The use of tanru or lujvo is not always appropriate for very concrete or specific terms (e.g. “brie” or “cobra”), or for jargon words specialized to a narrow field (e.g. “quark”, “integral”, or “iambic pentameter”). These words are in effect names for concepts, and the names were invented by speakers of another language. The vast majority of words referring to plants, animals, foods, and scientific terminology cannot be easily expressed as tanru. They thus must be borrowed (actually “copied”) into Lojban from the original language.
There are four stages of borrowing in Lojban, as words become more and more modified (but shorter and easier to use). Stage 1 is the use of a foreign name quoted with the cmavo “la'o” (explained in full in Chapter 19):
7.1) me la'o ly. spaghetti .ly.is a predicate with the place structure “x1 is a quantity of spaghetti”.
Stage 2 involves changing the foreign name to a Lojbanized name, as explained in Section 8:
7.2) me la spagetis.One of these expedients is often quite sufficient when you need a word quickly in conversation. (This can make it easier to get by when you do not yet have full command of the Lojban vocabulary, provided you are talking to someone who will recognize the borrowing.)
Where a little more universality is desired, the word to be borrowed must be Lojbanized into one of several permitted forms. A rafsi is then usually attached to the beginning of the Lojbanized form, using a hyphen to ensure that the resulting word doesn’t fall apart.
The rafsi categorizes or limits the meaning of the fu'ivla; otherwise a word having several different jargon meanings in other languages would require the word-inventor to choose which meaning should be assigned to the fu'ivla, since fu'ivla (like other brivla) are not permitted to have more than one definition. Such a Stage 3 borrowing is the most common kind of fu'ivla.
Finally, Stage 4 fu'ivla do not have any rafsi classifier, and are used where a fu'ivla has become so common or so important that it must be made as short as possible. (See Section 16 for a proposal concerning Stage 4 fu'ivla.)
The form of a fu'ivla reliably distinguishes it from both the gismu and the cmavo. Like cultural gismu, fu'ivla are generally based on a word from a single non-Lojban language. The word is “borrowed” (actually “copied”, hence the Lojban tanru “fukpi valsi”) from the other language and Lojbanized — the phonemes are converted to their closest Lojban equivalent and modifications are made as necessary to make the word a legitimate Lojban fu'ivla-form word. All fu'ivla:
This is a fairly liberal definition and allows quite a lot of possibilities within “fu'ivla space”. Stage 3 fu'ivla can be made easily on the fly, as lujvo can, because the procedure for forming them always guarantees a word that cannot violate any of the rules. Stage 4 fu'ivla require running tests that are not simple to characterize or perform, and should be made only after deliberation and by someone knowledgeable about all the considerations that apply.
Here is a simple and reliable procedure for making a non-Lojban word into a valid Stage 3 fu'ivla:
Prefix the result of steps 1-5 with a 4-letter rafsi that categorizes the fu'ivla into a “topic area”. It is only safe to use a 4-letter rafsi; short rafsi sometimes produce invalid fu'ivla. Hyphenate the rafsi to the rest of the fu'ivla with an “r”-hyphen; if that would produce a double “r”, use an “n”-hyphen instead; if the rafsi ends in “r” and the rest of the fu'ivla begins with “n” (or vice versa), or if the rafsi ends in "r" and the rest of the fu'ivla begins with "tc", "ts", "dj", or "dz" (using "n" would result in a phonotactically impermissible cluster), use an “l”-hyphen. (This is the only use of “l”-hyphen in Lojban.)
Alternatively, if a CVC-form short rafsi is available it can be used instead of the long rafsi.
Here are a few examples:
7.3) spaghetti (from English or Italian)
spageti (Lojbanize)
cidj,r,spageti (prefix long rafsi)
dja,r,spageti (prefix short rafsi)
where “cidj-” is the 4-letter rafsi for “cidja”, the Lojban gismu for “food”, thus categorizing “cidjrspageti” as a kind of food. The form with the short rafsi happens to work, but such good fortune cannot be relied on: in any event, it means the same thing.
7.4) Acer (the scientific name of maple trees)
acer (Lojbanize)
xaceru (add initial consonant and final vowel)
tric,r,xaceru (prefix rafsi)
ric,r,xaceru (prefix short rafsi)
where “tric-” and “ric-” are rafsi for “tricu”, the gismu for “tree”. Note that by the same principles, “maple sugar” could get the fu'ivla “saktrxaceru”, or could be represented by the tanru “tricrxaceru sakta”. Technically, “ricrxaceru” and “tricrxaceru” are distinct fu'ivla, but they would surely be given the same meanings if both happened to be in use.
7.5) brie (from French)
bri (Lojbanize)
cirl,r,bri (prefix rafsi)
where “cirl-” represents “cirla” (“cheese”).
7.6) cobra
kobra (Lojbanize)
sinc,r,kobra (prefix rafsi)
where “sinc-” represents “since” (“snake”).
7.7) quark
kuark (Lojbanize)
kuarka (add final vowel)
sask,r,kuarka (prefix rafsi)
where “sask-” represents “saske” (“science”). Note the extra vowel “a” added to the end of the word, and the diphthong “ua”, which never appears in gismu or lujvo, but may appear in fu'ivla.
7.8) 자모 (from Korean)
djamo (Lojbanize)
lerf,r,djamo (prefix rafsi)
ler,l,djamo (prefix rafsi)
where “ler-” represents “lerfu” (“letter”). Note the l-hyphen in "lerldjamo", since "lerndjamo" contains the forbidden cluster "ndj".
The use of the prefix helps distinguish among the many possible meanings of the borrowed word, depending on the field. As it happens, “spageti” and “kuarka” are valid Stage 4 fu'ivla, but “xaceru” looks like a compound cmavo, and “kobra” like a gismu.
For another example, “integral” has a specific meaning to a mathematician. But the Lojban fu'ivla “integrale”, which is a valid Stage 4 fu'ivla, does not convey that mathematical sense to a non-mathematical listener, even one with an English-speaking background; its source — the English word “integral” — has various other specialized meanings in other fields.
Left uncontrolled, “integrale” almost certainly would eventually come to mean the same collection of loosely related concepts that English associates with “integral”, with only the context to indicate (possibly) that the mathematical term is meant.
The prefix method would render the mathematical concept as “cmacrntegrale”, if the “i” of “integrale” is removed, or something like “cmacrnintegrale”, if a new consonant is added to the beginning; “cmac-” is the rafsi for “cmaci” (“mathematics”). The architectural sense of “integral” might be conveyed with “djinrnintegrale” or “tarmrnintegrale”, where “dinju” and “tarmi” mean “building” and “form” respectively.
Here are some fu'ivla representing cultures and related things, shown with more than one rafsi prefix:
7.9) bang,r,blgaria
Bulgarian (in language)
7.10) kuln,r,blgaria
Bulgarian (in culture)
7.11) gugd,r,blgaria
Bulgaria (the country)
7.12) bang,r,kore,a
Korean (the language)
7.13) kuln,r,kore,a
Korean (the culture)
Note the commas in Examples 7.12 and 7.13, used because “ea” is not a valid diphthong in Lojban. Arguably, some form of the native name “Chosen” should have been used instead of the internationally known “Korea”; this is a recurring problem in all borrowings. In general, it is better to use the native name unless using it will severely impede understanding: “Navajo” is far more widely known than “Dine’e”.