The following cmavo is discussed in this section:
ki KI stickiness flag
Like tenses, modals can be made persistent from the bridi in which they appear to all following bridi. The effect of this “stickiness” is to make the modal, along with its following sumti, act as if it appeared in every successive bridi. Stickiness is put into effect by following the modal (but not any following sumti) with the cmavo “ki” of selma'o KI. For example,
14.1) mi tavla bau la lojban. bai ki tu'a la frank.
.ibabo mi tavla bau la gliban.
I speak in-language Lojban compelled-by some-property-of Frank.
Afterward, I speak in-language English.
means the same as:
14.2) mi tavla bau la lojban. bai tu'a la frank.
.ibabo mi tavla bau la gliban.
bai tu'a la frank.
I speak in-language Lojban compelled-by some-property-of Frank.
Afterward, I speak in-language English
compelled-by some-property-of Frank.
In Example 14.1, “bai” is made sticky, and so Frank’s compelling is made applicable to every following bridi. “bau” is not sticky, and so the language may vary from bridi to bridi, and if not specified in a particular bridi, no assumption can safely be made about its value.
To cancel stickiness, use the form “BAI ki ku”, which stops any modal value for the specified BAI from being passed to the next bridi. To cancel stickiness for all modals simultaneously, and also for any sticky tenses that exist (“ki” is used for both modals and tenses), use “ki” by itself, either before the selbri or (in the form “ki ku”) anywhere in the bridi:
14.3) mi ki tavla
I speak (no implication about language or compulsion).
Note: Modals made with “fi'o”-plus-selbri cannot be made sticky. This is an unfortunate, but unavoidable, restriction.