History: ''Gismu'' Agentive And Non-Agentive

As I understand it, the practice of distinguishing between agent (ergative) and non-agent (absolutive), rather than between nonpatient (nominative) and patient (accusative) as is common in Indo-European languages.

For a 'very' brief overview of different case-marking systems, see http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/r.html — part of a rant against Esperanto, but you can ignore that here; this appendix focuses only on cases. Ergative languages use approach (E) in his list.

How do we express this in Lojban? gausmi?

• gernrgativiti --And (mi stidi)

Unfortunately English not always marks this distinction (e.g. "return",
the infamous keyword of xruti)... See Ergativity.

Non-Agentive form & its corresponding Agentive:

cfari begins-----cfagau initiates
denpa pauses-----depygau delays
tolcfa comes to a stop---sisti halts (or dicra interrupts)
sezyxru reverts------xruti restores
cenba varies-----cenbygau or (cnegau) alters
jelca burns------jelgau ignites
snura is secure------bandu protects
masno is slow----snogau retards (or jabre brakes)
muvdu moves------muvgau causes to move
mrobi'o dies-----catra kills
banro develops-------banrygau nurtures
zenba increases------zengau augments
banzu suffices-------bazgau fulfills
culno is full----tisna fills
basti takes the place of--basygau replaces
klama goes--------bevri conveys
bilma is sick-----bilmygau sickens
bredi is ready----redgau prepares
carna turns-------cargau rotates
selcfipu is confused--cfipu confuses
cilre learns-------ctuca teaches
ckeji feels ashamed----kejgau humiliates
kakne is able-------curmi allows
curve is pure------cuvgau purifies
danfu is an answer------dafsku replies (or frati)
drani is correct----dragau rectifies
farlu falls---------falgau drops
fatne is backwards------fatygau reverses
febvi comes to a boil---fabgau boils
porpi comes apart-------popygau breaks
fukpi is a copy-----fukyzba duplicates
gacri is a cover----gairgau covers over
ganlo is closed-----ganlygau closes
gusni illumines-----gusygau illuminates
jdika contracts-----jdikygau decreases
jinru bathes--------jirgau immerses
jorne is joined to------jongau connects
katna cutter--------katnygau cuts
burcu brush---------bruzu'e paints
komcu is a comb-----komzu'e combs
korcu is bent-------krogau bends
krefu repeats-------refygau causes to recur
kunti is empty------kutygau vacates
gapru is above-------lafti lifts
lunbe is bare--------lubgau denudes
manku is dark--------mangau darkens
mapti fits-------matygau matches
muvdu is in motion----muvgau moves
selnupre is a promise-----nupre promises
pagre penetrates------gregau causes to penetrate
panlo is a slice------panlyzba slices
pijne is a pin--------pijnylasna pins
pindi is poor---------pidgau impoverishes
preti is a question-------retsku asks a question (or tese preti)
preja expands---------pejgau spreads
cpana is on (zvati at)----punji puts on/at
punli is a swelling-------pulgau swells
ranji lasts-------ranjygau causes to last (makes lasting)
ranti is soft------rangau softens
ricfu is rich------cfugau enriches
panzi offspring--------rorci procreates
viknu is thick---------viknygau thickens
ruble is weak-------blegau weakens
runme is melting--------rumgau makes melt
runta dissolves------runtygau makes dissolve
sepli is apart-------fendi divides
nenri is within------setca inserts
jbini is between---------setca interposes
spoja explodes-------pojgau blows up
sraku is sharp-------rakygau scratches
sudga is dry---------sudgau dries off
sutra is fast--------sutygau hastens
tcena stretches------tengau extends
terpa fears----------tepygau frightenss
tinsa is stiff-------tensygau stiffens
titla is sweet--------titygau sweetens
tordu is short--------torgau shortens
tsali is strong--------tsagau strengthens
tsapi ia a spice-------tsapygau seasons
vasru contains---------vasygau encloses
vlipa is powerful-------vligau empowers
vreji is a record of--------rejgau records
vrusi is a flavor-------vusyga'e tastes
panci is an odor---------sumne smells
zasti exists---------zbasu creates
zekri is a crime---------zerzukte commits a crime
zifre is free--------zifygau liberates

(There are doubtless others.)

• The place structure of xruti has changed during its history...
  • A note here says (1994) that xruti was to become non-agentive, although it remains agentive on the gismu lists of 9-6-94.
  • I will have to check my notes, but IIRC the non-agentive meaning was changed to the present agentive at about the same time as the Great Rafsi Shift.

• Lojban distinguishes forms of causation...One could extend the foregoing series with each of the others.

• One must also consider the "hidden doers", those with non-x1 agent places:
  • smuni has meaning-------tersmu interprets
  • tatpi is tired------seltatpi tires
  • fengu is angry------selfengu angers
  • torni is twisting-------seltorni twists
  • xalni is panicked-------selxalni terrifies
  • zgike is music------selzgi makes music

That's a very useful list. We shouldn't overlook the usefulness of zil-, though:

zilsti comes to a stop

sisti halts (or dicra interrupts)

zilxru reverts

xruti restores

zilcatra dies

catra kills

zilcfipu is confused

cfipu confuses

--And

• Wouldn't "is killed" be better as a translation than "dies"? That is, there has to be a killer or there isn't really any catraing involved. I'd use mrobi'o (become dead) for just plain dying "without a cause". (And I'm not sure whether consensus was reached on the usage of zil- in this manner. �xu la .andban. lojbo?) --mi'e filip
• It's a reasonable suspicion to have when I say something, but in this instance it's pretty uncontroversial, at least among the jboskepre. (I can't speak for nonjboskpre, since I don't get to hear their relevant views.)