History: EinfÃ¼hrungsbroschÃ¼re (de)

Source of version: 3 (current)

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!Lojban - Die Logische Sprache

!''la lojban po'u le logji bangu''

* {ALINK(aname=>einfÃ¼hrung)}EinfÃ¼hrung{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>warum)}Warum wurde Lojban entwickelt?{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>einsatzgebiete)}Andere Einsatzgebiete fÃ¼r Lojban{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>aufbau)}Der Aufbau von Lojban{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>zustand)}Momentaner Zustand und Nutzung{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>eindeutigkeit)}Lojbans Eindeutigkeit{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>sapirwhorf)}Lojban und Sapir-Whorf{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>linguistisch)}Andere linguistische Anwendungen{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>international)}Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>grÃ¼nde)}Einige GrÃ¼nde, Lojban __jetzt__ zu lernen{ALINK}
* {ALINK(aname=>wie)}Wie man Lojban lernt{ALINK}
* ((Contact US|In Kontakt treten))

!!Introduction{ANAME()}einfÃ¼hrung{ANAME}

__Lojban__ (/LOHsch-bahn/)
ist eine Plansprache. Anfangs wurde sie â€ž__Lojban__â€œ vom ProjektgrÃ¼nder __Dr. James Cooke Brown__ genannt, der die Entwicklung der Sprache in __1955__ anfing. Die Ziele der Sprache wurden im Artikel â€žLojbanâ€ im ''Scientific American, Juni, 1960'' beschrieben. Loglan/Lojban wurde Ã¼ber fÃ¼nf Jahrzehnte von dutzenden Projektmitarbeitern und hunderten UnterstÃ¼tzern entwickelt, die seit __1987__ von der __Logical Language Group__ geleitet werden.

Es gibt viele kÃ¼nstliche Sprachen, aber Loglan/Lojban hat einige Eigenschaften, die es einzigartig machen. Das sind die Haupteigenschaften von Lojban:

* Lojban wurde entwickelt, um von Leuten zur __VerstÃ¤ndigung__ untereinander, und in der Zukunft mit Computern benutzt, zu werden.
* Lojban wurde dafÃ¼r ausgelegt, __kulturell neutral__ zu sein.
* Lojban hat eine __eindeutige Grammatik__, die auf den __Prinzipien der Logik__ beruht.
* Lojban erlaubt eine __eindeutige Zuweisung__ von Worten zu deren Aussprache und umgekehrt.
* Lojban ist im vergleich zu natÃ¼rlichen Sprachen __simpel__; es zu lernen ist leicht.
* Lojbans __1300 GrundwÃ¶rter__ kÃ¶nnen leicht zu einem Wortschatz von __millionen Worten__ kombiniert werden.
* Lojban ist regelmÃ¤ÃŸig; die Regeln der Sprache sind __frei von Ausnahmen__.
* Lojban versucht __BeschrÃ¤nkungen zu entfernen__, um kreative und klare Gedanken und Kommunikation zu erleichtern.
* Lojban hat einen __Menge EinsatzmÃ¶glichkeiten__, die vom Kreativen zum Wissenschaftlichen und vom Theoretischen zum Praktischen reichen.

!!Warum wurde Lojban entwickelt?{ANAME()}warum{ANAME}

Lojban wurde anfangs entwickelt, um ein Konzept, das unter dem Namen __Sapir-Whorf__ Hypothese bekannt ist: â€žDie Struktur einer Sprache begrenzt die Gedanken der Leute, die diese Sprache benutzenâ€œ. Lojban hat die selbe Ausdruckskraft wie natÃ¼rliche Sprachen, aber die Struktur unterscheidet sich enorm von anderen Sprachen. Das erlaubt es, Lojban als Werkzeug zu benutzen, um die Beziehungen von Sprache, Gedanken und Kultur wissenschaftlich zu erforschen.

!!Andere Einsatzgebiete fÃ¼r Lojban{ANAME()}einsatzgebiete{ANAME}

Lojban wurde als Menschensprache, nicht als Computersprache entwickelt. Darum ist es fÃ¼r den Einsatz zum Schreiben, Lesen, Sprechen und Denken gedacht. Da Lojban allerdings von einem Computer sehr viel leichter verarbeitet werden kann als natÃ¼rliche Sprachen, ist die Nutzung von Lojban fÃ¼r Computer ein logischer nÃ¤chster Schritt. Durch die eindeutige Grammatik und die simple Struktur kann Lojban von Computern leicht verstander werden, was dazu fÃ¼hrt, dass EinsÃ¤tze fur Computer-Mensch-Interaktion und Konversation in der Zukunft denkbar sind. Der Einsatz von PrÃ¤dikatlogik in Lojban Ã¤hnelt dem in dem Feld der KÃ¼nstlichen Intelligenz. Deshalb ist es denkbar, dass Lojban sich sehr fÃ¼r solche EinsatzmÃ¶glichkeiten eignet. Linguisten interessieren sich fÃ¼r Lojbans Eignung als Zwischensprache fÃ¼r ComputerÃ¼bersetzung. Andere Menschen interessieren sich fÃ¼r Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache.

!!Der Aufbau von Lojban{ANAME()}aufbau{ANAME}

Lojban's character set uses only standard keyboard keys;
capitalization is rare; punctuation is spoken as words. Written language
corresponds exactly to the sounds of the spoken language; spelling is
phonetic and unambiguous, and the flowing sounds of the language break
down uniquely into words. These features make computer speech
recognition and transcription more practical. Learning to write and
spell Lojban is trivial.

Lojban's predicate grammar was derived
from that of formal logic. Lojban sentences are stated as sets of
arguments tied together by predicates. These predicate structures can be
used to express 'non-logical' thought; logicians are able to analyze all
manner of verbal expressions by converting them into predicate notation.
But while Lojban will already be expressed in a predicate-based system,
allowing easy logical analysis, it also contains the wide variety of
elements found in natural language for expression of attitudes,
emotions, and rich metaphor.

Lojban has none of the standard
parts of speech. Lojban's 'predicate words' can serve as the equivalent
of a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Action and existence are equally
accessible to a speaker; the distinction can be ignored, or can be
explicitly expressed. A variety of operators deal with abstractions such
as events, states, properties, amounts, ideas, experience, and truth,
and with at least four pre-defined varieties of causality.

Lojban
has no mandatory inflections and declensions on nouns, verbs, and
adjectives. Natural languages evolved such variations to reduce
ambiguity as to how words are related in a sentence. Evolutionary
development made these inflections and declensions highly irregular and
thus difficult to learn. The simple but flexible predicate relationship
erases both the irregularity and the declensions.

Tense and
location markers (inflections), adverbs, and prepositions are combined
into one part of speech. New preposition-like forms can be built at will
from predicates; these allow the user to expand upon a sentence by
attaching and relating clauses not normally implied in the meaning of a
word.

Numbers and quantifiers are conceptually expanded from
natural languages. "Many", "enough", "too
much", "a few", and "at least" are among
concepts that are expressed as numbers in Lojban. Core concepts of
logic, mathematics, and science are built into the root vocabulary. On
top of the core concepts of predicate logic, Lojban adds in non-logical
constructs that do not affect or obscure the logical structure, allowing
communications that are not amenable to logical analysis. For example,
Lojban has a full set of emotional indicators, similar to such
ejaculations in English as "Oh!", "Aha!", and
"Wheee!", except that each has a specific meaning. Similarly,
Lojban has indicators of the speaker's relationship to what is said,
similar to those found in some American Indian languages.

Lojban
supports metalinguistic discussion about the sentences being spoken
while remaining unambiguous. Lojban also supports a 'tense' logic that
allows extreme specificity of time and space relationships, even those
implied by time travel. Lojban's grammar is designed to support
unambiguous statement of mathematical expressions and relations in a
manner compatible both with international usage and Lojban's
non-mathematical grammar.

Lojban is much simpler than natural
languages. Its grammar is comparable in complexity with the current
generation of computer languages (such as ADA). Lojban's pronunciation,
spelling, word formation, and grammar rules are fixed, and the language
is free of exceptions to these rules.

!!Aktueller Zustand und Nutzung{ANAME()}zustand{ANAME}

The language, then
called __Loglan__, was first described in the 1950's, by Dr. James
Cooke Brown. The 1960 Scientific American article "Loglan" was
his call for assistance in developing the language. A revolution in
linguistics was simultaneously taking place; the resulting increase in
knowledge of the nature of language changed the requirements for Loglan.
The first widely distributed Loglan dictionary and language description
did not appear until 1975; this description was incomplete, and
continued development work discouraged learning the language. Computers
caught up with Loglan just then, making it possible to refine the
grammar, eliminate ambiguity and mathematically prove its absence; this
work has just been completed. For over 35 years, this work has been
performed by volunteers, and without financial support. Now, after
several versions of the language, people are learning and using the
current version, which is the first called __Lojban__ (from
the roots "logical-language" in Lojban).

This version is the first version with a stable vocabulary, and the
first to have a stable and completely defined grammar (the grammar of
mathematical expressions, for example, was not developed until 1990).
The basic Lojban vocabulary was baselined (stabilized against change) in
the last half of 1988, and the grammar similarly stabilized in
late-1990, after completion of the first Lojban courses, actual usage of
the language, and several iterations of careful analysis. The full
language design was baselined in 1997, and no changes will even be
considered until 5 years after the set of books describing the language
is published (thus at least 2005). Thus, while the language was first
started 35 years ago, Loglan/Lojban is a very new language.

To ensure Lojban remains stable while people learn it, the language
definition is prescribed and closely controlled. When the number of
speakers has grown significantly, and a Lojban literature has developed,
Lojban will be treated like a natural language and allowed to grow and
flourish without constraint, as do other natural languages.

Original text and poetry have been written in Lojban, and some has
been translated into the language. Lojban's powerful metaphor structure
allows building new concepts into words easily, as needed. A Lojban
speaker doesn't need a dictionary to use and understand millions of
words that can potentially exist in the language.

As of 1997, there are about 1200 people on our mailing lists,
including about 300 listed as actively trying to learn the language.
Over 100 of these have
demonstrated communicative ability to use the language in conversation,
translation, or original writing, and one person is sufficiently skilled
to be considered fluent in the language. Several of these regularly get
together in the Washington DC area for conversation, and an annual
meeting/mini-convention is held there every summer. This progress is
remarkable since there is no dictionary for the current language, and a
textbook exists only in partial draft form; people use the language
reference manual as a learning source, and we've evolved methods of
teaching the language at a distance that overcome this handicap.

!!Lojbans Eindeutigkeit{ANAME()}eindeutigkeit{ANAME}

Lojban
has an unambiguous grammar (proven by computer analysis of a formal
grammar with YACC), pronunciation, and morphology (word forms). The
person who reads or hears a Lojban sentence is never in doubt as to what
words it contains or what roles they play in the sentence. Lojban has no
words that sound alike but have different meanings (like
"herd" and "heard"), that have multiple unrelated
meanings ("set"), or that differ only in punctuation but not
in sound (like the abominable "its" and "it's").
There is never any doubt about where words begin and end ("cargo
shipment" can be heard as 2, 3, or 4 words). The function of each
word is clear; there is nothing like the English "Time flies like
an arrow.", in which any of the first three words could be the
verb. Precision in no way confines the meaning of a Lojban sentence. It
is possible to speak nonsense, to tell a lie, or to be misunderstood.
You can be very specific, or you can be intentionally vague. Your hearer
may not understand what you meant, but will always understand what you
said.

Lojban is NOT entirely unambiguous; human beings
occasionally desire to be ambiguous in their expressions. In Lojban,
this ambiguity is limited to semantics, metaphor, and intentional
omission of information (ellipsis). Semantic ambiguity in language
results because words in natural languages represent families of
concepts rather than individual meanings, often with only weak semantic
relationships to each other. In addition, each individual's personal
experiences provide emotional connotations to words. By providing a
fresh, culturally-neutral start, Lojban attempts to minimize the
transference of these associations as people learn the language. By
intention, most Lojban words do not closely resemble corresponding words
in other languages; the differences aid in making this fresh start
possible. Lojban's powerful metaphor and word-building features make it
easy to make fine distinctions between concepts, discouraging individual
words from having families of meanings. Lojban metaphors are themselves
ambiguous, specifying a relationship between concepts, but not what the
relationship is. That relationship can be made explicit using
unambiguous logical constructs if necessary, or can be left vague as the
speaker (usually) desires. Similarly, portions of the logical structure
of a Lojban expression can be omitted, greatly simplifying the
expression while causing some ambiguity. Unlike in the natural
languages, though, this ambiguity is readily identified by a reader or
listener. Thus all ambiguity in Lojban is constrained and recognizable,
and can be clarified as necessary by further interaction.

!!Lojban und Sapir-Whorf{ANAME()}sapirwhorf{ANAME}

This hypothesis
states that the structure of a language constrains thought in that
language, and constrains and influences the culture that uses it. In
other words, if concepts or structural patterns are difficult to express
in a language, the society and culture using the language will tend to
avoid them. Individuals might overcome this barrier, but the society as
a whole will not. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is important, and
controversial; it can be used as a sociological argument to justify or
to oppose racism and sexism (and a variety of other 'isms'). For
example, the assertion that since genderless expressions in English use
'masculine' forms, English is 'sexist', presumes the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis is true. Understanding the potential for Sapir-Whorf effects
could lead to better inter-cultural understanding, promoting
communication and peace.

It is known that people's ideas and
thought change somewhat when they learn a foreign language. It is not
known whether this change is due to exposure to a different culture or
even just getting outside of ones own culture. It is also not known how
much (if any) of the change is due to the nature of the language, as
opposed to the cultural associations.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
was important in linguistics in the 1950's, but interest fell off
partially because properly testing it was so difficult. Loglan/Lojban is
a new approach to such testing. Obviously, if a culture-independent
language could be taught to groups of people, the effects of language
could more easily be separated from those of culture.

Unique
features of Lojban remove constraints on language in the areas of logic,
ambiguity, and expressive power, opening up areas of thought that have
not been easily accessible by human language before. Meanwhile, the
formal rigidity of the language definition allows speakers to carefully
control their expressions (and perhaps therefore their thought
processes). This gives some measure of predictive power that can be used
in designing and preparing for actual Sapir-Whorf experiments.

One of the prerequisites of a Sapir-Whorf experiment is an
international body of Lojban speakers. We need to be able to teach
Lojban to subjects who know only their native (non-English) tongue, and
we need to know in advance the difficulties that people from each
language and culture will have in learning Lojban. Thus, the Lojban
community is actively reaching out to speakers of languages other than
English.

Lojban does not need to prove or disprove the
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in order to be successful. However, if evidence
is produced supporting the Sapir-Whorf effect, Lojban will likely be
perceived as an outstanding tool of analytical and creative thought.

!!Andere linguistische Anwendungen{ANAME()}linguistisch{ANAME}

An
artificial language is a simple model of a natural language. It is used
for communication like natural languages, simpler, more regular, and
relatively uncontaminated by culture effects. Unlike most natural
languages, an AL has not evolved through natural processes of internal
change or contact with other languages. In addition, to the extent to
which details of an AL is pre-defined, the internal structure of the
language is far better known than that of any natural language.

Such a pre-definition, a language 'prescription', makes an AL a
unique tool for studying the nature of language. As people learn the
language, the way they 'acquire' understanding of that prescription can
tell scientists how 'natural' the prescribed forms are. Actual usage of
the language can be compared to the prescription providing quantitative
data on specific patterns of usage. As the language evolves from its
relatively pristine initial state, it may deviate from its prescription.
Such deviations will better inform researchers as to the properties of a
'natural' language. The process of language change itself will be open
to investigation in a way never before possible. Finally, the existence
of a relatively complete language prescription at the birth of the
language means that a 'description' of actual usage after that initial
state can be more simply created, maintained, and studied.

Lojban
is undoubtedly the most carefully designed and defined AL ever created.
All aspects of its design have been carefully engineered by several
people encompassing expertise in a variety of disciplines, including
linguistics. The language prescription is similarly the most complete of
any language. As such, it serves as a unique basis for the study of
language usage and language change.

A new language like Lojban,
with no native speakers, is a 'pidgin'. As the language evolves, native
speakers of other languages will learn it, and will bring into their
Lojban usage the perspective and patterns of their native language. This
interaction process, called 'creolization', affects all languages, and
may be the principle cause of language change. As Lojban is learned by
speakers of a variety of natural languages, this process can be studied
directly in a way never before possible, with the language prescription
serving as a standard by which deviations associated with speaker ori-
gin, and evolution of usage, can be measured and described in
detail.

An AL like Lojban has neither an associated 'native
accent' nor a culture base. Being much simpler and more regular than a
natural language, an adult speaker should acquire a fluency seldom
achieved when studying a natural language, and in a relatively short
time. Lojban thus makes possible relatively short-term studies of
language learning and language change. Processes that take generations
in natural languages may be observed in a few years in Lojban
speakers.

With the learning of other languages acquiring critical
importance in today's international economy, Lojban provides a tool for
research in language acquisition. Again, Lojban's simplicity allows the
results of such research to be obtained more quickly than in similar
studies of natural language acquisition.

No claim is made that
studying Lojban will tell 'all' about language. Lojban, at least for
several decades, will only be a 'model' of a language, whose
'naturalness' will be suspect. However, to the extent that Lojban serves
the communicative and expressive functions of human language, any theory
about the nature of human language must apply to Lojban. Language
features and processes more easily identified in studying Lojban can
then be confirmed in natural languages. Similarly, theories of the
nature of language can be tested and refined against this simpler model
of a language before facing the more difficult and time-consuming
testing and analysis involved in natural language research.

Because Lojban is relatively culture-free, and because of its
prescribed structure that is consistent with predicate logic, Lojban is
an ideal medium for the analysis and description of other languages.
Currently, features in language must be compared against other natural
languages, and are usually described in scientific literature by glossed
translation into English. Lojban is simple and regular enough to be
acquired as a metalanguage for describing other languages; its
structures allow clearer reflection of the patterns of the language
being described, without interference from the competing patterns of
English.

Finally, Lojban's predicate grammar, makes it eminently
suited for ongoing computer research into natural languages. Lojban can
be used for parsing and analysis, as an internal medium of data storage,
or as an intermediate language for machine translation. Having a
combination of logical and natural language structures, Lojban combines
the best of both major structural approaches to language processing in
computers.

The exercise of trying to invent a language can teach
us things about language that probably can't be learned in any other
way. Even if Lojban should fail as a language, we will learn. However,
to the extent Lojban succeeds, its potential as a basis for testing
ideas about language, its structure, and usage, is unlimited. The
invention of Lojban is the invention of the science of experimental
linguistics.

!!Lojban als internationale Hilfssprache{ANAME()}international{ANAME}

Lojban may be the first artificial
language NOT in direct competition with Esperanto, in that Lojban's
potential success is not dependent on its immediate practical use as an
international language. Indeed, we use Esperanto as one means of rapidly
spreading information about Lojban to non-English speakers, speeding a
process that would take decades using direct translation to all target
languages. Lojban has proven attractive to Esperantists interested in
acquiring a new perspective on their own international language; these
feel less threatened because Lojban has different goals. Lojban's
supporters recognize that it will take decades for Lojban to acquire
both the number and variety of speakers and the extensive history of
usage that marks Esperanto culture. Meanwhile, each language community
has much to learn from each other; this process has started and is most
active.

!!Einige GrÃ¼nde, Lojban __jetzt__ zu lernen{ANAME()}grÃ¼nde{ANAME}

Those working with the language now are actively consulted
for their opinions on how to teach and spread the language. People who
write in the language are contributing to the growth of the lexicon, and
establishing the conventions and idioms that will guide language use in
future years. People who are especially active have joined the project
leadership within a few months of becoming involved.

Those with a computer background can lead development of the first
computer applications for the language. Expertise in the language will
no doubt be valuable as Lojban becomes recognized as a useful tool for
computer applications by the computer industry. Computer-oriented
Lojbanists can also aid in developing computer-aided instruction tools
or converting existing software to run on new computers.

Regardless of background, learning Lojban is a mind-expanding
experience. Learning any language other than your native tongue broadens
your perspectives and allows you to transcend the limited viewpoints of
your native language culture. Lojban, being much simpler to learn than
natural languages, provides this benefit much more quickly than does the
study of other languages. Being so strongly different, the intensity of
the effect seems to be heightened. When Lojbanists talk about language,
the discussion has been observed to be more sophisticated as well as
qualitatively different from the talk of students of second natural
languages.

The logical organization embedded in Lojban aids in organizing and
clarifying thoughts. Having done so, your new perspective on language,
ambiguity, and communication will allow you to express those thoughts
more clearly, even when you use an ambiguous natural language.

A relatively short study of Lojban by high school (or younger)
students has been proposed, providing the linguistic understanding that
was once associated with studying Latin and other languages for much
longer periods of time. Such study can be tied in with concepts of
logic, and possibly with computer-related activities, helping to show
the essential interrelated nature of language and other human
endeavor.

You needn't learn Lojban for any practical purpose, however. Many of
those learning Lojban are doing so because it is fun. Learning Lojban is
intellectually stimulating, and provides human interaction and mental
challenge. Lojban has all the benefits of games designed for
entertainment, with the added prospect of developing useful skills as a
side benefit. Learning Lojban as an 'intellectual toy' means that you
can get enjoyment from learning Lojban without nearly the effort needed
to benefit from studying other languages. While becoming fluent in
Lojban will probably take hundreds of hours over several months, you can
feel some sense of accomplishment in the language after just a few hours
of study. You can use Lojban immediately for fun, while gaining skill
with greater experience.

!!Wie man Lojban lernt{ANAME()}wie{ANAME}

Write to [http://www.lojban.org/llg/contact.html|The Logical Language Group, Inc.],
and we will be happy to provide information, though our
collected Web and file archives contain all information that we have in
distributable form. For printed matter, we request a contribution of $5
to cover the costs of introductory materials (including a copy of this
essay), but will send this package on speculation. Additional materials
available total hundreds of pages, which are priced approximately at our
costs; we are a non-profit educational/scientific organization. ((Contact Us))
us regarding international payment; we offer several options. A limited
policy exists for providing materials to people who cannot afford
payment.

We encourage new people to concentrate on vocabulary. Almost any use
of Lojban requires some mastery of the basic vocabulary (1000-2000
words). You can learn enough Lojban grammar to support conversation in
just a couple of hours, but face many hours of vocabulary work in order
to effectively use that grammar. We distribute flash cards and have
developed flash card techniques that are extremely efficient in learning
vocabulary. These techniques have been automated into
computer-aided-teaching programs sold and distributed as Shareware under
the name "LogFlash", with MS-DOS and MacIntosh versions
currently available.

You can learn the Lojban grammar in several ways, including study of
examples in the quarterly journal __''ju'i lobypli''__ or by inspection
and analysis of YACC and E-BNF formal grammar descriptions. There is now
a published language reference,[http://www.lojban.org/publications/cll.html| The Complete Lojban
Language], by John Cowan. Draft lesson materials (about 180 pages)
are the best materials available for self-study. A Lojban text-book is
being written to reflect what is learned from the first learning
efforts, and is being designed so that it can be used for
self-instruction, classroom teaching, or group study. A formal 'Lojban
dictionary' will replace most of the existing word lists and language
description materials, and is being worked on, but present materials
contain the equivalent of a basic dictionary.

After the dictionary and textbook have been published the Lojban
language definition will be baselined (frozen) for a minimum of 5 years,
and Lojban will thereafter be solely controlled by speakers of the
language.
History: EinfÃ¼hrungsbroschÃ¼re (de)

Source of version: 3 (current)

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