Nao

Introduction Edit

Nao is a new artificial language with the following features:

1. Requires thinking rather than memorization

2. Easy and logical grammar

3. Easy spelling and pronunciation

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

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 and the rules of combining, you can compound them in a very easy way, for example:

bo = bodypart

kan = see / look

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bokan = eye

So, you don’t actually have to memorize bokan, you just have to get used to it which is much much easier. Now that you know how to make eyeit’s easy to guess how you build ear or leg. Nao is very consistent and logical when it concerns word construction. So, knowing 300 elementary words in Nao would be roughly the same as knowing 10000 words in English! You can see the table of the elementary words in the main page of the dictionary.  The most common elementary word in the language consists of just one letter: "c" (pronounced like English "sh") If you put "c" right at the end of a word, it will change its meaning to the opposite. For example:

la = good → lac = bad

neso = show → nesoc = hide

dobio = dangerous → dobioc = safe

tcucnienai = summer → tcucnienaic = winter

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

There you can find the full information about the language, the dictionary, the textbook, games, forum and many other things.

Examples of how it works Edit

da = person Edit

tuo = work -> datuo = worker

nepoa = teach -> danepoa = teacher

fepoa = learn -> dafepoa = student

nipaosolse = care only about oneself -> danipaosolse = egoist

gonas = go to space -> dagonas = astronaut

togi Edit

lon = long -> togilon = length

foi = fast -> togifoi = speed

domo = possible -> togidomo = probability

dai = big -> togidai = size

ti (turns a verb into a verbal noun) Edit

lioc = read -> tilioc = reading

mei = live -> timei = life

PhonologyEdit

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 SystemEdit

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.

Full grammarEdit

How to construct words Edit

The basis of the language are the so-called elementary words. Each elementary word consists of: one consonant + by one or a few vowels + [optionally] consonant(s). For example, ku, lei, kan are elementary words but dompif is a compound word consisting of dom + pif.

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 Edit

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 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

bac = 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

LexiconEdit

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.

For the dictionary, check the official website nao.comze.com

General vocabulary Edit

Example textEdit

– dio de dombou 'babilon –

− tci mic litac fac maukou tci hoike da moc hom pia duo hidispiu tci hoike dagao dis til simc − hidomonofofa lun ta hubei hodiododupao − mo doso maie gitac keo hidomo bei tcuc todei nu ta, domocgafo −

− litac da facgauhom pia hidis til sim − ta dofafo hoi datagao beo paeclon 'noi pe nofecmei li maleigomakoi duo fai topibioc lun manaochai 'ararat − sudama facnufedai duo fekoukopoa to niu − sauta gauda tcus nekobibei biu duo pinu ta nekobibei dombou hai gi nao pe domokan tuc gaf topi de saonaslaic −

− facbei to gidai pe da hunufacfepoa : nefaia sucmur, nepikopia doua duo nepi ta tunu tonacfoatendom − dombou hunufacfehai hifelun nao − gauda faclie togifoi pe tonebei datagao hufedai − 

− li danegao fekou lun ta, teta nifua kan dombou padai gumeucse tu nao − danegao no fi topoubinufa ta : gauda felacnihoedohouse piulik hitua meucsebilun nao − duo teta dis: «beo mu sudama, dagao hom pia, dagao dis til sim − keo nudu ke − hinihoedohou duo dofeicnec, datagao mau meucsebilun nao, lun hodanegao» − danegao no nedeahoelac  datagao kie nemeic keo nemutcutes til pe datagao dis −

− dia tac, li gauda gonuc tu dombou, datagao hinodofofa fec hom pia − dagaoc mo hom tci ke dodis pilun − gauda mo du gaoc − tinekobibei fec − gauda gonac tuc dombou tu naoc foa fehom tci ke nudodu − keo pi naoc gauda fedau hoi homc todis pia − li kan ta, danegao nepiufei gauda kie nego gauda tuc biu nodoganekobibei duo nepi datagao tu biu simc pi nuoc simc de saonaslaic − li li go, gauda feckou paelunc se hifeheu hotogaudu duo til se −

The story of the Babylon tower

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.