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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 word 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 English language.
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.
| + Novial alphabet |
The digraphs ch and sh represent or , depending on the speaker. For example, chokolate would be pronounced either or . w is not used.
Nouns mainly end in e, a, o, u 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').
If a noun refers to a living being, then the form ending in -e is neutral with regard to sex, that ending in -a female, and that ending in -o male. If based on an adjective, a nouns 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 a verb describing usage of the tool and so on, and -o a noun describing the act of that using:
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.
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:
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'. The generic personal pronoun (similar to the English one) is on, with the genitive form onen.
| Infinitive | to protect | protekte |
| Present | I protect | me protekte |
| Present Perfect | I have protected | me ha protekte |
| Simple Past | 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! |
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:
| Infinitive | to get protected | bli protekte |
| Present | I get protected | me bli protekte |
| Present Perfect | I have got protected | me ha bli protekte |
| Simple Past | 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:
| Infinitive | to be protected | es protektet |
| Present | I am protected | me es protektet |
| Present Perfect | I have been protected | me ha es protektet |
| Simple Past | 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 |
There is no indefinite article, although un ('one') can be used.
The accusative case is generally identical to the nominative case 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.
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.
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.
In Novial:
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 to agree with nouns.
| 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. |
Some of Jespersen's colleagues among philologists jokingly referred to Novial as Jesperanto, combining his surname with Esperanto, the prototypical auxiliary language.
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