This page is part of the phrasebook.
The unit of money in Lojbangug is the rupnu, which is divided into 100 fepni. The exchange rate is currently about 15 Lojbo rupnu to the American dollar. How come ? Who decided this ?
Lojbo have the odd habit of referring to everyone else's monetary units as rupnu too. To distinguish them, one can say merko rupnu or meryru'u for the American dollar, ponjo rupnu or ponru'u for the Japanese yen, etc. (ropno rupnu sounds especially fine!). To be absolutely clear, the Lojbanic rupnu can be known as a jboru'u or lojru'u.
The coins are:
fepni 1 fepni
mumfei / zinsi'i 5 fepni
dekfei / decru'u 10 fepni
niksi'i 20 fepni
xabru'u 50 fepni
rupnu 1 rupnu
cibru'u 3 rupnu
dekru'u 10 rupnu
(Boring. How about coins in powers of 2 fepni? Then you can always make change, never needing more than one coin of any denomination. 'What a great idea!' Or for real laughs, have the denominations in Fibonacci sequence, which would also require at most one per denomination for any number, just a lot harder to work out.) The sequence 1 2 3 5 10 20 30 50... also works this way, and would be much easier to work out.
(let me know if anyone misses the confused, pointless discussion that was here, most of which was my fault — rab.spir)
Incidentally, if the exchange rate really is 15 rupnu to 1 meryru'u, anything less than a rupnu would be an amount of money most people wouldn't even bother picking up off the street - less than a nickel. Not exactly worth making coins for it. Given that the phrasebook describes fepni coins, was it perhaps supposed to be the other way around?
- What's the price of this?
- ma jdima ti / ti rupnu li xo
- That costs 13
- rupnu ta rupnu li paci
- Where should I pay?
- .ei mi pleji vi ma
- I'm looking for something less expensive
- mi sisku lo'e kargu mleca
- I would like to buy ...
- mi djica le nu te vecnu ...
- Where is the nearest bank?
- le jbirai banxa cu zvati ma
- I would like to exchange American dollars for rupnu.
- mi djica lenu canja lo meryru'u lo jborupnu
- What is the exchange rate of the euro against the rupnu?
- ma canja parbi lo ronru'u lo jborupnu
-> Phrases that differ only in stress
Asking for things / marketing
Unlike many other languages, it is not necessary in lojban to turn orders into polite questions ; politeness words are completely optional, and it is not rude to omit them.
Can you give me that ? ko ti mi dunda
(same as I'd like you to give me that.)
I want to buy that. ko ti mi vecnu
(same as Please sell me that.)
How much does this cost ? ti se jdima ma / ti se vecnu fo ma
How much do you want to sell this ? ma ti fo do jdima
Who sells this ? ma vecnu ti
It is too expensive. li du'e cu jdima
I offer ... (amount of money) for this. mi te vecnu ti fo ...
Please, I'd like you to lend this to me. pe'udo'u mi jbera ti do
How long can I borrow it ? ma ve jbera
I don't have enough money. mi ponse le rupnu be li mo'a
Give me some more. ko ti mi zmadu'a
I would like to buy some cigarettes. mi na te vecnu ti poi snacukyvei .i se sraku