The following list gives the cmavo and selma'o that are recognized by the earliest stages of the parser, and specifies exactly which of them interact with which others. All of the cmavo are at least mentioned in this chapter. The cmavo are written in lower case, and the selma'o in UPPER CASE.
zo quotes the following word, no matter what it is.
sa erases the preceding word and other words, unless the preceding word is a zo.
lo'u quotes all following words up to a le'u (but not a zo le'u).
le'u is ungrammatical except at the end of a “lo'u quotation.
ZOI cmavo use the following word as a delimiting word, no matter what it is, but using le'u may create difficulties.
zei combines the preceding and the following word into a lujvo, but does not affect zo, si, sa, su, lo'u, ZOI cmavo, fa'o, and zei.
BAhE cmavo mark the following word, unless it is si, sa, or su, or unless it is preceded by zo. Multiple BAhE cmavo may be used in succession.
bu makes the preceding word into a lerfu word, except for zo, si, sa, su, lo'u, ZOI cmavo, fa'o, zei, BAhE cmavo, and bu. Multiple bu cmavo may be used in succession.
UI and CAI cmavo mark the previous word, except for zo, si, sa, su, lo'u, ZOI, fa'o, zei, BAhE cmavo, and bu. Multiple UI cmavo may be used in succession. A following nai is made part of the UI.
.y., da'o, fu'e, and fu'o are the same as UI, but do not absorb a following nai.