8.4. Multiple relative clauses: zi'e

zi'e

ZIhE

relative clause joiner

Sometimes it is necessary or useful to attach more than one relative clause to a sumti. This is made possible in Lojban by the cmavo zi'e (of selma'o ZIhE), which is used to join one or more relative clauses together into a single unit, thus making them apply to the same sumti. For example:

Example 8.38.

gerku

poi

blabi

zi'e

poi

batci

nanmu

klama

The dog which is white and which bites the man goes.

The most usual translation of zi'e in English is “and” , but zi'e is not really a logical connective: unlike most of the true logical connectives (which are explained in Chapter 14), it cannot be converted into a logical connection between sentences.

It is perfectly correct to use zi'e to connect relative clauses of different kinds:

Example 8.39.

le	gerku	poi	blabi	zi'e	noi
The	dog	that-is	(white)	and	incidentally-such-that

le	mi	pendo	cu	ponse	ke'a	cu	klama
(-	my	friend		owns	IT	)	goes.

The dog that is white, which my friend owns, is going.

In Example 8.39 , the restrictive clause poi blabi specifies which dog is referred to, but the incidental clause noi le mi pendo cu ponse is mere incidental information: the listener is supposed to already have identified the dog from the poi blabi. Of course, the meaning (though not necessarily the emphasis) is the same if the incidental clause appears first.

It is also possible to connect relative phrases with zi'e , or a relative phrase with a relative clause:

Example 8.40.

le	botpi	po	mi	zi'e	poi	blanu	cu	spofu
The	bottle	specific-to	me	and	which-is	blue		is-broken.

My blue bottle is broken.

Note that if the colloquial translation of Example 8.40 were “My bottle, which is blue, is broken” , then noi rather than poi would have been correct in the Lojban version, since that version of the English implies that you do not need to know the bottle is blue. As written, Example 8.40 suggests that I probably have more than one bottle, and the one in question needs to be picked out as the blue one.

Example 8.41.

mi	ba	zutse	le	stizu	pe
I	[future]	sit-in	the	chair	associated-with

mi	zi'e	po	do	zi'e	poi	xunre
me	and	specific-to	you	and	which	is-red.

I will sit in my chair (really yours), the red one.

Example 8.41 illustrates that more than two relative phrases or clauses can be connected with zi'e. It almost defies colloquial translation because of the very un-English contrast between pe mi , implying that the chair is temporarily connected with me, and po do , implying that the chair has a more permanent association with you. (Perhaps I am a guest in your house, in which case the chair would naturally be your property.)

Here is another example, mixing a relative phrase and two relative clauses, a restrictive one and a non-restrictive one:

Example 8.42.

mi	ba	citka	le	dembi	pe	mi	zi'e	poi	cpana
I	[future]	eat	the	beans	associated-with	me	and	which	are-upon

le	mi	palta	zi'e	noi	do	dunda	ke'a		mi
	my	plate	and	which-incidentally	you	gave	IT	to	me.

I'll eat my beans that are on my plate, the ones you gave me.