The Complete Lojban Language
glide may be necessary to avoid a pause that would split the two syllables into separate words. It is always legal to use the apostrophe (IPA [h]) sound in pronouncing a comma. However, a comma cannot be pronounced as a pause or glottal stop between the two letters separated by the comma, because that pronunciation would split the word into two words.
Otherwise, a comma is usually only used to clarify the presence of syllabic l, m, n, or r (discussed later). Commas are never required: no two Lojban words differ solely because of the presence or placement of a comma.
Here is a somewhat artificial example of the difference in pronunciation between periods, commas and apostrophes. In the English song about Old MacDonald's Farm, the vowel string which is written as “ee-i-ee-i-o” in English could be Lojbanized with periods as:
- Example 3.1
- .i.ai.i.ai.o
- [ʔi ʔaj ʔi ʔaj ʔo]
- Ee! Eye! Ee! Eye! Oh!
However, this would sound clipped, staccato, and unmusical compared to the English. Furthermore, although Example 3.1 (p. 36) is a string of meaningful Lojban words, as a sentence it makes very little sense. (Note the use of periods embedded within the written word.)
If commas were used instead of periods, we could represent the English string as a Lojbanized name, ending in a consonant:
- Example 3.2
- .i,ai,i,ai,on.
- [ʔi jaj ji jaj jonʔ]
The commas represent new syllable breaks, but prohibit the use of pauses or glottal stop. The pronunciation shown is just one possibility, but closely parallels the intended English pronunciation.
However, the use of commas in this way is risky to unambiguous interpretation, since the glides might be heard by some listeners as diphthongs, producing something like
- Example 3.3
- .i,iai,ii,iai,ion.
which is technically a different Lojban name. Since the intent with Lojbanized names is to allow them to be pronounced more like their native counterparts, the comma is allowed to represent vowel glides or some non-Lojbanic sound. Such an exception affects only spelling accuracy and the ability of a reader to replicate the desired pronunciation exactly; it will not affect the recognition of word boundaries.
Still, it is better if Lojbanized names are always distinct. Therefore, the apostrophe is preferred in regular Lojbanized names that are not attempting to simulate a non-Lojban pronunciation perfectly. (Perfection, in any event, is not really achievable, because some sounds simply lack reasonable Lojbanic counterparts.)
If apostrophes were used instead of commas in Example 3.2 (p. 36), it would appear as:
- Example 3.4
- .i'ai'i'ai'on.
- [ʔi hai hi hai honʔ]
which preserves the rhythm and length, if not the exact sounds, of the original English.
3.4 Diphthongs and Syllabic Consonants
There exist 16 diphthongs in the Lojban language. A diphthong is a vowel sound that consists of two elements, a short vowel sound and a glide, either a labial (IPA [w]) or palatal (IPA [j]) glide, that either precedes (an on-glide) or follows (an off-glide) the main vowel. Diphthongs always constitute a single syllable.
