View source for lo selma'o ca'irvei (selma'o Documentation)


== Purpose of this document ==
To explain each of the ''selma'o'' (grammatical classes for function words); to give a detailed, readable explanation of each ''selma'o''-'s purpose, syntax, and scope. It is intended for intermediate-to-advanced students of Lojban, and as a reference.

== Glossary ==
'''bridi''': Clause. Each ''bridi'' represents a particular predicate relation.

'''brivla''': Predicate-word / content-word. ''brivla'' are a rather unique feature of Lojban. Each ''brivla'' is defined by a particular concept or relation, and has a defined place structure. Depending on position, ''brivla'' can act as nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs; they tend to hold most of the semantic content of Lojban text.

'''cmavo''': Structure/function word. ''cmavo'' in Lojban may begin with a consonant or a vowel, but have no consonants otherwise. They perform many purposes, including but not limited to articles, prepositions, pronouns, and numbers. Each ''cmavo'' belongs to a ''selma'o'', which defines its grammatical nature.

'''famyma'o''': Terminator ''cmavo''. These ''cmavo'' are rather unique to Lojban, and act to "close off" expressions started by other ''cmavo'', in order to maintain syntactic unambiguity. Each ''famyma'o'' is designed to close expressions from one particular ''selma'o''. ''famyma'o'' are typically omitted when they are not needed. Due to their nature, ''famyma'o'' tend to be the sole member of its ''selma'o''. 

'''selbri''': Predicate; roughly "verb / verb phrase". Each ''bridi'' is centered around exactly one ''selbri'', but may contain other ''bridi'' that have their own ''selbri''. The ''selbri'' defines how the ''sumti'' are related to each other.

'''selma'o''': ''cmavo'' class. All ''cmavo'' in each ''selma'o'' are grammatically interchangeable -- a ''cmavo'' can be replaced by another ''cmavo'' in the same ''selma'o'' without affecting the syntactic structure of the sentence. ''selma'o'' are each named after an archetypical member ''cmavo'', and conventionally is written in all caps, e.g. BAI. Apostrophes are "capitalized" to lowercase h, e.g. ZAhO. Since in some cases ''cmavo'' may be grammatically interchangeable but perform significantly different functions, ''selma'o'' may be further divided into sub-''selma'o'' for convenience, denoted by numbers after the ''selma'o'' name, e.g. UI2.

'''sumti''': Argument; roughly "noun / noun phrase". ''sumti'' are the subjects and objects of the ''bridi''-clause.

'''tanru: '''A phrase that contains more than one ''brivla'', acting as a single ''selbri''. One can think of it like an adjective+noun phrase, or an adverb+verb phrase. The ''brivla'' modify each other from left-to-right by default, but certain ''cmavo'' can change the order.

== BAI ==
Roughly equivalent to prepositions. More specifically, it adds a new place for a ''sumti'' to the current ''bridi''. This is useful if the place-structure of the ''selbri'' lacks a place for a concept you want to express. 

Each ''cmavo'' in BAI is an abbreviation of '''fi'o X [fe'u]'''. X is unique to each BAI-''cmavo'', and is a defined ''selbrivla'' from the Lojban lexicon. For mnemonic purposes, each BAI-''cmavo'' resembles its parent. For example, the parent of '''bai''' is '''bapli''' ("to force/compel"), while the parent of '''ja'e''' is '''jalge''' ("result"). Example sentences:

'''do plipe bai mi''' '''= do plipe fi'o bapli mi ''': I force you to jump. [lit. you jump, forced by me]

'''do plipe ja'e lo nu do farlu''' = '''do plipe fi'o jalge lo nu do farlu ''': You jump, causing you to fall.

By default, the "imported" place is always the first place of the parent ''selbrivla''. If a different place is desired, BAI-''cmavo'' can be preceded by SE-''cmavo''. For example, '''se ja'e''' would instead take the second place from '''jalge''', which would be a cause instead of a result. For example:

'''do farlu se ja'e lo nu do plipe = do farlu fi'o se jalge lo nu do plipe''' : You fell because you jumped.

One can use BAI even if there is already a suitable place in the structure; perhaps you don't remember it, or perhaps you don't think your listeners do.

'''do tavla bau la .lojban. = do tavla fi'o bangu la .lojban.''' : You talk in (with language) Lojban.

is acceptable even though the fourth place of '''tavla''' already specifies the language talked in ('''do tavla fo la .lojban.''') .

There is a BAI-''cmavo'', '''do'e''', that is unlike the others; its "parent ''selbrivla''" is '''co'e''' ["unspecified ''bridi''-relation"]. Thus:

'''do plipe do'e mi = do plipe fi'o co'e mi ''': You jump [... with me being involved... somehow or other. The true meaning would depend on context.]

== BAhE ==
BAhE-''cmavo'' modify / mark the immediately-next word; they otherwise do not affect the syntactic structure of the text.

There are only two ''cmavo'' in BAhE: '''ba'e''', which emphasizes the next word, and '''za'e''', which marks the next word as "nonce / slang", i.e. either a non-standard word made up for the occasion, or an existing word not quite used the way that it is officially defined.

'''la ba'e .djordj. cu klama le zarci''':'' George'' goes to the store / It's ''George'' who goes to the store.

'''u'e ko catlu lo va za'e cifnu''': Wow! Look at that baby! ['''za'e''' marks the slang-word "baby", thus it probably isn't a literal infant! Its true meaning would depend on context and the shared culture of the speakers]

== BE ==
Contains a single member, '''be'''. Attaches to the previous ''selbrivla'', and fills its place structure with a new ''sumti''. This is typically used to further specify the ''brivla'' within a LE phrase or a ''tanru''.

Part of the ''selma'o'' series BE ... BEI ... BEhO . The ''famyma'o'' for BE is '''be'o'''.

'''lo tavla be lo skepre cu cliva''': The one talking to the scientist leaves. 

Note how '''lo skepre''' fills the second place of '''tavla''' , which contains the person being talked to; logically breaking down to: '''ty tavla lo skepre  .i ty cliva''' [T talks to the scientist. T leaves.] This is a more precise than saying '''lo tavla pe lo skepre cu cliva''' "The scientist's talker leaves", which leaves the relation between '''lo tavla''' and '''lo skepre''' open to context.

Note that by default, '''be''' fills the second place of its attached ''brivla''. If a different place is desired, FA-''cmavo'' can be used. One can even use a BAI or even a FIhO phrase to define a new place entirely. Note these examples:

Using FA: '''lo tavla be fo la .lojban. cu cliva'''

Using BAI: '''lo tavla be bau la .lojban. cu cliva'''

Using FIhO: '''lo tavla be fi'o bangu la .lojban. cu cliva'''

All mean the same thing: "The one who talks in (with language) Lojban leaves."

Note that '''be''' can only fill one place; if you wish to attach more ''sumti'' to the same ''brivla'', '''bei''' must be used. See BEI for details.

== BEI ==
Contains a single member, '''bei'''. Part of the ''selma'o'' series BE ... BEI ... BEhO .

'''bei''' is used if you want to attach more than one ''sumti'' to a given ''brivla''. For example:

'''lo tavla be lo skepre bei loi bangu cu cliva''': The one talking to the scientist about language leaves. Logically, it breaks to: '''ty tavla lo skepre loi bangu  .i ty cliva''' [T talks to the scientist about language. T leaves.]

It is important to use '''bei '''here, as '''lo tavla be lo skepre be loi bangu cu cliva''' means something completely different! The second '''be''' will attach to '''skepre''' and not '''tavla'''. It will instead logically resolve to: '''sy skepre loi bangu  .i ty tavla sy  .i ty cliva''' ''' '''[S is a linguist (a scientist who studies language). T talks to S. T leaves.] Thus, you end up saying, "The one talking to the linguist leaves"!