Slovianski
Encyclopedia
Slovianski is a Slavic interlanguage
, created in 2006 by a group of language creators from different countries. Its purpose is to facilitate communication between representatives of different Slavic nations, as well as to allow people who don't know any Slavic language to communicate with Slavs. For the latter, it can fulfill an educational role as well.
Slovianski can be classified as a semi-artificial language. It has its roots in the various improvized language forms Slavs have been using for centuries to communicate with Slavs of other nationalities, for example in multi-Slavic environments and on the Internet. The purpose of Slovianski is to provide these with a scientific base. Thus, both grammar and vocabulary are based on the commonalities between the Slavic languages
, and artificial elements are avoided. Its main focus lies on instant understandability rather than easy learning, which is a feature typical for naturalistic languages.
Slovianski can be written using the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabets.
. Even though Pan-Slavism has not played a role of any significance since the collapse of the Soviet Union
and Yugoslavia
, adherents of it can still be found, predominantly in Slavic émigré circles and on the Internet, and the rise of the Internet has also led to the appearance of new Pan-Slavic language
s.
What these languages have in common is that they are based on the Slavic languages, in particular on the assumption that they are sufficiently similar to each other to allow for a compromise language that is roughly understandable to every Slav. However, opinions vary about the question how grammar should be dealt with. A high degree of simplification, characteristic for most international auxiliary languages, makes it easier to learn for non-Slavs, but widens the distance with the natural Slavic languages and give the language an overly synthetic character, which by many is considered a disadvantage.
The Slovianski project was started in March 2006, when several people from different countries in the world felt the need for a simple and neutral Slavic language that the Slavs could understand without prior learning. In part, it was also motivated by numerous non-Slavic elements (including a grammar that is largely based on Esperanto
) and the predominance of Russian
-based words in Slovio
, the best-known Slavic interlanguage those days. The purpose of the authors was therefore to create a naturalistic language that would consist of material existing in most Slavic languages only, without adding any artificial elements. As a result, Slovianski has three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and six cases, while verbs are fully conjugated
. In spite of these features - usually avoided in international auxiliary languages - Slovianski has a high level of simplification anyway, because endings are simple and unambiguous, and irregularity is kept to a minimum. While according to its authors Slovio is the Slavic counterpart of Esperanto
, Slovianski is the Slavic counterpart of Interlingua
. Another characteristic of Slovianski, which it shares with Interlingua, is that it being developed by its own user base, instead of being regulated from above.
The language is mostly used in Internet traffic and in a news letter, Slovianska Gazeta.
and the Serbian newspaper Večernje Novosti
. The latter, an interview with one of the creators of Slovianski, was picked up by the news agency BalkanInsight, and shortly after that articles appeared in the Slovak newspaper Pravda
, on the news site of the Czech broadcasting station ČT24
, in the Slovene newspaper Žurnal24
, as well as other newspapers and internet portals in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
, Bulgarian
and Macedonian
- used prepositions instead. Apart from these two variants (N stands for naturalism, P for pidgin
or prosti "simple"), a schematic version, Slovianski-S, has been experimented with as well, but was abandoned in an early stage of the project.
Slovianski has played a role in the development of other, related projects as well. Rozumio and Slovioski are both efforts to create a compromise between Slovianski and Slovio, which in the case of Slovioski led to the creation of a new language. In January 2010 a new language was published, Novoslovienskij jazyk (New-Slavic), based on Old Church Slavonic grammar
but using part of Slovianski's vocabulary.
and Cyrillic
runs through the middle of Slavic territory, and therefore both alphabets can be used. Because of the differences between for example the Polish alphabet
and other Latin alphabets, as well as between Serbian/Macedonian
Cyrillic and other forms of Cyrillic, Slovianski has no official orthography. Instead, it uses a prototype orthography, stating that characters can be represented in various ways. Because Slovianski is not an ethnic language, there are no severe rules regarding pronunciation
or accentuation either. Therefore, the pronunciation below is mostly a raw indication.
or palatalized
counterparts of l, n, r, t and d. The latter are also pronounced like their softened/palatalized equivalents before ⟨i⟩ and possibly before ⟨e⟩. This pronunciation is not mandatory, though: they may as well be pronounced hard.
Soft consonants are normally represented by a haček, but other ways of writing are possible as well: ń, nj, n', etc.
s can have three genders, two numbers (singular and plural), as well as six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental
and locative). There is no article
. The complicated system of noun classes in Slavic has been reduced to four declension
s:
s are always regular. They agree with the noun they modify in gender, case and number, and are usually placed before it. Example: dobry "good":
An adjective can be turned into an adverb with the ending -o: dobro "well".
The comparative
is formed with the ending -(ej)ši: dobrejši "better". The superlative
is formed by adding the prefix
naj- to the comparative: najdobrejši "best".
s are: ja "I", ty "you, thou", on "he", ona "she", ono "it", my "we", vy "you" (pl.), oni "they". When a personal pronoun of the third person is preceded by a preposition, n- is placed before it.
Other pronouns are inflected as adjectives: the relative pronoun
ktory "which"
the interrogative pronouns kto "who" and čo (also: što) "what"
the indefinite pronoun
s nekto "somebody", nečo "something", nikto "nobody", ničo "nothing", kto-buď "whoever, anybody", čo-buď "whatever, anything", vsekto "everybody", vsečo "everything", inokto "somebody else", inočo "something else"
s 1-10 are:
Higher numbers are formed by adding -nasť to the numbers 11-19, -deseť to the tens, and -sto to the hundreds.
Ordinal number
s are formed by adding the adjective ending -y to the cardinal numbers, except in the case of pervy "first", drugi "second", treti "third", četverty "fourth", stoty/sotny "hundredth", tisečny "thousandth".
patterns. In Slovianski a system similar to De Wahl's rule
has been applied to simplify them into a system of two verbal stems:
In most cases both stems are identical, and in most of the remaining cases the second stem can be derived regularly from the first. In particular cases they have to be learned separately.
The various moods and tenses are formed as follows:
These groups are treated equally. Slovianski's vocabulary has been compiled in such way that words are understandable to a maximum number of Slavic speakers. The form in which a chosen word is adopted by Slovianski depends not only of its frequency in the modern Slavic languages, but also on Slovianski's inner logic, as well as its form in Proto-Slavic
: to ensure coherence, a system of regular derivation
is applied.
:
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
, created in 2006 by a group of language creators from different countries. Its purpose is to facilitate communication between representatives of different Slavic nations, as well as to allow people who don't know any Slavic language to communicate with Slavs. For the latter, it can fulfill an educational role as well.
Slovianski can be classified as a semi-artificial language. It has its roots in the various improvized language forms Slavs have been using for centuries to communicate with Slavs of other nationalities, for example in multi-Slavic environments and on the Internet. The purpose of Slovianski is to provide these with a scientific base. Thus, both grammar and vocabulary are based on the commonalities between the Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
, and artificial elements are avoided. Its main focus lies on instant understandability rather than easy learning, which is a feature typical for naturalistic languages.
Slovianski can be written using the Latin and the Cyrillic alphabets.
Background
Over the centuries, numerous efforts have been made to create an umbrella language for the speakers of Slavic languages. Most of these efforts were ideologically rooted in Pan-SlavismPan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
. Even though Pan-Slavism has not played a role of any significance since the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, adherents of it can still be found, predominantly in Slavic émigré circles and on the Internet, and the rise of the Internet has also led to the appearance of new Pan-Slavic language
Pan-Slavic language
A pan-Slavic language is a zonal constructed language for communication among Slavic people. Similarity of the Slavic languages has constantly inspired different people to create Pan-Slavic languages.-Old Church Slavonic:...
s.
What these languages have in common is that they are based on the Slavic languages, in particular on the assumption that they are sufficiently similar to each other to allow for a compromise language that is roughly understandable to every Slav. However, opinions vary about the question how grammar should be dealt with. A high degree of simplification, characteristic for most international auxiliary languages, makes it easier to learn for non-Slavs, but widens the distance with the natural Slavic languages and give the language an overly synthetic character, which by many is considered a disadvantage.
The Slovianski project was started in March 2006, when several people from different countries in the world felt the need for a simple and neutral Slavic language that the Slavs could understand without prior learning. In part, it was also motivated by numerous non-Slavic elements (including a grammar that is largely based on Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
) and the predominance of Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
-based words in Slovio
Slovio
Slovio is a constructed language begun in 1999 by Mark Hučko. Hučko claims that the language should be relatively easy for non-Slavs to learn as well, as an alternative to tongues such as Esperanto which are based more on Latin root words. The vocabulary is based on the shared lexical foundation...
, the best-known Slavic interlanguage those days. The purpose of the authors was therefore to create a naturalistic language that would consist of material existing in most Slavic languages only, without adding any artificial elements. As a result, Slovianski has three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and six cases, while verbs are fully conjugated
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
. In spite of these features - usually avoided in international auxiliary languages - Slovianski has a high level of simplification anyway, because endings are simple and unambiguous, and irregularity is kept to a minimum. While according to its authors Slovio is the Slavic counterpart of Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
, Slovianski is the Slavic counterpart of Interlingua
Interlingua
Interlingua is an international auxiliary language , developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association...
. Another characteristic of Slovianski, which it shares with Interlingua, is that it being developed by its own user base, instead of being regulated from above.
The language is mostly used in Internet traffic and in a news letter, Slovianska Gazeta.
Publicity
In February and March 2010 there was a lot of publicity about Slovianski after articles had been dedicated to it on the Polish internet portal Interia.plInteria.pl
Interia.pl is a large Polish web portal and a popular search engine created in 1999 in Nowa Huta district of Kraków, Poland. It offers, among others: new email accounts, free web hosting, and domain name registration...
and the Serbian newspaper Večernje Novosti
Vecernje novosti
Večernje novosti is a Belgrade-based daily newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily.It first appeared on stands on October 16, 1953 edited by Slobodan Glumac who set the newspaper's tone for years to come...
. The latter, an interview with one of the creators of Slovianski, was picked up by the news agency BalkanInsight, and shortly after that articles appeared in the Slovak newspaper Pravda
Pravda (Slovakia)
Pravda is a major newspaper in Slovakia. It is owned by Northcliffe International, part of British media group, the Daily Mail and General Trust.- Communist Pravda :...
, on the news site of the Czech broadcasting station ČT24
CT24
ČT24 is a 24-hour news channel, owned and operated by Česká televize. Is a 24-hour news channel, with news programme, which broadcasts continually, offering hot news with live material every hour, extended economic and cultural news, discussions, magazines, economic overviews etc...
, in the Slovene newspaper Žurnal24
Žurnal24
Žurnal24 is a free, widely circulated daily newspaper published in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is the youngest daily newspaper in Slovenia, being launched by Styria Medien AG, an Austrian media group, in 2007....
, as well as other newspapers and internet portals in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
Variants
Before 2009, Slovianski existed in two variants. The current format of the language was previously known as Slovianski-N (initiated by Jan van Steenbergen and further developed by Igor Polyakov). A simplified form of it was known as Slovianski-P (initiated by Ondrej Rečnik and further developed by Gabriel Svoboda). The difference was that Slovianski-N had six grammatical cases, while Slovianski-P - like EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
and Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
- used prepositions instead. Apart from these two variants (N stands for naturalism, P for pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
or prosti "simple"), a schematic version, Slovianski-S, has been experimented with as well, but was abandoned in an early stage of the project.
Slovianski has played a role in the development of other, related projects as well. Rozumio and Slovioski are both efforts to create a compromise between Slovianski and Slovio, which in the case of Slovioski led to the creation of a new language. In January 2010 a new language was published, Novoslovienskij jazyk (New-Slavic), based on Old Church Slavonic grammar
Old Church Slavonic grammar
Old Church Slavonic is an inflectional language with moderately complex verbal and nominal systems.-Phonology:For Old Church Slavonic the following segments are reconstructible:...
but using part of Slovianski's vocabulary.
Alphabet
One of the main principles of Slovianski is that it can be written on any Slavic keyboard. The border between LatinLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
and Cyrillic
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
runs through the middle of Slavic territory, and therefore both alphabets can be used. Because of the differences between for example the Polish alphabet
Polish alphabet
The Polish alphabet is the script of the Polish language, the basis for the Polish system of orthography . It is based on the Latin alphabet, but includes certain letters with diacritics: the line or kreska, which is graphically similar to an acute accent ; the overdot or kropka ; the tail or...
and other Latin alphabets, as well as between Serbian/Macedonian
Macedonian alphabet
The orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
Cyrillic and other forms of Cyrillic, Slovianski has no official orthography. Instead, it uses a prototype orthography, stating that characters can be represented in various ways. Because Slovianski is not an ethnic language, there are no severe rules regarding pronunciation
Pronunciation
Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
or accentuation either. Therefore, the pronunciation below is mostly a raw indication.
| Latin | A | B | C | Č | D | Ď | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | Ľ | M | N | Ň | O | P | R | Ř | S | Š | T | Ť | U | V | Y | Z | Ž |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | А | Б | Ц | Ч | Д | Дь | Е | Ф | Г | Х | И | Ј | К | Л | Ль | М | Н | Нь | О | П | Р | Рь | С | Ш | Т | Ть | У | В | Ы | З | Ж |
| pronunciation | ɑ a |
b | ts | tʃ | d | dj dʲ ɟ |
ɛ e |
f | ɡ h ɦ |
x | i ɪ ɨ |
j ʲ |
k | l | lj lʲ ʎ |
m | n | nj nʲ ɲ |
o ɔ |
p | r | rj rʲ r̝ |
s | ʂ ʃ |
t | tj tʲ c |
u | v ʋ |
i ɪ ɨ |
z | ʐ ʒ |
Soft consonants
The consonants ľ, ň, ř, ť and ď are softenedSoftening
Softening is a numerical trick used in N-body techniques to prevent numerical divergences when a particle comes too close to another . This is obtained by modifying the gravitational potential of each particle as...
or palatalized
Palatalization
In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
counterparts of l, n, r, t and d. The latter are also pronounced like their softened/palatalized equivalents before ⟨i⟩ and possibly before ⟨e⟩. This pronunciation is not mandatory, though: they may as well be pronounced hard.
Soft consonants are normally represented by a haček, but other ways of writing are possible as well: ń, nj, n', etc.
Grammar
Slovianski grammar is primarily the greatest common denominator of that of the natural Slavic languages, and partly also a simplification thereof. It consists of elements that can be encountered in all or at least most of them.Nouns
Slovianski is an inflecting language. NounNoun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s can have three genders, two numbers (singular and plural), as well as six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
and locative). There is no article
Article (grammar)
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some...
. The complicated system of noun classes in Slavic has been reduced to four declension
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
s:
- masculine nouns (ending in a - usually hard - consonantConsonantIn articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
): dom "house" - feminine nouns ending in -a: žena "woman"
- feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant: jednost "unit, unity"
- neuter nouns (ending in -o or -e): slovo "word"
| case | | singular | | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | dom | žena | jednosť | slovo | domy | ženy | jednosti | slova |
| Acc. | dom | ženu | jednosť | slovo | domy | ženy | jednosti | slova |
| Gen. | doma | ženy | jednosti | slova | domov | žen | jednosti | slov |
| Dat. | domu | žene | jednosti | slovu | domam | ženam | jednosťam | slovam |
| Instr. | domom | ženoju | jednosťju | slovom | domami | ženami | jednosťami | slovami |
| Loc. | dome | žene | jednosti | slove | domah | ženah | jednosťah | slovah |
Adjectives
AdjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s are always regular. They agree with the noun they modify in gender, case and number, and are usually placed before it. Example: dobry "good":
| case | m.sg. | f.sg. | n.sg. | pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | dobry | dobra | dobre | dobre |
| Acc. | dobru | |||
| Gen. | dobrogo | dobroj | dobrogo | dobryh |
| Dat. | dobromu | dobroj | dobromu | dobrym |
| Instr. | dobrym | dobroju | dobrym | dobrymi |
| Loc. | dobrom | dobroj | dobrom | dobryh |
An adjective can be turned into an adverb with the ending -o: dobro "well".
The comparative
Comparative
In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,...
is formed with the ending -(ej)ši: dobrejši "better". The superlative
Superlative
In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adjective that indicates that the person or thing modified has the quality of the adjective to a degree greater than that of anything it is being compared to in a given context. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est In...
is formed by adding the prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
naj- to the comparative: najdobrejši "best".
Pronouns
The personal pronounPersonal pronoun
Personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known languages contain personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
s are: ja "I", ty "you, thou", on "he", ona "she", ono "it", my "we", vy "you" (pl.), oni "they". When a personal pronoun of the third person is preceded by a preposition, n- is placed before it.
| singular | plural | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| masculine | neuter | feminine | ||||||
| Nom. | ja | ty | on | ono | ona | my | vy | oni |
| Acc. | mene (me) | tebe (te) | (n)jego | (n)ju | nas | vas | (n)ih | |
| Gen. | mene | tebe | (n)jego | (n)jej | ||||
| Dat. | mne (mi) | tobe (ti) | (n)jemu | (n)jej | nam | vam | (n)im | |
| Instr. | mnoju | toboju | (n)im | (n)ju | nami | vami | (n)imi | |
| Loc. | mne | tobe | (n)im | (n)jej | nas | vas | (n)ih | |
Other pronouns are inflected as adjectives:
- the possessive pronounPossessive pronounA possessive pronoun is a part of speech that substitutes for a noun phrase that begins with a possessive determiner . For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively...
s moj "my", tvoj "your, thy", naš "our", vaš "your" (pl.), svoj "my/your/his/her/our/their own", as well as čij "whose" - the demonstrative pronouns
Relative pronoun
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates the relative clause to the noun that it modifies. In English, the relative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, whosever, whosesoever, which, and, in some...
Indefinite pronoun
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to one or more unspecified beings, objects, or places.-List of English indefinite pronouns:Note that many of these words can function as other parts of speech too, depending on context...
s
Numerals
The cardinal numberCardinal number
In mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality of sets. The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number – the number of elements in the set. The transfinite cardinal numbers describe the sizes of infinite...
s 1-10 are:
| 1 | jedin | једин |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | dva | два |
| 3 | tri | три |
| 4 | četyri | четыри |
| 5 | peť | петь |
| 6 | šesť | шесть |
| 7 | sedm | седм |
| 8 | osm | осм |
| 9 | deveť | деветь |
| 10 | deseť | десеть |
Higher numbers are formed by adding -nasť to the numbers 11-19, -deseť to the tens, and -sto to the hundreds.
Ordinal number
Ordinal number
In set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the order type of a well-ordered set. They are usually identified with hereditarily transitive sets. Ordinals are an extension of the natural numbers different from integers and from cardinals...
s are formed by adding the adjective ending -y to the cardinal numbers, except in the case of pervy "first", drugi "second", treti "third", četverty "fourth", stoty/sotny "hundredth", tisečny "thousandth".
Verbs
The Slavic languages are notorious for their complicated conjugationGrammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
patterns. In Slovianski a system similar to De Wahl's rule
De Wahl's rule
The de Wahl's Rule is a rule of word formation, developed by the Balto-German naval officer and teacher Edgar de Wahl and applied in the artificial language Interlingue which was also his creation....
has been applied to simplify them into a system of two verbal stems:
- the first stem is used for the infinitiveInfinitiveIn grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
, the past tensePast tenseThe past tense is a grammatical tense that places an action or situation in the past of the current moment , or prior to some specified time that may be in the speaker's past, present, or future...
, the conditional moodConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
, the past passive participle and the verbal nounVerbal nounIn linguistics, the verbal noun turns a verb into a noun and corresponds to the infinitive in English language usage. In English the infinitive form of the verb is formed when preceded by to, e.g... - the second stem is used or the present tensePresent tenseThe present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
, the imperativeImperativeImperative can mean:*Imperative mood, a grammatical mood expressing commands, direct requests, and prohibitions * A morphological item expressing commands, direct requests, and prohibitions...
and the present active participle
In most cases both stems are identical, and in most of the remaining cases the second stem can be derived regularly from the first. In particular cases they have to be learned separately.
The various moods and tenses are formed as follows:
- the present tense endings are, depending on whether the stems ends in a vowel or a consonant: -(e)m/-u, -(e)š, -(e), -(e)mo, -(e)te, -(j)ut
- in the past tense, endings are not determined by person, but by gender: -l (masculine singular), -la (feminine singular), -lo (neuter singular), -li (plural)
- the future tense is formed by combining the verb byti "to be" with the infinitive
- the conditional is formed by combining the past tense with the particle by
- the imperative is formed by the endings -(i)j (2nd person singular), -(i)jte (2nd person plural) en -(i)jmo (1st person plural)
- the present active participle has the ending -(j)uč, followed by -i, -a, -e when it is used as an adjective
- the past passive participle has the ending -(e)ny (sometimes -ty), and is declined as an adjective
- the verbal noun has the ending -(e)nje (sometimes -tje)
| present tense | past tense | future tense | conditional | imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | ja delam | ja delal(a) | ja budu delati | ja by delal(a) | |
| 2 sg. | ty delaš | ty delal(a) | ty budeš delati | ty by delal(a) | delaj |
| 3 sg. | on ona dela ono |
on delal ona delala ono delalo |
on ona bude delati ono |
on by delal ona by delala ono by delalo |
|
| 1 pl. | my delamo | my delali | my budemo delati | my by delali | delajmo |
| 2 pl. | vy delate | vy delali | vy budete delati | vy by delali | delajte |
| 3 pl. | oni delajut | oni delali | oni budut delati | oni by delali |
| infinitive | delati |
|---|---|
| present active participle | delajuč (-juči, -juča, -juče) |
| past passive participle | delany (-na, -ne) |
| verbal noun | delanje |
Vocabulary
Words in Slovianski are based on comparison of the vocabulary of the modern Slavic languages. For this purpose, the latter are subdivided into six groups:- RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
- UkrainianUkrainian languageUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and BelarusianBelarusian languageThe Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people... - PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
- CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and SlovakSlovak languageSlovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people... - Slovene, SerbianSerbian languageSerbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
and BosnianBosnian languageBosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina.... - BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
and MacedonianMacedonian languageMacedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
These groups are treated equally. Slovianski's vocabulary has been compiled in such way that words are understandable to a maximum number of Slavic speakers. The form in which a chosen word is adopted by Slovianski depends not only of its frequency in the modern Slavic languages, but also on Slovianski's inner logic, as well as its form in Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic language
Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged. It was spoken before the seventh century AD. As with most other proto-languages, no attested writings have been found; the language has been reconstructed by applying the comparative method to all the attested Slavic...
: to ensure coherence, a system of regular derivation
Derivation (linguistics)
In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word, e.g. happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine...
is applied.
| English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
Slovianski | Словјански | Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... |
Ukrainian Ukrainian language Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet.... |
Belarusian Belarusian language The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people... |
Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... |
Czech Czech language Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century... |
Slovak Slovak language Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people... |
Upper Sorbian | Slovene | Croatian Croatian language Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries... |
Serbian Serbian language Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries.... |
Macedonian Macedonian language Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora... |
Bulgarian Bulgarian language Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| human being | človek | чловек | человек | людина | чалавек | człowiek | člověk | človek | čłowjek | človek | čovjek | човек | човек | човек |
| dog | pes | пес | пёс, собака | пес, собака | сабака | pies | pes | pes | pos, psyk | pes | pas | пас | пес, куче | пес, куче |
| house | dom | дом | дом | дім | дом | dom | dům | dom | dom | dom, hiša | dom, kuća | дом, кућа | дом, куќа | дом, къща |
| book | kniga | книга | книга | книга | кніга | książka | kniha | kniha | kniha | knjiga | knjiga | књига | книга | книга |
| night | noč | ноч | ночь | ніч | ноч | noc | noc | noc | nóc | noč | noć | ноћ | ноќ | нощ |
| letter | pismo | писмо | письмо | лист | пісьмо, ліст | list | dopis | list | list | pismo | pismo | писмо | писмо | писмо |
| big, large | veliki | велики | большой, великий | великий | вялікі | wielki | velký | veľký | wulki | velik | velik | велик | голем | голям |
| new | novy | новы | новый | новий | новы | nowy | nový | nový | nowy | nov | nov | нов | нов | нов |
Example
The Pater NosterPater Noster
Pater Noster is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity.Pater Noster or Paternoster may also refer to:* Paternoster, a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building* Paternoster, Western Cape, South Africa* Pierres...
:
| Latin | Cyrillic |
|---|---|
|
|