[lojban] la za'e filjvocedra (The Age of Easy Lujvo)

[Stela Selckiku <selckiku@gmail.com>]

This is something I've been thinking about for a while.  There are
some lujvo that are relatively easy to make.  I'll call them za'e
"filjvo" (frili zei lujvo, easy+lujvo).

For example, there are all the words we've been making these days that
start with jbo- (for lojbo, Lojbanic, Lojban related).  They basically
mean the same thing as the root that jbo- is added to, but in Lojban:

jbosku, lojbo zei cusku, to express something in Lojban.
jbota'a, lojbo zei tavla, to talk in Lojban.
jbopli, lojbo zei pilno, to use Lojban.
jbosnu, lojbo zei casnu, to discuss in Lojban.
jbocre, lojbo zei certu, to be an expert at Lojban.
jboce'u, lojbo zei cecmu, the Lojban community.

And it would be quite easy to make more, like:

za'e jboxa'a, lojbo zei xatra, a letter in Lojban.
za'e jbocli, lojbo zei cilre, to learn Lojban.
za'e jbotadni, lojbo zei tadni, to study Lojban.
za'e jboctu, lojbo zei ctuca, to teach Lojban.
za'e jboge'a, lojbo zei gerna, Lojbanic grammar.

Those are all obvious enough that I'm sure some of them are being used
already and I just haven't noticed.

As another example, it's quite easy to make lujvo by adding tce-
(mutce, very, extremely) to give an amplified version, like these
examples:

tcegei, mutce zei gleki, very happy, overjoyed, ecstatic.
tcecrogau, mutce zei cortu zei gasnu, to cause a lot of pain, to torture.
tcebra, mutce zei barda, very large, gigantic, enormous.
tcepru, mutce zei purci, very far in the past, ancient.

And of course:

tcetce, mutce zei mutce, very extremely!

And of course it would be easy to make more of these, like:

za'e tcedri, mutce zei badri, extremely sad, distraught.
za'e tceda'o, mutce zei darno, very distant, very far.
za'e tcefe'u, mutce zei fengu, quite angry, enraged, incensed, furious.
za'e tcefrili, mutce zei frili, very easy, trivial.
za'e tcecni, mutce zei cinmo, very emotional, passionate.

Another rafsi that I've been using in this fashion is mle- (melbi,
beautiful, aesthetically pleasing).  I believe I'm the only person to
take up this pattern, but I've been tossing a few words out there:

za'e mlevla, melbi zei valsi, a beautiful word.
za'e mlejvo, melbi zei lujvo, a beautiful lujvo.
za'e mlebau, melbi zei bangu, a beautiful language.

And here's a few more off the top of my head:

za'e mlebra, melbi zei barda, beautifully large, I think of Grand
Central Station.
za'e mlelardai, melbi zei larcu zei dacti, a beautiful work of art.
za'e mlesi'o, melbi zei sidbo, a beautiful idea.

Making lujvo this way might seem like it's almost too easy, like it
must be cheating!  But i believe that this style of lujvo actually
adds a lot to our language.  While the surface meaning of a word like
"tcebra" is obvious-- it's something very large-- it also gives birth
to a rich new space of connotation where deep subtle meanings can
begin to take root.  For instance there is a subtle difference in
feeling between things that are "enormous" or "gigantic" or "titanic"
or "colossal" or "immense".  The feeling of what it is to be "tcebra"
hopefully won't quite exactly match any of those, or any other word
from any other language, it will be a new feeling that belongs only to
us as Lojbanists.

So i would actually like to encourage the creation of za'e filjvo.  I
would even like to instigate a za'e filjvocedra, an age of easy lujvo.
 I think it can give us some space to breathe, some room to move.  We
can begin to establish these particular places, and to slowly imbue
them with a richness which future Lojbanists will receive and cherish.

ko te pinka

mi'e la stela selckiku

mu'o

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