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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Esperanto. (October 2009)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (July 2009)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Neo | |
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Created by | Arturo Alfandari |
Date | 1961 |
Setting and usage | International auxiliary language |
Users | "a small following" [1] |
Purpose | |
Sources | Most of the vocabulary from Romance and some from Germanic languages; phonology from Romance and Slavic languages |
Official status | |
Regulated by | Akademio de Neo (now defunct) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | neu |
neu | |
Glottolog | neoa1234 [2] |
Neo is a constructed international auxiliary language created by Arturo Alfandari, a Belgian diplomat of Italian descent. The language combines features of Esperanto, Ido, Novial and Volapük. The root base of the language and grammar (in contrast to that of Esperanto and Ido) are closely related to that of the French language, with some English influences.
The first Neo draft was published in 1937 by Arturo Alfandari but attracted wider attention in 1961 when Alfandari published his books Cours Pratique de Neo and The Rapid Method of Neo. The works included both brief and complete grammar, learning course of 44 lectures, translations of literary works (poetry and prose), original Neo literature, scientific and technical texts, idioms, detailed bidirectional French and English dictionaries. The total volume of the publications was 1304 pages, with dictionaries numbering some 75,000 words. Such a degree of details was unprecedented among constructed languages of the time.
The language stands in the tradition of international auxiliary languages such as Esperanto or Ido, with the same goal: a simple, neutral and easy to learn second language for everybody.
Neo attracted the interest of the circle around the International Language Review , a periodical for IAL proponents whose publishers co-founded the international Friends of Neo (Amikos de Neo) with Alfandari; the organization also published its bulletin, the Neo-bulten. For a few years it looked like Neo could give some serious competition to Esperanto and Interlingua.
As Alfandari's health worsened, to avoid disappearance of his language, he founded a second, more serious organization: the Academy of Neo (Akademio de Neo), with the task of regulating, nurturing and spreading the language; but the organization was not very successful. Progress was cut short by Alfandari's death in 1969 and the language was mostly forgotten. [3]
Grammatically, the language is mostly influenced by Ido and Esperanto; but also, in some characteristics such as a plural -s and natural-appearing pronouns, by the naturalistic IALs like Interlingua and Occidental.
The way of forming the vocabulary and the preference for short, monosyllabic words show a substantial Volapük influence but, unlike the latter's roots which are often changed and mutilated beyond recognition, the Neo roots are easily recognizable as Romance.
It is also notable for its terseness, which exceeds that of English or any International auxiliary language (IAL) of the a priori type, which makes it very compact and brief in expression, and for the facility of its grammar whose overview occupies only two pages.
Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | - | - |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Upper case | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | SH | TS |
Lower case | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | sh | ts |
IPA phoneme | a | b | t͡ʃ | d | e | f | g | h | i | d͡ʒ | k | l | m | n | o | p | kw | r | s | t | u | v | w | ks | j | z | ʃ | t͡s |
Neo uses the 26 letters of the standard Roman alphabet: five vowels and 21 consonants. When spelling a word, the letters have an -e ending:
a, be, ce, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, qe, re, se, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze.
Neo | How to pronounce |
---|---|
c (ch) | chair, such |
g | garden, log |
j | jewel, badge |
q (kw) | quart, liquid |
s | some, mash |
sh | shall, mash |
ts | tsetse, lots |
w | wing, southwest |
x (ks) | oxen, taxes |
y | yarn, yogurt |
The c has the same pronunciation as the digraph ch; both are pronounced as in English words like chalk or chimney, and in borrowed Italian words like ciao or bocconcini, never with the 'k' sound in care or the 's' sound in certain. The g always has the “hard” pronunciation, never the “soft” pronunciation of gem or giant. The s is always unvoiced, never pronounced with the 'z' sound in rose or the 'zh' sound in leisure.
Other letters, including the vowels, are pronounced as in Esperanto. Words with the letters q (not pronounced 'kjoo' but as in English 'qu') and x (pronounced 'ks' without an initial vowel) may optionally be spelled with kw and ks, respectively. Each letter is always spoken in the same way, except that final h is silent in a few borrowed words like pashah, muftih, kadih, papah, mamah.
All words are written with initial small letters (minuscules), except for proper nouns and the first word of a sentence.
Words ending in a vowel have a stress accent on the second-last syllable. Words ending in a consonant have a stress accent on the last syllable.
Neo | English meaning |
---|---|
libro | book |
patro | father |
kemio | chemistry |
folyo | leaf |
garden | garden |
amik | friend |
The plural -s or -os does not affect the stress accent.
Neo | English meaning |
---|---|
libros | books |
gardenos | gardens |
amikos | friends |
In the combinations uo, au and eu, the vowels are to be pronounced separately, not as diphthongs. Nevertheless, the stress accent does not fall on the u in such vowel combinations.
Neo | English meaning |
---|---|
linguo | language |
auto | automobile |
neutra | neuter (grammatical gender) |
The articles are invariable:
Adjectives end in a and are invariable:
Adverbs end in e and are invariable:
Singular nouns end in o, which can be dropped, as long as the pronunciations remain very easy. [4] Plural nouns end in os.
English | Subject | Object | Possessive |
---|---|---|---|
I | mi | me | ma |
you | tu | te | ta |
he | il | le | la |
she | el | le/ley | la |
it | it | le/it | la |
(reflexive) | so | se | sa |
we | nos | ne | na |
you | vu | ve | va |
they (m.)[ citation needed ] | zi | ze | za |
they (f.) | zel | ze/zey | za |
There is also the pronoun ziel for mixed-sex group. [5]
Verbs:
The Lord's Prayer:
Sentences:
Numbers:
Wanderer's Nightsong (German : Wanderers Nachtlied) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
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The Task by Douglas Blacklock:
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Lo diplomata linguos
Latin sir, us l'endo del issepa seklo, l'oficala linguo de diplomatio. Latine so redaktir lo tratalos e l'akordos e so skambir lo komunikos inte governos. Lo last gran tratal ridaktat latine sir lo de Westfalio, in 1648; depdan kauzel preeminenta plas trenat pe Franso, Latin pokpoke cedar plas a fransal; e fransal restar us l'enso d'et seklo - us 1918 - lo diplomata linguo, lo linguo de tot internasyona medos.
Ab 1918, lo diplomata linguos jar du: fransal e anglal. In et du linguos, sir meant lo negosados pol Versailles-Tratal e pol osa paxtratalos de 1919 e sir ridaktat et tratalos, amba linguos fande fid; dok no sen inkonvenos, lo du textos pande somyes determeni def interpretazos.
Do 1945, espanal, rusal e cinal sir an admitat as oficala linguos. Nos nun nel epok de tradukeros e interpretos.
(Gino Buti)
Ka sor l'avena diplomata linguo?
Sar nel internasyona riunos, konferensos e kongresos, dey num pluar idide, ke lo neso d'un monda adlinguo se far senti pluste.
Nilo samtempe plu groteska e plu afligifa qam lo spekto ofrat pel kongresistos munat kon udokaskos, ki tentar, sen sem riusi, kapi lo diskorsos pronuncat in def lingoes. Diskorsos tradukat aste pe interpretos, dey lo melestas sar force, konforme l'itala dikton: tradukeros, trazeros.
Es so exijur dal parpreneros lo kono d'un komuna adlinguo, ke zi pur apreni kon infana izeso, so fur ilke un enorma ekonomio de temp, dengo ... e de malkomprenos.
(Arturo Alfandari)
Esperanto is a constructed language. It is designed to have a highly regular grammar, and as such is considered an easy language to learn.
Ido is a constructed language, derived from Reformed Esperanto, created to be a universal second language for speakers of diverse backgrounds. Ido was specifically designed to be grammatically, orthographically, and lexicographically regular, and above all easy to learn and use. In this sense, Ido is classified as a constructed international auxiliary language. It is the most successful of many Esperanto derivatives, called Esperantidos.
Interlingua is an Italic international auxiliary language (IAL), developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the top most widely used IALs, and is the most widely used naturalistic IAL: in other words, its vocabulary, grammar and other characteristics are derived from natural languages, rather than being centrally planned. Interlingua was developed to combine a simple, mostly regular grammar with a vocabulary common to the widest possible range of western European languages, making it unusually easy to learn, at least for those whose native languages were sources of Interlingua's vocabulary and grammar. Conversely, it is used as a rapid introduction to many natural languages.
Novial is a constructed international auxiliary language (IAL) for universal communication between speakers of different native languages. It was devised by Otto Jespersen, a Danish linguist who had been involved in the Ido movement, and later in the development of Interlingua.
Volapük is a constructed language created in 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany. Schleyer felt that God had told him in a dream to create an international language. Volapük conventions took place in 1884 (Friedrichshafen), 1887 (Munich) and 1889 (Paris). The first two conventions used German, and the last conference used only Volapük. In 1889, there were an estimated 283 clubs, 25 periodicals in or about Volapük, and 316 textbooks in 25 languages; at that time the language claimed nearly a million adherents. Volapük was largely displaced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Esperanto.
French grammar is the set of rules by which the French language creates statements, questions and commands. In many respects, it is quite similar to that of the other Romance languages.
Lingua Franca Nova is a constructed language originally created by C. George Boeree of Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania. Its vocabulary is based on the Romance languages French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. The grammar is highly reduced and similar to the Romance creoles, and is easily comprehensible and learned. The language has phonemic spelling, using 22 letters of either the Latin or Cyrillic scripts.
Idiom Neutral is an international auxiliary language, published in 1902 by the International Academy of the Universal Language under the leadership of Waldemar Rosenberger, a St. Petersburg engineer.
The word base of Esperanto was originally defined in Unua Libro, published by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887. It contained around 900 root words. The rules of the language allow speakers to borrow words as needed, recommending only that they look for the most international words, and that they borrow one basic word and derive others from it, rather than borrowing many words with related meanings. In 1894, Zamenhof published the first Esperanto dictionary, Universala vortaro, which was written in five languages and supplied a larger set of root words.
An Esperantido is a constructed language derived from Esperanto. Esperantido originally referred to the language which is now known as Ido. The word Esperantido is derived from Esperanto plus the affix -id- (-ido), which means a "child, young or offspring" (ido). Hence, Esperantido literally means an "offspring or descendant of Esperanto".
Esperanto II or Esperanto 2 was a reform of Esperanto proposed by René de Saussure in 1937, the last of a long series of such proposals beginning with a 1907 response to Ido with a project called Lingwo Internaciona, later called Antido 1. Esperanto II was one of several languages investigated by the International Auxiliary Language Association, the linguistic research body that eventually standardized and presented Interlingua de IALA.
Reformed Esperanto, or Esperanto 1894, is an Esperantido, a constructed language derived from Esperanto. It is notable as the only complete Esperantido created by the original creator of Esperanto, L. L. Zamenhof. Although Zamenhof's stated preference was to avoid any discussion of changes, he was put under considerable pressure, including financial, to respond to the diverse reforms proposed by others. Reluctantly he decided to present a reformed dialect himself and undertook to continue guiding the community, whether or not reforms were eventually agreed upon.
Adjuvilo is a constructed language created in 1910 by Claudius Colas under the pseudonym of "Profesoro V. Esperema". Although it was a full language, it may not have been created to be spoken. Many believe that as an Esperantist, Colas created Adjuvilo to help create dissent in the then-growing Ido movement. Colas himself called his language simplified Ido and proposed several reforms to Ido.
Ido, like Esperanto, is a constructed international auxiliary language.
Esperanto and Novial are two different constructed international auxiliary languages. Their main difference is that while Esperanto is a schematic language, with an unvarying grammar, Novial is a naturalistic language, whose grammar and vocabulary varies to try to retain a "natural" sound. Demographically, Esperanto has thousands of times more speakers than Novial.
Esperanto has been mostly stable since its creation, especially as compared to other constructed languages. This is due to the Declaration of Boulogne in 1905, which made the early works of Zamenhof binding; most attempts to change the language have been therefore seen as distinct language projects, and in the main the Esperanto community has ignored them. The main change in the language has been a great expansion of the vocabulary, largely driven by translations of technical jargon, which is explicitly allowed for by Boulogne. However, there have been more subtle changes to syntax and semantics as the majority of Esperanto authors shifted from native speakers of Slavic and German to other languages, such as French and English. This article considers some of the purposeful changes to the language since Boulogne.
Arturo Alfandari was a Belgian diplomat, known as the creator of the constructed language Neo.
Romániço is a constructed language, invented in 1991, which resembles Ido, and is derived from Esperanto. According to its creator, it is a simplified language using a Romance lexicon; it aims to "bridge the gap between the schematic and the naturalistic in constructed languages", combined the "easy-to-use grammar of the former with the more rigorously Romance lexicon and orthography of the latter".
Intal is an international auxiliary language, published in 1956 by the German linguist Erich Weferling. Its name is an acronym for INTernational Auxiliary Language. Intal was conceived to unite the most important features of existing international auxiliary languages, like Esperanto, Ido, Occidental-Interlingue, Neo, Novial and Interlingua, into a compromise system.
Langue nouvelle is a grammatical sketch for a proposed artificial international auxiliary language presented in 1765 by Joachim Faiguet de Villeneuve, a French economist, in the ninth volume of Diderot's encyclopedia. It is likely that it influenced Volapük, Esperanto, and other language projects of the 19th century.
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Look up Appendix:Neo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |