Chapter 4: The Shape Of Words To Come: Lojban Morphology
12. The lujvo scoring algorithm
This algorithm was devised by Bob and Nora LeChevalier in 1989. It is not the only possible algorithm, but it usually gives a choice that people find preferable. The algorithm may be changed in the future. The lowest-scoring variant will usually be the dictionary form of the lujvo. (In previous versions, it was the highest-scoring variant.)
- ①
- Count the total number of letters, including hyphens and apostrophes; call it “L”.
- ②
- Count the number of apostrophes; call it “A”.
- ③
- Count the number of “y”-, “r”-, and “n”-hyphens; call it “H”.
- ④
- For each rafsi, find the value in the following table. Sum this value over all rafsi; call it “R”:
- CVC/CV (final) (-sarji) 1 CVC/C (-sarj-) 2 CCVCV (final) (-zbasu) 3 CCVC (-zbas-) 4 CVC (-nun-) 5 CVV with an apostrophe (-ta'u-) 6 CCV (-zba-) 7 CVV with no apostrophe (-sai-) 8
- ⑤
- Count the number of vowels, not including “y”; call it “V”.
The score is then:
- (1000 * L) - (500 * A) + (100 * H) - (10 * R) - V
Here are some lujvo with their scores (not necessarily the lowest scoring forms for these lujvo, nor even necessarily sensible lujvo):
✥12.1 zbasai zba + sai (1000 * 6) - (500 * 0) + (100 * 0) - (10 * 15) - 3 = 5847 ✥12.2 nunynau nun + y + nau 32500 - (1000 * 7) + (500 * 0) - (100 * 1) + (10 * 13) + 3 = 6967 ✥12.3 sairzbata'u sai + r + zba + ta'u 32500 - (1000 * 11) + (500 * 1) - (100 * 1) + (10 * 21) + 5 = 10385 ✥12.4 zbazbasysarji zba + zbas + y + sarji 32500 - (1000 * 13) + (500 * 0) - (100 * 1) + (10 * 12) + 4 = 12976