Proposed Definitions And Examples

Proposed Definition of noi

noi (NOI)

Incidental clause. noi is Lojban's non-restrictive relative clause. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. noi immediately follows a sumti and is followed by a full bridi (which means it sometimes must be terminated with ku'o, the NOI selma'o terminator, or vau, the general bridi terminator, particularily if one wishes to add another sumti to the outer bridi). The "non-restrictive" part means that the information in the noi clause is not sufficient to completely identify the referents of the sumti that noi is attached to. In other words, the noi bridi is true about the sumti noi is attached to, but is not enough to pick out only the things the speaker has in mind among all the possible things that the sumti noi is attached to could refer to. Generally, noi is only used when the referents of the sumti have already been explained, or are obvious, and the speaker wishes to give additional information. Inside a noi clause, ke'a indicates the precise place of the bridi that the sumti is intended to fill, and translates some uses of the English word "it".

Examples of noi Usage

le gerku noi blanu cu barda
The dog, which incidentally is white, is big.

la alis noi ru'i senci cu sezysku
Alice, who was continuously sneezing, said to herself.

ro bifce noi pendo mi cu ji'a xebni lo sigja
All bees, which are friends of mine, also hate cigars.
This sentence was taken from the #lojban IRC channel, and asserts that every bee (or wasp or hornet) that exists (ignoring metaphysical issues) is both a friend of the speaker and hates cigars. This is probably not what the author intended.

la fengu lo smacu noi fy ke'a cpacu cu penmi le zdani
The Mad met a mouse, M (The Mad) had acquired it (the mouse), in the house.
Had to re-order the translation a bit to make the English work; in the Lojban the "met" part comes after the comma-delimited clause.

Proposed Definition of poi

poi (NOI)

Restrictive clause. poi is Lojban's restrictive relative clause. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. poi immediately follows a sumti and is followed by a full bridi (which means it sometimes must be terminated with ku'o, the NOI selma'o terminator, or vau, the general bridi terminator, particularily if one wishes to add another sumti to the outer bridi). The "restrictive" part means that the information in the poi clause is intended to completely identify the referents of the sumti that poi is attached to. In other words, out of all the possible things the sumti that poi is attached to could refer to (which, for example, in the case of lo dacti is a great many things indeed) sumti is actually intended by the speaker to refer only to those things that the sumti could refer to for which the bridi in the poi clause is also true. poi is often used with da to restrict da to some part of all the things which exist. Inside a noi clause, ke'a indicates the precise place of the bridi that the sumti is intended to fill, and translates some uses of the English word "it".

Examples of poi Usage

mi djica lo skami tanxe poi cmalu
I want a computer box which is small.

pau re'i pat ta poi zvati le canko cu mo
Question to Pat: that which at the window is what?
Pat: What is that at the window?

abu tavla le mensi ro le cizra se lifri poi do ke'a puzi ca'o tcidu
A (for Alice) talked to the (her) sister about all the strange experiences which you about them have just been reading.

da poi gerku zo'u da vasxu
There exists at least one thing which is a dog; this thing breathes.

Proposed Definition Of voi

voi (NOI)

Descriptive clause. voi is Lojban's non-veridical restrictive relative clause. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. voi immediately follows a sumti and is followed by a full bridi (which means it sometimes must be terminated with ku'o, the NOI selma'o terminator, or vau, the general bridi terminator, particularily if one wishes to add another sumti to the outer bridi). The "restrictive" part means that the information in the voi clause is intended to completely identify the referents of the sumti that voi is attached to. In other words, out of all the possible things the sumti that voi is attached to could refer to (which, for example, in the case of lo dacti is a great many things indeed) sumti is actually intended by the speaker to refer only to those things that the sumti could refer to for which the bridi in the voi clause is also true. The non-veridical part means that the speaker is making no claime that the bridi in the voi clause actually matches objective reality. Inside a noi clause, ke'a indicates the precise place of the bridi that the sumti is intended to fill, and translates some uses of the English word "it".

Examples of voi Usage

ti voi nanmu cu ninmu
This which is (non-veridically) a man is a woman.
The classic example of voi usage, presumably referring to a case of mistaken identity or a transvestite or transgendered individual.

so'e po'o cuxna la cnemokca cedra voi sete pilno le se jmaji
mi xagji .iku'i .oisai ponse no da voi cidja
I am hungry. However, horrors!, posses no thing which is food.
This is presumably intended to handle under-exaggeration; the speaker probably has something that could be eaten. This is a quote from the #lojban IRC channel.

mrilu su'o ciki'o da voi festi mi
Mail, three thousand of them which are waste products of me.
This case, also from the #lojban IRC channel, is probably intended to deal with very loose usage of festi, and is probably intended to mean "Three thousand pieces of spam e-mail".

ganse vasxu le nicte vacri voi ranti
Breathing the night air, which is soft.
Presumably, voi is being used to deal with the fact that ranti probably does not literally apply to air.

.iku'i ro da voi vi selsnu zu'o .ai skicu da fo ledu'u xukau catni
However, all things which are here-at subjects of conversation: it is intended that they will be described as to whether they are official.
This is from the Lojban translation of the lojban.org web site, and the voi is being used to deal with the usage of vi to translate the English "here on this site", when a web site has no physical location.

ge'u (GEhU)

End relative phrase. Elidable terminator: end relative/modal phrases; usually elidable in non-complex phrases.

ku'o (KUhO)

End relative clause. Elidable terminator: end NOI relative clause; always elidable, but preferred in complex clauses.

vu'o (VUhO)

Long scope relative. Joins relative clause/phrase to complete complex or logically connected sumti in afterthought.

goi (GOI)

Pro-sumti assign. Sumti assignment; used to define/assign ko'a/fo'a series pro-sumti; Latin 'sive'.

ne (GOI)

Incidental phrase. Non-restrictive relative phrase marker: which incidentally is associated with ...

no'u (GOI)

Incidental identity. Non-restrictive appositive phrase marker: which incidentally is the same thing as ...

pe (GOI)

Restrictive phrase. Restrictive relative phrase marker: which is associated with ...; loosest associative/possessive.

po (GOI)

Is specific to. Restrictive relative phrase marker: which is specific to ...; normal possessive physical/legal.

po'e (GOI)

Wich belongs to. Restrictive relative phrase marker: which belongs to ... ; inalienable possession.

po'u (GOI)

Restrictive identity. Restrictive appositive phrase marker: which is the same thing as.

zi'e (ZIhE)

Rel clause joiner. Joins relative clauses which apply to the same sumti.

Formal Definitions

(AKA conversion formulas)

noi	PA broda noi brode cu brodi	PA broda ge brode gi brodi
poi + ro	ro broda poi brode cu brodi	ro da poi broda zo'u da ga nai brode gi brodi
poi + su'o	su'o broda poi brode cu brodi	su'o da poi broda zo'u da ge brode gi brodi
voi	PA broda voi brode cu brodi	PA broda poi pe'a broda cu brodi

The pe'a in the voi formula can better be replaced with je'u cu'i in some cases and da'i in others, but I think pe'a is the most common.

Notes

Example of the difference between noi and poi: "ro prenu noi xamgu cu klama" is a monumentally different claim from "ro prenu poi xamgu cu klama". The former is "All people are good, and they go." The latter is "All the good people go". Formally, the former is "ro prenu ge xamgu gi klama", and the latter is "ro da poi prenu zo'u da ga nai brode gi brodi". With su'o, however, they are equivalent.