The following gismu were not made by the gismu creation algorithm. They are, in effect, coined words similar to fu'ivla. They are exceptions to the otherwise mandatory gismu creation algorithm where there was sufficient justification for such exceptions. Except for the small metric prefixes and the assignable predicates beginning with “brod-”, they all end in the letter “o”, which is otherwise a rare letter in Lojban gismu.
The following gismu represent concepts that are sufficiently unique to Lojban that they were either coined from combining forms of other gismu, or else made up out of whole cloth. These gismu are thus conceptually similar to lujvo even though they are only five letters long; however, unlike lujvo, they have rafsi assigned to them for use in building more complex lujvo. Assigning gismu to these concepts helps to keep the resulting lujvo reasonably short.
broda 1st assignable predicate
brode 2nd assignable predicate
brodi 3rd assignable predicate
brodo 4th assignable predicate
brodu 5th assignable predicate
cmavo structure word (from “cmalu valsi”)
lojbo Lojbanic (from “logji bangu”)
lujvo compound word (from “pluja valsi”)
mekso Mathematical EXpression
It is important to understand that even though “cmavo”, “lojbo”, and “lujvo” were made up from parts of other gismu, they are now full-fledged gismu used in exactly the same way as all other gismu, both in grammar and in word formation.
The following three groups of gismu represent concepts drawn from the international language of science and mathematics. They are used for concepts that are represented in most languages by a root which is recognized internationally.
Small metric prefixes (values less than 1):
decti .1/deci
centi .01/centi
milti .001/milli
mikri 1E-6/micro
nanvi 1E-9/nano
picti 1E-12/pico
femti 1E-15/femto
xatsi 1E-18/atto
zepti 1E-21/zepto
gocti 1E-24/yocto
Large metric prefixes (values greater than 1):
dekto 10/deka
xecto 100/hecto
kilto 1000/kilo
megdo 1E6/mega
gigdo 1E9/giga
terto 1E12/tera
petso 1E15/peta
xexso 1E18/exa
zetro 1E21/zetta
gotro 1E24/yotta
Other scientific or mathematical terms:
delno candela
kelvo kelvin
molro mole
radno radian
sinso sine
stero steradian
tanjo tangent
xampo ampere
The gismu “sinso” and “tanjo” were only made non-algorithmically because they were identical (having been borrowed from a common source) in all the dictionaries that had translations. The other terms in this group are units in the international metric system; some metric units, however, were made by the ordinary process (usually because they are different in Chinese).
Finally, there are the cultural gismu, which are also borrowed, but by modifying a word from one particular language, instead of using the multi-lingual gismu creation algorithm. Cultural gismu are used for words that have local importance to a particular culture; other cultures or languages may have no word for the concept at all, or may borrow the word from its home culture, just as Lojban does. In such a case, the gismu algorithm, which uses weighted averages, doesn’t accurately represent the frequency of usage of the individual concept. Cultural gismu are not even required to be based on the six major languages.
The six Lojban source languages:
jungo Chinese (from “Zhong1guo2”)
glico English
xindo Hindi
spano Spanish
rusko Russian
xrabo Arabic
Seven other widely spoken languages that were on the list of candidates for gismu-making, but weren’t used:
bengo Bengali
porto Portuguese
baxso Bahasa Melayu/Bahasa Indonesia
ponjo Japanese (from “Nippon”)
dotco German (from “Deutsch”)
fraso French (from “Français”)
xurdo Urdu
(Urdu and Hindi began as the same language with different writing systems, but have now become somewhat different, principally in borrowed vocabulary. Urdu-speakers were counted along with Hindi-speakers when weights were assigned for gismu-making purposes.)
Countries with a large number of speakers of any of the above languages (where the meaning of “large” is dependent on the specific language):
English:
merko American
brito British
skoto Scottish
sralo Australian
kadno Canadian
Spanish:
gento Argentinian
mexno Mexican
Russian:
softo Soviet/USSR
vukro Ukrainian
Arabic:
filso Palestinian
jerxo Algerian
jordo Jordanian
libjo Libyan
lubno Lebanese
misro Egyptian (from “Mizraim”)
morko Moroccan
rakso Iraqi
sadjo Saudi
sirxo Syrian
Bahasa Melayu/Bahasa Indonesia:
bindo Indonesian
meljo Malaysian
Portuguese:
brazo Brazilian
Urdu:
kisto Pakistani
The continents (and oceanic regions) of the Earth:
bemro North American (from “berti merko”)
dzipo Antarctican (from “cadzu cipni”)
ketco South American (from “Quechua”)
friko African
polno Polynesian/Oceanic
ropno European
xazdo Asiatic
A few smaller but historically important cultures:
latmo Latin/Roman
srito Sanskrit
xebro Hebrew/Israeli/Jewish
xelso Greek (from “Hellas”)
Major world religions:
budjo Buddhist
dadjo Taoist
muslo Islamic/Moslem
xriso Christian
A few terms that cover multiple groups of the above:
jegvo Jehovist (Judeo-Christian-Moslem)
semto Semitic
slovo Slavic
xispo Hispanic (New World Spanish)