Vi le Sritoe pe la Cefli that is, on the desk of the CEO of the Loglan Institute

The Loglan Institute (TLI) is the official organization which coordinates the development of the artifical human language Loglan. The main Loglan web site is here: that is the place to look for lots of general information and resources on the language. There is a mirror of this site (not always perfect) here at Boise State.

Here is a good place to start finding out what Loglan is, Loglan I (fourth edition) by James Cooke Brown.

Here is a brand-new (May 1 2018) proposed reference grammar for the language. This supersedes the grammar sections of the Spring 2018 report just below as a description of the grammar, but the Report contains discussions of motivation and relationships to earlier versions of the grammar not found in the reference grammar. Here is a new grammar document which is in preparation.

Here is a PEG file implementing my favored version of the grammar. Here is the PEG file for the version without the complex subject marker gaa (it is in its vocabulary but has no grammatical function).

You can run the parser in a web page here.

Some reports to the Institute

Here is the current public agenda of the Institute (which I wrote in 2013): Public Agenda of TLI

Here is an agenda document (the Spring 2018 Report on the State of the Loglan Language; this has been steadily updated since Fall 2015) which is intended be essentially a complete report on the state of the language from my perspective as of Spring 2018. It includes a list of issues that I have worked on, an updated text of the reference grammar, a list of current proposals (including new ones), the complete PEG grammar (I am still updating annotations to it), and the trial.85 grammar. It is a substantial document.

Here is my latest annual report (2019): 2019 Annual Report.

There is a mailing list for people interested in Loglan. It is not an open list (due to the usual problems with spammers), but if you look here you will see how to apply to get on it.

On the rest of this page you will find my current Loglan projects and some general information about the Loglan language, its history, and its relationships with other artificial languages.

My current Loglan projects

Parser

The parser uses PEG (Parsing Expression Grammars), a scheme for developing parsers (developed by Bryan Ford) described here. This differs from a use of a BNF grammar disambiguated using yacc which underlies LIP, and does raise questions about ambiguity (or more correctly, unintended parse) problems.

The parser has versions written in two different languages, Standard ML and Python. The time leak that I was experiencing with the Python version seems to have been fixed: it runs acceptably fast. Only the Python version is being reliably maintained as of Spring 2018: I finally ported some development tools that I had only in the ML version to Python (with improvements!) so the Python version is now the flagship.

The ML version: The ML version is now outdated and not being actively maintained for the moment. Here find the PEG parser generator (written by me, updated 1/8/2017 with a change to logging to support batch processing) which I use to generate the provisional PEG parser for Loglan (written by me, updated constantly, get a new version often) implemented here (this is now the test parser initiated on 9/4/2016, latest update 1/8/2017, adds batch processing functions). Both of these are files to be run using the Moscow ML interpreter, which is free and runs on many platforms. The files are each documented at their front ends. I also have versions for Moscow ML 2.10.1 and for Poly/ML, available on request.

You can if you prefer use the single file omnibus.py (which I really create to provide the Trinket app online).

You can parse Loglan utterances using my grammar in this environment. All functions are working pretty well now, but of course there may be bugs. Please tell me about any problems that you find!

Here is the Loglan PEG source in Ford's exact syntax in a text format generated by the Python parser engine. I do try to keep this up to date. This might be useful if someone wants to try this with different PEG software.

Sample texts

Here is a file corpus-alternative.llg of parsed Loglan sentences (if you have the file corpus-alternative.txt, this file is generated by typing >corpus in the parser interface), this now contains the entire teaching corpus in NB3 modified to work with the current grammar.

More sample material (these are also Python files to be run in the presence of the Python parser files): Lots of parsed examples from Loglan 1 ; Some examples of complex predicates and phonetic parsesthese need updates

Here and here find translations of my friend Laura's poems.

Here is a translation of a small opening segment of the Old English poem Beowulf, with parses here and a version that doesn't parse but does have notes here. I have started adding to it again in January 2016!

I am parsing the text of the Visit to Loglandia, the novel by Alex Leith which is the largest single Loglan text. It may be useful to note that my input files include comments on the revisions I had to make in the text to make it parse.

The particular points that often need repair in this text are worth noting

My parser religiously requires commas after Loglan names. Serial names often need to be reformatted a little. Syllabic consonants have to be doubled. Names with non-Loglan letters in them become foreign names marked with lao .

. strong quotation is different (and does not come out badly in this text).

APA and IPA words are a pain. In particular, the need to mark APA and IPA words with explicit pauses is a frequent source of slight changes from Leith's text. But he also really uses APA and IPA words. Leith does seem to be aware of the issue (as I think JCB was).

inverse vocatives made from arguments often need to be closed with guu to avoid eating following sentences. The sentence form is heavily used -- it is clear what it is for. But the use with arguments needs to be guarded (a grammar change was necessary to fix this, and it reflected a genuine ambiguity in 1989 Loglan, not detected because of the role of preparsing). Actually, inverse vocatives made from sentences also need to be closed with guu frequently to keep from consuming unintended further arguments.

to avoid eating following sentences. The sentence form is heavily used -- it is clear what it is for. But the use with arguments needs to be guarded (a grammar change was necessary to fix this, and it reflected a genuine ambiguity in 1989 Loglan, not detected because of the role of preparsing). Actually, inverse vocatives made from sentences also need to be closed with guu frequently to keep from consuming unintended further arguments. One needs to watch out for closures with guo and its kin. My parser does not have pause/GU equivalence. I do not think Leith relies heavily on it, but he does not always effect the closures he needs.

and its kin. My parser does not have pause/GU equivalence. I do not think Leith relies heavily on it, but he does not always effect the closures he needs. I believe that Leith himself was responsible for a number of badly formed predicates in his text, which I have fixed. He inspired me to scan the dictionary.

all installments have been scanned with the latest version of the parser.

I have also parsed most of the other texts on the Loglan page, and will post links to these when I take the time to sit down and set up the links.

Here is the text of the first installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Here is the text of the first installment in the format I fed to the parser. I am converting this one to phonetic transcript format, thus the highlighting. I'm not finished with the conversion yet.Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the second installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the third installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the fourth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the fifth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the sixth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the seventh installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the eighth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the ninth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the tenth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the eleventh installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Here the text file is just text to be read by the new file processing capabilities of the Python parser (feasible because I fixed the time leak) with a provision for adding comments. I will probably use the Python version from now on.

Here is the text of the twelfth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the thirteenth installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 14th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 15th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 16th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 17th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 18th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 19th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python. Note that in this and further installments I preserved the original text as a comment for comparison.

Here is the text of the 20th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 21st installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 22nd installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 23rd installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 24th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse. Done with Python.

Here is the text of the 25th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the 26th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the 27th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is the text of the 28th installment in the format I fed to the parser. Here is the actual parse.

Here is a full text for the Visit with my comments. Here is the full parse of the entire Visit run 1/8/17 with the new batch processing functions of the ML version. This file is huge (6.7 MB). The look of parses printed with the ML version is slightly different. It is now outdated, but not extremely so.

Dictionary Work (with Peter Hill)

Here are the current trial drafts of the English-to-Loglan and Loglan-to-English dictionaries with my latest trial words added. Here is my latest version of the database (for use with Peter Hill's dictionary program). I have been doing dictionary work recently.

Back to Torrua's dictionary -- thanks for the quick repair!

Here is the Windows executable of the dictionary program. Advice on how to use it will be given if requested. Please, if you save dictionaries of your own, use the file labelling procedures so they can be told from the official version(s). If you want it in some other OS, you might need to ask Peter Hill if it is convertible, or write your own.

As of 1/23/2016, these dictionaries contain my latest corrections. Here is something utterly mad, a complete parse down to letters of the all the keys in the L-to-E dictionary.

work on Notebook 3

Here is a version of Notebook 3, one of our founding documents, which has been scanned and OCR'ed by Gleki Arxokuna and post-OCR proofread and edited by Peter Hill. This is the unmodified original.

La Keugru: the Loglan Academy

Here is a pointer to Appendix H of Loglan I, which details the past work of the Academy. The Academy is currently unreponsive, so I am promulgating provisional versions of the language which I hope will eventually be accepted by consensus of those few who are interested!

It is important to note that my PEG grammar includes features which are still under consideration by the Academy. However, it should parse most Loglan sentences a learner will produce correctly, and indeed LIP will still do this in most cases.

Institutional and historical information

At Brown's death in 2000, Robert A McIvor was CEO of the Institute; in 2008 when McIvor retired from this role he appointed me. I am not a member of the original group that built the language, though I had some personal contact with JCB and served as the logical consultant (la Lodtua) for a while in the 1990's; I am always interested to learn more about the earlier history of the project from those who were there. The Academy which made official decisions about the development of the language had made its last ruling in 1996 and was essentially defunct until I reconstituted it in 2013.

There is a sister language, Lojban, whose main web site is here, Ido to our Esperanto. The schism between the two languages happened about 1987 and culminated, alas, in a lawsuit, hinging on the fact that JCB claimed copyright on the word "Loglan" and on the Loglan vocabulary. He lost the point about the word, and the other language as a result has (or had originally) quite similar grammar and semantics and an unintelligible vocabulary (though even the vocabulary is formally similar in important ways). The two languages have drifted apart since, but are still quite closely related. Lojban has a much larger community and more activity. I think the original language still has something to offer, and the existence of two languages may provide some opportunities as well. Whatever the situation in the past, TLI is on good terms with the LLG which steers the development of Lojban, and though we do claim that essential materials of Loglan are the intellectual property of TLI and/or of their individual authors, we make them freely available to anyone with a private interest in learning the language or experimenting with modifications of the language (including Lojbanists!). Before undertaking any other use of the materials (and certainly before making any claim that your favorite modification is a feature of TLI Loglan!), please talk to us.

Here is another related language. And here is yet another!