jbo.wikipedia.org/wiki/lo_jbobau
1 correction found
19 mei fa lo zunsna ku ne lo'u by cy dy fy gy jy ky ly my ny py ry sy ty vy xy zy .y'y denpa bu le'u
This consonant count is wrong: `denpa bu` (the period) is a mandatory pause marker, not a consonant, and the apostrophe is a special phoneme rather than an ordinary consonant.
Full reasoning
Official Lojban reference material does not treat the period as a consonant. In the reference grammar, the period is described as representing "a mandatory pause" and being "only an aid to the reader". The same chapter says the apostrophe represents a phoneme similar to English h, but it is "not treated as either a consonant or a vowel for purposes of Lojban morphology". It also states that "Lojban has seventeen consonants: for the purposes of this section, the apostrophe is not counted as a consonant."
Current Lojban documentation likewise describes the sound inventory as 26 phonemes: 6 vowels, 18 consonants, and 2 semivowels, and says the period and comma are only "auxiliary characters". So the article's list of 19 consonants is incorrect because it includes both .y'y (apostrophe) and denpa bu (period) as consonants.
2 sources
- Lojban Reference Grammar: Chapter 3
The apostrophe represents a phoneme similar to a short, breathy English "h" ... The apostrophe sound is a consonant in nature, but is not treated as either a consonant or a vowel for purposes of Lojban morphology ... The period represents a mandatory pause ... Periods are included only as an aid to the reader ... Lojban has seventeen consonants: for the purposes of this section, the apostrophe is not counted as a consonant.
- Modern Lojban Theory (draft) - La Lojban
Lojban has 26 phonemes; 6 vowels, 18 consonants, and 2 semivowels... Additionally, the . (period) and the , (comma) are sometimes seen as "auxiliary characters". The period marks a mandatory pause or glottal stop.