| Neo | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Arturo Alfandari |
| Date created | 1961 |
| Setting and usage | International auxiliary language |
| Users | Unknown (date missing) |
| Category (purpose) | |
| Category (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 639-2 | art |
| ISO 639-3 | neu – [1] |
Neo is an international auxiliary language created by a Belgian diplomat of Italian descent Arturo Alfandari.
Contents |
The first draft was published in 1937 by 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.[1]
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 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.
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)
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 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)
Alfandari, Arturo. Rapid Method of Neo. PM 8670.A43. 1966 (402 p.).
