Getting started with Lojban (alpha)

Description sumti

Okay, so now we know how to use prenu as a selbri, and this lets us express sentences such as "I am a person" (mi prenu). But how can we say "I am talking to a person"? For that, we would need prenu to act as a sumti.

This is achieved by using the words lo and ku, as in the following examples.

Sentence	Possible translation
mi tavla lo prenu ku	I am talking to a person.
mi dunda lo mlatu ku do	I give the cat to you.
lo zdani ku pelxu	The house is yellow.
mi tavla lo dunda ku	I am talking to the donor.

You simply place a selbri between these two words, and it takes anything that can fill the x1 of that selbri and turns it into a sumti. So while prenu means "is a person", lo prenu ku means "someone who is a person", or simply a person / the person. Similarly, lo mlatu ku means "something which is a cat", or simply a cat / the cat. And lo dunda ku means "someone who donates/is donating", or a donor / the donor.

It is now time for you to attempt a few more translations. You will need the following definitions:

ctuca x₁ teaches audience x₂ ideas/methods/lore x₃ (du'u) about subject(s) x₄ by method x₅ (event).

nelci x₁ is fond of/likes/has a taste for x₂ (object/state).

gerku x₁ is a dog/canine/[bitch] of species/breed x₂.

melbi x₁ is beautiful/pleasant to x₂ in aspect x₃ (ka) by aesthetic standard x₄.

First, translate the following sentences from Lojban into English:

Sentence	Possible translation
lo gerku ku melbi	The dog is beautiful.
lo ctuca ku nelci lo mlatu ku	The teacher likes cats.
mi dunda lo pelxu ku	I donated something yellow.

Now, translate the following sentences from English into Lojban:

Sentence	Possible translation
You are teaching the dog.	do ctuca lo gerku ku
The cat is beautiful.	lo mlatu ku melbi
I like the teacher.	mi nelci lo ctuca ku

Skipping places

There are several ways to play around with the order of the sumti inside the bridi. The easiest one is by using the words fa, fe, fi, fo and fu.

fa Tags the following sumti as filling x₁.

fe Tags the following sumti as filling x₂.

fi Tags the following sumti as filling x₃.

fo Tags the following sumti as filling x₄.

fu Tags the following sumti as filling x₅.

Notice that the vowels are the five vowels in the Lojban alphabet in order. Using one of these words marks that the next sumti will fill the x₁, x₂, x₃, x₄ and x₅ respectively. The next sumti after that will be presumed to fill a slot one greater than the previous.

To use an example: dunda fa do ti do – Giving by you of this thing to you. fa marks the x1, the giver, which is "you". ti is the thing being given, the x₂, which is "this". Sumti counting then continues, meaning that the last sumti fills x₃, the object receiving.

Sentence	Equivalent sentence	Possible translation
fe mi zdani	zdani mi	Something is a home to me.
mi tavla fi do	mi tavla zo'e do	I was talking about you.
mi fi do tavla	mi tavla zo'e do	I was talking about you.

Reordering sumti

There is another mechanism for reordering sumti, which is also very useful for making description-like sumti (the kind of sumti with lo and ku). Consider the sentence "I ate the gift", which might be appropriate if that gift is an apple. To translate this, it would seem natural to look up a selbri meaning "gift" before continuing. However, if one looks carefully at the definition of dunda, "x₁ gives x₂ to x₃", one realizes that the x₂ of dunda is something given – a gift.

So, to express that sentence, we can't say mi citka lo dunda ku, because lo dunda ku would be the x₁ of dunda, which is the donor of the gift. Cannibalism aside, we don't want to say that. What we want is a way to extract the x₂ of a selbri.

This is one example where it is useful to use the word se. What se does is to modify a selbri such that the x₁ and x₂ of that selbri trade places. The construct se + selbri is considered one selbri on its own.

dunda x₁ gives x₂ to x₃ (without payment).

se dunda x₂ gives x₁ to x₃ (without payment).

se dunda x₁ is given from x₂ to x₃ (without payment).

Let's try with ordinary sentences:

Often, but not always, bridi with se-constructs are translated to sentences in the passive voice, since the x₁ is often the object performing the action.

se has its own family of words. Each of them swap a different place with the x₁.

se	swap x1 and x2
te	swap x1 and x3
ve	swap x1 and x4
xe	swap x1 and x5

Note that s, t, v, and x are consecutive consonants in the Lojban alphabet.

Exercises

Translate the following sentences from Lojban into English:

Sentence	Possible translation
lo se dunda ku melbi	The gift is beautiful.
mi nelci lo xe ctuca ku	I like the teaching method.
lo gerku ku pendo	The dog is friendly.

Now, translate the following sentences from English into Lojban:

Sentence	Possible translation
Cats are liked.	lo mlatu ku se nelci (= nelci lo mlatu ku)
I find the dog beautiful.	mi se melbi lo gerku ku
I taught about dog species.	mi ctuca fo lo se gerku ku

Practice

As usual, before proceeding to the next lesson, get some practice with interactive exercises – look for the "Practice" button nearby!

Beware that exercises loop indefinitely, so feel free to stop once you feel you've had enough. And be sure to revisit exercises on different days, to benefit from the spacing effect.