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Lojan Language
Lūghjami dirdh
Type
Aglutinative-Analytic
Alignment
Nominative-Accusative
Head direction
Changeable
Tonal
No
Declensions
Yes
Conjugations
No
Genders
No
Nouns decline according to...
Case Number
Definiteness Gender
Verbs conjugate according to...
Voice Mood
Person Number
Tense Aspect



General information[]

Lojan language (natively Lūghjami dirdh [ lɟɦämi dirdɦ ] ) is a language spoken in the Lojan land 9000 years ago. It is a predominantly suffixing agglutinative language which has obvious analytic tendencies.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Bilabial Labio-dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular
Nasal m n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ
Plosive

ph

bɦ

th

dɦ

ʈ ʈh

ɖ ɖɦ

ch

ɟ ɟɦ

kh

gɦ

qh

ɢ ɢɦ

Fricative f v s z ʂ ʐ
Affricate p̪͡f t͡s ʈ͡ʂ
Approximant l
Trill r
Flap or tap ɾ

Vowels[]

Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Close-mid e o
Near-open ɐ
Open ä äː

Alphabet[]

Alphabet
Letter Name Sound
A, a A /ä/
Ā, ā Ā /äː/
Å, å Å /ɐ/
B, b Ba /b/
Bh, bh Bha /bɦ/
E, e E /e/
F, f Af /f/
G, g Ga /g/
Ġ, ġ Ġa /ɢ/
Gj, gj Gja /ɟ/
Gh, gh Gha /gɦ/
Ġh, ġh Ġha /ɢɦ/
Ghj, ghj Ghja /ɟɦ/
I, i I /i/
Ī, ī Ī /iː/
K, k Ka

/k/

Kj, kj Kja /c/
Kh, kh Kha /kh/
Khj, khj Khja /ch/
L, l Al /l/
M, m Am /m/
N, n An /n/
Ń, ń /ŋ/
Ṅ, ṅ Uṅ /ɴ/
O, o O /o/
P, p Pa /p/
Ᵽ, ᵽ Ᵽa /p̪͡f/
Ph, ph Pha /ph/
Q, q Qu /q/
Qh, qh Qhu /qh/
R, r Ir /ɾ/
Ṙ, ṙ Iṙ /r/
S, s Is /s/
Sr, sr Isr /ʂ/
T, t Ta /t/
Ț, ț /t͡s/
Tr, tr Tra /ʈ/
Țr, țr Ițr /ʈ͡ʂ/
Th, th Tha /th/
Thr, thr Thra /ʈh/
U, u U /u/
Ū, ū Ū //
V, v Iv /v/
Z, z Iz /z/
Zr, zr Izr /ʐ/

Phonotactics[]

Possible syllables are:

  • (C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C) for primary words
  • VC(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C) for secondary words
  • No limit for compound words

Impossible clusters are:

  • /t/, /th/, /d/, /dɦ/, /s/, /z/, /t͡s/ or /n/ + /ɾ/. (In these occasions, /ɾ/ will be substituted by /r/

When an affricate or a plosive precedes a fricative of the same place, they merge into one affricate. 

Assimilation Agressive:

  • /gk/ > /kk/, /tht/ > /tt/, /tdh/ > /ddh/, etc.
  • /tʈ/ > /ʈʈ/, /tʈh/ > /ʈʈh/, /tɖɦ/ > /ɖɖɦ/, /tʂ/ > /ʈʂ/ > /ʈ͡ʂ/  etc.

Grammar[]

Background Information[]

Vowel Grade[]

In Lojan, vowels have 3 grades:

Vowel Grades
Full Grade Short Grade Long Grade
/ä/ /ɐ/ /äː/
/i/ /e/ //
/u/ /o/ //

Primary, secondary and compound words[]

Primary words only have one syllable. Secondary words have two syllables but the first is always without onset. Compound words can be formed from primary, secondary, o even other compound words.

Forms[]

Almost every word has three main forms: Absolute Form(AF), Dependent Form(DF) and Predicate Form(PF).

  • AF works as a noun or a pronoun. Also, AF can form the non-head parts of a compound word.
  • DF, just as its name, cannot appear independently. It can accept particles or enclitics. When a noun is suffixed by a particle/enclitic, it must change from AF to DF. Also, DF can act as the head of a compound word.
  • PF is simply a verb, from which the adjective form can be formed.

​Primary and secondary words can transform by vowel grade shift:

Forms of primary and secondary words
AF DF PF
Primary full long short
Secondary full, long* long, short short, short
  • "full, long": "Full" for the first vowel of the secondary word, "long" for the second.
Examples
AF DF PF
khu (flower) khu khū kho
alī (the all) alī āle åle

Compound words don't have PF,  and their forms(AF and DF) are related with the head place. The AF has the initial head place, while the DF has the final head place.

Examples of compound words
AF DF
dūrpṙik(Gate of the Sun) dūrpṙik pṙikdūr
Pānspṙik(God of Sun) Pānspṙik Pṙikpāns

Sentences, like compound words, also have AF, and DF. And the AF has the initial head place, while the DF has the final head place.[ If a sentence has a topic(omitted or no), the topic is its head, or the head will be the verb.]

Nouns[]

Cases[]

Noun cases are expressed by particles (like in japanese).

  • khu, "flower". khūikj, "towards the flower". (remember that particles must be attached to DF).
  • dang, "sky". dāngtaṅ, "in the sky".

​Plurarity[]

Lojan nouns don't decline according to number, but there are other ways to express the plurarity: 

Collective words[]

Compounding a noun with a collective word:

Compounding Plurarity
Original words Collective words Results
dhrim, "person, man" sam, "a few" sāmdhrim, "some persons"
gas, "I' tins, like "-dachi" in japanese nīsgas, "we"
Numerals[]

Numerals can be directly put before a noun:

  • guq dhrim. "a person".
  • sim sir. "six lions".
Duplication[]
  • gak, "star". gaggak, "(some) stars"
  • dhrim, "person". dhrimdhrim, "some persons, people"

For compound words, only duplicates the head:

  • khūkhir, "flower of snow". khūkhūkhir, "flowers of snow".

If a word needs change its form, all the duplicated parts should change at the same time.

  • gāggākikj, "towards the stars".

Pronouns[]

Pronouns
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
normal tra njundh liv
respectful erābī
formal trabin, gas njundh sos, anābī
literary gas, ras sos
impolite sań
poetic uṅ ras sos
intimate mudhāġhā
modest mim, imī
  • Some forms of some pronouns are irregular. (erābī, sos)
  • Plurarity is expressed in the same way of nouns.

Adjectives[]

Adjectival form[]

Structure of adjectival form
Predicate Form -sr

Most words have adjectival form, whose meaning is related to its AF's meaning.( But there are no rules for this relation, so its necessary to remember the meaning of the adjectival form).

  • khu, "flower" > khosr, "beautiful"
  • lug, "a far place" > logsr, "far"
  • gas, "I" > gåssr, "egoist"
  • vis, "wind" > vessr, "free"

​Adjectival word/phrase/sentence[]

An adjectival particle can make a word/phrase/sentence adjectival. The particle is zre, but it has 3 allomorphs according to the preceding phoneme.

Adjectival Particle
after vowel or unaspirated plosive  zre
after aspirated plosive, voiceless fricative or liquid e
after nasal, affricate, or voiced fricative i
  • sūfe slim, "a tree of fruit". (suf, "fruit"; slim, "tree")
  • ākåzre gum, "a sound of midnight". (akā, "midnight"; gum, "sound")
  • ksrāmi khrib, "soul blade". (ksram, "soul"; khrib, "blade")
  • ångzre dhrim, "a crying man". (ang, "wave“ > ång, "cry" )
  • mnjegtuzre dhrim, "a man asleep". (mnjeg, "to sleep"; tu, "particle of perfective")
  • dāngtiṅ elthe dibsdibs, "clouds that floats in the sky".

​Compounding[]

Compouding is also an important method of modification. In a compound word, the non-head parts modify the head.

Adjectival prefix[]

A special type of adjectives, that are prefixed to a noun. Most are indefinite adjectives and desmonstratives:

  • kus-, "which": kusikū, "which boy"
  • kas-, "every": kasanās, "every day"
  • als-, "whole, entire": alsumī, "the entire world, all the world"

Verbs[]

A verb is a word in PF.

Transitivity[]

Almost all verbs can be either transitive or no, and may have differente meanings in each case. 

Vis "wind", its PF is ves, which can mean "touch", or "fly". When it has an direct object, it means touch. When no, fly:

  • Gas ves. "I fly."
  • Gas rāsf ves. "I touch you."

Flexible Usage[]

Causative usage of nouns(AF)[]

Add the short grade of the core vowel of a noun to make it causative verb.(Core vowel is the vowel of a primary word, the first vowel of a secondary word. A compound word's core vowel is the core vowel of its head.)

Causative usage of nouns
khun, "king" khuno
alī, "the all" alīå
Pānspṙik, "God of Sun" Pānspṙikå

A causitive verb of a noun means "to make sth/sb become/be...". For example:

  • Gas rāsf khuno. "I make you king."/ "I make you become king."
  • Gas rāsf skuġho. "I make you (my) slave."

​Conative usage of nouns[]

Add "m" to causative verb of a noun.Causative usage of noun, and it means " to regard sth/sb as...", or " to treat sth/sb as..)

  • Gas rāsf khunom. "I regard you as a king."
  • Gas rāsf skuġhom. "I regard you as a slave."

​Causative usage of verb(PF)[]

Add the full grade of the core vowel of a verb to make it causative.

  • meġh, "to eat" > meġhi, "to make someone eat"
  • rop, "to dress up" > ropu, "to make someone dress up"

​In these cases, someone should be marked by the particle "ink".

  • Gas rāsink suosf meġhi. "I make you eat him."
  • Gas rāsink ropu. "I make you dress up."

​Sometimes, may only use the particle "ink" without changing the form of the verb.

  • Gas rāsink suosf meġh. "I make you eat him."

​Causative usage of adjective[]

Add the full grade of the core vowel of an adjective to make it causative. For adjectival phrase marked by zre/e/i, add vi.

  • Gas rāsink khosru. "I make you beautiful."

​Conative usage of Adjective[]

Add "m" to the causative form of an adjective.

  • Gas rāsink khosrum. "I think you are beautiful."

Particles[]

Case Markers[]

These class of particles are immediately attached to a word/phrese/sentence of dependent form(DF).

Case Markers
Particle Case
va/v Nominative marker
fu/f, ips Accusative marker
ink Marks the object of causative verb
ġu Locative marker
min Inessive marker
taṅ Locative marker1
gim Genetive marker
su/s Genetive marker2
gu, mu Genetive marker3
ikj Allative marker
ikjār Terminative marker
tuń Instrumental marker
Iptīṅ Instructive marker
nrit Comitative marker
bokhj Ablative marker
nu Essive marker
kin Dative marker
  1. The usage of taṅ is rare.Few words(sky, heart, etc) accept this particle
  2. Su and gim are only used for animated things, and gim make an emphasis on the possesion.
  3. gu for inamimated things, while mu for abstract conceptions.

Postpositions[]

Postpositions
ma Topic marker
tte(after vowel), te(after consonant) Emphasizer
kin Comparison target marker
an In front of
in Behind
iz On the left of
dir On the right of
firs Over
and On
tirf Between/among
prikhj Near
po Under

Mood/tone markers[]

These particles are used separated from other words, id est, they are not attached/suffixed to other parts of a sentence.

Tone/Mood Markers
pa Imperative marker
pas(used at the begining of a sentence) Weak imperative/ optative
ńa Agreement
sa Agreement(more colloquial)
pat Question marker
tte, te Emphasizer

Vocabulary[]


No. English
1I
2you (singular)
3he
4we
5you (plural)
6they
7this
8that
9here
10there
11who
12what
13where
14when
15how
16not
17all
18many
19some
20few
21other
22one
23two
24three
25four
26five
27big
28long
29wide
30thick
31heavy
32small
33short
34narrow
35thin
36woman
37man (adult male)
38man (human being)
39child
40wife
41husband
42mother
43father
44animal
45fish
46bird
47dog
48louse
49snake
50worm
51tree
52forest
53stick
54fruit
55seed
56leaf
57root
58bark
59flower
60grass
61rope
62skin
63meat
64blood
65bone
66fat
67egg
68horn
69tail
70feather
71hair
72head
73ear
74eye
75nose
76mouth
77tooth
78tongue
79fingernail
80foot
81leg
82knee
83hand
84wing
85belly
86guts
87neck
88back
89breast
90heart
91liver
92drink
93eat
94bite
95suck
96spit
97vomit
98blow
99breathe
100laugh
101see
102hear
103know
104think
105smell
106fear
107sleep
108live
109die
110kill
111fight
112hunt
113hit
114cut
115split
116stab
117scratch
118dig
119swim
120fly
121walk
122come
123lie
124sit
125stand
126turn
127fall
128give
129hold
130squeeze
131rub
132wash
133wipe
134pull
135push
136throw
137tie
138sew
139count
140say
141sing
142play
143float
144flow
145freeze
146swell
147sun
148moon
149star
150water
151rain
152river
153lake
154sea
155salt
156stone
157sand
158dust
159earth
160cloud
161fog
162sky
163wind
164snow
165ice
166smoke
167fire
168ash
169burn
170road
171mountain
172red
173green
174yellow
175white
176black
177night
178day
179year
180warm
181cold
182full
183new
184old
185good
186bad
187rotten
188dirty
189straight
190round
191sharp
192dull
193smooth
194wet
195dry
196correct
197near
198far
199right
200left
201at
202in
203with
204and
205if
206because
207name


Example text[]

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