LEARN LOJBAN!

How often have you been confused by what mundanes say to you? In Lojban, you can be as clear as you need to be. Lojban is a language designed for unambiguous communication between people or between a person and a computer. (We’re still working on the computer parts.)

Consider the sentence:

I shot an elephant in my pajamas.

What he was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know, as Groucho says. Of course, the trouble here is that "in my pajamas" refers to your shooting, not to the elephant. But English (as well as other natural languages) doesn't make that clear.

In Lojban, there are two versions of this sentence:

mi cecla catra lo xanto pe ne'i lemi nicte taxfu

I shot- killed (an elephant which is-in my night clothes).

That's the silly one, as opposed to:

mi cecla catra lo xanto ne'i lemi nicte taxfu

I shot- killed (an elephant) being-in my night clothes.

That’s the sensible (but not funny) one. One little word "pe" makes all the difference. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that Lojban has no jokes!

Want to learn more? See our Web site: http://www.lojban.org

Or subscribe to our mailing list (beginners are welcome, we loooooove new blood!) at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lojban

tolsau bangu

That’s “new language” in Lojban, a new and more logical language. (Pronounce it “LOZH-bahn”).

Are you interested in new ways of communicating? Do you feel creatively oppressed by the weight of the English language? Check out Lojban! It began in a single person’s brain, and has now spread to millions of people. (Well, hundreds, anyhow.)

Do you want to write the Great American Novel? Write it in Lojban!

How about epic poetry? Every language needs its founding epic, but Lojban doesn’t have one yet. You could be the Shakespeare of a new language!

Too grandiose for you? How about limericks? Lojban, like English, is very easy to twist into limericks, like this one by Chris Bogart:

mi rau cidjrsuci cu ponse	I have enough sushi.

.i citka ri calenu ponytse	I eat it sitting Japanese-style.

.i cortu le cidni	The pain in my knees

noi na korcu di'i	which are not usually bent

.i badri felenu mi ponsei	makes me sad that I am un-Japanese.

(Say it like this:

Mee ROW* shee-jurr-SOO-shee shoo POHN-seh

Ee SHEET-kah ree SHA-leh-noo POHN-ut-seh

Ee SHOR-too leh SHEED-nee

noy NAH kohr-shoo DEE-hee

Ee BAHD-ree feh-LEH-noo mee POHN-say.

*This word rhymes with how, not with hoe.)

Want to learn more about this new and fascinating language?

Check out our Web site at www.lojban.org, or join the “lojban” mailing list at Yahoo Groups, groups.yahoo.com/group/lojban.

Unknown

2001-07-28T17:40:00

John Cowan