Nao

Introduction
Nao is a new amazing artificial language with the following features:

1. The vocabulary is logically constructed

2. Better and clear expressiveness.

2. The grammar is simple, logical and flexible.

3. Easy pronunciation

4. Truly neutral (the words and grammar are not based on those of any existing language)

Official website: http://nao.comze.com/

There you can find a smart dictionary, and the so-called Full Set of Rules and other information about Nao.

If you have logical thinking, then you will love Nao. The vocabulary is highly logical and systematic which allows one to master it not only much faster but also reach a high level of fluency. Nao has no declensions, no conjugations. All forms are regular. The system of tenses is rich but not obligatory. The system of markers allows you to make any word order in the sentence that you wish for.

When you learn a foreign language, one of the most frustrating things is the fact that you have to memorize so many words. That stops many people from mastering the language or even learning the language at all. You get frustrated because you have to use the dictionary all the time, and the words just don’t stay long in your head.

Nao, however, doesn’t have that problem. The main feature of Nao is the fact that you don’t have to memorize thousands of words. In Nao, most words are built logically from the elementary words. If you know elementary words, you can compound them in a very easy way, for example:

bo = bodypart

moi = see / look

bomoi = eye

So, you don’t actually have to memorize bomoi, you just have to get used to it which is much much easier.

Now that you know how to make eye it’s easy to guess how you build ear or leg. Nao is very consistent and logical when it concerns word construction.

The amazing thing is, if you know 300 elementary words in Nao it would be the same (and even better) expressiveness level as knowing 10000 words in English! You can find the list of elementary words in the end of the textbook.

The most common elementary word in the language consists of just one letter: s If you put it right in the end of a word, it will change its meaning to the opposite. For example:

la = good -> las = bad

netso = show -> netsos = hide

tcusnienai = summer -> tcusnienais = winter

da = person
tuo = work -> datuo = worker

necmo = teach -> danecmo = teacher

fecmo = learn -> dafecmo = student

nipaofmudoa = care only about oneself -> danipaofmudoa = egoist

gocna = go to space -> dagocna = astronaut

togi
goe = long -> togigoe = length

kuai = fast -> togikuai = speed

domo = possible -> togidomo = probability

pae = big -> togipae = size

tie (turns a verb into a verbal noun)
lios = read -> tielios = reading

mei = live -> tiemei = life

Phonology
Nao has

13 consonants:      p t k b d g h f s c l m n

5 vowels:   a i u e o

All are pronounced like in IPA except: c [ʃ']

The stress doesn't play a big role and normally falls on the last vowel.

Writing System
Nao uses Latin alphabet but an ideogrammic writing is also being developed as an alternative.

One letter one sound, no exceptions. Everything is written exactly the way it is pronounced.

Capital letters are not used. Sentence edges are marked with a hyphen.

How to construct words
The basis of the language are the so-called elementary words. Each elementary word consists of one or a few consonants followed by one or a few vowels. For example, ku, lei, ckoi are elementary words but nefnai is a compound word consisting of ne + fnai.

Each elementary word is either a noun or a verb, and here are the rules of how to put them together.

Any elementary noun or verb can be modified (=described / made more specific) by another noun or verb: just put the describing word after the word being described. Note that the left word must be elementary. If the left word is a noun, the resulting compound is a noun. If the left word is a verb, the resulting compound is a verb. Use the secondary meaning if and only if the primary meaning makes no sense in the given context.

How to construct sentences
A sentence is a sequence of elementary words. Spaces are used purely for ease of reading and do not influence the meaning.

The structure of the sentence is classic:

The head of the sentence is the main verb + the subject(s) and the object(s).

The main verb (=the predicate) is normally marked with the marker hu.

The subject, if not marked with a special marker word, must come before the main verb.

The object, if not marked with a special marker word, must come after the main verb.

Subject, object, and even the main verb can be omitted for shortness or vagueness if the speaker wishes to do so, as long as the grammatical structure of the sentence remains clear.

Nouns by default can play a role of the subject, direct object or indirect object in the sentence.

Verbs by default can play a role of the main verb in the sentence.

Markers are used to mark or change the default roles of words in the sentence. That said, markers enable you to change the word order in the sentence. All markers (expect for des) are put in front of the word being marked. If the marker is obvious from the context and it hasn't been applied to change the word order, it may be omitted. The markers are as follows:

hu = main verb marker

ba = subject marker

bas = object marker

hi = adverb (= main verb modifier)

gu = adjective (= main noun modifier, does not create a main noun)

de = adjective (= main noun modifier, creates a main noun)

pe = clause marker

Lexicon
How many words are in Nao? Infinite. It’s like asking “How many sentences are there in English?”. Just like the grammar of English allows you to generate an infinite number of sentences, the grammar of Nao goes to the next level and allows you to generate an infinite number of words.

Nao/Dictionary

Example text
– dio de haubou babilon –

The Babylon tower story

– tci mis hitasli hu fas pasmaukou tci kektu cugada hu cous doiu duo hicuoduelus hu cuo kie kcuo klus – mi cuo ta ftus hu hoedokou pe hilu fku ta hu bei hodiododupao – me domo pe ta hu fadotso tasgi maie mea ke ftus hu neo hotcus tofme : hu domos gamou –

Have you ever wondered why people can't understand each other and moreover why they speak different languages? Actually there is a legend on this matter, too. It might seem a little bit magical but maybe there is a bit of truth in it, who knows.

- hi hotasli, cugada hu fas gaucou doiu hikie kcuo gaklu – ta hu domo poubikou tus pe cugada hu fas fcus bes de tao ‘noi’ cpe mesfesmei hili leigomakoi duo hu fai maklous cpe maolu pamanae gutao ‘auauat’ – cudafmaflu hu fasnu fedue bas pai duo kou duo cmo – hiduo cuda hu pou bi nufa neflubibei bas biu hiduo himaonu hu bas haubou gunae tu honao gu domo moi tus ga gnus naos –

At some time, people used to understand each other speaking the same language. After all, all of them were descendants of Noi who survived during the flood and found a shelter near the Ararat mountains. Step by step the people was getting bigger and learning new things and skills. And then people decided to build a city and in it they'd build a tall tower right up to the skies so that it could be seen from anywhere on Earth.

− hu pai pe cuda hu nufasfecmo kta tu tasli : nefnai tu pcuacusmuo, nemaofludoiu doua tue nemao tu nascnehau – haubou hu nufedue pae hinufedue nae tu nao – cuda hu lie tso togi hotuafepae dos hotonebei dos gatada −

There were a lot of things that the people had learned by then: burning bricks, gathering stones and putting them into the foundation. Step by step the tower was growing getting closer to the sky. The people were happy to see how fast and steadily their creature was growing.

− hilu ta hu fekou ba hodanegato duo hu nifua hili moi haubou gutuagalu nao – hodanegato hu mies ta topoubinufa : duegli pe da hu nufasfeneo tiefielas duo tiemaudotsodue hipoubinufa nae tu nao – hiduo danegato cuo “− hu cudama, hu cou doiu, hu kie kcuo gaklu – mea hu nutua du ke – hifie duo paumesfestua, gatada hu mau bas fenae tu nao, femaolu hodanegato –“ – hodanegato hu nedeadohoe cuda hikie mes honesmei mea nekie kcuo klus –

When God found out about it he was surprised to see a enormous tower stretching to the sky. God did not like the that idea: the people became empty pride and vanity again, trying to ascend to the sky. And he said: "It's one people, everybody understands each other, everybody speaks the same language. But what are they doing? Proud and stubborn, they want to reach to the sky, to approach God Himself!" God did not punish them with death, but he mixed the languages they were speaking.

− hi tas dia hili gonus tu haubou, cuda himesdomoufa hu fes cou doiu – gasda hu cou tci himaolu hudocuo ke – cuda hu mo du gasto – tieneflubibei hu fes – da hu gonas tu naos tus haubau gumesgao hitue faikou tci hu nudodu ke – mea himao naos hu fe gaudau hicous tocuo duo tomau gu doiu – hilitso ta, danega hu poubi nepuos tu da hikie negos biu gumesgao duo hu nefma biu klus gumao gnus naos gu klus – li hu go hiduo gatada hu fefous tiefcusbe doiu, hu feneo bas doa des toduhofuas duo kcuo.

One day, when people went out to the tower, they suddenly couldn't understand each other anymore. Nobody could understand what is spoken near them. People could not do anything. The construction stopped. People went down from the tower to the ground to find out what's going on. But on the ground they started fighting because one couldn't understand what the other wants to say. Upon seeing that, God helped the people by making them leaving the unfinished city and putting them into different cities located at the different edges of the Earth. As time passed, people forgot about their ancestry, they got their own traditions and languages.