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[lojban] Re: How many fluent speakrs of Lojban are there?



> Define "fluent".  There are perhaps a few dozen people who can have a
> comfortable conversation in Lojban.  None of them are as fluent in Lojban as
> they are in their native languages, but I don't think that's even possible--
> no one knows the Lojban words for "carburetor" or "lemon merengue pie",
> for instance, because there aren't any.

But could someone who was sufficiently versed in lojban, create a word
on the fly for those things? It would not be "official" but in the
context, would it get the point across?

If I'm discussing desserts with a friend and I say,
lemon-whipped-egg-round-thing, would it likely be understood?

If I'm discussing with what's wrong with my car and I say
air-fuel-mix-device, wouldn't the mechanic likely know what I'm
referring to?

To me, this type of ability for a language to create words on the fly
is a fascinating part of the language. Is this really something
someone could do mid-sentence? I mean, we do it in English: it's that
lemon-round-sweet-thing-with-fluffy-white-stuff-on-top. We use
hyphens, but lojban has something a little more sophisticated.


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