formal 'Lojban
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| dictionary' will replace most of the existing word lists and language
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| description materials, and is being worked on, but present materials
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| contain the equivalent of a basic dictionary.
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| After the dictionary and textbook have been published the Lojban
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| language definition will be baselined (frozen) for a minimum of 5 years,
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| and Lojban will thereafter be solely controlled by speakers of the
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| language.
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