Lojban
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What is lojban?
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Lojban is a carefully constructed spoken language. It has been built for over 50 years by dozens of workers and hundreds of supporters.
- Lojban's grammar is based on simple rules, and its linguistic features are inspired by predicate logic.
- Lojban allows the expression of nuances in emotion using words called attitudinals, which are like spoken emoticons. ue marks that you're surprised; ba'u marks that you're exaggerating.
- You can be as vague or detailed as you like when speaking lojban. For example, specifying tense (past, present or future) or number (singular or plural) is optional when they're clear from context.
- Lojban is machine parsable, so the syntactic structure and validity of a sentence is unambiguous, and can be analyzed using computer tools.
- There is a live community of speakers expanding the lojban vocabulary day by day.
Lojban means different things to different people
- a linguistic curiosity - a test-bed for language experimentation
- a challenging way to expand their minds or discipline their thoughts
- a new perspective on languages
- an entertaining medium to communicate with friends or create art
- a domain for exploring the intersection of human language and software
What will lojban mean for you?
Official publications
'The Complete Lojban Language' book is an official publication by The Logical Language Group and is available in several formats:
- As a hardcover book
- CLL v1.1 PDF and CLL v1.1 PDF Cover ; these are the actual files used to produced the hardcover version, so it's exactly what you get if you buy a copy
- CLL v1.1 EPUB (the ebook format) and CLL v1.1 MOBI (another ebook format, generated from the EPUB using Kindle's tools, so it should work on all Kindle devices)
- In HTML: CLL v1.1 HTML One Big File, CLL v1.1 HTML One File Per Chapter, CLL v1.1 HTML One File Per Section
This book will help those who already understand some lojban. It's the most complete reference of lojban language by far. It does not, however, teach vocabulary, style, colloquial language or other possible variations of the language.
Related documents
This reform was approved by the Logical Language Group in 2003.
Unofficial methods to learn lojban
These are learning resources that are made by people speaking lojban and that represent personal views of those authors:
A set of pronunciation guides
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la karda, a rapid-fire overview of the grammar in small pieces |
search the dictionary
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la camxes is an automatic grammar checker of Lojban utterances. It can help you to understand the structure and correctness of sentences. |
Wave Lessons, a popular textbook
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Lojban guide
Provides hover translations of both sentences/phrases and words they contain. |
 Lojban in simple phrases Also available in PDF. Or try flashcards: Memrise.com offers on-line Lojban vocabulary flashcards, Anki is a downloadable alternative. |
try searching for arbitrary words in
the database of sentences  Some of the sentences are not proofread by fluent speakers of Lojban. |
Join the chat
 and try talking to other Lojbanists when they appear there. Try asking them questions. |
 «Lessons in Lojban» by Dustin Lacewell |
Also check out:
- the translation of 'Alice in Wonderland' by xorxes with a parallel text in English.
Dictionaries
- la sutysisku is an online multilingual Lojban dictionary (including English) that also works offline. la vlasisku is an alternative for English speakers only that is regularly updated.
- la jbovlaste is an editable, multilingual dictionary. It is considered by many to be the current de-facto standard dictionary of Lojban. Many other dictionaries and tools are based on it.
- Stardict dictionaries in some languages (usable with GoldenDict, Dictionary Universal, etc.)
- Multilingual gismu (root word) and cmavo (particle) lists in tsv and html formats
- Word lists ordered by frequency of use
- An unofficial list of simple definitions of gismu
Other learning materials ...
Connect with the community
Lojban is spoken by a vibrant community, producing literature, music, and art, and discussing questions about language and thought. The web comic xkcd said that, if you spoke Lojban, you'd have to speak with Lojbanists. That may not be such a bad thing!
Instant messaging (text chat)
Connecting to the chat
Use any of the following messengers (your and others' messages will be available in all of them no matter from which messenger you are sending your questions).
Answers from members of the community will arrive soon.
Telegram
Using this method you will be able to read the history of the chat since the beginning of 2016.
- Install the free Telegram messenger on your Apple, Android or your desktop device
- join main Lojban chat groups by following these links:
- Ask questions on Lojban in ckule group, talk in or about Lojban in Lojban group and talk only in Lojban in jbosnu group.
Discord
The chat is also connected to a Discord server.
- Ask questions on Lojban in #ckule channel, talk in or about Lojban in #lojban channel and talk only in Lojban in #jbosnu channel.
- Freely chat about anything to like-minded Lojbanists in the #jboselbau channel.
Other methods
You may alternately try other methods of connecting.
Social media
Lojban has a presence on many of the most popular web sites: 
Facebook, 
Reddit, 
Quora.
Mailing lists
The lojban-beginners mailing list is for questions about learning and understanding Lojban. You can subscribe to the list by sending a question to [email protected].
The general-purpose lojban mailing list, which covers anything else related to Lojban, was founded in 1989, and has about 500 subscribers. You can subscribe to it by sending an email to [email protected].
International Contacts
| Languages spoken | |
|---|---|
| la selpa'i [email protected] |
English, German |
| la gleki [email protected] |
English, Russian |
| la ilmen [email protected] |
English, French |
| la tsani [email protected] |
English, French |
| la xorxes [email protected] |
English, Spanish |
| la guskant [email protected] |
English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Esperanto |
| la remod [email protected] |
English, Italian |
Lojban around the world - other ways of communication ...
What's next?
- Try reading Lojban texts. Start with something shorter and easier such as "Terry the Tiger" (audio is available) or "The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin" (a parser suitable to those two texts). When you're ready, move on to "The Little Prince" (suitable parser: camxes) and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (suitable parser: maftufa).
- Try your hand at translating into Lojban, or write your own original texts: Poetry, prose, blogs, tweets, etc.
- Continue learning vocabulary using memorization software.
- Help expand the dictionary by translating Lojban words into other languages, or coin new compound words and add them.
More info ...
- la karda, an overview of Lojban in tiny lessons!
- la sutysisku, an interactive dictionary.
- The Complete Lojban Language, a comprehensive textbook.
From Lojban news...
Community news
17 January 2021
- la janbe publishes tabgapci, an original song.
20 September 2020
- la solpa'i publishes Ua langu, an original song.
13 January 2020
- The LFK is selected and begins meeting on Mattermost.
24 September 2018
- la gleki publishes a translation of How the enemy came to Thlunrana, a story by Lord Dunsany dedicating it to a new meeting of the LLG.
24 July 2018
- la evar usar published an English video introduction to Lojban.
15 May 2018
- la evar usar published The Magic Unsystem (makfa nalciste), the fifth episode of a Lojban-language worldbuilding video series. (English subtitles)
28 April 2018
- la evar usar published The Human Inhabitans (remna xabju), the fourth episode of a Lojban-language worldbuilding video series. (English subtitles)
30 March 2018
- la evar usar published The Rainforest Buffet (cavyricfoi gusta), the third episode of a Lojban-language worldbuilding video series. (English subtitles)
28 February 2018
- la evar usar published The Food Web (citka je cidja ciste), the second episode of a Lojban-language worldbuilding video series. (English subtitles)
Archives
30 January 2018
- la guskant published the first episode of mEntulimu, a series of short videos about Lojban.
20 January 2018
- la evar usar published The Lay of the Land (tcila co tumla), the first episode of a Lojban-language worldbuilding video series. (English subtitles)
14 September 2017
- la guskant published almapamla, a translation of the song Amapola] by Joseph Lacalle
04 January 2017
- la uakci published no da re roi fasnu, a translation of Polish poem Nic dwa razy by Wisława Szymborska into Lojban.
12 November 2016
- la guskant published lo vliraitru, a documentary film in Lojban.
06 November 2016
- la uakci published sorxaizu'e sei catlu, a translation of Polish poem Terrorysta, on patrzy by Wisława Szymborska into Lojban.
13 October 2016
- la lalxu published la melbi e le ractu, an original short story in Lojban.
1 June 2016
- la selpa'i published lu mi za'o citno li'u, an original short story in Lojban.
On the Internet
Google Groups: lojban
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GoogleGroups: lojban-beginners
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