Getting started with Lojban (alpha)

Simple tanru

In this lesson, you will become familiar with the concept of a tanru. A tanru is formed when a selbri is put in front of another selbri, modifying its meaning. To understand the concept of tanru, consider the noun combination "lemon tree" in English. If you didn't know what a lemon tree was, but had heard about both lemons and trees, you would not be able to deduce what a lemon tree was. Perhaps a lemon-colored tree, or a tree shaped like a lemon, or a tree whose bark tastes like lemon. The only things you could know for sure would be that it would be a tree, and it would be lemon-like in some way.

An example of a Lojbanic tanru would be the expression pelxu zdani, most likely meaning a house painted yellow.

zdani x₁ is a nest/house/lair/den/[home] of/for x₂. (event/state).

pelxu zdani x₁ is a nest/house/lair/den/[home] (which is somehow pelxu-related) of/for x₂. (event/state).

The connection between pelxu and zdani could be any: the houses are somehow related to yellow. Perhaps they are painted in yellow color. Or perhaps the word "yellow" is written on the front door, or perhaps there is a yellow volleyball in its patio. Because the connection can be any, even silly things, there is no precise English equivalent of a tanru. Of course, context is key, and you would never use pelxu zdani to refer to a house containing a yellow volleyball unless you were really, really confident that the listener would pick up the intended meaning.

Take another example:

gerku zdani x₁ is a nest/house/lair/den/[home] (which is somehow gerku-related) of/for x₂. (event/state).

In this example, the house is somehow connected to dogs. Perhaps it is a dog's house. Also, the order of the words is very important:

zdani gerku x₁ is a dog/canine/[bitch] (which is somehow zdani-related) of species/breed x₂. . (event/state).

While gerku zdani is a house, zdani gerku is a dog. What does zdani gerku mean, you ask? Perhaps the dog has the shape of a house. Or perhaps the dog always stays at his (or his owner's) house. It's entirely open to interpretation (and context).

More examples

Let's have a few more examples of tanru:

Since tanru are selbri, they can be converted into sumti with the usual lo..ku construct.

It is also possible to form tanru using reordering with se and friends:

Tanru versus filling sumti places

It is important to realize the difference in meaning between making a tanru and actually filling a sumti place.

Notice how, in the first example, we know for sure that it is a person's house, because "person" actually filled the x₂ sumti place for zdani. In the second example, which uses a tanru, there is no way to be certain: the relation could be any. It could be that this is a person's house. It could be the house has a personality. It could be the house has the shape of a person. It could mean anything, as long as it has to do with person/personality.

In other words, if you are able to fill up the sumti place instead of constructing a tanru, it is generally advisable to do so for increased precision.

Exercises

Your turn. Try to translate the following sentences. Try to use common sense to translate the tanru constructs, but keep in mind that alternative interpretations are perfectly valid as well.

sutra x₁ is fast/swift/quick/hastes/rapid at doing/being/bringing about x2 (event/state).

lojbo x₁ reflects [Loglandic]/Lojbanic language/culture/nationality/community in aspect x₂.

ciska x₁ inscribes/writes x₂ on display/storage medium x₃ with writing implement x₄; x1 is a scribe.

Now, translate the following sentences from English into Lojban:

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.