Novial is a constructedinternational auxiliary language (IAL) for universal communication between speakers of different native languages. It was created byOtto Jespersen, a Danish linguist. He who had been involved in the Ido movement, and later in the development of Interlingua.
Jespersen introduced Novial in his bookAn International Language in 1928. He updated it in his dictionary Novial Lexike in 1930. He proposed several modifications in the 1930s. However, the language became dormant with Jespersen's death in 1943. In the 1990s, with the revival of interest in constructed languages brought on by the Internet, some people rediscovered Novial.
Novial has a simple and regular grammar. The mainword order isSVO. There is no grammatical gender (but the sex or gender of referrents can be marked). Verbs don't change according to person or number, and don't have exceptions.
Nouns mainly end ine, a, o, u orum in singular. The plural noun is formed by adding–s to the singular (-es after a consonant).
There is also a form for indefinite number, expressed by removing the ending of the noun in singular (leone – lion,leon es kruel – a/the lion is cruel, or lions are cruel).[1]
If a noun refers to a living being, then the form ending in-e is neutral in regards to sex, the one ending in-a female, and the one ending in-o male. If the noun is based on an adjective, nouns referring to living beings 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 follows the same rule, together with the definite article.
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. 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.
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 phrases give 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
Simple Past
I protected
me did protekteor me protekted
Past Perfect
I had protected
me had protekte
Future
I shall protector I will protect
me sal protekteor me ve protekte
Future Perfect
I shall have protectedor I will have protected
me sal ha protekteor me 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 Imperative
Let me protect!
Let me protekte!
Second 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 verbto be followed by the past participle. However, the passive of becoming is also often expressed with the verbto get 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
Simple Past
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 protekteor me 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:
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.
