4.15. Cultural and other non-algorithmic gismu

The following gismu were not made by the gismu creation algorithm. They are, in effect, coined words similar to fu'ivla. They are exceptions to the otherwise mandatory gismu creation algorithm where there was sufficient justification for such exceptions. Except for the small metric prefixes and the assignable predicates beginning with brod-, they all end in the letter o, which is otherwise a rare letter in Lojban gismu.

The following gismu represent concepts that are sufficiently unique to Lojban that they were either coined from combining forms of other gismu, or else made up out of whole cloth. These gismu are thus conceptually similar to lujvo even though they are only five letters long; however, unlike lujvo, they have rafsi assigned to them for use in building more complex lujvo. Assigning gismu to these concepts helps to keep the resulting lujvo reasonably short.

broda

1st assignable predicate

brode

2nd assignable predicate

brodi

3rd assignable predicate

brodo

4th assignable predicate

brodu

5th assignable predicate

cmavo

structure word (from cmalu valsi)

lojbo

Lojbanic (from logji bangu)

lujvo

compound word (from pluja valsi)

mekso

Mathematical EXpression

It is important to understand that even though cmavo, lojbo, and lujvo were made up from parts of other gismu, they are now full-fledged gismu used in exactly the same way as all other gismu, both in grammar and in word formation.

The following three groups of gismu represent concepts drawn from the international language of science and mathematics. They are used for concepts that are represented in most languages by a root which is recognized internationally.

Small metric prefixes (values less than 1):

decti .1 deci
centi .01 centi
milti .001 milli
mikri 10-6 micro
nanvi 10-9 nano
picti 10-12 pico
femti 10-15 femto
xatsi 10-18 atto
zepti 10-21 zepto
gocti 10-24 yocto

Large metric prefixes (values greater than 1):

dekto 10 deka
xecto 100 hecto
kilto 1000 kilo
megdo 106 mega
gigdo 109 giga
terto 1012 tera
petso 1015 peta
xexso 1018 exa
zetro 1021 zetta
gotro 1024 yotta

Other scientific or mathematical terms:

delno

candela

kelvo

kelvin

molro

mole

radno

radian

sinso

sine

stero

steradian

tanjo

tangent

xampo

ampere

The gismu sinso and tanjo were only made non-algorithmically because they were identical (having been borrowed from a common source) in all the dictionaries that had translations. The other terms in this group are units in the international metric system; some metric units, however, were made by the ordinary process (usually because they are different in Chinese).

Finally, there are the cultural gismu, which are also borrowed, but by modifying a word from one particular language, instead of using the multi-lingual gismu creation algorithm. Cultural gismu are used for words that have local importance to a particular culture; other cultures or languages may have no word for the concept at all, or may borrow the word from its home culture, just as Lojban does. In such a case, the gismu algorithm, which uses weighted averages, doesn't accurately represent the frequency of usage of the individual concept. Cultural gismu are not even required to be based on the six major languages.

The six Lojban source languages:

jungo

Chinese (from Zhong 1 guo 2)

glico

English

xindo

Hindi

spano

Spanish

rusko

Russian

xrabo

Arabic

Seven other widely spoken languages that were on the list of candidates for gismu-making, but weren't used:

bengo

Bengali

porto

Portuguese

baxso

Bahasa Melayu/Bahasa Indonesia

ponjo

Japanese (from Nippon)

dotco

German (from Deutsch)

fraso

French (from « Français »)

xurdo

Urdu

(Urdu and Hindi began as the same language with different writing systems, but have now become somewhat different, principally in borrowed vocabulary. Urdu-speakers were counted along with Hindi-speakers when weights were assigned for gismu-making purposes.)

Countries with a large number of speakers of any of the above languages (where the meaning of large is dependent on the specific language):

English:
merko American
brito British
skoto Scottish
sralo Australian
kadno Canadian

Spanish:
gento Argentinian
mexno Mexican

Russian:
softo Soviet/USSR
vukro Ukrainian

Arabic:
filso Palestinian
jerxo Algerian
jordo Jordanian
libjo Libyan
lubno Lebanese
misro Egyptian
morko Moroccan
rakso Iraqi
sadjo Saudi
sirxo Syrian

Bahasa Melayu/Bahasa Indonesia:
bindo Indonesian
meljo Malaysian

Portuguese:
brazo Brazilian

Urdu:
kisto Pakistani

The continents (and oceanic regions) of the Earth:

bemro

North American (from berti merko)

dzipo

Antarctican (from cadzu cipni)

ketco

South American (from Quechua)

friko

African

polno

Polynesian/Oceanic

ropno

European

xazdo

Asiatic

A few smaller but historically important cultures:

latmo

Latin/Roman

srito

Sanskrit

xebro

Hebrew/Israeli/Jewish

xelso

Greek (from «Hellas»)

Major world religions:

budjo

Buddhist

dadjo

Taoist

muslo

Islamic/Moslem

xriso

Christian

A few terms that cover multiple groups of the above:

jegvo

Jehovist (Judeo-Christian-Moslem)

semto

Semitic

slovo

Slavic

xispo

Hispanic (New World Spanish)