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Neo (constructed language)
Encyclopedia
Neo is an international auxiliary language
created by a Belgian
diplomat of Italian descent Arturo Alfandari
.
but attracted wider attention in 1961 when Alfandari published his books Cours Practique 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 bi directional 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 association of neists - 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 be a serious competition to Esperanto
and Interlingua
.
However, Alfandari's health worsened and to avoid disappearance of his language, he founded second, more serious organization - the Academy of Neo (Akademio de Neo) with the task of regulating, nurturing and spreading the language; but the organization turned out to not to be very successful and the progress was cut short by Alfandari's death in 1969 and the language was mostly forgotten.
and Esperanto
; but also, in some characteristics such as a plural
-s and natural-appearing pronoun
s, by the naturalistic IALs like Interlingua
and Occidental
.
The way of forming of the vocabulary and the preference for short, monosyllabic words show a substantial Volapük
influence, but unlike its roots which are often changed and mutilated beyond recognition, the Neo roots are easily recognizable as being clearly 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.
lo (the) : lo frato, lo soro, lo arbro --> l'arbro
un (a/an) : un arbro
Invariable
Adjective
Ends in a : bon --> bona,
Examples : un bona soro, un bona frato, lo bona fratos (pas de s à lo, ni à bona)
Invariable
Adverb
Ends in e : bon --> bone
Invariable
Noun
Ends in o : arbro, frato
The final o can be dropped : frato --> frat, soro --> sor
Plural in os : arbros
Pronouns (subject, object, possessive)
I : mi me ma
you : tu te ta
he : il le la
she : el le la
it : it le/it la
reflexive : so se sa
we : nos ne na
you : vu ve va
they (male) : zi ze za
they (fem.) : zel ze/zey za
Mi vidar te (I see you)
Tu vidar me (You see me)
Verb
Present : ar --> mi vidar (I see)
Past : ir --> mi vidir (I saw/have seen)
Future : or --> mi vidor (I will see)
Conditional : ur --> mi vidur (I would see)
Imperative/infinitive : i --> vidi! (See!)
Past participle : at --> vidat (adjective : vidata) (Seen)
Present participle : ande --> vidante (adjective : vidanta) (Seeing)
Future participle : inde --> vidinde (adjective : vidinda) (Will be seen)
:
Sentences:
Numbers:
Wanderer's Nightsong
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
:
The Task by Douglas Blacklock:
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 preemintenta 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 menat lo negosados pol Versailles-Tratal e pol osa paxtratalos de 1919 e sir ridaktat et tratalos, amba lingos fande fid; dok no sen inkonvenos, lo du textos pande somyes determeni def interpretazos.
Do 1945, espanal, rusal e cinal sir an admitat as aficala 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 lingos. 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)
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
created by a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
diplomat of Italian descent Arturo Alfandari
Arturo Alfandari
Arturo Alfandari was a Belgian diplomat, known as the creator of the language Neo.-Life:Originally from Italy, in the First World War he served as a cipher officer for the Italian High Command...
.
History
The first draft was published in 1937 by Arturo AlfandariArturo Alfandari
Arturo Alfandari was a Belgian diplomat, known as the creator of the language Neo.-Life:Originally from Italy, in the First World War he served as a cipher officer for the Italian High Command...
but attracted wider attention in 1961 when Alfandari published his books Cours Practique 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 bi directional 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
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
or Ido
Ido
Ido is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages...
, 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
International Language Review
The International Language Review was a magazine which was intended as a forum for proponents of the various international language projects to discuss and develop their ideas, started in 1955 by Floyd and Evelyn Hardin from Denver, Colorado, and published...
, a periodical for IAL proponents whose publishers co-founded the international association of neists - 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 be a serious competition to Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
and Interlingua
Interlingua
Interlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
.
However, Alfandari's health worsened and to avoid disappearance of his language, he founded second, more serious organization - the Academy of Neo (Akademio de Neo) with the task of regulating, nurturing and spreading the language; but the organization turned out to not to be very successful and the progress was cut short by Alfandari's death in 1969 and the language was mostly forgotten.
Overview
Grammatically, the language is mostly influenced by IdoIdo
Ido is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages...
and Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
; but also, in some characteristics such as a plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
-s and natural-appearing pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s, by the naturalistic IALs like Interlingua
Interlingua
Interlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
and Occidental
Occidental language
The language Occidental, later Interlingue, is a planned language created by the Balto-German naval officer and teacher Edgar de Wahl and published in 1922....
.
The way of forming of the vocabulary and the preference for short, monosyllabic words show a substantial Volapük
Volapük
Volapük is a constructed language, created in 1879–1880 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 , 1887 and 1889 . The first two conventions used...
influence, but unlike its roots which are often changed and mutilated beyond recognition, the Neo roots are easily recognizable as being clearly romance.
It is also notable for its terseness, which exceeds that of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
or any International auxiliary language
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native 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.
Grammar
Article :lo (the) : lo frato, lo soro, lo arbro --> l'arbro
un (a/an) : un arbro
Invariable
Adjective
Ends in a : bon --> bona,
Examples : un bona soro, un bona frato, lo bona fratos (pas de s à lo, ni à bona)
Invariable
Adverb
Ends in e : bon --> bone
Invariable
Noun
Ends in o : arbro, frato
The final o can be dropped : frato --> frat, soro --> sor
Plural in os : arbros
Pronouns (subject, object, possessive)
I : mi me ma
you : tu te ta
he : il le la
she : el le la
it : it le/it la
reflexive : so se sa
we : nos ne na
you : vu ve va
they (male) : zi ze za
they (fem.) : zel ze/zey za
Mi vidar te (I see you)
Tu vidar me (You see me)
Verb
Present : ar --> mi vidar (I see)
Past : ir --> mi vidir (I saw/have seen)
Future : or --> mi vidor (I will see)
Conditional : ur --> mi vidur (I would see)
Imperative/infinitive : i --> vidi! (See!)
Past participle : at --> vidat (adjective : vidata) (Seen)
Present participle : ande --> vidante (adjective : vidanta) (Seeing)
Future participle : inde --> vidinde (adjective : vidinda) (Will be seen)
Samples
The Lord's PrayerLord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
:
- Na Patro ki sar in cel,
- siu ta nom santat.
- Venu ta regno.
- Siu fat ta vol,
- asben in cel, as on ter.
- Na shakida pan ne diu oje.
- E ne pardonu na debos,
- as nos pardonar na deberos.
- E no ne induku in tentado,
- mo ne fridu da mal.
Sentences:
- Look before you leap. = Miru pri salti.
- Goodnight, Miss Wilson. = Bonnox, Damel Wilson.
- What do you call this in Neo? = Kom namar vu eto nee?
- Where are you going? = Qo tu?
- It's none of my business. = Eto no ma eco.
Numbers:
- 1 un, 2 du, 3 tre, 4 qar, 5 qin, 6 sit, 7 sep, 8 ot, 9 non, 10 is
- 11 isun, 12 isdu
- 20 duis, 21 duisun, ... 30 treis, 40 qaris
- 100 ek, 1000 mil
- 5184 qinmil ek otisqar
- 3522 tremil qinek duis du
Wanderer's Nightsong
Wanderer's Nightsong
"Wanderer's Nightsong" is the title of two poems by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published in 1776 and in 1780."Wanderer's Nightsong II has been called the most famous lyric poem in German literature. Goethe wrote it on the evening of September 6, 1780...
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
:
- Noxkant del wander
- On tot cimos sar
- Ripozo,
- In tot et lokos
- Tu sentar
- Apene un soplo;
- Nel bosko l'ezetos tacar.
- Duldu, sun tu
- An ripozor.
- Wanderer's Nightsong
- Up there all summits
- are still.
- In all the tree-tops
- you will
- feel but the dew.
- The birds in the forest stopped talking.
- Soon, done with walking,
- you shall rest, too.
- Wanderers Nachtlied
- Über allen Gipfeln
- Ist Ruh,
- In allen Wipfeln
- Spürest du
- Kaum einen Hauch;
- Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde.
- Warte nur, balde
- Ruhest du auch.
The Task by Douglas Blacklock:
- Lo Tasko
- Vortos sirvar asben informo
- As tromplo e traplo.
- Deo volvar lo kor del omos
- Dal veg de sklavos
- Al veg de Frido.
- Lo brev simpla vortos de Neo
- Utin ne inspiru
- L'uto justa
- De Parlo e Skribo.
- The Task
- Words are used both to inform
- And to deceive and ensnare.
- God turns mens hearts
- From the path of slavery
- To that of Freedom.
- The unadorned short words of Neo
- May become an inspiration
- To the rightful use
- Of Speech and Writing.
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 preemintenta 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 menat lo negosados pol Versailles-Tratal e pol osa paxtratalos de 1919 e sir ridaktat et tratalos, amba lingos fande fid; dok no sen inkonvenos, lo du textos pande somyes determeni def interpretazos.
Do 1945, espanal, rusal e cinal sir an admitat as aficala 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 lingos. 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)
External links
- Neo - a language conceived by Arturo Alfandari
- Friends of Neo - a Yahoo Group dedicated to Neo
- The universal language Neo on Google WaveGoogle WaveApache Wave is a software framework for real-time collaborative editing online. Google Inc. originally developed it as Google Wave.It was announced at the Google I/O conference on May 27, 2009....
- A blog in and on Neo
- A two-page overview
- The first 30 pages of The Rapid Method of Neo
