Lojban Through Dialogues
Lesson 14. Tea Time with Family
Comparisons — nesemau (more than) and tolkargu (cheap, lit. opposite-of-expensive) — plus your first family vocabulary: le speni (spouse).
Opposite-of-expensive is literally cheaper?
tol- is a prefix meaning "the opposite of." It's a systematic way to derive antonyms. tolkargu = not-expensive = cheap. tolmasno = not-slow = fast (another way to say sutra).
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| .au mi te vecnu so'o da | I want to buy several things. |
| do djica lo nu do te vecnu ma | What do you want to buy? |
| mi djica lo nu mi te vecnu lo tcati | I want to buy some tea. |
| ma jdima | What is the price? |
| le meryru'u be li pa pi mu no | 1.50 US dollars. |
| tu'a le meryru'u be li pa pi mu no cu jdima le tcati | 1.50 dollars is the price of the tea. |
| na kargu | Not expensive. |
| le xindo tcati ne semau le merko tcati cu tolkargu | The Indian tea is cheaper than the American tea. |
| ti nesemau tu kargu | This is more expensive than that. |
| do nesemau mi sutra lo ka tavla | You talk faster than I do. |
| le speni be mi ca djica lo nu ri joi mi klama le panka | My spouse now wants the two of us to go to the park. |
| le speni be mi ca djica lo nu ri pinxe lo tcati | My spouse now wants to drink tea. |
| xu le speni be do cu tadni la .lojban. | Does your spouse study Lojban? |
New words
| Lojban | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tcati | tea |
| jdima | price |
| pi | decimal point (for numbers: pa pi mu no = 1.50) |
| tolkargu | cheap (opposite of expensive) |
| nesemau | more than / -er than (comparative) |
| xindo | Hindu / Indian |
| speni | spouse |
| ri | the previous noun (pronoun: "she/he/it" for last mentioned) |
| joi | together with (mass union) |
ri replaces the last mentioned noun. So ri joi mi = "she and I together." That's elegant — no gender, no case.
And joi forms a joint mass — the two act as one unit. Different from .e which lists independently.
Written prompts
Say in Lojban: Tea is not expensive. (le tcati na kargu)
Say in Lojban: What is the price? (ma jdima)
Say in Lojban: Does your spouse study Lojban? (xu le speni be do cu tadni la .lojban.)
Recycle — Lessons 11–13
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| le tcati cu du'enzu kargu ca le cabdei | The tea is too expensive today. |
| .ai mi ba te vecnu lo tcati ca le bavlamdei | I'm going to buy some tea tomorrow. |
| xu do sutra tavla ne semau le speni be do | Do you speak faster than your spouse? |
Say in Lojban: I want to buy cheap tea. (.au mi te vecnu lo tolkargu tcati)