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The Shape Of Words To Come: Lojban Morphology - The Lojban Reference Grammar
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Considerations for making lujvo
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The Shape Of Words To Come: Lojban Morphology
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The Lojban Reference Grammar
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<h3><a id="s11" name="s11">11. The lujvo-making algorithm</h3>
<p>The following is the current algorithm for generating Lojban
lujvo given a known tanru and a complete list of gismu and
their assigned rafsi. The algorithm was designed by Bob
LeChevalier and Dr. James Cooke Brown for computer program
implementation. It was modified in 1989 with the assistance of
Nora LeChevalier, who detected a flaw in the original
``tosmabru test''.</p>
<p>Given a tanru that is to be made into a lujvo:</p>
<dl>
<dt>1)</dt>
<dd>Choose a 3-letter or 4-letter rafsi for each of the gismu
and cmavo in the tanru except the last.</dd>
<dt>2)</dt>
<dd>Choose a 3-letter (CVV-form or CCV-form) or 5-letter
rafsi for the final gismu in the tanru.</dd>
<dt>3)</dt>
<dd>Join the resulting string of rafsi, initially without
hyphens.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt>4)</dt>
<dd>Add hyphen letters where necessary. It is illegal to add
a hyphen at a place that is not required by this algorithm.
Right-to-left tests are recommended, for reasons discussed
below.</dd>
<dt>4a)</dt>
<dd>If there are more than two words in the tanru, put an
``r''-hyphen (or an ``n''-hyphen) after the first rafsi if it
is CVV-form. If there are exactly two words, then put an
``r''-hyphen (or an ``n''-hyphen) between the two rafsi if
the first rafsi is CVV-form, unless the second rafsi is
CCV-form (for example, ``saicli'' requires no hyphen). Use an
``r''-hyphen unless the letter after the hyphen is ``r'', in
which case use an ``n''-hyphen. Never use an ``n''-hyphen
unless it is required.</dd>
<dt>4b)</dt>
<dd>Put a ``y''-hyphen between the consonants of any
impermissible consonant pair. This will always appear between
rafsi.</dd>
<dt>4c)</dt>
<dd>Put a ``y''-hyphen after any 4-letter rafsi form.</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt>5)</dt>
<dd>Test all forms with one or more initial CVC-form rafsi
--- with the pattern ``CVC ... CVC + X'' --- for ``tosmabru
failure''. X must either be a CVCCV long rafsi that happens
to have a permissible initial pair as the consonant cluster,
or is something which has caused a ``y''-hyphen to be
installed between the previous CVC and itself by one of the
above rules. The test is as follows:</dd>
<dt>5a)</dt>
<dd>Examine all the C/C consonant pairs that join the CVC
rafsi, and also the pair between the last CVC and the X
portion, ignoring any ``y''-hyphen before the X. These
consonant pairs are called ``joints''.</dd>
<dt>5b)</dt>
<dd>If all of those joints are permissible initials, then the
trial word will break up into a cmavo and a shorter brivla.
If not, the word will not break up, and no further hyphens
are needed.</dd>
<dt>5c)</dt>
<dd>Install a ``y''-hyphen at the first such joint.</dd>
</dl>
<p>Note that the ``tosmabru test'' implies that the algorithm
will be more efficient if rafsi junctures are tested for
required hyphens from right to left, instead of from left to
right; when the test is required, it cannot be completed until
hyphenation to the right has been determined.</p>
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Considerations for making lujvo
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The Shape Of Words To Come: Lojban Morphology
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<a href="../">
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<small>
The Lojban Reference Grammar
</small>
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The lujvo scoring algorithm
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