From: Luis Henrique Lira da Fonseca <luishfonseca@gmail.com>
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Subject: About the use of some Lojban in an Esperanto project. Let's help each other!
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 22:55:11 -0300
To: lojban@lojban.org
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Hi there, Lojban team!

Mi name is Luis. I am a Brazilian translator, language geek and =
Esperantist. I will speak about my view Lojban and Esperanto first, just =
for you to understand my point of view. I apologize because this will be =
rather long, but I think it has too. I just hope someone reads it =3D)


I am in the beginning of a very, very big writing project in Esperanto. =
I don't want to disclose all details, but essentially it is supposed to =
be a collection of many many books in the quasi-epic fantasy genre (with =
a twist! maybe). I chose Esperanto because, well, first I really enjoy =
it and it gives me many tools which make it better than my native =
language to write into. Second, because I wanted my work to be available =
to people from all over the world, and to be something fresh. Although =
the Esperantist community is small, it likes to support their "own", so =
my chances of being read instead of casting the books in an infinite sea =
of Portuguese or, worse, English is much higher. I ask for your =
discretion on this. I don't think I would become famous or something =
like that, but I don't want people to be hearing of this project openly =
yet.

Of course, I am not saying this to discredit Lojban, which I like for =
various reasons. However, I do not see Lojban as an international =
auxiliary language for general communication per se. On my immensely =
humble view, Lojban has accomplished something different and is heading =
for a different thing. I do not think that it is doomed to fail, or that =
it is worse in any way. What I think that, when it comes to approaching =
the world as a whole and proposing a constructed language for =
communication, the most useful tool is functionality and it has to work, =
that's it. Esperanto is not perfect, and nor is Lojban. However, =
Esperanto has over a century of history and culture, with books, =
literature, music, poetry by amazing people, etc etc. Discarding that =
for another language that might maybe be better constructed in this and =
that points, doesn't make much sense. If Esperanto, with all its =
history, still is sneered at by most, if the speakers of Lojban think it =
will take less time for them to be accepted generally, well=85. Also, if =
after all this time Esperanto speakers decided to "quit" Esperanto and =
move to Lojban, people will say "and what is preventing it from =
happening again. Someone will invent yet another "better" language and =
it will start all over again".=20

Therefore, I think that Esperantists and Lojbanists alike should shake =
hands and work together, not as a competition. I know, you guys have =
nothing agains Esperanto, and you just tell about the differences =
because you want to bring people to learn and use Lojban too. It seems =
to me that Lojban attracts most of all people who enjoy computers and =
programming languages, because, well, that's sort of where it came from, =
right? And you know what, for ME (and that's just me!), THAT'S your =
triumph! Lojban is amazingly logic and unambiguous, and perfect for =
computers. If you ever manage to make Lojban useful for programming and =
to talk with computers, oh my, it would be insanely awesome. I image =
myself just telling my computer to open this, that, search for images or =
describe what I want a program to do using your language.=20

Since programmers already do learn language and codes for this, Lojban =
would be a breeze, but it would also open the window of the "computer =
world"to many people, because it is MUCH easier to learn Lojban than to =
learn C++. In my view of a "perfect" linguistic future, people would =
learn and use Esperanto for communication, business and so on, and =
Lojban for computer issues. Both could be used for writing books, music =
and poetry alike, though I do imagine Lojban becoming more focused =
towards technical/computerish texts and conferences on the subject, =
maybe. Maybe all this I'm saying makes you mad at me. If it does, I =
apologize, it was not my intention.=20

So, back to my project. It is basically a fictional world, comprised of =
more than one planet, and people use Esperanto (though not with the =
name, of course, more like a "common tongue" thing) to communicate. It =
would be cool because I am SO tired of fictional worlds where everyone =
speaks English, which is terrible for this purpose and call it "galactic =
language"  and things like that. It's just lame.=20

I have one race which is more technological, though it used =
biotechnology mostly (to stir things up a bit). You know, I didn't want =
it to become "yet another sic-fi/cyberpunk thing", so I decided to mess =
with the technology. However, I DO see them as highly logical and, of =
course, they can make computers (with bio-tech). Since I am sort of a =
perfectionist, I am also building all the languages for all the "races" =
along the way, because it reflects their culture, and so on.  So I =
thought, it would make a LOT of sense for them to speak Lojban!

I could then use expression in Lojban and actually have another "full =
fledged" language because the ones I will create will not be so =
complete, obviously. This would integrate and, maybe, give some prestige =
to your language as well, UNLESS you think it is offensive to not use it =
as the "common tongue" in my book, and it really won't be used for that. =
There is another catch too! Since it will be a BIG and detailed "world" =
(actually it's a system). After I am done with the "core stories", I =
intend to let people write their own stuff for those scenarios and =
characters, much like Star Wars' Expanded Universe. I intend to have =
(and write) many many books which are "published" in that world, written =
by people who live there, so it comes alive. Of course, if I have a race =
who speaks Lojban, you would have quite a playground for you too, with =
their original books in their own language.=20

The bottom line is: I respect you guys (and gals) and your project very =
much and I don't want to use Lojban without your consent of using it =
like that. After all, the work as a whole would somehow be defending =
Esperanto as a communication language, and Lojban as a =
computer/techonolgy language, as I see it. Of course, it's nothing more =
than a book (many, many books), but it would be nice to do it with your =
blessing and, why not, your help. I do not speak Lojban as of yet and =
would need people to proofread the phrases I use and to give opinions on =
"slangs" and such. Also, knowing that you like the idea will help me =
decide wether to use Lojban in it or not. It's up to you, really. I want =
to show that conlaguers want to make the world a better place and bring =
understanding. Understanding each other would be the first step.

Nevertheless, I have my job as a translator and many other things that I =
do, and, as I said, I will not publish this until I have quite some =
material done, which might take years. My guess it that I start =
"publishing" some texts in about 5 years, and have all I need for =
considering it "ready" for allowing people to freely (almost) write in =
it in 20 years. Meanwhile, I might ask some people to write some of =
those extra books I mentioned, so that I really have different styles =
and points of view, but in a more controlled environment.=20

Well, I apologize for the IMMENSE e-mail and I hope someone read it and =
also that it hasn't been a bore. I would really love to make this come =
true and to have Lojbanists on my side. If you do like the idea, I will =
purchase the complete book soon and learn it diligently, as I did with =
Esperanto. I am not a genius at Esperanto still, so I am polishing my =
skills before doing actual writing. For now I am in the middle of =
world-building (but have the general scope done).

Kind regards

Luis=