English Translation
Please speak slowly.
“.e’o ko masno tavla” is a sentence in Lojban, a constructed language designed specifically for clear and unambiguous communication. This sentence translates to “Please speak slowly” in English.
Breaking down the sentence:
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“.e’o”: This is an attitude indicator or an emotional indicator, specifically a polite request or plea.
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“ko”: It is a command pronoun that is used to indicate that the speaker is giving a request or command to the listener.
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“masno”: It means “slow” in English.
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“tavla”: It is the Lojban word for “speak” or “talk.”
So the sentence “.e’o ko masno tavla” is the speaker politely asking the listener to slow down the way they are speaking.
In terms of grammar, an important feature of this sentence is the lack of explicit subject and object as we know it from English language. The command pronoun “ko” causatively assumes the listener as the subject. The structure of the sentence does not directly resemble the typical SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) structure of English, highlighting the unique logical structure of Lojban.