1.4 Disclaimers
will become wearisomely familiar before Chapter 21 (p. 489) is reached. This method is deliberate; I have tried to use simple and (eventually) familiar examples wherever possible, to avoid obscuring new grammatical points with new vocabulary. Of course, this is not the method of a textbook, but this book is not a textbook (although people have learned Lojban from it and its predecessors). Rather, it is intended both for self-learning (of course, at present would-be Lojban teachers must be self-learners) and to serve as a reference in the usual sense, for looking up obscure points about the language.
It is useful to talk further about Example 1.1 (p. 10) for what it illustrates about examples in this book. Examples usually occupy three lines. The first of these is in Lojban (in italics), the second in a word-by-word literal translation of the Lojban into English (in boldface), and the third in colloquial English. The second and third lines are sometimes called the “literal translation” and the “colloquial translation” respectively. Sometimes, when clarity is not sacrificed thereby, one or both are omitted. If there is more than one Lojban sentence, it generally means that they have the same meaning.
Words are sometimes surrounded by square brackets. In Lojban texts, these enclose optional grammatical particles that may (in the context of the particular example) be either omitted or included. In literal translations, they enclose words that are used as conventional translations of specific Lojban words, but don't have exactly the meanings or uses that the English word would suggest. In Chapter 3 (p. 33), square brackets surround phonetic representations in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Many of the tables, especially those placed at the head of various sections, are in three columns. The first column contains Lojban words discussed in that section; the second column contains the grammatical category (represented by an UPPER CASE Lojban word) to which the word belongs, and the third column contains a brief English gloss, not necessarily or typically a full explanation. Other tables are explained in context.
A few Lojban words are used in this book as technical terms. All of these are explained in Chapter 2 (p. 15), except for a few used only in single chapters, which are explained in the introductory sections of those chapters.
1.4 Disclaimers
It is necessary to add, alas, that the examples used in this book do not refer to any existing person, place, or institution, and that any such resemblance is entirely coincidental and unintentional, and not intended to give offense.
When definitions and place structures of gismu, and especially of lujvo, are given in this book, they may differ from those given in the English-Lojban dictionary (which, as of this writing, is not yet published). If so, the information given in the dictionary supersedes whatever is given here.
1.5 Acknowledgements and Credits
Although the bulk of this book was written for the Logical Language Group (LLG) by John Cowan, who is represented by the occasional authorial “I”, certain chapters were first written by others and then heavily edited by me to fit into this book.
In particular: Chapter 2 (p. 15) is a fusion of originally separate documents, one by Athelstan, and one by Nora Tansky LeChevalier and Bob LeChevalier; Chapter 3 (p. 33) and Chapter 4 (p. 49) were originally written by Bob LeChevalier with contributions by Chuck Barton; Chapter 12 (p. 263) was originally written (in much longer form) by Nick Nicholas; the dialogue near the end of Chapter 13 (p. 285) was contributed by Nora Tansky LeChevalier; Chapter 15 (p. 353) and parts of Chapter 16 (p. 375) were originally by Bob LeChevalier; and the YACC grammar in Chapter 21 (p. 489) is the work of several hands, but is primarily by Bob LeChevalier and Jeff Taylor. The BNF grammar, which is also in Chapter 21 (p. 489), was originally written by me, then rewritten by Clark Nelson, and finally touched up by me again.
The research into natural languages from which parts of Chapter 5 (p. 79) draw their material was performed by Ivan Derzhanski. LLG acknowledges his kind permission to use the fruits of his research.
The pictures in this book were drawn by Nora Tansky LeChevalier, except for the picture appearing in Chapter 4 (p. 49), which is by Sylvia Rutiser Rissell.
The index was made by Nora Tansky LeChevalier.
