Wiki Neo
The city for conlangs
Contents |
[edit] Note to the Reader
This language was originally proposed on Wikibooks as Neo. Since a conlang called Neo already exists I the transwikier am temporarily dubbing this "Wiki Neo", since it was invented on a wiki. Despite the name, it is seemingly unrelated to Neo. Note also that the interwiki links in this document may or may not function any longer.
[edit] How to Speak Neo
Neo is a new international artificial language designed to make it easier for people to communicate with each other. It is meant to be:
- Simple – the rules and pronunciation are designed to make it easy to learn and pronounce
- Collaborative – the Neo language is meant to evolve and change over time to reflect the needs of its users in an organic fashion
- International – unlike most previous artificial languages, Neo is open to contributions from anyone, so it is truly a broad-based new language
- Fun – of course!
Who is the author of Neo?
You are! Just help by writing this book and trying to make Neo as simple, useful and beautiful as it can be. There is no arbitrary standard against which Neo is judged. It is artificial and therefore can be whatever the Internet community requires. So don't be embarrassed to pick up Neo and give it a try, like you might be with someone's native language. No need to apologize, the language is yours as much as it is theirs.
What is the Neo alphabet?
For simplicity, the letters of Neo are taken to be the letters of a typical English keyboard, A-Z. Not all letters will be frequently used, however, since some are more difficult to pronounce. Here is the suggested pronunciation:
a – as spoken in Italian, or rather like “a” as in father
b – as in banana
c – like ch in church, or like ts as in pits if you find ch difficult
d – as in dog
e – as spoken in Italian, or rather like “ay” as in tray although without the “y” sound
f – as in fun
g – as in gallon
h – as in hide
i – as spoken in Italian, or rather like the “i” in machine
j – as in judge, or like dz as in adze if you find j difficult
k – as in karma
l – as in long
m – as in man
n – as in nobody
o – as spoken in Italian, or rather like “o” as in oboe
p – as in parrot
qu – as in quick
r – as in radio
s – as in son
t – as in trip
u – as spoken in Italian, or rather like “u” as in lunar
v – as in vowel
w – as in winner
x – as in taxi, or like “sh” if you find that difficult
y – as in yellow
z – as in zebra
Where do I put the emphasist?
On the second to last syllable of the word. For example, if “tokamu” is a Neo word, it would be split into syllables like “to-ka-mu” and the ka would receive a little extra stress.
What about accent?
Use whatever accent feels natural; Any "R" goes, as long as people around you can tell it's an R.
What are some useful beginner words of Neo?
These words are derived from international languages, typically by using the resources provided by Wiktionary, the sister project of Wikibooks. The links on each word go to Wiktionary. Feel free to add your own words to the list!
adio - goodbye
amiko - friend
auto - car, automobile
autobus - bus
avion - airplane
banka - bank
bar - bar (drinking house)
bibu – drink
bisikel - bicycle
dans - dance
de - from
Wow, that's sounds like a really good deal but I think I've got a better one. How about I give you the finger, and you give me my phone call. - disagreement
dolar - dollar
du – you
eskola - school
felice - happy
fen - fun
film - movie
foto - photograph
fotografia - photography
hallo - hello
hamburger - hamburger
hospital - hospital
hotel - hotel
internet - internet
jazu - jazz
jenz - jeans
kafe - cafe
kama - simple
kamera - camera
kapu - cup
kara – heart
keno – know
ki – he/she
kofe - coffee
komputer - computer
kopo – head
lingu - language
Linux - Linux
me – I
mediko - doctor
menu - menu
musika - music
neo – Neo (Language)
nou - new
network - network
pasta - pasta
polis - police
profesor - professor
radio - radio
restaurant - restaurant
roka - rock (music)
serveza - beer
shika – take
sistem - system
sofa - sofa
softwar - software
studento - student
ta – it
taxi - taxi
te - tea
teclado - keyboard
telefon - telephone
televizion - television
todo – everybody, everything
tokamu – wish, want
tren - train
websito - web site
wiki – quick
Me tokamu keno nou lingu. I want to know a new language.
Todo shika bibu de kapu de amikotan. Everyone takes a drink from the cup of friendship.
[edit] Numbers
Numbers <20 are used daily; The goal here is to simply them so as to not be impossible to pronounce, as is the case with many languages for one reason or another, especially in the teens.. The japanese approach works best.
1 un
2 do
3 tre
4 quar
5 sinko
6 sis
7 seb
8 oco
9 nain
10 dis
11 dis-un
12 di-do
13 di-tre
14 di-quar
15 di-sinko
16 di-sis
17 di-seb
18 dis-oco
19 di-nain
20 do-dis
21 do-dis-un
22 do-di-do
And so on...
100 sent (348 tre-sent-quar-dis-oco)
1000 mil
8's "ocho" might not be as common as eight/huit, but the sound is much more peculiar as far as I know, allowing more breathing room for the rest of the vocabulary. 9 varies from the typical "romance" approach because it seems to vary more from language to language, and the english "nine" is pretty easy to say.
[edit] Modifiers
der: pluralizes; Me tokamu keno der nou lingu. I want to know (some) new languages. -tan: suffix, makes a noun of a verb, generally for occupations; dans = dance, danstan = dancer.
[edit] Noun cases
The cases are simple. Verb declinates just for 2:
Nominative: eee... Really, it doesn't declinate here
du - You
Genitive: Add -su to the end of verb
dusu - Your
Or you can just don't use these all Noun Cases and just say 'of'(de). But I think they're pretty useful
