Novial is aninternational auxiliary language (IAL) created by Danish linguistOtto Jespersen in 1928. It was designed to facilitate communication between speakers of different native languages. The name of the language is ablend of the Novial wordnovi (meaning 'new") and IAL.
Jespersen had been an early supporter of another international auxiliary language,Ido, a reformed version ofEsperanto, before leaving to create his own language in 1928.
Novial's vocabulary is borrowed largely from theRomance andGermanic languages, while itsanalytic grammar is influenced byEnglish.
Novial was introduced in Jespersen's bookAn International Language in 1928.[1] It was updated in his dictionaryNovial Lexike in 1930,[2] and further modifications were proposed in the 1930s, but the language became dormant with Jespersen's death in 1943.[3][better source needed]
The basic rule is: stress the vowel before the last consonant. However, consonantal flexional endings (ie.-d,-m,-n,-s) do not count for this (e.g.bóni butbónim, notboním;apérta butapértad, notapertád), so perhaps it is better to say that the vowel before the final consonant of the stem takes the stress.[4]
The digraphsch andsh represent[t͡ʃ] or[ʃ], depending on the speaker. For example,chokolate would be pronounced either/t͡ʃokoˈlate/ or/ʃokoˈlate/.[1]w is not used.
Like many constructed IALs, Novial has a simple and regular grammar. The mainword order isSVO, which removes the need for marking the object of a sentence withaccusative case (since the position normally tells what word is the object). There is however a way to mark accusative. There is no grammatical gender (but the sex or gender of referents can be marked). Verbs are conjugated regularly, withoutagreement (according to person or number).
Nouns mainly end ine,a,o,u orum in the singular. There are definite forms of nouns marked with an article, and singular and plural forms, where the plural is marked with the suffix-s after vowels or-es after consonants. There is also a form for indefinite number (as in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese), expressed by removing the ending of the noun in the singular (leone – lion,leon es kruel – 'a/the lion is cruel', or 'lions are cruel').[1]: 89
If a noun refers to a living being, then the form ending in-e is neutral with regard to sex, feminine when ending in-a, and masculine when ending in-o. If based on an adjective, a noun referring to a living being can be made with the previously mentioned rule, and furthermore nouns referring to concrete objects with-u, and abstractions with-um. The third-person pronouns follow the same rule, together with the definite article.
Referring to an instrument – a tool or a means – a word that ends in-e is the tool or the means itself, a word that ends in-a is a verb describing usage of the tool and so on, and a word that ends in-o is a noun describing the act[1]: 124, 126 of using it:
rule
roll
–
–
rula
(to) roll
–
–
rulo
(a) rolling
rule – rula – rulo
roll – {(to) roll} – {(a) rolling}
mesure
measure (the tool)
–
–
mesura
(to measure)
–
–
mesuro
measurement
mesure – mesura – mesuro
{measure (the tool)} – {(to measure)} – measurement
The standardword order in Novial issubject–verb–object, as in English. Therefore, the object need not be marked to distinguish it from the subject, and nominative (corresponding toI, he, she and so on) and accusative (corresponding tome, him, us, etc.) pronouns are identical:
me
I
observa
observe
vu
you
me observa vu
I observe you
vu
you
observa
observe
me
me
vu observa me
you observe me
The accusative (direct object) is therefore most often identical to the nominative (subject). However, for avoiding ambiguity, an optional accusative ending,-m (-em after a consonant), is available; it is rarely used. The prepositionem is equivalent to this ending.[dubious –discuss]
The genitive personal pronouns – whether dependent or independent (corresponding tomy, their, etc., or tomine, theirs, etc., respectively) – are formed by adding-n or after a consonant-en:
Men
My
hunde
dog
Men hunde
My dog
Li
The
hunde
dog
es
is
men
mine
Li hunde es men
The dog is mine
The genitive pronouns are thusmen,vun,len, etc.,lun andnusen,vusen,lesen etc. andlusen. Such a relationship may also be expressed with the prepositionde:de me,de vu, and so on.
The reflexive pronoun isse:lo admira se – 'he admires himself'.[1]: 90, 109 The generic personal pronoun (similar to the Englishone) ison, with the genitive formonen.
Verb forms never change with person or number. Most verb tenses, moods and voices are expressed with auxiliary verbs preceding the root form of the main verb. The auxiliaries follow the same word order as the English equivalent. The following are examples of the verb forms:
Grammar
English
Novial
Infinitive
to protect
protekte
Present
I protect
me protekte
Present Perfect
I have protected
me ha protekte
Past Simple
I protected
me did protekteorme protekted
Past Perfect
I had protected
me had protekte
Future
I shall protector I will protect
me sal protekteorme ve protekte
Future Perfect
I shall have protectedor I will have protected
me sal ha protekteorme ve ha protekte
Future in the Past
I was going to protect
me saled protekte
Conditional
I would protect
me vud protekte
Conditional Perfect
I would have protected
me vud ha protekte
First-person Imperative
Let me protect!
Let me protekte!
Second-person Imperative
Protect!
protekte!
Present active participle:protektent – 'protecting'
Past passive participle:protektet – 'protected'
Novial clearly distinguishes the passive of becoming and the passive of being. In English, the forms are often the same, using the auxiliary verbbe followed by the past participle. However, the passive of becoming is also often expressed with the verbget, which is used in the examples below.
The passive voice of becoming is formed with the auxiliarybli followed by the root verb form. It can then be conjugated into the previously mentioned forms, for example:
Grammar
English
Novial
Infinitive
to get protected
bli protekte
Present
I get protected
me bli protekte
Present Perfect
I have got protected
me ha bli protekte
Past Simple
I got protected
me blid protekte
Past Perfect
I had got protected
me had bli protekte
Future
I shall get protectedor I will get protected
me sal bli protekteorme ve bli protekte
Conditional
I would get protected
me vud bli protekte
The passive voice of being is formed with the auxiliaryes followed by the past passive participle (stem +-t). For example:
The plural noun is formed by adding–s to the singular (-es after a consonant).
Theaccusative case is generally identical to thenominative but can optionally be marked with the ending-m (-em after a consonant) with the plural being-sem (-esem after a consonant) or with the prepositionem.
The genitive is formed with the ending-n (-en after a consonant) with the plural being-sen (-esen after a consonant) or with the prepositionde.
All adjectives end in-i, but this may be dropped if it is easy enough to pronounce and no confusion will be caused. Adjectives precede the noun qualified. Adjectives do not agree with the noun, but may be given noun endings if there is no noun present to receive them.
Comparative adjectives are formed by placing various particles (plu,tam, andmin) in front of the adjective receiving the comparison. Likewise, the superlative particles (maxim andminim) precede the adjective. The adjective does not receive an inflection to its ending.
An adjective is converted to a corresponding adverb by adding-m after the-i ending of the adjective.
Comparative and superlative adverbs are formed in the same manner as comparative and superlative adjectives: by placing a specific particle before the adverb receiving the comparison.
Jespersen was a professional linguist, unlike Esperanto's creator. He disliked the arbitrary and artificial character that he found in Esperanto and Ido.[1]: 21–27 Additionally, he objected to those languages'inflectional systems, which he found needlessly complex. He sought to make Novial at once euphonious and regular, while also preserving useful structures from natural languages.
In Novial:
Syntax is largely a matter of word order, as inEnglish and modernScandinavian languages. There is no obligatoryaccusative marker as in Esperanto, but the accusative may optionally be marked with either an accusative ending or a preposition.
Agenitive (or "possessive") case is available as an alternative to the prepositionde. This is based on Jespersen's observation that many modern languages have lost complex noun inflections, yet retain a genitive form.
Auxiliary particles express mostverbtenses. An inflectional ending is available as a shorthand for the simplepast tense.
A major difference between Novial and Esperanto/Ido concernsnoun endings. Jespersen rejected a single vowel to terminate all nouns (-o in Esperanto/Ido), finding it unnatural and potentially confusing.[5] Instead, Novial nouns may end in-o,-a,-e, or-u or-um. These endings may be taken to indicate natural sex according to the custom in Romance languages, though there is no grammatical gender or requirement foradjectives to agree with nouns.
Nusen Patre, kel es in siele, mey vun nome bli sanktifika, mey vun regno veni; mey on fa vun volio kom in siele anke sur tere. Dona a nus disdi li omnidiali pane, e pardona a nus nusen ofensos, kom anke nus pardona a nusen ofensantes, e non dukte nus en tentatione, ma liberisa nus fro malu. Amen.
Patro nia, kiu estas en la ĉielo, Via nomo estu sanktigita. Venu Via regno, plenumiĝu Via volo, kiel en la ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero. Nian panon ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ. Kaj pardonu al ni niajn ŝuldojn, kiel ankaŭ ni pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj. Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malbono. Amen.
Patro nia, qua esas en la cielo, tua nomo santigesez; tua regno advenez; tua volo facesez quale en la cielo tale anke sur la tero. Donez a ni cadie l'omnadia pano, e pardonez a ni nia ofensi, quale anke ni pardonas a nia ofensanti, e ne duktez ni aden la tento, ma liberigez ni del malajo. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis: sanctificetur Nomen Tuum; adveniat Regnum Tuum; fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a Malo. Amen.
As Jespersen relates in his autobiography, in 1934 he proposed an orthographic reform to Novial, which displeased a faction of the users. Jespersen abandoned the essential principle ofone sound, one letter:[6]
I proposed some not inconsiderable amendments, especially by introducing an "orthographic" Novial alongside the original phonetically written language. (...) Thus the sound [k], besides being represented by the lettersk andq and the first part ofx, also acquired the new signc (beforea, o, u and consonants), a practice with which nearly all Europeans, Americans, and Australians are familiar from childhood. (...) I know that this orthographic form has displeased several of Novial's old and faithful friends, but it is my impression that many others have applauded it.
Some of Jespersen's colleagues among philologists jokingly referred to Novial asJesperanto, combining his surname withEsperanto, the prototypical auxiliary language.[citation needed]
^Jespersen, Otto (1995 [1938]).A linguist's life: An English translation of Otto Jespersen's autobiography [En Sprogmands Levned]with notes, photos and a bibliography. Edited by Arne Juul, Hans F. Nielsen, Jørgen Erik Nielsen. Odense: Odense University Press.ISBN87-7838-132-0. Pages 227–8.
