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Preface
This is a distilled overview of the Lojban language.
Major concepts of the language are introduced by saying as much with as little as possible.
That is to say:
- For each concept the most crucial aspects are presented
- However, some details may be glossed over or simplified
- Some details are only mentioned or explained by their mere appearance in example sentences. Look carefully!
Finally, some aspects of Lojban are omitted entirely!
However incomplete - the goal of the following is to present, in the most immediate and expedient manner possible, a conceptualization of the language. Lojban is characterized in many ways from being "logical" and "unambiguous" to "culturally neutral". The characterization that this text aims to reveal is that Lojban is both rational (it makes sense) and regular (it always works the same).
From this rationality and regularity comes a simplicity that makes Lojban easier to learn than anyone really ever expects it to be at first.
Tip:
If you take the following passages at reading speed you will likely find yourself lost in the forest very quickly. The slower you go, the better luck you'll have at absorbing what it is trying to tell you.
In the end, if you're confused, use that as inspiration to dig deeper and you'll be fine!
Special Thanks
A number of people have contributed to the creation of this document in various ways:
A general thanks goes to the entire IRC community, since it is the largest driver of Lojban's on-going promotion and evolution.
Thanks goes to la selpa'i ku who's article on ZAhO was the inspiration for the section
on "Understanding Time" and has made a number of corrections to errors in this document
as well as helping along my own study of Lojban. And of course their many contributions
to the language itself.
Additional thanks to those who have contributed minor corrections:
la ilmen, la cirko, la kalmari, la gleki, la tsani, la lalxu
Core Grammar
Parts of Language
In language there are three major parts:
nouns: the things we talk about
verbs: tell us what the nouns do
sentences: says something using nouns and verbs
Types of Words
Lojban only has two kinds of words:
particles: short words that perform grammar functions
verbs: tell us what nouns do
What about Nouns?
What about nouns?!
Hold that thought.
Standard Form
Every sentence follows the form:
i x1 VERB x2 x3 xN
i separates multiple sentences. The first noun appears before the verb, additional nouns follow the verb.
Verbs Say What Nouns Do
Verbs tell us what the nouns do:
dunda: x1 donates gift x2 to beneficiary x3
[donor] dunda [gift] [benefactor]
├──────┼──────┼────────┤
x1 verb x2 x3
Simple Pro-nouns
Some particles act like pro-nouns:
mi - me, the speaker
do - you, the listener
ti - this, something nearby
Verbs and Nouns
Nouns can be put in the places and the verb says what they do:
mi dunda ti do
[donor] │ [gift] [beneficiary]
├──────┼──────┼────────┤
x1 verb x2 x3
"I give this to you."
Rearranging Nouns
Putting the nouns into different places changes what they do:
do* dunda ti mi*
[donor] │ [gift] [beneficiary]
├──────┼──────┼────────┤
x1 verb x2 x3
"You give this to me."
Converting Verbs to Nouns
The particles lo and ku convert verbs to nouns from the x1
role:
Pattern: lo VERB ku => NOUN from x1
dunda: x1 donates gift x2 to beneficiary x3
▼
verb
┌─┴─┐
lo dunda ku <== [donor] dunda [gift] [benefactor]
─────┬───── ├──────┼──────┼────────┤
noun x1 verb x2 x3
lo dunda ku creates a noun-description which refers to "a donor"
mi dunda ti lo dunda ku
[donor] │ [gift] [beneficiary]
├──────┼──────┼────────┤
x1 verb x2 x3
"I gave this to a donor."
Complex Sentences
Using multiple verbs, complex sentences can be formed:
mlatu: x1 is a cat
pinxe: x1 drinks beverage x2
ladru: x1 is milk
lo mlatu ku pinxe lo ladru ku
[drinker] │ [beverage]
├──────────┼─────────┤
x1 verb x2
"A cat drinks some milk."
The Drama of Language
The previous example can be thought of as a kind of stage-play, directed by the Verb and starring the Nouns.
Breakfast Time, a play by Pinxe!
The Verb Director tells us what Roles are available and What Happens:
Pinxe says, "x1 drinks beverage x2"
Story Outline: [drinker] pinxe [beverage]
SCRIPT: 1. A Drinker drinks! 2. A Beverage is imbibed!
CAST: The lead Drinker : lo mlatu ku (mlatu's x1 - "a cat") The supporting Beverage: lo ladru ku (ladru's x1 - "some milk")
STAGE:
lo mlatu ku pinxe lo ladru ku <= actors in the play
[drinker] │ [beverage] <= roles in the play
├──────────┼─────────┤
role1 director role2
"A cat drinks some milk."
Rearranging Verbs
The particles of the SE family rearrange verbs:
Pattern: SE VERB => VERB'
The roles of the x1 and xN nouns, what they do, is swapped in the new modified verb:
klama: x1 travels to destination x2 from origin x3 via route x4 in vehicle x5
| X1 | VERB | X2 | X3 | X4 | X5 |
| traveler | klama | destination | origin | route | vehicle |
x1◄ ►x2 | destination | se klama | traveler | origin | route | vehicle |
x1◄ ►x3 | origin | te klama | destination | traveler | route | vehicle |
x1◄ ►x4 | route | ve klama | destination | origin | traveler | vehicle |
x1◄ ►x5 | vehicle | xe klama | destination | origin | route | traveler |
se klama: to destination x1, traveler x2 goes from origin x3 via route x4 in vehicle x5 and so on..
SE In Action
These SE modified verbs are useful both in making nouns and as the main verb of sentences:
fraxu: x1 forgives x2 for x3
vecnu: x1 sells x2 to buyer x3 for price x4
dakfu: x1 is a knife
lo se fraxu ku te vecnu lo dakfu ku
[buyer] | [goods]
└────────────┴───────────┘
"The forgiven buys a knife."
friti: x1 offers x2 to x3
xamgu: x1 is beneficial to x2
ginka: x1 is an encampment of x2
lo se friti ku xamgu lo se ginka ku
[benefit] | [beneficiary]
└───────────┴───────────┘
"The offering is good for the campers."
FA Labels
The FA family of particles allows for breaking the default noun ordering of sentences without modifying the verb:
Pattern: FA NOUN => NOUN'
fa : x1 Each particle from the FA family fe : x2 simply specifies what the following fi : x3 noun is doing in the sentence. In fo : x4 other words which role from the verb fu : x5 it fills.
This allows putting all of the nouns after the verb:
dunda fa mi ti do - "I donate this to you"
Or skip some places entirely:
mi dunda fi do - "I donate to you"
Counting resumes from any FA particle:
fe ti dunda fa mi do - "I donate this to you" ──┬── ──┬── ─┐ x2 x1 x3
Cmavo and Brivla
Lojban has names for the two kinds of words that make up its dictionary:
"cmavo" - mi, ti, do, lo, ku
- small word that performs a grammatical function
- categorized into families
"brivla" : dunda, klama, mlatu, ladru
- a word that produces a grammatical verb
- has a definition with 1 or more noun roles
Selbri Sumti and Bridi
It also has names for the different parts of speech that come to life in lojban sentences:
"selbri" - the verb phrases central to sentences and nouns
"sumti" - the noun phrases that take on semantic roles
"bridi" - the combination of a selbri and its sumti
LEGEND:
<> - selbri verb
[] - sumti noun
{} - bridi statement
Notice how selbri verb phrases appear throughout:
lo <se <jdice>> ku <nandu> lo <sonci> ku
Sumti nouns are placed around the root selbri:
[lo se jdice ku] nandu [lo sonci ku]
And the whole structure, a selbri with its sumti, is a bridi:
{lo se jdice ku nandu lo sonci ku}
Tanru
By combining multiple consecutive independent selbri, a tanru or
compound-selbri verb can be created:
mi <<djica> <citka>> lo <plise> ku "I want-eat an apple."
Two brivla cidja and dunda come together below to create a
compound-selbri inside a sumti:
Simple Selbri
┌───┴───┐
lo <<cidja> <dunda>> ku <prami> lo <prenu> ku
└───────┬───────┘
Selbri Tanru
"The food-donor loves people."
But what is the definition of a composite-selbri or tanru?
Tanru are metaphorical, so their full meaning is ambiguous. However, basic structure of the definition is that of the right most selbri component:
gleki : x1 is happy about x2
cadzu : x1 walks on surface x2
gleki cadzu : x1 happy-walks on surface x2
What does "happy-walk" really mean? Only the speaker knows for sure!
Conversation
Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are created by using la instead of lo:
mi prami lo rozgu ku
── ──
"I love roses."
mi prami la rozgu ku
── ──
"I love Rose."
Names are sumti just like any other.
Introductions
Introducing one's own self is done with the cmavo mi'e:
Pattern: mi'e NAME
mi'e la rozgu ku ──── "I'm Rose."
Greetings
Greeting another person is done with the cmavo coi:
Pattern: coi SUMTI
coi la rozgu ku ─── "Hello, Rose."
coi lo tadni ku ─── "Hello, student"
coi do ─── "Hello, you."
Or just, "coi"
Farewells
Farewells are offered with the cmavo co'o:
Pattern: co'o SUMTI
co'o la rozgu ku ──── "Goodbye, Rose."
Requesting Attention
Requests for attention are made with the cmavo ju'i:
Pattern: ju'i SUMTI
ju'i la rozgu ku ─── "Hey, Rose."
If multiple listeners paying attention you can address them individually with
doi:
Pattern: doi SUMTI doi la mirli ku ko mipri ─── "Keep it secret, Moose"
Yes No Questions
"Yes or No" questions can be asked by using the xu cmavo:
i xu do citka lo plise ku ── "Did you eat an apple?"
Notice that even though the sentence is now a question rather than a statement the overall structure hasn't changed.
The xu is placed after the sentence separator i so as to apply to the whole
sentence equally. By placing xu after a specific word emphasis can be placed on it:
i do citka lo xu plise ku
──
"Was it an apple you ate?""
Yes No Answers
"Yes" and "No" answers can be supplied with the following replies:
In the affirmative, "go'i" is used:
Q: xu do citka lo plise ku
A: go'i
───
The denial is supplied by: na go'i
Sumti Questions
Sumti specific questions can be asked by using the ma cmavo in place of the sumti in question.
do citka ma
──
"What did you eat?"
ma catra ma ── ── "Who killed who?"
To answer sumti questions simply state what fills the missing place:
lo plise ku
Or restate the question with the places filled in:
do catra mi
Selbri Questions
Selbri specific questions can be asked by using the mo cmavo in place of the selbri in question.
mo fa mi do ti ── "What are we doing with this?"
do mo
──
"You are/doing what?"
do mo fengu mi
──
"What kind of angry are you at me?"
Attitude Questions
A special kind of question using the cmavo pei asks the listener to share
their feelings or disposition about some topic:
i pei mi cliva ─── "How do you feel about me leaving?"
"pei" is another word which can direct its emphasis by way of right-attachment:
i mi jukpa lo jipci ku pei
───
"How do you feel that its chicken that I cook.
Attitude Cmavo
In addition to making an explicit statement about one's self, an answer to
pei can be given with cmavo from the UI Family of "attitudinals".
ui - "I'm happy"
a'o - "I hope"
i'e - "I approve"
There are many attitudinals and they all express, in one way or another some aspect of the speaker's disposition about the speech the attitudinal is appears in.
i ui do prami mi ── "You love me, and I'm happy about it."
i a'o do snada ─── "I'm hopeful you succeed."
Like many other cmavo, UI attitudinals give emphasis to the part of speech they attach to:
do pinxe lo birje ku e'u
───
"I suggest beer to be what you drink."
Attitude Ranges
Attitudinals have an inherent "range" or "intensity spectrum" which can be altered from the default.
Without any modifier you get the default attitude. However, nai and other
cmavo can affect the sense of the UI cmavo:
ui cai - "I'm happy as possible" ui sai - "I'm very happy" ui - "I'm happy" ui ru'e - "I'm kinda/sorta happy" ui cu'i - "I'm neutral in my happiness" ui nai - "I'm unhappy" ui nai sai - "I'm very unhappy"
and so on...
Evidential Cmavo
A sub-family of the attitudinals, the UI2 Evidentials, express an epistemological claim. In other words, how the speaker came to know or state whatever it is they are saying:
i ti'e do nelci mi ──── "I hear rumored that you like me."
i pe'i lo plise ku xamgu ──── "It is my opinion that apples are beneficial."
i za'a do mutce xagji ──── "I observe that you are very hungry."
i ba'a la rozgu ku zvati lo zdani ku ──── "I expect Rose is at the house."
Discursive Cmavo
Another sub-family of the attitudinals, the UI3 "discursives" express the point or purpose of a part of or a whole statement.
i do citka lo titla ku po'o
────
"You only eat sweets."
i ji'a mi nitcu lo jdini ku ──── "Also, I need money."
i si'a mi terpa lo jukni ku ──── "Similarly, I'm afraid of spiders."
i ku'i lo jenmi ku daspo ──── "However, armys are destructive."
Humor
Having a sense of humor is key to any conversation:
Sarcasm:
i xo'o lo se platu ku banli ──── "Oh jeeze, great plan."
i xo'o nai lo skaci ku melbi ──────── "Seriously, that skirt is beautiful."
Levity:
i zo'o se ckaji do ──── "Ho! Typical you."
i zo'o nai mi nelci lo cutci
────
"I do like these shoes..."
Amusement:
i u'i xu do mulno ─── "Haha, are you done yet?"
i u'i nai xu do mulno ─────── "Yea.. are you done yet?"
Changing the Subject
If things get tense you can always change the subject with ta'o:
i ta'o do klama ma ──── "By the way, where are you going?"
You can also return to a previous topic by adding nai:
i ta'o nai mi'o casnu ma ──────── "Returning, what were we discussing?"
Requests and Commands
Ultimately if things go completely sour you may have to request your interlocutor to leave:
i e'o do cliva ─── "Please, you leave."
Or if they have been particularly offensive you might demand it!
i ko cliva ── "I implore you to leave."
Any command is possible by using "ko" in place of the normal "do".
Sumti Manipulation
Saying "and" and "or"
To make statements about different sumti at the same time the connective cmavo
je can be used:
Pattern: SUMTI je SUMTI => SUMTI'
i mi nelci [[lo plise ku] je [lo perli ku]]
──
"I like apples and pears."
Similarly, ja can be used for "or":
i ko cuxna [[lo dakfu ku] ja [lo mruli ku]]
──
"Pick the knife or the spear"
Grouping
To group multiple sumti together to say that they do something together,
jo'u can be used:
Pattern: SUMTI jo'u SUMTI => SUMTI'
i [[mi] jo'u [do]] bevri lo pipno
────
"You and I carry the piano"
i mi se catra [[lo fagri ku] jo'u [lo bisli ku]]
────
"I was killed by fire and ice."
Ownership
To associate one sumti with another by way of ownership the cmavo po is
used:
Pattern: SUMTI po SUMTI => SUMTI'
i [[lo karce ku] po [mi]] spofu
──
"My car is broken."
i ko cpacu [[lo ckiku ku] po [do]]
──
"Go get your keys."
Association
For a weaker association than ownership you can use pe:
Pattern: SUMTI pe SUMTI => SUMTI'
i mi vasxu [[lo vacri ku] pe [do]]
──
"I'm breathing your air."
i ko zutse [[lo stizu ku] pe [mi]]
──
"Sit in my chair."
Quantities
To specify how many of a sumti the sentence applies to, a number can be placed before the sumti:
Pattern: PA SUMTI => SUMTI'
Numbers: no pa re ci vo mu xa ze bi so 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
i mi viska [mu [lo bakni ku]]
──
"I see 5 cows."
i [vo do] pinxe lo ladru ku
──
"Four of you drink milk."
Subjective Numbers
Other kinds of "subjective numbers" exist too which are pretty handy:
i xu do citka [du'e [lo plise ku]]
────
"Did you eat too many apples?"
so'u lo plise ku - "a few apples" so'o lo plise ku - "several apples" so'i lo plise ku - "many apples" so'e lo plise ku - "most of the apples" ro lo plise ku - "all the apples" rau lo plise ku - "enough apples" mo'a lo plise ku - "not enough apples" da'a ci lo plise ku - "all but three apples"
Selbri Manipulation
Negation and Affirmation
Most selbri manipulation is performed via prefix cmavo. For example negation is done
with na:
Pattern: NA SELBRI => SELBRI'
i mi <na <xagji>>
──
"I'm not hungry"
On the flip-side you can say something is certain:
i mi <ja'a <xagji>>
────
"I am definitely hungry"
Scaling Relevance
Other cmavo have related effects which specify how strongly the selbri is applied:
i mi <no'e <xagji>>
────
"I'm not really that hungry."
i mi <to'e <xagji>>
────
"I'm full!"
Saying "and" and "or"
Similarly to sumti, selbri can be joined with the very same connective words:
i mi <<tatpi> je <xagji>>
──
"I'm tired and hungry"
i mi'o e'u <<citka> ja <cliva>>.
──
"We should eat or leave."
Tense
While Lojban bridi don't have any implicit tense, selbri can be modified to have such tense:
mi <pu <viska>> do
──
"I saw you."
mi <ca <viska>> do
──
"I see you."
mi <ba <viska>> do
──
"I will see you."
Temporal Distance
In addition to direction, temporal distance can also be provided:
mi <pu zi <viska>> do
──
"I just saw you!"
mi <pu za <viska>> do
──
"I saw you a while ago."
mi <pu zu <viska>> do
──
"It has been a long while since I've seen you."
Proximity
Selbri can also be modified in terms of spatial proximity:
mi <vi <viska>> do
──
"I saw you right here!"
mi <va <viska>> do
──
"I saw you nearby."
mi <vu <viska>> do
──
"I saw you elsewhere."
Preloading
Selbri can be "pre-injected" with a sumti, removing a sumti place from the definition,
with the be cmavo:
Pattern: SELBRI be SUMTI => SELBRI'
dunda : x1 donates gift x2 to beneficiary x3 dunda be lo plise ku : x1 donates apples to beneficiary x2
By default be injects a sumti into the x2 place, but the FA family can be
used to specify which place should be filled:
vecnu be fi lo jecta ku : x1 sells x2 to the state
Multiple sumti places may be filled, separated by bei:
vecnu be lo xarci ku bei lo jecta ku : x1 sells weapons to the state
Preloaded Sumti
Note that be forms a new selbri even though it incorporates a sumti:
┌──────new selbri──────────┐
<<vecnu> be [lo xarci ku]> = x1 sells weapons to x2
│ │
base selbri injected sumti
This is a little strange when used as the main verb of a sentence:
(who) (sells guns) (the state)
ma <vecnu be lo xarci ku> lo jecta ku
[seller] │ [buyer]
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
lo xarci ku could just have been provided as x2 to a normal
vecnu. The be appears unnessecary. However, this is very
useful for creating interesting sumti!
┌───preloaded selbri─────┐ mi tavla [lo <<vecnu> be [lo xarci ku]> ku] "I talk to the seller of weapons.
ko na lebna [lo <<sidbo> be fi [mi]> ku] "Don't you take ideas of mine."
This is far more explicit than using pe or po.
Subordination
Facts
Similar to the transformation of selbri into sumti the same can be done for whole bridi
into selbri with the help of du'u and kei:
Pattern: du'u BRIDI kei => SELBRI
The definition of such a selbri is something like:
x1 is the fact represented by the inner bridi
┌───fact selbri────┐
du'u do prami mi kei = x1 is the fact that: you love me
└─────┬─────┘
inner bridi
Adding lo and ku, the selbri is transformed into a sumti
allowing one to talk about the fact inside:
[lo <du'u {do prami mi} kei> ku] = "the fact that you love me"
These nested fact sumti can be used as any other:
┌───fact selbri────┐
mi djuno [lo du'u do prami mi kei ku]
└─────┬─────┘
inner bridi
"I know that you love me."
Events
Where du'u gets at the truth of a matter, nu can emphasize
the time and location in which a bridi takes place:
Pattern: nu BRIDI kei => SELBRI
The definition of such a selbri is something like:
x1 is the event described by the inner Bridi
┌──fact selbri───┐
nu do speni mi kei = x1 is the event of: you are married to me
└─────┬─────┘
inner bridi
Just like with du'u these nu selbri can be turned into sumti
with lo and ku:
[lo <nu {do speni mi} kei> ku] = "the event of our marriage"
And can be incorporated into larger sentences:
┌──fact selbri───┐
mi djica [lo nu do speni mi kei ku]
└─────┬─────┘
inner bridi
"I desire our marriage."
Properties
A third word, ka can also create a selbri from a bridi much like
du'u and nu:
Pattern: ka BRIDI kei => SELBRI
The bridi must contain at least one ce'u sumti:
┌───────property selbri────────┐
mi cnici [lo ka ce'u citka lo titnanba ku kei ku]
└────────────┬────────────┘
inner bridi
The ce'u has no meaning of its own. The selbri that receives the property
specifies what it refers to. In this case, it is cnici taking the property
as its x2.
The definition of cnici is:
x1 is orderly/neat/ordered in property x2
And so it is the x1, or mi, who is orderly in the eating of cookies.
mi cnici [lo ka ce'u citka lo titnanba ku kei ku]
└───────┬────────┘
bound sumti
"I am orderly in the eating of cookies."
The ce'u can appear anywhere in the inner bridi:
do cinmo [lo ka la mam ku vajni ce'u kei ku]
└──────────────┬─────────────────┘
bound sumti
"You feel the emotion of Mother being important to you."
Some selbri words make comparative statements:
zmadu: x1 is more than x2 in property x3
do zmadu mi [lo ka ce'u citka lo titnanba ku kei ku]
└────────────┬────────────┘
inner bridi
do citka lo titnanba ku "is more than" mi citka lo titnanba ku
"You are more than me in the eating of cookies." "You eat more cookies than me."
Numerous property relations exist within the Lojban lexicon.
Relative Phrases
Additional information about a sumti can be provided by attaching a bridi to it with
noi:
Pattern: SUMTI noi BRIDI ku'o => SUMTI'
Similarly to the properties created with ka, noi bridi have a
stand-in word ke'a:
ko penmi la rozgu ku noi mi prami ke'a ku'o
└──────┬──────┘
inner bridi
Meet Rose, who I love.
The noi bridi is attached to la rozgu ku and so it is her to
whom ke'a refers to.
If the information is not merely incidental but nessecary to discern which thing is
being talking about poi can be used instead:
ko penmi lo bruna ku poi mi prami ke'a ku'o
└──────┬──────┘
inner bridi
Meet the brother I love (compared to whichever I don't.)
Understanding Time
The basic tenses pu, ca and ba were covered
previously but there is a bit more to say about time.
Basic Tenses
The tense for stating something is currently happening is ca:
mi ca citka
──
"I am currently eating."
Another way of stating this (which will be helpful later) is:
"The present coincides with my eating."
citka
⇜┬──────────┼──────────┬⇝
Past Now Future
How about the other tenses?
mi pu pensi
──
"I was thinking."
"The past coincides with my thinking."
pensi
⇜├──────────┬──────────┬⇝
Past Now Future
do ba jimpe
──
"You will understand."
"The future coincides with your understanding."
jimpe
⇜┬──────────┬──────────┤⇝
Past Now Future
Event Contours
All events have a "temporal extent" or lifetime. It is often useful to describe the various events "within" an event. The ZAhO family of tenses can be used for accessing them:
╎ pu'o: before
pu'o ═══════════╣ ╠════════════ ba'o ╎ co'a: the outset
co'a de'a di'a co'u ╎ de'a: break
╎ di'a: resumption
└───────────┬─────────────┘ ╎ co'u: finish
co'i ╎ ba'o: after
╎ co'i: for the duration
Like basic tenses, they modify a selbri to create a new one:
Pattern: ZAhO SELBRI => SELBRI
mi <co'a <citka>> lo plise ku
────
"I'm starting to eat an apple."
mi pacna lo nu <co'u <carvi>> kei ku
────
"I wish for it to finish raining."
ko <de'a <tadni>>
────
"Take a break from studying."
mi <pu'o <sipna>>
────
"Its before my bedtime."
mi <ba'o <prami>> do
────
"My loving you has passed.""
Tensed Contours
If no basic tense is provided, ca or present-tense is assumed:
mi <ca <co'a <citka>> lo plise ku
── ────
"I'm starting to eat an apple"
"The present coincides with the start of my apple eating."
citka
╠═══╣
┊
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Past Now Future
But how do the ZAhO contours interact with different CA tenses?
mi <pu <pu'o <sipna>>>
── ────
"It was before my bedtime."
"The past coincides with the runup to my bedtime."
sipna
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Past Now Future
mi <ba <ba'o <prami>>> do
── ────
"My loving you will have passed."
"The future coincides with the aftermath of our love."
sipna
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Past Now Future
Prepositions
Additional sumti places can be added to a bridi by importing them with
fi'o:
Pattern: fi'o SELBRI SUMTI => SUMTI
The x1 place of the specified selbri is added to the bridi and filled with the specified sumti:
┌────────fi'o clause───────┐ mi citka lo titnanba ku fi'o <jukpa> [la rozgu ku] "I'm eating the cookies baked by Rose"
Stage Additions
This can be understood in terms of the stage-play metaphor used
before. fi'o terms act as assistant directors adding additional roles:
STAGE:
mi citka lo titnanba ku fi'o jukpa la rozgu ku <= actors in the play
[eater] │ [meal] │ [cook] <= roles in the play
├───────┼──────────┤ ├─────────────┤
role1 director role2 asst. director jukpa-role
SE Prepositions
Any selbri is compatible and that includes ones modified by SE:
lo cinfo ku kalte fi'o se pilno lo kanla ku "The lion hunts with its eyes."
lo kalte ku cizda'u fi'o te jvinu lo se citka ku "The hunter is a monster from the perspective of the meal."
Spatial Prepositions
Some useful selbri for prepositions stating where the bridi takes place:
selbri │ gloss ───────────┼────────────── se zvati │ located at se jibni │ located near se nenri │ located in te ragve │ across from se gapru │ above se cpana │ ontop of se cnita │ underneath se sruri │ surrounding
Temporal Prepositions
A few selbri useful for prepositions denoting when a bridi takes place:
selbri │ gloss ───────────┼────────────── tcika │ at time detri │ on date balvi │ before cabna │ during purci │ after
Causal Prepositions
Some selbri useful for propositions explaining how a bridi came about:
selbri │ gloss ───────────┼────────────── mukti │ motivated by rinka │ caused by krinu │ justified by jalge │ with result
BAI Prepositions
A small number of cmavo in the BAI family can be used for specifying useful prepositions as a shortcut:
Pattern: BAI SUMTI => SUMTI
Just like fi'o prepositions each cmavo from the BAI family encodes a
particular sumti place:
selbri │ BAI │ gloss ───────────┼────────┼────────────────── mukti │ mu'i │ motivated by rinka │ ri'a │ caused by krinu │ ki'u │ justified by jalge │ ja'e │ with result vanbi │ va'o │ under conditions gasnu │ gau │ performed by tadji │ ta'i │ with approach catni │ ca'i │ by authority cusku │ cu'u │ said by se pilno │ sepi'o │ using tool
These can result in slightly more terse prepositional clauses:
┌─────BAI clause─────┐ lo cinfo ku kalte sepi'o [lo kanla ku] "The lion hunts with its eyes."
Miscellaneous additions
Indirect questions
The word kau in a fact "defuses" a preceding question word, and focuses that whole fact on the would-be answer.
Pattern: QUESTION_WORD kau => QUESTION_WORD
┌────indirect question───┐
la krili ku kucli lo du'u ma kau finti lo pemci ku kei ku
──────
"Crystal is curious as to who invented the poem."
┌──indirect question─┐
mi djuno lo du'u do cliva mu'i ma kau kei ku
──────
"I know why you left."
┌─indirect question─┐
mi na morji lo du'u xu kau misno kagni kei ku
──────
"I don't remember whether or not it was a famous company."
┌──indirect question──┐
mi na jimpe lo du'u lo nabmi ku mo kau mi kei ku
──────
"I don't understand what the issue has to do with me."
(If we don't add kau, the whole sentence is simply a complex question asking what fills ma, as before:)
la krili ku kucli lo du'u ma finti lo pemci ku kei ku.
──
"Who is it that Crystal is curious about them inventing the poem?"
Elliptical words
A couple of the classes of words we've handled have an "elliptical" member, with carry an intentionally unspecified meaning.
Using one of these means: "I assume the listener will know what I mean, so I don't have to specify exactly."
Think of words like "you-know-what", "thingy", et cetera.
word │ type │ gloss ─────────┼────────┼────────────────────────── zo'e │ SUMTI │ unspecified argument (equivalent to not filling a place) co'e │ SELBRI │ unspecified relation do'e │ BAI │ unspecified preposition ge'e │ UI │ unspecified emotion
These words are very useful when you don't know exactly which word to use, but it doesn't matter.
mi ba cusku zo'e la rozgu ku
────
"I'll tell Rose." (unspecified x2)
.au do co'e
────
"I want you to." (unspecified predicate)
ciska do'e lo latmo lerfu ku
────
"Write (in/with/…) Latin characters."
ge'e mi cliva ──── "Eh, I'm leaving." (unspecified emotion)
Some event involving…
There is also a word, tu'a, for building facts, events, or properties that involve a sumti in some unspecified manner.
Pattern: tu'a SUMTI => SUMTI
(Essentially, tu'a SUMTI is short for lo (du'u/nu/ka) SUMTI co'e kei ku.)
steba: x1 is frustrated about x2 (fact/event).
mi steba lo nu stodi gunka lo jibri ku ja'e lo mabla ku kei ku
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"I'm frustrated by steadily working my job with crappy results."
mi steba tu'a lo jibri ku
────────────────
"I'm frustrated about my job."
lerci: x1 (event) happens late by x2's standards. lo nu lo trene ku darca lo tcana ku kei ku lerci ────────────────────────────────────────── "The train arriving at the station happens late." tu'a lo trene ku lerci ──────────────── "The train is late."
Sumti raising
Let's take a closer look at the last example.
In Lojban, we can't say something like lo trene ku lerci. The only thing that can be late is some event in time, and a train is not an event!
So, we use tu'a to "wrap" lo trene ku in an abstraction. (Doing this is sometimes called sumti raising.)
There is another word to help us do the same thing, namely jai.
Pattern: jai SELBRI => SELBRI
Instead of wrapping a sumti, it modifies a selbri's meaning to have a "wrapped" x1. These two are equivalent:
x1 jai SELBRI x2 x3 x4 … ≡ (tu'a x1) SELBRI x2 x3 x4 …
This becomes more useful once we combine it with lo.
nabmi = x1 (nu) poses a problem to x2. jai nabmi = x1 (thing) is problematic to x2; as in, something abstract involving x1 is a problem to x2.
lo nabmi ku = a problem (event). lo jai nabmi ku = something problematic (any type).
Dropping terminators
Those kus and keis are really starting to stack up. You can often omit them. For example at the end of a bridi:
mi troci lo nu darxi lo bolci ku kei ku → mi troci lo nu darxi lo bolci "I try to hit the ball."
Or at the end of an inner bridi:
┌───inner bridi───┐ lo nu ponse lo fonxa ku kei ku xlali lo verba ku → lo nu ponse lo fonxa kei ku xlali lo verba "Owning a phone is bad for kids."
You can drop ku if it is followed by a neighboring sumti in the current bridi:
mi canja lo jemna ku lo solji ku do → mi canja lo jemna lo solji do "I trade gems in return for gold with you."
There are other cases where it's possible, but they're not as clear-cut.