First Steps in Lojban
Lesson 23. Logical connectives
Before we dive into the deep end, here's a non-logical connective: jo'u. This is what you use when you just want to group two things together like a bundle, meaning "X and Y together."
mi jo'u la .soran. cu klama lo briju be la .xekir. Sora and I (together as a group) go to Xekir’s workplace.
Logical connectives — shape families
|
sumti |
sentence |
tail |
forethought | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A (OR) |
.a |
.ija |
gi'a |
ga … gi … |
|
E (AND) |
.e |
.ije |
gi'e |
ge … gi … |
|
O (IFF) |
.o |
.ijo |
gi'o |
go … gi … |
|
U (whether) |
.u |
.iju |
gi'u |
gu … gi … |
|
question |
ji |
.ije'i |
gi'i |
ge'i … gi … |
The rule of thumb is: use the vowel to pick the logic (AND, OR, etc.), and the consonant/shape to pick what you're connecting.
You can also add na or nai to these connectives to get negative variations like "neither X nor Y" or "X but not Y." You can find full tables for these in the CLL or in most Lojban cheat-sheets.
Sentence connectives .i jV
ti glare .ije ta lenku This is hot and that is cold.
mi citka .ija mi sipna I eat or I sleep.
do citka .ije'i do sipna ― .ijenai Are you eating or sleeping? ― I'm (truly) eating, not sleeping.
Sumti connectives .V
mi cortu lo cutne .e lo stedu My chest and head hurt.
gi'V — bridi-tail connectives (shared front)
mi klama lo zarci gi'e te vecnu lo tsasmani I go to the shop and I buy a gorilla.
Forethought gV … gi …
Exercise
- Rewrite: mi citka .ija mi sipna → ga citka gi sipna, etc. (see full drill in source lesson).
Order note: na placement differs between afterthought and forethought forms — check examples.
True or false
Pick whether each statement is true or false according to the lesson.
Logical connectives are chosen according to what kinds of things are being connected.
The A/E/O/U families differ in meaning.
.ija connects sentences and means “at least one of the connected sentences holds”.
mi .anai do with a forethought connective becomes ganai mi gi do.