Novial - Wikipedia

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Novial language
Constructed language
Novial
novial
Created by
Otto Jespersen
Date
1928
Setting and usage
International auxiliary language
Purpose
Constructed language
International auxiliary language
Novial
Sources
Romance
and
Germanic languages
; also
Interlingue
and
Ido
Language codes
ISO 639-3
nov
Linguist List
nov
Glottolog
novi1234
Linguasphere
51-AAB-dc
Novial
is an
international auxiliary language
(IAL) created by Danish linguist
Otto Jespersen
in 1928. It was designed to facilitate communication between speakers of different native languages. The name of the language is a
blend
of the Novial word
novi
(meaning 'new") and IAL.
Jespersen had been an early supporter of another international auxiliary language,
Ido
, a reformed version of
Esperanto
, before leaving to create his own language in 1928.
Novial's vocabulary is borrowed largely from the
Romance
and
Germanic
languages, while its
analytic
grammar is influenced by
Novial was introduced in Jespersen's book
An International Language
in 1928.
It was updated in his dictionary
Novial Lexike
in 1930,
and further modifications were proposed in the 1930s, but the language became dormant with Jespersen's death in 1943.
better source needed
Phonology
edit
Consonants
edit
Labial
Coronal
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Nasal
Plosive
Affricate
tʃ
dʒ
Fricative
Approximant
Rhotic
Vowels
edit
Front
Back
Close
Mid
Open
Stress
edit
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
but
bónim
, not
boním
apérta
but
apértad
, not
apertád
), so perhaps it is better to say that the vowel before the final consonant of the stem takes the stress.
Orthography
edit
Novial alphabet
Upper case
Lower case
IPA
phonemes
et al.
dʒ
ks, gz
ts
et al.
The digraphs
ch
and
sh
represent
t͡ʃ
or
, depending on the speaker. For example,
chokolate
would be pronounced either
/t͡ʃokoˈlate/
or
/ʃokoˈlate/
is not used.
Grammar
edit
Like many constructed IALs, Novial has a simple and regular grammar. The main
word order
is
SVO
, which removes the need for marking the object of a sentence with
accusative 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, without
agreement
(according to person or number).
Nouns mainly end in
or
um
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').
: 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
: 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
Personal pronouns
edit
Person
Singular
Plural
1st
me
nus
2nd
vu
vus
3rd
Common
le
les
Masculine
lo
los
Feminine
la
las
Neuter
lu
lus
The standard
word order
in Novial is
subject–verb–object
, as in English. Therefore, the object need not be marked to distinguish it from the subject, and nominative (corresponding to
I, he, she
and so on) and accusative (corresponding to
me, him, us
, etc.) pronouns are identical:
me
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 preposition
em
is equivalent to this ending.
dubious
discuss
The genitive personal pronouns – whether dependent or independent (corresponding to
my, their
, etc., or to
mine, 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 thus
men
vun
len
, etc.,
lun
and
nusen
vusen
lesen
etc. and
lusen
. Such a relationship may also be expressed with the preposition
de
de me
de vu
, and so on.
The reflexive pronoun is
se
lo admira se
– 'he admires himself'.
: 90, 109
The generic personal pronoun (similar to the English
one
) is
on
, with the genitive form
onen
Verbs
edit
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
Novial
Infinitive
to protect
protekte
Present
I protect
me protekte
Present Perfect
I have protected
me ha protekte
Past Simple
I protected
me did protekte
or
me protekted
Past Perfect
I had protected
me had protekte
Future
I shall protect
or
I will protect
me sal protekte
or
me ve protekte
Future Perfect
I shall have protected
or
I will have protected
me sal ha protekte
or
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-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 verb
be
followed by the past participle. However, the passive of becoming is also often expressed with the verb
get,
which is used in the examples below.
The passive voice of becoming is formed with the auxiliary
bli
followed by the root verb form. It can then be conjugated into the previously mentioned forms, for example:
Grammar
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 protected
or
I will get protected
me sal bli protekte
or
me ve bli protekte
Conditional
I would get protected
me vud bli protekte
The passive voice of being is formed with the auxiliary
es
followed by the past passive participle (stem +
-t
). For example:
Grammar
Novial
Infinitive
to be protected
es protektet
Present
I am protected
me es protektet
Present Perfect
I have been protected
me ha es protektet
Past Simple
I was protected
me did es protektet
or
me esed protektet
Past Perfect
I had been protected
me had es protektet
Future
I shall be protected
or
I will be protected
me sal es protektet
or
me ve es protektet
Conditional
I would be protected
me vud es protektet
Articles
edit
The definite article is
li
, which is invariant. It is used as in English.
There is no indefinite article, although
un
('one') can be used.
Nouns
edit
The plural noun is formed by adding
–s
to the singular (
-es
after a consonant).
The
accusative case
is generally identical to the
nominative
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 preposition
em
The genitive is formed with the ending
-n
-en
after a consonant) with the plural being
-sen
-esen
after a consonant) or with the preposition
de
Other cases are formed with prepositions.
Adjectives
edit
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
, and
min
) in front of the adjective receiving the comparison. Likewise, the superlative particles (
maxim
and
minim
) precede the adjective. The adjective does not receive an inflection to its ending.
Adverbs
edit
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.
Vocabulary
edit
Affixes
edit
See the
Table of Prefixes
and
Table of Suffixes
at the Novial Wikibook.
Novial compared to Esperanto and Ido
edit
See also:
Comparison between Esperanto and Novial
and
Comparison between Ido and Novial
Jespersen was a professional linguist, unlike Esperanto's creator. He disliked the arbitrary and artificial character that he found in Esperanto and Ido.
: 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 in
and modern
Scandinavian languages
. There is no obligatory
accusative
marker as in Esperanto, but the accusative may optionally be marked with either an accusative ending or a preposition.
genitive
(or "possessive") case is available as an alternative to the preposition
de
. This is based on Jespersen's observation that many modern languages have lost complex noun inflections, yet retain a genitive form.
Auxiliary particles express most
verb
tenses
. An inflectional ending is available as a shorthand for the simple
past tense
A major difference between Novial and Esperanto/Ido concerns
noun
endings. Jespersen rejected a single vowel to terminate all nouns (-o in Esperanto/Ido), finding it unnatural and potentially confusing.
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 for
adjectives
to agree with nouns.
Language sample for comparison
edit
Here is
the Lord's Prayer
in Novial and several related languages:
Novial version:
Esperanto
version:
Ido
version:
Latin
version:
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.
Criticism
edit
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 of
one sound, one letter
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 letters
and
and the first part of
, also acquired the new sign
(before
a, 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 as
Jesperanto
, combining his surname with
Esperanto
, the prototypical auxiliary language.
citation needed
See also
edit
Comparison between Esperanto and Novial
Comparison between Ido and Novial
Notes
edit
Only used in proper names and international symbols.
Only used in the
qu
digraph.
References
edit
Jespersen, Otto (1928).
An International Language
. London: Allen & Unwin.
OCLC
251023739
– via
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
Jespersen, Otto. Blaheta, Don (ed.).
Novial Lexike: International Dictionary = Dictionnaire international = Internationales Wörterbuch
. Retrieved
2020-04-03
– via Don Blaheta.
Ager, Simon.
"Novial language, alphabet and pronunciation"
Omniglot
. Retrieved
2020-04-03
Leigh, Thomas.
"Novial: Pronunciation and spelling systems"
Don Blaheta
. Retrieved
2025-07-02
Jespersen, Otto (n.d.) [1910]. "Linguistic principles necessary for the construction of an international auxiliary language, with an appendix on the criticism of Esperanto".
International Language and Science: Considerations on the Introduction of an International Language into Science
. By
Couturat, L[ouis]
; Jespersen, O[tto];
Lorenz, R[ichard]
Ostwald, W[ilhelm]
Pfaundler, L[eopold]
. Project Gutenberg. pp.
27–
41.
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.
ISBN
87-7838-132-0
. Pages 227–8.
External links
edit
Novial edition
of
Wikipedia
, the free encyclopedia
Look up
Novial
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikibooks has more on the topic of:
Novial
B. R. Gilson. "
Novial
". A summary of 1928 Novial
Thomas Leigh. "
Novial Grammar Summary
". A summary of the 1930 version
Don Blaheta.
Novial
’98
Novial Lexike: International Dictionary
by Otto Jespersen, 1930. Ed. by Don Blaheta and Xavi Abadia.
Archived
2023-02-28 at the
Wayback Machine
Discussiones inter E. de Wahl e O. Jespersen
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