[lojban-beginners] Re: nice to meet you

["Jorge Llambías" <jjllambias@gmail.com>]

On 6/15/07, m.kornig@sondal.net <m.kornig@sondal.net> wrote:
> What is the meaning of spaces then. I thought space are used to
> seperate words???

Spaces CAN be used to separate words, but they are not required.
The only spaces that are obligatory are right after a brivla, because
they indicate (indirectly) where to put the stress. If brivla stress is
indicated by other means, the space is not obligatory.

> There is an exception with names, though. Because
> there, seperation is achieved by points rather than by spaces.
> Example: {bil.geits.}

The dots indicate obligatory pauses. Pauses are always allowed
between words and never allowed in the middle of a word. In general,
pauses are not necessary between words, that's why when they
are obligatory they are marked with a dot.

> My understanding is: syllables can have a fairly large number of cosonants.

Yes, they can. (The exact details have not been fully defined yet.)
But what Karl pointed out is correct: if there is no consonant cluster,
and the string ends in a vowel, you know that it consists only of cmavo.
A brivla must always have at least one consonant cluster (for this
purpose "y" does not count as breaking a cluster.).

mu'o mi'e xorxes