Lojban is a logical language created in the mid-1980s by the Logical Language Group, using roots from English, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Persian. It is easy to learn, culturally ambiguous, and based on predicate logic. Lojban evolved from an earlier language creation attempt called Loglan, which was created in 1955. Both languages share many traits and are meant to facilitate scientific discovery and peaceful coexistence. Other created languages include Esperanto and Vulcan.
The Lojban language did not originate organically from any particular culture or geographic region. Instead, the development of this language began in the mid-1980s as a kind of experiment by members of a linguistic organization called the Logical Language Group (LLG). In 1998, the group released a book called The Complete Lojban Language which is a guide to understanding this hybrid blend of several world languages.
Some striking features of Lobjan are the lack of capital letters, the uniform phonetic pronunciations, and the ease with which new students can master it. The 1,300 root words form the basis for millions of combinations and meanings. The language is also meant to be used outside the scientific realm to facilitate the understanding of the arts, history and emotions by all citizens of the world.
Fragments of English, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Persian form the roots of Lojban, with the “j” pronounced as in the French “welcome” bonjour. It evolved from an earlier attempt at language creation called Loglan, created in 1955 by American sociologist James Cooke Brown, who died in 2000. A 1970 novel by Brown, The Troika Incident, describes an Internet-like knowledge base accessible to the public world in a common language – a little prescient science fiction. The Loglan language was part of creating such a system.
Lojban, in his language, means “logical language”. The LLG organization had a goal, like Brown’s, to create a language that is easily learned around the world to facilitate scientific discovery and peaceful coexistence, a language based on what is known as predicate logic. It broke from Loglan’s effort as Brown began to seek ownership through copyright, creating a more democratic language that has evolved organically since its inception, like many of the world’s modes of communication.
However, the two languages share many traits. Both use predicate logic to notate complicated scientific ideas in simple terms, and both try to be culturally ambiguous, employing various terms to incorporate as many populations as possible. Another common feature of both languages is their minimal use of syntactic exceptions, something organic languages are full of. Both languages arose from the sociological notion, expressed in the “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis” that each language itself influences the way its speakers think about themselves and the world around them.
Lojban and Loglan are not alone in this effort. The Esperanto language was created at the end of the 19th century and is still used to measure how quickly a person can learn any of the world’s languages. Another popular bogus language is Vulcan, which is learned by die-hard Star Trek fans around the world, only to form a community of believers.
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