Pronunciation

Lojban is written with these letters: 'abcdefgijklmnoprstuvxyz (yes, the apostrophe is a letter). The period and comma are also used to mark how syllable breaks are pronounced. The letters are named and pronounced as follows:

' y'y aha
, slaka bu Indicates a syllable break.
. denpa bu Indicates a pause; pronounced as a glottal stop before a vowel. Sandhi of n is not done across a pause.
a .abu father
b by bob
c cy precious
d dy As in French dont
e .ebu set
f fy fifty
g gy gun
i .ibu machine
j jy As in French jupe
k ky kick
l ly lollipop. Vocalic l is pronounced as in bottlecap.
m my mumble
n ny As in none. Before g, k, and x, as in sink. This rule is ignored in names such as gaulun (Kowloon, Hong Kong); the n is pronounced as in the source language.
Vocalic n is pronounced as in buttonhole.
o .obu As in Spanish, or Greek omikron
p py As in French or Spanish
r ry As in Spanish, but American r will be understood. Do not drop the r's.
Vocalic r is pronounced as in buttercup, but with the tongue slightly farther back, or by almost rolling the r.
s sy sistrum
t ty As in French toute
u .ubu rude
v vy ovoviviparous
x xy As in German machen
y .ybu As in alarm
z zy As in zoo

If a word has a consonant cluster or ends in a consonant, it is accented on the next-to-last syllable, unless the vowel in that syllable is y, in which case the syllable before that is accented, unless marked otherwise by capitalizing. If it has no consonant clusters and ends in a vowel, it may be accented anywhere or nowhere, but if it is accented on the last syllable, a pause may be necessary after it to prevent confusion.

Sometimes a small change makes a big difference. For instance, "mi djica tu'a lo bakyrectu" means "I would like some beef"; but drop the "y" and you get "mi djica tu'a lo ba krectu", which means "I would like someone who will teach about hair".

Dialects

ntc and ndj do not occur in Lojban, but in southern Lojbangug nc and nj are pronounced as ntc and ndj.

In the east, which is on the border with Loglandia, there is a tendency to drop y'ybu, saying a'ope'i as aope,i

In some hick towns, you will find incomprehensible slurvian. If this happens, say "e'o ko masno bacru tezu'e lenu mi jimpe" (Please speak slowly so that I can understand).

Some foreigners have trouble with consonant clusters such as ml and jb and insert a short vowel in them. If you do this, be sure to distinguish this vowel (called a "buffer") from y.