First Steps in Lojban
Lesson 4. Basic sentence structure
First the sounds, then the word types... Alright, Koshon, lay that Lojban grammar on me! I'm ready for the "Super Grammar"!
Let's start with basic statements. Think of a sentence as saying:
Who or what / does what / is like what / to whom / where...
Basically, you have "the thing we're talking about" and "what we're saying about it."
Makes sense. Like "I eat this"—I and this are the "things," and eat is the "doing."
Exactly. Borrowing terms from logic, we call the "doing/being" part the predicate (selbri), and the terms that fill its roles arguments. In Lojban those argument terms are sumti; the numbered roles x1, x2, … are terbricmi, and their ordered sequence is the terbri (place structure). A full claim is a bridi.
Exercise
- In each English sentence, pick out the predicate and its arguments (in Lojban terms: the selbri and the sumti):
- That bird is blue.
- The man is drinking at the bar.
- This person is a woman.
Let me see... A bridi is built from a selbri and the list of terbricmi (slots) that are fulled with sumti. The selbri is the is/does part, and the sumti are the who/what terms going into those slots. Right?
Spot on.
Okay, next.
Every Lojban predicate has a terbri—an ordered list of terbricmi (place slots) labeled x1, x2, x3, ...:
- x1 is / does ...
- x1 does x2 ...
- x1 is x2-ish to x3 ...
- and so on.
Think of x1, x2, etc. as numbered "holes" (terbricmi) that you plug sumti into.
To make a sentence, just put the sumti in their numbered order and tuck the selbri in the middle. Simple, right?
Like:
(sumti for x1) [selbri] (sumti for x2) (sumti for x3) …
Wait, where exactly does the selbri go?
Strictly speaking, the selbri can go almost anywhere—but most people put it between the sumti for x1 and the sumti for x2, much like English SVO (Subject-Verb-Object).
That feels pretty natural.
Right — a familiar default. Here are some sumti you can use already:
- mi
- I / me
- do
- you
- zo'e
- something unspecified / “whatever”
- ti
- this
- ta
- that (near you)
- tu
- that (yonder)
- ra
- he / she / it / they (in context)
Some predicates:
- ninmu
- x1 is a woman
- citka
- x1 eats x2
- zunle
- x1 is to the left of x2 from viewpoint x3
- sanli
- x1 stands on x2 using legs/support x3
- nelci
- x1 likes x2
Exercise
- Translate into Lojban:
- I am a woman.
- You eat this.
- She is to the left of that (from my perspective).
- He stands there (with some legs/support).
- I like you.
So, line up the sumti, tuck in the selbri...
- mi ninmu
- do citka ti
- ra zunle tu mi
- ra sanli tu zo'e
- mi nelci do
Perfect! We're taking it slow with the vocabulary, but you've already mastered the basic sentence structure.
Honestly, this might even be simpler than English for things like "they're to my left of that."
Ready to put it into practice? Let's take a little field trip—there's a town I've been wanting to show you...
Ooh, an outing! Lead the way!
True or false
Pick whether each statement is true or false according to the lesson.
A Lojban sentence is built from sumti and selbri.
A bridi may not contain two or more sumti.
The usual order is: first sumti — selbri — second sumti (and more sumti after, as needed).
Roughly, mi means “I/me” and do means “you” in that order.