History: Lojban Tutorial: Lesson 2

Source of version: 3 (current)

!LESSON 2: Relationships and places !!Names and relationships In Lesson 1 we looked at ''cmene'', Lojban names. ''cmene'' always label one particular thing. Just as in English, if I say "Mary", I mean one particular person called Mary, no matter how many people there are in the world called Mary, so in Lojban, ''meiris.'' can only refer to one person. This means that ''cmene'' can never stand for classes of things (like "person", "dog" or "computer") or for relationships between things (like "loves", "gives" or "is inside"). Relationships are the key to Lojban, and words describing a relationship are called ''selbri''. A ''selbri'' is not a __type__ of word (like a "verb" in English), it is something that some types of word can __do__. Various types of word can act as ''selbri'', but ''cmene'', as we've seen, can't. The main type of word used as a ''selbri'' is a ''gismu'', or root-word. These are the building blocks of Lojban vocabulary. ''gismu'' are easy to recognise, because they always have five letters, in the form ;CVCCV: or ;CCVCV: (C=consonant; V=vowel). !!!Exercise 1 Which of the following Lojban words are: * (a) ''gismu'' * (b) ''cmene'' * (c) neither? Note: I've left out the full stops in the ''cmene''~--~that would make it too easy! # ''lojban'' # ''dunda'' # ''ankaras'' # ''mi'' # ''cukta'' # ''prenu'' # ''blanu'' # ''ka'e'' # ''dublin'' # ''selbri'' Now we can recognise a ''gismu'', let's see what we can make it do. ''dunda'' means "give", and as a ''selbri'' describes a relationship between a giver, something they give, and someone who receives it. Let's say we have three people, Maria, Claudia and Julia. If we say ''la mari,as. dunda la .iulias. la klaudias.'' we mean that Maria gives Julia to Claudia~--~let's say Julia is a baby, as since the abolition of slavery, we don't normally give people as presents. In English you can "give" someone in marriage, but that's a culture-specific metaphor, and Lojban discourages that kind of thing~--~it's an example of ''malglico'' ("bloody English"), transferring features of English into Lojban which don't work. If, on the other hand, we say ''la .iulias. dunda la mari,as. la klaudias.'' we mean that Maria is the baby, and Julia gives her to Claudia. How do we know this? English uses the word "to" to indicate the receiver, and in some other languages (like Latin or Turkish) the form of the words themselves change. In Lojban, as in logic, we have what is called __place-structure__. Place-structure means that ;''dunda'' doesn't just mean "give", it means:x{SUB()}1{SUB} gives x{SUB()}2{SUB} to x{SUB()}3{SUB} where "x" means someone or something. Even if we just say ''dunda'' on its own, we still mean that someone gives something to someone; we just aren't interested in (or we already know who or what. We can say, then, that ''dunda'' has three "places". We can think of places as slots which we can, if we want, fill with people, objects, events or whatever. These places are called ''sumti'' in Lojban (easy to remember, as it sounds a bit like someone saying "something" and chewing off the end of the word). Again, a ''sumti'' is not a __type__ of word, it is something a word __does__. The simplest Lojban sentence is a ''bridi'', i.e. a ''selbri'' and a bunch of ''sumti''. In other words, ''bridi'' = ''selbri'' + ''sumti '' __Note for logicians and computer programmers:__ for ''selbri'' read "function"; for ''sumti'' read "argument." How many ''sumti'' can a ''selbri'' describe? The number depends on the place structure of the word we use for the ''selbri'' (there are ways of tagging on extra ''sumti'', which we'll cover in later lessons). A ''gismu'' has a set number of places; as we've just seen, ''dunda'' has three. The number of places varies from one to a staggering (and rare) five. Here are some examples. !!!One place ;''ninmu'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a woman (any female humanoid person, not necessarily adult) ;''blabi'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is white / very light-coloured ;''cmila'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} laughs [[not necessarily at someone or something~--~to include the object of the laughter you would use the ''lujvo'' (compound word) ''mi'afra''~--~x{SUB()}1{SUB} laughs at x{SUB()}2{SUB}, a slightly different concept] !!!Two places ;''cipni'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a bird/avian/fowl of species x{SUB()}2{SUB} ;''vofli'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} flies [[in air/atmosphere] using lifting/propulsion means x{SUB()}2{SUB} ;''jungo'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} reflects Chinese [[Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, etc.] culture/nationality/language in aspect x{SUB()}2{SUB} ;''junri'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} (person) is serious/earnest/has gravity about x{SUB()}2{SUB} (event/state/activity) !!!Three places ;''xamgu'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is good/beneficial/acceptable for x{SUB()}2{SUB} by standard x{SUB()}3{SUB} [[This is __very__ Lojbanic~--~the English word "good" on its own is so vague as to be almost meaningless. It is also slightly ''malglico'' to put a person in the x{SUB()}1{SUB} place, which is normally filled by an object, state or event~--~or moral good you would usually use ''vrude''~--~"virtuous"] ;''pritu'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is to the right of x{SUB()}2{SUB} facing x{SUB()}3{SUB} [[remember all those times you have to ask "Is that my right or your right?" in English] ;''cliva'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} leaves x{SUB()}2{SUB} for x{SUB()}3{SUB} by means x{SUB()}4{SUB} ;''kabri'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a cup/glass/tumbler/mug/vessel/[[bowl] containing contents x{SUB()}2{SUB}, and of material x{SUB()}3{SUB} !!!Four places ;''vecnu'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} [[seller] sells/vends x{SUB()}2{SUB} [[goods/service/commodity] to buyer x{SUB()}3{SUB} for amount/cost/expense x{SUB()}4{SUB} ;''tivni [[ tiv ]'':television x{SUB()}1{SUB} [[broadcaster] televises programming x{SUB()}2{SUB} via media/channel x{SUB()}3{SUB} to television receiver x{SUB()}4{SUB} !!!Five places ;''klama'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} goes/comes to x{SUB()}2{SUB} from x{SUB()}3{SUB} via x{SUB()}4{SUB} by means x{SUB()}5{SUB} ;''cukta'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a book about subject/theme/story x{SUB()}2{SUB} by author x{SUB()}3{SUB} for audience x{SUB()}4{SUB} preserved in medium x{SUB()}5{SUB} ;''funva'':x{SUB()}1{SUB} translates x{SUB()}2{SUB} to language x{SUB()}3{SUB} from language x{SUB()}4{SUB} with translation-result x{SUB()}5{SUB} !!Determining place structure If all these places sound a bit daunting, don't worry~--~you don't have to memorise all of them (in fact nobody does). There are a few cases where it's worth learning the place structure to avoid misunderstanding, but usually you can guess place structures using context and a few rules of thumb. # The first place is often the person or thing who ''does'' something or ''is'' something (in Lojban there is no difference between "doing" and "being"). # If there is someone or something that has something done to them he/she/it is usually in the second place. # "to" places nearly always come before "from" places. # Less-used places come towards the end. These tend to be things like "by standard", "by means" or "made of". The general idea is that the places which are most likely to be filled come first. You don't have to use all the available places, and any unfilled places at the end are simply missed out. !!!Exercise 2 Try to guess the place structure of the following ''gismu''. You probably won't get them all, but you should be able to guess the most important ones. Think of what __needs__ to be in the sentence for it to make sense, then add anything you think would be useful. For example, with ''klama'', you need to know who's coming and going, and although you could in theory say "Julie goes," it would be pretty meaningless if you didn't add where she goes to. Where she starts her journey, the route she takes and what transport she uses are progressively less important, so they occupy the third, fourth and fifth places. # ''karce'' - car # ''nelci'' - like # ''cmene'' - name # ''sutra'' - fast # ''crino'' - green # ''sisti'' - stop, cease # ''cmima'' - member # ''barda'' - big # ''cusku'' - say, express # ''tavla'' - talk, chat !!''gismu'' as ''sumti'' So far we've seen how a ''gismu'' can express a relationship between two or more ''cmene'', so we can say things like ;''la bil. nelci la meilis.'':Bill likes Mei Li But if we don't know her name, how can we say "Bill likes the woman"? If we say ''la bil. nelci la ninmu'', we mean that Bill likes someone whose name is "Woman". What we say, in fact, is ''la bil. nelci le ninmu '' What does ''le'' mean here? We translated it into English as "the", but that isn't quite it. The best way to think of it is "the thing(s) I call". ''la'' + ''cmene'' is like a permanent label (Bill is always Bill). ''le'' + ''gismu'' is more like a temporary label~--~I have something in mind, and choose to call it "woman". Probably she really is a woman, but with ''le'' this doesn't have to be so~--~we could be talking about a transvestite or a stone that looks a bit like a woman. There are other articles which can show that it's a real woman, or a typical woman or whatever, but we'll leave those alone for the time being. One more word is sometimes necessary when using ''gismu'' as ''sumti'': ''cu''. This doesn't carry any meaning, but separates the ''selbri'' from whatever comes before it. It's not necessary with ''cmene'', because they can't run over into anything else, but ''le ninmu klama'' doesn't mean "The woman goes"; ''ninmu'' and ''klama'' get run together, with the result that it means "The woman-type-of goer" (maybe a female traveler). What we say instead is ''le ninmu cu klama'' __IMPORTANT!__ ''cu'' does NOT mean "is" (as in "The woman is going"). In fact it doesn't mean anything~--~it's just there to indicate that there's a ''selbri'' coming. You can also use ''cu'' after a ''cmene'', but it isn't usually necessary. Similarly, you don't need ''cu'' after ''mi'' (I / me), ''do'' (you, the person I'm talking to) or any words like this ("pro-sumti", in Lojban jargon). !!!Exercise 3 Add ''cu'' to the following Lojban sentences where necessary, then work out what they mean. # ''la klaudias. dunda le cukta la bil. '' # ''le karci sutra'' # ''la kamIL. cukta'' # ''mi fanva la kaMIL. la lojban'' # ''le prenu sisti'' # ''le ninmu cliva'' # ''la .istanbul. barda'' # ''mi tavla la mari,as. '' # ''la meiris. pritu la meilis. mi'' # ''le cipni vofli '' # ''crino'' # ''ninmu'' !!Changing Places We've seen that if we don't need all the places (and we rarely do), then we can miss out the unnecessary ones at the end of the ''bridi''. We can also miss out the first place if it is obvious (just as in Spanish). However, it sometimes happens that we want places at the end, but not all the ones in the middle. There are a number of ways to get round this problem. One way is to fill the unnecessary places with ''zo'e'', which means "something not important". So ''la suzyn. klama la paris. la berlin. zo'e le karci'' tells us that Susan goes to Paris from Berlin by car, but we're not interested in the route she takes. In fact ''zo'e'' is always implied, even if we don't say it. If someone says ''klama'', what they actually mean is ''zo'e klama zo'e zo'e zo'e zo'e '' but it would be pretty silly to say all that. Most people don't want more than one ''zo'e'' in a sentence (though there's nothing to stop you using as many as you like). A more popular way to play around with places is to use the __place tags__ ''fa, fe, fi, fo'' and ''fu''. These mark a ''sumti'' with a certain place, no matter where it comes in the sentence. For example, ;''la suzyn. klama fu le karce'':Susan goes in the car / Susan goes by car ''fu'' marks ''le karce'' as the fifth place (the means of transport). Without ''fu'', the sentence would mean "Susan goes to the car." With place tags you can also swap places around. For example, ;''fe le cukta cu dunda fi la klaudias.'':The book was given to Claudia. Again, you probably don't want to overdo place tags, or you'll end up counting on your fingers (although they're very popular in Lojban poetry~--~place tags, that is, not fingers). A final way to change places is __conversion__, which actually swaps them round, but we'll leave that for another lesson. There are no rules for which method you use, and you can use them in any way you want, so long as the person you're talking to understands. !!Summary In this lesson we've covered the following points: * The basic ''bridi'' structure. * The difference between ''cmene'' and ''gismu'', and the article ''le''. * The place structure of ''gismu''. * ''cu'' to separate ''selbri'' from ''sumti''. * ''zo'e'' to fill missing ''sumti'' places. * Changing places with place-tags. Although there is a lot more to Lojban sentences than this, you now have the basics of Lojban grammar~--~the rest is just a matter of adding things on to it~--~different articles, tags, times, numbers and so on. !!Answers to exercises !!!Exercise 1 # ''lojban'' - ''cmene'' # ''dunda'' - ''gismu'' (give) # ''.ankaras.'' - ''cmene'' (the capital of Turkey) # ''mi'' - neither, it's a type of ''cmavo'' (structure word) called a "pro-''sumti''", a word that stands in for a ''sumti'', like an English pronoun stands in for a noun # ''cukta'' - ''gismu'' (book) # ''prenu'' - ''gismu'' (person) # ''blanu'' - ''gismu'' (blue) # ''ka'e'' - neither, it's a ''cmavo'' or structure word, meaning "can" # ''dublin.'' - ''cmene'' (the capital of Ireland) # ''selbri'' - neither, it's a ''lujvo'' or compound word !!!Exercise 2 # ''karce''%%%x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a car/automobile/truck/van [[a wheeled motor vehicle] for carrying x{SUB()}2{SUB}, propelled by x{SUB()}3{SUB} # ''nelci''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} is fond of/likes/has a taste for x{SUB()}2{SUB} (object/state) # ''cmene''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} (quoted word(s)) is a/the name/title/tag of x{SUB()}2{SUB} to/used-by namer/name-user x{SUB()}3{SUB} (person) # ''sutra'' x{SUB()}1{SUB} is fast/swift/quick/hastes/rapid at doing/being/bringing about x{SUB()}2{SUB} (event/state) # ''crino''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} is green # ''sisti''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} ceases/stops/halts activity/process/state x{SUB()}2{SUB} [[not necessarily completing it] # ''cmima''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} is a member/element of set x{SUB()}2{SUB}; x{SUB()}1{SUB} belongs to group x{SUB()}2{SUB}; x{SUB()}1{SUB} is amid/among/amongst group x{SUB()}2{SUB} # ''barda''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} is big/large in property/dimension(s) x{SUB()}2{SUB} as compared with standard/norm x{SUB()}3{SUB} # ''cusku''%%% x{SUB()}1{SUB} expresses/says x{SUB()}2{SUB} for audience x{SUB()}3{SUB} via expressive medium x{SUB()}4{SUB} # ''tavla'' x{SUB()}1{SUB}%%%talks/speaks to x{SUB()}2{SUB} about subject x{SUB()}3{SUB} in language x{SUB()}4{SUB} Note the different place structures of ''cusku'' and ''tavla''. With ''cusku'' the emphasis is on communication; what is communicated is more important than who it is communicated to. Quotes in e-mails frequently start with "do cusku di'e" (''di'e'' means "the following") as the Lojban equivalent of "You wrote" (''ciska'' - "write" - places more emphasis on the physical act of writing). With ''tavla'' the emphasis is rather more on the social act of talking~--~you can ''tavla'' about nothing in particular. !!!Exercise 3 # ''la klaudias. dunda le cukta la bil.''%%% Claudia gives the book(s) to Bill. # ''le karce __cu__ sutra''%%%The car(s) is/are fast. # ''la kamIL. cukta''%%%"Camille" is a book. # ''mi fanva la kaMIL. la lojban''%%%I translate "Camille" into Lojban. # ''le prenu __cu__ sisti''%%%The person(s) stop(s) [[whatever it was they were doing] # ''le ninmu __cu__ cliva''%%%The woman/women leave(s) # ''la .istanbul. barda''%%%Istanbul is big. (an understatement~--~it has a population of over ten million) # ''mi tavla la mari,a.''%%%I talk to Maria. # ''la meiris. pritu la meilis. mi''%%%Mary is on the right of Mei Li, if you're facing me. # ''le cipni __cu__ vofli''%%% The bird(s) flies/fly # ''crino''%%% It's / they're green. # ''ninmu''%%% She's a woman / They're women /There's a woman / There are some women In sentences 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9, ''cu'' is possible but not necessary. In the last two sentences, ''cu'' is impossible, since it has to separate the ''selbri'' from the ''sumti'' that comes before it, and there are no ''sumti'' here. Note that I have translated these sentences in the present tense (since in English you have to choose a tense) but they could be in any tense, so ''le cipni cu vofli'' could also mean "The bird flew", for example. We'll look at how Lojban expresses tense in later lessons; just remember that you don't actually __need__ it~--~normally it's obvious whether an action takes place in the past, present or future.