PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN OLD VERSION. The current version is linked from The Complete Lojban Language.
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Relative clauses and descriptors

5. Non-veridical relative clauses: ``voi''

   voi NOI non-veridical relative clause introducer
There is another member of selma'o NOI which serves to introduce a third kind of relative clause: ``voi''. Relative clauses introduced by ``voi'' are restrictive, like those introduced by ``poi''. However, there is a fundamental difference between ``poi'' and ``voi'' relative clauses. A ``poi'' relative clause is said to be veridical, in the same sense that a description using ``lo'' or ``loi'' is: it is essential to the interpretation that the bridi actually be true. For example: 
5.1)  le gerku poi blabi cu klama
    The dog which is-white goes.
it must actually be true that the dog is white, or the sentence constitutes a miscommunication. If there is a white dog and a brown dog, and the speaker uses ``le gerku poi blabi'' to refer to the brown dog, then the listener will not understand correctly. However, 
5.2)  le gerku voi blabi cu klama
    the dog which-I-describe-as white goes
puts the listener on notice that the dog in question may not actually meet objective standards (whatever they are) for being white: only the speaker can say exactly what is meant by the term. In this way, ``voi'' is like ``le''; the speaker's intention determines the meaning.

As a result, the following two sentences

5.3)  le nanmu cu ninmu
    That-which-I-describe-as a-man is-a-woman.
    The ``guy'' is actually a gal.

5.4)   ti voi nanmu cu ninmu
    This-thing which-I-describe-as a-man is-a-woman.
mean essentially the same thing (except that Example 5.5 involves pointing thanks to the use of ``ti'', whereas Example 5.4 doesn't), and neither one is self-contradictory: it is perfectly all right to describe something as a man (although perhaps confusing to the listener) even if it actually is a woman.
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Relative clauses and descriptors