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. The "clause" part means that it 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. The "clause" part means that it 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) the 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. The "clause" part means that it 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) the 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 zo'u .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. The original had zu'o instead of zo'u, which I have corrected.

Proposed Definition for ne

ne (GOI)

Incidental phrase. ne is Lojban's non-restrictive relative phrase marker. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. ne immediately follows a sumti. The "phrase" part means that it is followed by another sumti. The meaning of ne is that the attached sumti is relevant to or associated with the first sumti in some way. The "non-restrictive" part means that the information in the ne phrase is not sufficient to completely identify the referents of the sumti that ne is attached to. In other words, the ne sumti is associated with the sumti ne 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 ne is attached to could refer to. Generally, ne is only used when the referents of the sumti have already been explained, or are obvious, and the speaker wishes to give additional information. ne is often used for the loosest form of possession, such as that between a person and the chair they happen to be sitting in at the moment, but can be used for any form of association at all. It is essentially equivalent to noi srana.

Examples of ne Usage

le blabi gerku ne mi cu batci do
The white dog, which incidentally is associated with me, bit you.
This need not be "my" dog in the English sense, but could be the dog I'm walking for a friend, or the dog closest to me, or whatever.

le nuntra be la uiliam ca le nu cfari cu fadni i ku'i le nuntolclite be lai norman ne ubu
The behaviour of William during the beginning is ordinary. However the rudeness of Norman, which incidentally is associated with him (William).

ti'e ko'a ne li 2.6 cu mutce sutra
By the way it, which has something to do with the number 2.6, is very fast.

Proposed Definition for pe

pe (GOI)

Restrictive phrase. pe is Lojban's non-restrictive relative phrase marker. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. pe immediately follows a sumti. The "phrase" part means that it is followed by another sumti. The meaning of pe is that the attached sumti is relevant to or associated with the first sumti in some way. The "restrictive" part means that the information in the pe sumti is intended to completely identify the referents of the sumti that pe is attached to. In other words, out of all the possible things the sumti that pe is attached to could refer to (which, for example, in the case of lo dacti is a great many things indeed) the sumti is actually intended by the speaker to refer only to those things that the sumti could refer to which are associated with the sumti marked by pe. pe is often used for the loosest form of possession, such as that between a person and the chair they happen to be sitting in at the moment, but can be used for any form of association at all. It is essentially equivalent to poi srana.

Examples of pe Usage

le kabri pe le mi pendo cu cmalu
My friend's cup is small.
Presumably the friend does not own the cup, but is merely holding it, or something similar.

le mi pendo pe le kabri cu cmalu
The cup's my friend is small.
My friend which is associated with the cup is small.
This illustrates one of the non-English-like ways pe can operate.

le lisri pe mi cu clani je se badri
The story associated with me is long and sad.

le gerku pe le mi pendu cu prami lo cakla
The dog of my fiend loves chocolate.
It is likely that po, which indicates stronger possession, was wanted here.

Proposed definition for no'u

no'u (GOI)

Incidental identity. no'u is Lojban's non-restrictive appositive phrase marker. The "relative" part means that it attaches to a sumti to provide additional information about that sumti. no'u immediately follows a sumti. The "phrase" part means that it is followed by another sumti. The meaning of no'u is that the attached sumti is absolutely identical to the first sumti, which is what the "appositive" part means. The "non-restrictive" part means that the information in the no'u phrase is not necessarily sufficient to completely identify the referents of the sumti that no'u is attached to, although in the case of no'u in particular it usually is. In other words, the no'u sumti is associated with the sumti no'u 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 no'u is attached to could refer to. Generally, no'u is only used when the referents of the sumti have already been explained, or are obvious, and the speaker wishes to give additional information. It exactly equates two sumti, and is often used to mention names of things in passing. It is essentially equivalent to ''noi du".

Examples of no'u Usage

le nanmu no'u la djim. cu terpemci
The man, who incidentially is Jim, is a poet.

.au mi ka'e jarco le mi'a mlatu no'u la dinas do
Desire. I could show you our cat, Dina.

mi ba stidi so'u cnino gismu no'u zo nagra e zo narga e zo ranga e zo ragna
I will suggest several new gismu: nagra, narga, ranga, and ragna.

po'u (GOI)

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

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.

goi (GOI)

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

vu'o (VUhO)

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

zi'e (ZIhE)

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

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.

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
ne	PA1 broda ne PA2 brode	PA1 broda noi ke'a srana PA2 brode
pe	PA1 broda pe PA2 brode	PA1 broda poi ke'a srana PA2 brode
no'u	PA1 broda no'u PA2 brode	PA1 broda noi ke'a du PA2 brode
po'u	PA1 broda po'u PA2 brode	PA1 broda poi ke'a du PA2 brode
po	PA1 broda po PA2 brode	PA1 broda poi ke'a se steci srana PA2 brode
po'e	PA1 broda po'e PA2 brode	PA1 broda poi ke'a jinzi ke se steci srana PA2 brode

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

• Many of these definitions are substantially similar. Please bear in mind that they will normally be used in isolation.

• 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.

• voi is pretty amazingly useless. This is borne out by the amount of usage it has seen: I have collected above, as far as I can tell, more than 80% of the extant usages of it. ne is, if anything, worse.

• I don't know who cares that goi is Latin 'sive', but I'm sure it's not me.

• How in the bloody blue blazes can you have a non-restrictive identity? Both halves of an identity must, definitionally, identify the target, which makes them restrictive! Alternatively, if "restrictive" means "further restricting some group", you can't have a restrictive identity, because you can't further restrict a unique identification! In either case, one of no'u or po'u is an absolutely waste.