Re: Intro

[Andreia Gaita <shana@xxxxxxxx.xxx]

>Well, the online reference grammar is pretty much the same as the book.
You might be better off starting with the draft textbook, which is also
available from the Lojban website - I would advise doing at least the first
ten lessons from the textbook, then
>going to whichever parts of the grammar interest you most.  Don't feel you
have to read the grammar in whole chapters - I tend to read the parts of a
chapter that are most basic first, then go back for more advanced stuff
later (which is why my own grammar is
>a little, er, strange sometimes).
>
>The nice thing about Lojban grammar is that you can use as little or as
much of it as you like.  For example, I can simply say
>
>mi bajra
>I run/ran/will run/am running
>
>or
>
>mi pu bajra
>I ran
>
>or even
>
>mi puzu ze'a di'i bajra
>A long time ago, for a while, I ran regularly.

Ok, you've just answered one of my questions... (is it necessary to fill in
all the spaces of a sentence...)
Since I'm not a linguist (just a lowly programmer), my mother tongue is not
english and my portuguese classes on sentence structure and the likes are
long gone (as are the english ones), I'm having some difficulty getting a
grasp of the thing. But I'll get there... 8-)
Anyway, one of the problems I'm having is figuring out how to speak. The
sound descriptions for the letters are fine, but they are for an english
audience, and portuguese sounds are completely different.
For example, the 'x' in portuguese has the same sound as the 'sh' in
'shock'. The vowels in portuguese are all open. And how does one say the '?
With an english 'h'? Or can it be anything?
Oh, yes, and the 'd'? In portuguese the 'd' has the same sound as in
"don't". Is it the same?

If anyone here knows french or spanish or german or italian, I'd appreciate
it if you could enlighten me on the pronunciation of the letters compared
to one of these languages... :-)

Thanx for the welcome! I'll just go now and translate everything. 8-)

"We're plain lost, Mr Frodo!"
Sam Gamgee "last and least of the Ring-Bearers"
Tolkien - Lord of The Rings

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AvG
Developer and otherwise computer nut