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Loglan/Overview of Loglan/Predicates

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You use predicates to form the main subject of a sentence. If fact, you can view a predicate words as an incomplete sentence. Just fill in the blanks to say what you want to say. Each predicate word has from one to five blanks to fill in.

Predicates come in three main forms.

  • Base words
  • Compound words
  • Loan words


Base Words

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These form the main set of words used in Loglan. They have a constant spelling; either CVCCV form or CCVCV form. They all end in a vowel and they all have only one meaning each.

Examples

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NB. The letters x, y and z represent the blanks.

CVCCV form

  • vizka - x sees y against background z
  • hasfa - x is the house of y
  • tarci - x is a star of galaxy y
  • fundi - x likes y more than z
  • takna - x talks to y about z


CCVCV form

  • cnida - x needs y for z
  • clika - x is similar to x in feature z
  • tcaro - x is a motorised vehicle
  • jmite - x meets y
  • zvoto - x is outside of y

Compound Words

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The base words in Loglan number about 1 500. To say more you can use two or more base words to make a metaphor. If you think others can use the metaphor you can combine the words to make a new word. Each base word has a combining form which you can use to construct more complex words.

Examples

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  • fagctu - ash. Constructed from fagro (fire) and ctuda (excrement); fagro ctuda. The word fagro has the combining form fag and ctuda the combining form of ctu so the metaphor fagro ctuda becomes the word fagctu.
  • bamfoa - sphere. Constructed from balma (ball) and forma (form / shape); balma forma. The word balma has the combining form bam and forma the combining form of foa so the metaphor balma forma becomes the word bamfoa.
  • trigru - forest / wood. Constructed from tricu (tree) and grupa (group); tricu grupa. The word tricu has the combining form tri and grupa the combining form of gru so the metaphor tricu grupa becomes the word trigru.

Loan Words

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When using Loglan you try to use Loglan word to construct a metaphor for a new idea of concept. However, you might not have the opportunity to do that at all time such as when an idea or concept has a close relationship to one group of people. In such cases, Loglan allows borrowing but with certain rules.

Examples

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  • proteini - x is a protein of type y
  • cerkopithekui - x is a cercopithecus (a primate) of that genus
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