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Lingua Franca Nova is an Auxiliary Constructed Language created by Dr. C. George Boeree of Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania . It is based on French , Italian , Portuguese , Spanish , and Catalan . Lingua Franca Nova is usually abbreviated to '''LFN''' and has also been referred to as '''Europijin''' and '''Creol.''' The language is phonetically spelled, using 21 letters of either the Latin or Cyrillic alphabets. The grammar is inspired by the Romance Creoles . Like most creoles, LFN has a highly simplified grammar system. However, this system does not mean that one is not able to be as expressive in LFN as one could be in any other language. HISTORY Dr. C. George Boeree started working on LFN in 1965. His goal was to create a simple, creole-like International Auxiliary Language . He was inspired to do this by Lingua Franca , a Pidgin used in the Mediterranean in centuries past. He used French , Italian , Portuguese , Spanish , and Catalan as the basis for his new language. LFN was first presented on the internet in 1998. A Yahoo! Group was formed in 2002 by Bjorn Madsen. Stefan Fisahn created a Wiki for the language in 2005 (see Below ). Many group members have contributed to the further evolution of the language. Introductions and other materials are available in 12 languages. There are several dictionaries available, a tutorial, and a number of translations and original material. Interest has grown considerably over the years, with over 100 group members. LFN is not Copyright ed and has been used as the basis for several other projects. Unlike other projects in the past, it is not a closed system, and its inventor and group members are open to suggestions. Even if it only serves to renew real interest in an international language, that would be considered a success. PRONUNCIATION LFN Vowels (''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', and ''u'') are pronounced as in Spanish (approximately as ''ah'', ''eh'', ''ee'', ''oh'', and ''oo''.) The vowels ''i'' and ''u'' are also used to represent the sounds of ''y'' and ''w'', respectively. Diphthongs are ''ai'', ''au'', ''eu'', and ''oi'' (as in ''my'', ''cow'', ''"eh-w,"'' and ''boy''). Most of the Consonants are pronounced as in English, except that ''c'' is always pronounced as in ''cat'', ''g'' is always as in ''go'', ''j'' is pronounced as in French (like the ''z'' in ''azure''), the ''r'' is lightly trilled as in Spanish, and ''x'' is pronounced like ''sh''. The letters ''h'', ''k'', ''q'', ''w'', and ''y'' may be used in proper names and words from other languages that have not been competely assimilated into LFN. If preferred, ''k'' may be substituted for ''c''. Stress is on the vowel before the last consonant or, if that is not possible, on the first vowel. For example ''la casa de me tio'' ("my uncle's house") is pronounced ''"la CA-sa de me TI-o."'' Below are the Lingua Franca Nova letters, their Cyrillic forms, and their International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) values. GRAMMAR Word Order LFN has a strict word order. The general word order is: subject noun phrase Maria come pex A noun phrase has this order: :(''article'' -) (''quantity'' -) ''noun'' (- ''adjective'') La tre omes grande... A verb phrase has this order: :(''tense''-) (''auxiliary'' -) ''verb'' (- ''adverb'') ...ia debe come bon Nouns To make a noun Plural , add -s if the noun ends in a vowel, or '''-es''' if the noun ends in a consonant. It never alters the original stress of the word. There are no Cases , not even for pronouns. Such things are indicated with prepositions and word order. There are two Articles : la (the) and '''un''' (a). Pronouns
The third person Reflexive Pronoun (himself, herself...) and reflexive possessive (his own...) is se. Notice that there are no cases and that the pronouns become Possessive by putting them in front of the noun possessed. "My cat" can be expressed as ''me gato'' or ''la gato de me.'' There are also no Gender distinctions between he, she, and it. If necessary, one can use words like ''la fema, la om, la fia,'' and '' la fio'' (the woman, the man, the girl, the boy). One can also use ''esa'' and ''esas.'' which mean "this/that" and "these/those" for things. 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: ''El come'' - "He/she eats, he/she is eating." The Past Tense is indicated by the particle ia: ''El ia come'' - "He/she ate." The Future Tense is indicated by the particle va: ''El va come'' - "He/she will eat." There is an optional particle ta, which indicates unreality and can be used where other languages might use a Conditional or Subjunctive mood. There are also Adverbs and Auxiliary Verbs to expand verb usage. For example, the adverb ja, meaning "already," can be used to express what in other languages is the Perfect : ''me ia come ja'' means "I had (already) eaten." Verbs can be used as nouns without change. For example, ''dansa'', as a verb, means "dance/dances", but it can also mean "a dance" when used as a noun. This simple form is also used where English would use the -ing Gerund : ''Canta es bon'' means "singing is good." To make the Infinitive , add -r. ''Dansar,'' for example, means "to dance." Verbs can also be made into adjectives: The Active Participle is formed by adding -nte to the verb. For example, ''come'' becomes ''comente'', meaning "eating". The Passive Participle is formed by adding -da to the verb. For example, ''come'' becomes ''comeda'', meaning "eaten". Participles, like any adjectives, can follow the verb "to be," and can be used to express the Continuous or the Passive : ''Aora, nos es comente selaco'' - "Now, we are (in the process of) eating shark"; ''Doman, nos va es comeda par selacos'' - "Tomorrow, we will be eaten by sharks". Verb transitivity is contextual. ''Me va boli la acua'' "I will boil the water" and ''La acua boli'' "The water boils" are both correct. Adjectives 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.''' For example, "John is better than Joe" is ''Jan es plu bon ce Jo.'' "Jill is the best" is ''Jil es la plu bon.'' 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. In this way ''bela'' becomes ''belia,'' meaning beauty. This can also be used with nouns: ''madre'' (mother) becomes ''madria'' (maternity or motherhood). Adverbs LFN doesn't have explicit adverbs. Instead, any adjective can be used as an adverb by placing it after a verb or at the very beginning of the sentence. Prepositions Here are the basic prepositions of LFN:
Prepositional phrases follow the noun phrase or verb phrase they modify. Conjunctions
Relatives And Interrogatives Relatives and interrogatives are identical in LFN:
Dependent Clauses follow what they modify: ''La fia ci ia come la pan ia veni asi per ce el ia es fama'' - "The girl who ate the bread came here because she was hungry." A Question may include an interrogative or may be indicated by rising intonation alone. One may also express questions by beginning the sentence with the phrase ''Es ce...?'' or by adding ''no?'' (no) or ''si?'' (yes) to the end of the sentence, after a comma: ''Es ce tu parla Deutx? Tu parla Italian, si?'' Numbers
Higher numbers are constructed as follows:
Numbers that express the order of things are the same, except that they follow the noun, e.g. ''la om tre,'' "the third man," instead of ''la tre omes,'' "the three men." Fractions are constructed with -i, e.g. ''di, tri, cuatri,... desi, senti, mili,'' etc. Affixes LFN has a small number of regular Suffixes that help to create new words. The most common 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, from the word ''carne,'' meaning meat, we can make ''carnor'' (butcher) and ''carneria'' (butcher's shop). Similarly, from the word ''lava,'' meaning wash, we can make ''laveria'' (laundry) and ''lavador'' (washing machine). One useful suffix is -a which can be added to nouns to mean "to use," so ''telefona'' means to use the ''telefon.'' Another useful suffix is '''-i''' which, added to a noun or adjective, means "to become" or "to cause to become." For example, ''calda'' is hot, so ''caldi'' means to heat. It is also used to make fractions, so ''cuatri'' means a fourth or quarter, as well as to divide into fourths. Other common suffixes include -eta, which means a small version of something (''boveta'' is a calf), and '''-on,''' which means a large version of something (''bovon'' means buffalo or bison). There are also three Prefixes . Non- means not or un-, so ''nonfelis'' means unhappy. '''Re-''' means again or in the opposite direction, so ''repone'' means replace. And '''des-''' means to undo, so ''desinfeta'' means disinfect. Words may also be created by joining two existing words (compounds) . For example, you can use a verb and its object: ''portacandela'' means candlestick, ''pasatempo'' means pastime. EXAMPLES Useful phrases Other Examples Lingua Franca Nova Lingua Franca Nova es desiniada per es un lingua vera simple, coerente, e fasil aprendeda, per comunica internasional. El ave varios cualia bon:
Nos espera ce tu va trova ce esta lingua es interesante! O Carita '' Cat Stevens '' Me no vole perde La decora de mundo; Me vide arde Tota cosas; Me oi la crias De umania; La lus de mundo e stelas Es aora estinguida; La culpas de umania Es aora esposeda; Con larmas e con tristia, La dole es profunda; De tera e de mares, Ruido asustante; Carita! O Carita! Nos ta ave eterna amar; Nos ci va mori Salute moria; Continua sola vita. Esta mundo arde rapida; Esta mundo no va dura; Me no vole perde el Asi en me ora; Dona me eternia Asi en me ora. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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