Lingua Franca Nova
Lingua Franca Nova | |
---|---|
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Created by | C. George Boeree |
Setting and usage | International auxiliary language |
Users | > 100 [1] (2012) |
Purpose | Constructed language
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Latin Cyrillic | |
Sources | based on Romance and Creole languages |
Official status | |
Regulated by | Asosia per LFN |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | lfn |
Lingua Franca Nova (abbreviated LFN) is an auxiliary constructed language created by Dr.C. George Boeree of Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania.[2] Its vocabulary is based on the Romance languages French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. The grammar is highly reduced and similar to the Romance creoles. The language has phonemic spelling, using 22 letters of either the Latin or Cyrillic scripts.
History and community
Boeree began working on LFN in 1965, with the goal to create a simple, creole-like international auxiliary language. He was inspired by the Mediterranean Lingua Franca, a pidgin used in the Mediterranean in centuries past, and by creoles such as Papiamento, Haitian Creole, and Bislama. He used French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan as the basis for his new language.
LFN was first presented on the Internet in 1998.[3] A Yahoo! Group was formed in 2002 by Bjorn Madsen and today has more than 250 members. Group members have contributed significantly to the further evolution of the language. Stefan Fisahn created a wiki[4] for the language in 2005. In 2007, Igor Vasiljevic began a Facebook page,[5] which now has over 100 members. LFN was given an ISO 639-3 designation (lfn) by SIL in January 2008.[6] The site moved to Wikia in 2009. As of January 1, 2013, It has over 2800 articles.
The searchable "master" dictionary (LFN - English / English - LFN) was updated by Simon Davies in 2008. It now has over 15,000 entries.[7] There is also a LFN - French dictionary[8] and seven small dictionaries available in other languages as well as a wikibooks tutorial[9] in eight languages. Introductions and "LFN for Travellers" are available in 12 languages.[10] Many texts have been translated and included in the wiki, including Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince,[11] Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol,[12] Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth.[13] and Shakespeare's King Lear.[14] Many articles provide in-depth coverage of pidgins, creoles, and constructed languages.[15][16] There are also many poems, both translated and original.[17]
Simon Davies's translation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland[18] is the first publication of a work entirely in LFN.
Pronunciation and orthography
LFN can be written with either the Latin or Cyrillic script:
Latin a b c d e f g h i j l m n o p r s t u v x z Cyrillic а б к д е ф г х и ж л м н о п р с т у в ш з IPA [a] [b] [k] [d] [e] [f] [ɡ] [h] [i/j] [ʒ] [l] [m] [n/ŋ] [o] [p] [r] [s] [t] [u/w] [v] [ʃ] [z] Names a be ce de e ef ge hax i je el em en o pe er es te u ve ex ze
Vowels
LFN vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) are pronounced as in Spanish (approximately as ah, eh, ee, oh, and oo.) In IPA:
Front | Back | |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Open | a |
Because there are only five vowels, variations in pronunciation rarely cause problems.
Diphthongs are ai [ai], au [au], eu [eu], and oi [oi] (approximately as in my, cow, "eh-w," and boy).
Consonants
Most of the consonants are pronounced as in English, except that c is always pronounced [k] as in cat (even before e or i), g is always [ɡ] as in go, j is pronounced as in French ([ʒ] like the z in azure), r is pronounced as in Italian, and x is pronounced like sh [ʃ]. In IPA:
Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ||||||||
Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | h4 | |||||||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ1 | |||||||||||
Trill | r | |||||||||||||
Approximant | w2 | l | j3 |
- 1 The letter n before c or g is pronounced [ŋ] as in ring, as is final -ng in a few borrowed words.
- 2 The letter u is pronounced as w [w] between vowels or initially before a vowel. Cu and gu before a vowel are pronounced as cw [kw] and gw [gw].
- 3 The letter i is pronounced as y [j] between vowels or initially before a vowel. Li and ni between vowels are pronounced as ly [lj] and ny [nj].
- 4 The letter h is seldom used and may be left unpronounced if the speaker finds it difficult. It is also used to represent [x] as in "Bach" and similar fricatives in borrowed words.
The letters k, q, w, and y may be used in proper names from other languages and are pronounced [k], [k], [u] or [w], and [i] or [j], respectively. They are placed in their usual positions in the alphabet.
Stress
Although stress is not a critical factor in LFN, there are a few standards.
- In most cases, stress is on the vowel before the last consonant:
- casa ['ca.sa] - house
- abeon [a.be.'on] - bumblebee
- varia ['va.ri.a] - vary
- Between two other vowels, i and u are actually consonants, and the accent is placed accordingly:
- maio ['ma.jo] - May
- In words that end in a diphthong (ai, au, eu, or oi), the stress is on the diphthong:
- cacau [ka.'kau] - cocoa
- In words that end in the double vowels ae, ao, ea, eo, oa, oe, or ui, the stress is on the first of the two vowels:
- produi [pro.'du.i] - produce
- If there is no vowel before the last consonant, the stress falls on the first vowel:
- tio ['ti.o] - uncle
- The plural in -s or -es does not alter the original stress:
- casas ['ka.sas] - houses
Grammar
Overview
LFN is an SVO (subject-verb-object) language. Modifiers generally follow what they modify, as do prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses.
Nouns are usually preceded by articles (la or un) or other determiners. Other than the plural in -s or -es, nouns are invariant. A noun's role in a sentence is determined by word order and prepositions.
The personal pronouns are invariant: me, tu, el (animate), lo (inanimate), nos, vos, los. A variety of other pronouns are identical to or derived from the determiners.
Verbs are invariant. Tense and mood are indicated by preceding particles: ia for the past, va for the future, and the optional ta for the conditional and subjunctive. The active participle ends in -nte and the passive participle in -da. The infinitive is the same as the basic verb.
Adjectives are invariant, and adverbs are not distinguished from adjectives. The comparative is formed with plu or min, the superlative with la plu or la min.
Complete detailed grammars of LFN are available in English, French, Esperanto, and LFN [19]
Word order
LFN has a strict word order. The general word order is:
- subject noun phrase - verb phrase (- object noun phrase)
- Joan core - "John runs"
- Maria oia Joan - "Maria hears John"
A noun phrase has this order:
- (determiners -) noun (- adjectives)
- La tre omes grande... - "The three large men..."
- La multe femes peti... - "The many small women..."
A verb phrase has this order:
- (tense/mood -) (leading verb -) verb (- adverb)
- ...ia nesesa come rapida - "...needed to eat quickly..."
- ...va debe come lente - "...will have to eat slowly..."
A prepositional phrase generally follows what it modifies, and has this order:
- preposition - noun phrase
- ...en la cosina - "...in the kitchen"
- ...pos medianote - "...after midnight"
Nouns
The roles of nouns in a sentence are indicated through prepositions and word order. There are no cases.
Plural nouns are formed by appending -s to nouns ending in vowels or -es to nouns ending in consonants. This does not alter the stress:
- casa > casas - house > houses
- fem > femes - woman > women
Gender is typically not indicated. If necessary, nouns may be followed by mas (male) or fema (female):
- un cavalo mas - a male horse, a stallion
- un cavalo fema - a female horse, a mare
A small number of traditional roles have a female form in -esa. For example:
- prinse / prinsesa - prince / princess
- conte / contesa - count / countess
A number of terms for family members have males ending in -o and females in -a. For example:
- fio / fia - son / daughter
- sposo / sposa - husband / wife
And a few terms use distinct forms. For example:
- madre / padre - mother / father
- sore / frate - sister / brother
Apposition - the use of one noun to modify another - is mostly limited to names and titles:
- san Josef - Saint Joseph
- me sore Maria - my sister Mary
Mass nouns include liquids, powders, and substances, such as acua (water), arena (sand), and lenio (wood). They do not normally require determiners or the plural. However, one may add these to indicate specific examples or different types:
- la acua - the water (e.g. in the cup)
- lenios - woods (e.g. various kinds)
Determiners
Determiners in LFN precede the noun they modify. There are two articles: la (the) and un (a), used as in English:
- la om, un fem, e enfantes - the man, a woman, and children
Other words function similarly:
tota - all
ambos - both
esta - this, these
acel - that, those
ce - what
cual - which
cuanto - how many, how much
cada - every, each
cualce - whatever, whichever
alga - some, several, a fewno - no, zero
multe - many, much
poca - few, little
plu - more
min - less, fewer
otra - other
mesma - same
sola - only
tal - such
Pronouns
Personal pronouns are invariant:
me - I, me
tu - you (singular (thou))
el - she, her, he, him
lo - itnos - we, us
vos - you (plural)
los - they, them
El is used for people and higher animals. Its use can be extended metaphorically to lower animals, robots, the moon, hurricanes, etc. Lo is used for things, simple animals, plants, ideas, etc.
There are no gender distinctions between "he" and "she". If gender is significant, one can use words like la fem, la om, la xica, la xico (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy), etc.
Unlike in the Romance languages, there is no polite/impolite contrast for the second person: tu is always used for the singular, vos always for the plural.
There is an indefinite pronoun on, which is used like German "man" or French "on":
- On debe segue la regulas - "One must follow the rules."
The reflexive pronouns are also me, tu, nos, and vos. For the third person, singular and plural, lfn uses se:
- Me ia lava me - "I washed myself."
- El ama se - "He loves himself."
The possessive determiners are the same as the reflexive pronouns, preceded by la. The la is commonly dropped before persons, animals, and physical objects, as well as after prepositions:
- La me desira es fol - "My desire is foolish."
- Tu gato es ala - "Your cat is over there."
- Tu es sempre en me mente - "You are always in my mind."
There are no separate possessive pronouns such as "mine". Instead one uses expressions such as de me and lo de me, or includes the noun:
- Esta es de me - "This is mine."
- Lo de me es plu grande ca lo de tu - "Mine is bigger than yours."
- Me padre es plu grande ca tu padre - "My father is bigger than your father."
Many of the determiners can also be used as pronouns:
esta, estas - this, these
acel, aceles - that, those
un otra, otras - another, others
tota - allambos - both
alga - some
multe - many, much
poca - few, little
Other pronouns and pronomial expressions, derived from determiners, include the following:
cadun - everyone, everybody
algun - someone, somebody
cualcun - whomever, anyone, anybody
nun - no one, nobody
la un la otra - one another, each othercada cosa - everything
alga cosa - something
cualce cosa - whatever, anything
no cosa - nothing
la un con la otra - together
Verbs
There are no conjugations of verbs in LFN. The basic form remains the same regardless of person, number, or tense.
The present tense is represented by the basic verb:
- La om come - "The man eats", "The man is eating."
The present tense is also used to indicate habitual actions and states, facts of nature, and as a "historical" tense, such as when relating a story that has been clearly established as occurring in the past:
- La sol leva en la este - "The sun rises in the east."
- Me labora a la universia - "I work at the university."
The past tense is indicated by the particle ia:
- Maria ia come - "Maria ate."
The future tense is indicated by the particle va:
- Joan va come pronto - "John will eat soon."
The particle ta indicates unreality and can be used where other languages might use a conditional or subjunctive mood. Its use is optional:
- Me ia duta ce el ta vade - "I doubted he would go."
- Me ta es felis si la sol ta brilia – "I would be happy if the sun were shining."
One combination - ia ta - is permitted to express "would have":
- Me ia ta es un bon re - "I would have been a good king."
Certain adverbs and verbal constructions add precision to the tenses:
- Me come aora - "I am eating now."
- Me ia come ja - "I ate already", "I have eaten", "I had eaten."
- Me va come pronto - "I will eat soon," "I am going to eat."
- Me ia come a ante - "I ate before."
- Me va come a pos - "I will eat afterwards."
- Me ia fini leje la libro - "I finished reading the book."
- Me ia comensa leje la libro - "I began to read the book."
Negation is indicated by putting no before the tense particle or (in the present tense) the verb. Double negatives should be avoided:
- El no ia pensa ce algun es asi – "He didn't think anyone was here."
- Me no parti - "I'm not leaving."
Commands are indicated by dropping the subject pronoun:
- Vade! - "Go!"
- Boli la acua! - "Boil the water!"
Verbs that do not have true subjects, such as weather terms and expressions such as "it's" (es) or "there are" (ave), are also used alone:
- Va pluve - "It's going to rain."
- Es tro calda en esta sala - "It is too hot in this room."
- Pare ce tu es coreta - "It seems that you are correct."
- No ave pexes en esta lago - "There aren't fish in this lake."
A verb that is fundamentally intransitive may be used as a transitive causal verb by moving the original subject to the object position, and adding a new subject:
- La acua ia boli - "The water boiled" > Me ia boli la acua - "I boiled the water."
- La porte ia abri - "The door opened" > Me ia abri la porte - "I opened the door."
Verbs can be made into adjectives: The active participle is formed by adding -nte to the verb. For example, come becomes comente, meaning "eating". This should never be used as a gerund, as it often is in English.
One can emphasize the idea that the subject is in the midst of an activity or process (the progressive aspect) using the active participle. Or one can use expressions such as en la media de:
- Nos ia es comente cuando la tempesta ia comensa - "We were eating when the storm began."
- Nos ia es en la media de come cuando la tempesta ia comensa - "We were in the middle of eating when the storm began."
The passive participle is formed by adding -da to the verb. For example, come becomes comeda, meaning "eaten". This should not be confused with the past tense.
The passive participle can be used to express the passive voice. Or one can usa a generic subject pronoun instead:
- Si tu no asconde la torta, lo va es comeda - "If you don't hide the cake, it will be eaten."
- Si tu no asconde la torta, algun va come lo - "If you don't hide the cake, someone will eat it."
Verbs can be used as nouns without change. For example, dansa, as a verb, means "dance/dances", but un dansa is "a dance" and la dansa is "the dance." Without an article, the word serves as an infinitive or gerund, so "to dance is good" and "dancing is good" are both translated as dansa es bon.
In LFN, verbs often come in pairs. Some "leading" verbs are like modal verbs in English. However, the idea of leading verbs goes beyond modals to include "attitudinal" verbs:
atenta - try
debe - should, must
espera - hope
espeta - expect
finje - pretend
gusta - like
menasa - threatennesesa - need
odi - hate
osa - dare
pare - seem
pote - can, may
teme - fear
vole - want
There is no equivalent to the word "to," and the "following" verb is left in its simplest form:
- Me va atenta vola doman. - "I will try to fly tomorrow."
- On debe brosi la dentes a cada dia. - "One should brush one's teeth every day."
Adjectives
Adjectives follow the noun they modify, with two exceptions: Bon (good) and mal (bad) may come before the noun, due to their frequent use. Unlike the natural Romance languages, adjectives in LFN do not have gender or plural forms, i.e. they don't "agree" with the nouns they describe.
The comparative is made with plu (more) or min (less). "The most" is la plu and "the least" is la min:
- Jan es plu bon ca Jo. - "Jan is better than Jo."
- Ma Jil es la plu bon. - "But Jill is the best."
Equivalence is indicated with tan... como:
- Marco es tan grande como Mona. - "Mark is as big as Mona."
Like verbs, adjectives can be used as nouns. For example, bela means "beautiful", but un bela means "a beautiful one" or "a beauty." This works with participles, too: la studiante and la studiada mean "the student" and "the studied," respectively, from the verb studia, "study."
An adjective can be made into an abstract noun by adding -ia (-ity, -ness, -ship, -hood). In this way bela becomes belia, meaning beauty. This can also be used with nouns: madre (mother) becomes madria (motherhood).
Adverbs
LFN doesn't have an explicit way of marking adverbs. Instead, any adjective can be used as an adverb by placing it after a verb or at the very beginning of the sentence. Un om felis for example means "a happy man", whereas el dansa felis means "he/she dances happily". Adverbs used to modify adjectives precede the adjective. Here are examples of common adverbs:
ala - there
alora - then
ance - also, too
ancora - still, yet
aora - now
asi - here
bon - well
denova - again
doman - tomorrowier - yesterday
mal - badly
nunca - never
oji - today
pronto - soon
sempre - always
sola - only
tarda - late
temprana - early
Prepositions
Prepositions are placed before the noun or noun phrase, and the prepositional phrase is placed after the noun being modified, or, if used adverbially, after the verb or at the beginning of the sentence. There are 22 basic prepositions in LFN:
a - at, to
ante - before, in front of
asta - near, beside, until
ca - than
como - like
con - with
contra - against
de - of, from, since
en - in, into, during
entre - between, among
estra - out of, exceptlongo - along
par - by
per - for, in order to
pos - after, behind, according to
sin - without
sirca - around, approximately
su - below, under, beneath
supra - above, over
sur - on, about, concerning
tra - through
ultra - beyond, past, across
A few participles can also be used as prepositions. For example:
consernante - concerning, about
esetante - excepting, exceptincluinte - including, with
seguente - following, according to
Some prepositions can be used as adverbs by placing a before them. For example:
a su - down, below, downstairs
a en - in, inside, indoors
a pos - afterwardsa supra - up, above, upstairs
a estra - out, outside, outdoors
a ante - beforehand
Coordinating conjunctions
There are several coordinating conjunctions in LFN:
e - and
o - or
ma - but, yet
donce - so, thereforee... e... - both... and...
o... o... - either... or...
no... e no... - neither... nor...
For example:
- Luis e me vole vade, ma Maria vole resta asi. - "Louis and I want to go, but Mary wants to stay here."
- No Luis e no Maria vole vade, donce me no vole vade ance. - "Neither Louis nor Mary want to go, so I don't want to go either."
Questions
There are a number of interrogative words that are used to introduce questions:
ce - what
ci - who, whom
cual - which
de ci - whose, of whom
cuando - whendo - where
como - how
cuanto - how much, how many
per ce - why
(Most of these are also used to introduce subordinate clauses, discussed below.)
For example:
- Cuanto on paia per lete asi? - "How much does one pay for milk here?"
- Cual auto tu gusta la plu? - "Which car do you like the best?"
- Per ce tu no gusta esta? - "Why don't you like this one?"
- Cuando tu espeta ce el ariva? - "When do you expect him to arrive?"
Questions may include one of these words or may be indicated by rising intonation alone. One may also express questions by beginning the sentence with the interrogative particle esce ("is it that... ?") or by adding no (no) or si (yes) to the end of the sentence. In writing, questions always end with a question mark (?):
- Como on construi un casa per avias? - "How do you make a bird house?"
- Tu vole dansa? - "Do you want to dance?"
- Esce tu parla Deutx? - "Do you speak German?"
- Tu parla Italian, no? - "You speak Italian, don't you?"
Clauses
Relative clauses (or adjective clauses) function like adjectives. There are two relative pronouns which typically introduce relative clauses:
- cual - which, that
- ci - who, whom
Relative clauses follow the noun or noun phrase that they modify:
- La fem ci me ama veni de Frans. – "The woman (whom) I love comes from France."
- La robot cual me ia construi no opera. – "The robot (that) I built doesn't work."
Relative pronouns may be preceded by prepositions:
- La cosa per cual me espera la plu es un bisicle nova. - "The thing I wish for the most is a new bicycle."
- La fem de ci nos parla labora a la me ofisia. – "The woman of whom we speak works at my office."
Cuando and do can also be used to introduce adjective clauses:
- Esta es la site do me vole abita. - "This is the city where I want to live."
- Me ia vade ala en la anio cuando me ia fini la me studias. - "I went there in the year when I finished my studies."
Noun clauses function the same way that nouns and noun phrases do in a sentence. Two subordinating conjunctions commonly introduce noun clauses:
- ce - that
- esce - whether
For example:
- Me pensa ce el es bela. - "I think that she is beautiful."
- La gato entra la sala sin ce algun vide el. - "The cat entered the room without anyone seeing it."
- Me demanda a me esce el ama me. - "I wonder whether she loves me."
One may drop the ce if no confusion results:
- Me pensa el es bela. - "I think she is beautiful."
Relative pronouns and interrogative words can also introduce noun clauses:
- Me no pote recorda ci me es. - "I can't remember who I am."
- El sabe cual me desira per natal. - "She knows what I want for Christmas."
- Me no sabe cuando me va parti. - I don't know when I will leave."
- Me no gusta como el parla. - "I don't like how he talks."
- Me comprende per ce tu odi el. - "I understand why you hate him."
Adverbial clauses function like adverbs, modifying the verb or the sentence as a whole. Some are introduced by these subordinating conjunctions:
- si - if
- afin - so that, in order that
- car - because
Adverbial clauses usually follow the main clause:
- Me ta pote vade si me ta ave un auto. - "I would be able to go if I had a car."
- Me no teme la can car el es multe peti. – "I am not afraid of the dog because it is very small."
- Me core afin la rinoseros no catura me. – "I'm running so that the rhinos don't catch me."
Some of the interrogative words can also be used to introduce adverbial clauses:
- La lupos cria cuando los vide la luna - "The wolves howl when they see the moon."
- Me vole abitua do la clima es bon - "I want to live where the weather is good."
- Me vive como me vole vive. - "I live as I want to live."
- E me come cuanto me gusta. - "And I eat as much as I like."
Do and cuando are often preceded by prepositions:
a do - to where, whither
de do - from where, whence
ante cuando - before
pos cuando - afteren cuando - while
asta cuando - until
de cuando - since
For example:
- El ia pote sci ante cuando el ia pote pasea. - "He could ski before he could walk."
- Me gusta escuta a la radio en cuando me labora. - "I like to listen to the radio while I work."
Numbers
0 - zero
1 - un
2 - du
3 - tre
4 - cuatro
5 - sinco6 - ses
7 - sete
8 - oto
9 - nove
10 - des
Higher numbers are constructed as follows:
11 - des-un
20 - dudes
100 - sento
101 - sento-un
321 - tresento-dudes-un1000 - mil
45 678 - cuatrodes-sinco mil sessento-setedes-oto
1 000 000 - milion
1 000 000 000 - mil milion
Numbers that express quantity precede the noun; numbers that express order follow the noun:
- la tre omes, "the three men"
- la om tre, "the third man"
Fractions are constructed with -i, e.g. dui, tri, cuatri,... desi, senti, mili, etc.
Multiples and groups can be referred to with -uple, as in duple - double, duo, couple, pair.
Affixes
LFN has a small number of regular affixes that help to create new words.
The most common suffixes are -or, -ador, and -eria, which refer to a person, a device, and a place respectively. They can be added to any noun, adjective, or verb. For example:
- carne (meat) + -or > carnor (butcher)
- carne + -eria > carneria (butcher's shop)
- lava (wash) + -eria > laveria (laundry)
- lava + -ador > lavador (washing machine)
Another useful suffix is -i which, added to an adjective and some nouns, means "to become" or "to cause to become." It is also used with names for tools, machines, or supplies with the meaning "to use." For example:
- calda (hot) + -i > caldi (to heat)
- telefon (telephone) + -i > telefoni (to telephone)
Two more common suffixes are -eta, which means a small version of something, and -on, which means a large version of something. (They are not, however, simply synonyms for small and large!) For example:
- bove (cow, cattle) + -eta > boveta (calf)
- tela (cloth) + -on > telon (sheet, tablecloth)
There are a few suffixes that turn nouns into adjectives: -al means "pertaining to...," -in means "similar to...," -osa means "full of..." For example:
- nasion (nation) + -al > nasional (national, de la nasion)
- serpente (serpent) + -in > serpentin (serpentine, como un serpente)
- mofo (mold) + -osa > mofosa (moldy, plen de mofo)
Other suffixes include -able (-able), -isme (-ism), and -iste (-ist).
There are also three common prefixes. Non- means not, re- means again or in the opposite direction, and des- means to undo. For example:
- non- + felis (happy) > nonfelis (unhappy)
- re- + pone (place) > repone (replace)
- des- + infeta (infect) > desinfeta (disinfect)
Other prefixes include pos- (post-), pre- (pre-), supra- (super-), su- (sub-), media- (mid-), vis- (vice-), inter- (inter-), and auto- (auto-, self-)
Words may also be created by joining two existing words (compounds). Most compounds in LFN are nouns constructed from a verb and its object:
- porta (carry) + candela (candle) > portacandela (candlestick)
- pasa (pass) + tempo (time) > pasatempo (pastime)
- para (stop) + pluve (rain) > parapluve (umbrella)
Similarly, bon (good) and mal (bad) can be joined to other words:
- bon + dise (say) > bondise (bless)
- mal + dise > maldise (curse, badmouth)
Two nouns are rarely joined (as they often are in English), but are linked with de or other prepositions instead:
- avia de mar - seabird
- casa per avias - birdhouse
- xef de polisia - police chief
A complete list of LFN affixes can be found at the LFN wiki.[20]
Examples
Useful phrases
Lingua Franca Nova | English |
---|---|
Serjo: Bon dia, seniora. | Good day, miss. |
Maria: Alo. | Hello. |
S: Como es tu? | How are you? |
M: Bon, e tu? | Good, and you? |
S: No mal. Ce es tu nom? | Not bad. What is your name? |
M: Me nom es Maria. | My name is Maria. |
S: Tu gusta un bir? | Would you like a beer? |
M: Si, per favore. Grasias! | Yes, please. Thank you! |
S: No problem! | You're welcome! |
M: Joia! | Cheers! |
S: Tu es multe bela. | You are very beautiful. |
M: Pardona? | Excuse me? |
S: Me pensa ce me ama tu. | I think I love you. |
M: Me debe vade aora. | I must go now. |
S: Asta alora? | See you later? |
M: Adio. | Goodbye. |
S: Bon sera, me cara. | Goodnight, my dear. |
M: Bon fortuna! | Good luck! |
La Preambul a la Declara Universal de Diretos Umana
Car la reconose de la dinia inerente e la diretos egal e nonalienable de tota la membros de la familia umana es la funda de libria, justia, e pas en la mundo;
Car la nonconose e la despeta de la diretos umana ia trae atas de barbaria cual ofende la consiensa umana, e car la veni de un mundo do tota persones va es libre per parla e crea, e librida de temia e de miseria, es proclamada como la aspira la plu alta de umanas;
Car es esensal ce la diretos umana es protejeda par un sistem de diretos, afin no person es forsada, como un recurso ultima, a la rebelia contra tirania e oprimi;
Car es esensal promove la developa de relates bonvolente entre nasiones;
Car en la Carta, la poplas de la Nasiones Unida proclama se fida en la diretos umana fundal, en la dinia e la valua de la person umana, en la egalia de diretos de omes e de femes, e car los ia deside promove la progresa sosial e leva la cualia de vive con un libria plu completa;
Car la statos-membros promete securi, en coopera con la Nasiones Unida, la respeta e la oserva universal de diretos umana e libria fundal;
E car un conseta comun de esta diretos e librias es la plu importante per la completi plen de esta promete -
La Asemblea Jeneral proclama esta Declara Universal de Diretos Umana como un ideal comun per la aspira de tota poplas e nasiones, afin cada person e cada organo sosial, con esta Declara en mente constante, va promove la respeta de esta diretos e librias par eleva e instrui, e par mesuras progresante, e nasional e internasional, va securi la reconose e aplica universal e produosa, entre la poplas de la statos parteninte e de la teritorios su se autoria legal.
See also
- Lingua franca
- Lingua Franca Nova tutorial in Wikibooks
- International auxiliary language
- List of constructed languages
Footnotes
- ^ Estimate based on group and wiki activity
- ^ http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/pennsylvania_dialects.html
- ^ http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/lfn/ LFN homepage
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com LFN Wiki
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2557990156 Facebook
- ^ http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=lfn ISO designation
- ^ http://purl.org/net/lfn/disionario/ LFN - English Dictionary
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Disionario_corta_-_lfn_a_franses
- ^ http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Lingua_Franca_Nova Learn LFN
- ^ http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/lfn/ Introductions and "LFN for Travellers"
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/La_prinse_peti/0 The Little Prince
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Un_canta_de_natal/0 A Christmas Carol
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Leteras_de_la_tera Letters from the Earth,
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Re_Lear King Lear
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Creol Creoles
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Category:LAI Constructed languages
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Colie_de_poesias Poems
- ^ [1] La aventuras de Alisia en la pais de mervelias
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/grammar_of_LFN LFN grammar
- ^ http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Word_formation Affixes
References
- Carroll, Lewis (Trans: Simon Davies). La aventuras de Alisia en la pais de mervelias. Westport, Ireland: Evertype (2012). ISBN 978-1-904808-88-6 [2]
- Fisahn, Stefan (2005) Plansprache: Lingua Franca Nova. Contraste, 244, p. 12. [3]
- Harrison, Richard H. (2008) Lingua Franca Nova. Invented Languages, 1, pp. 30 –33. [4]
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/40px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png)