gismu

Gismu

 
Gismu can be thought of as root words. They are always exactly five letters long, taking the form of either CVCCV or CCVCV (C = consonant, V = vowel).

Example 1.1 : gismu forms word form gloss bajra CVCCV to run stuzi CCVCC location

 
In a Lojban sentence, gismu generally appear as either a predicate (bridi, something like an adjective or verb), or as an argument (sumti, something like a subject or an object). There is no single part of speech that gismu correspond to in English.

Example 1.2 : parts of speech word gloss English part of speech bajra to run transitive verb stuzi location common noun

 
Many gismu have one or more three-letter abbreviations (rafsi) for forming compound words (lujvo).

Example 1.3 : rafsi word abbreviation(s) bajra baj stuzi stu, tuz

 
Example 1.4 forming a compound word

running + site = track (for running on) baj (bajra) + stu (stuzi) = bajystu

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lei gismu cu jicmu traji lo'i lojbo brivla .i ro da poi gismu zo'u da porsi fi lo'i 5 lo lerfu? .i ro da poi lujvo zo'u da se zbasu loi rafsi be loi gismu

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Definitions elsewhere:

• http://www.lojban.org/files/brochures/gismu.html

 

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