Neo language

Key takeaways

Neo language belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Neo language to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Neo language from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Neo is an international auxiliary language created by Arturo Alfandari, a Belgian diplomat of Italian descent. It combines features of Esperanto, Ido, Novial, and Volapük. The root base of Neo is closely related to French, with some influence from English.

History The basic version of Neo was published in 1937 by Arturo Alfandari. It attracted 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 grammars, learning course of 44 lectures, translations of literary works, scientific and technical texts, idioms, detailed bidirectional French and English dictionaries. The total volume of the publications was 1,304 pages, with dictionaries numbering some 75,000 words. The language combines the features of 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.

Overview

Grammatically, the language is mostly influenced by Ido and Esperanto; though some characteristics such as a plural -s and natural-appearing pronouns come from naturalistic IALs like Interlingua and Interlingue. 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.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Orthography

Alphabet

Neo uses the 26 letters of the standard Roman alphabet: 5 vowels and 21 consonants. When spelling a word, the consonants 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.

Pronunciation

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 of get or good, 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.

Spelling All words are written with initial small letters (minuscules), except for proper nouns and the first word of a sentence.

Stress 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.

The plural -s or -os does not affect the stress accent.

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 these vowel combinations.

Grammar The articles are invariable:

lo (the): lo frato, lo soro, lo arbro → l'arbro un (a/an): un arbro Adjectives end in a and are invariable:

un bona soro, un bona frato, lo bona fratos (no s added to lo, nor to bona) Adverbs end in e and are invariable:

bon → bone Singular nouns end in o, which can be dropped, as long as the pronunciations remain very easy. Plural nouns end in os.

arbro, frat(o), sor(o), arbros

There is also the pronoun ziel for mixed-sex group.

Mi vidar te = I see you Tu vidar me = You see me Verbs:

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: iu or u (the latter for polysyllabic verbs) → vidu! (See!) Past participle: at → vidat (adjective: vidata) (seen) Present participle: ande → vidande (adjective: vidanda) (seeing) Future participle: inde → vidinde (adjective: vidinda) (will be seen)

Samples The Lord's Prayer

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 otis qar 3522 tremil qinek duis du Wanderer's Nightsong (German: Wanderers Nachtlied) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Task by Douglas Blacklock

Lo diplomata linguos

(Gino Buti) Ka sor l'avena diplomata linguo?

(Arturo Alfandari)

Samples 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 otis qar 3522 tremil qinek duis du Wanderer's Nightsong (German: Wanderers Nachtlied) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Task by Douglas Blacklock

Lo diplomata linguos

(Gino Buti) Ka sor l'avena diplomata linguo?

(Arturo Alfandari)

Lord's Prayer For comparison the Lord's Prayer is provided in Frater

References

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Neo language: The cover of The Rapid Method of Neo — The cover of The Rapid Method of Neo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neo language

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neo language claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Neo language before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Neo language ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Neo language

In research: Neo language appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Neo language in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Neo language is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1937 introductions, Constructed languages, Constructed languages introduced in the 1930s, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neo language outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Neo language in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neo language means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Neo language out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neo language in simple terms?

Neo is an international auxiliary language created by Arturo Alfandari, a Belgian diplomat of Italian descent. It combines features of Esperanto, Ido, Novial, and Volapük.

Why does Neo language matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Neo language?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Neo language.