Interslavic (modern)

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Interslavic (Medžuslovjansky/Меджусловјанскы) is the pan-Slavic Universal Language. Its purpose is to facilitate communication between speakers of various Slavic languages, as well as to allow people who do not speak a Slavic language to communicate with Slavic speakers by being mutually intelligible with most, if not all, Slavic languages. For Slavs and non-Slavs, it can be used for educational purposes as well. Its use spans a broad range of fields, including tourism and education. It is essentially a modern continuation of Old Church Slavonic, but also draws on the various macaronic languages that Slavs have used for centuries to communicate between nationalities, for example in multi-Slavic environments and on the Internet, providing them with a scientific base. Thus, both grammar and vocabulary are based on common elements between the Slavic languages. Its main focus lies on instant intelligibility rather than easy learning, a balance typical for naturalistic (as opposed to schematic) languages.

The Interslavic project began in 2006 under the name Slovianski. In 2011, Slovianski underwent a thorough reform and merged with two other projects, with the result called "Interslavic", a name that was first proposed by the Czech Ignác Hošek in 1908. Currently, Interslavic is generally written using either Latin script or Cyrillic letters. After two failed applications for an ISO 639-3 code for Interslavic from 2012 and 2014, a third request was filed in September 2019 and resulted in the adoption of the ISO 639-3 code 'isv' in April 2024.

Меджусловјанскы
[Med.ʒu.slov.jan.skɪ]
Timeline/Universe Universal Languages
Period Coming Utopia
Spoken in Pan-Slavism
Total speakers 300 million
Writing system Cyrillic
Classification Proto-Slavic
Typology
Basic word order SVO
Morphology Fusional
Alignment N-A
Credits
Created by ibwiki:User:IJzeren Jan et al
[ edit ]


Anthropology

Phonology

Labial Alv/Dent. Post Velar
Nasal /m/ М м /n/ Н н /ɲ/ Њ њ
Stop -v /p/ П п /t~c/ Т т /k/ К к
Stop +v /b/ Б б /d~ɟ/ Д д /g/ Г г
Affr. -v /t͡s~t͡ɕ/ 'Ц ц /t͡ʃ~tʂ/ Ч ч
Affr. +v /d͡ʒ~dʐ/ ДЖ дж
Fric. -v /f/ Ф ф /s~ɕ/ С с /ʃ~ʂ/ Ш ш /x/ Х х
Fric. +v /v/ В в /z~ʑ/ З з /ʒ~ʐ/ Ж ж
Liquid /r~r̝/ Р р /j/ Й й
Approx. /ɫ~l/ Л л /l~ʎ/ Љ љ
Front Back
High /i/ И и /u/ У у
Near-High /ɪ/
Mid /ɛ/ Е е /jɛ/ Є є /ɔ/ О о
Low /a/ A а

Morphology

Interslavic grammar is based on 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

Interslavic is an inflecting language. Nouns can have three genders, two numbers (singular and plural), as well as six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental and locative). Since several Slavic languages also have a vocative, it is usually displayed in tables as well, even though strictly speaking the vocative is not a case. It occurs only in the singular of masculine and feminine nouns.

There is no article. The complicated system of noun classes in Slavic has been reduced to four declensions:

  1. masculine nouns, ending in a (usually hard) consonant: dom "house", mųž "man"
  2. feminine nouns ending in -a: žena "woman", zemja "earth"
  3. feminine nouns ending in a soft consonant: kosť "bone"
  4. neuter nouns ending in -o or -e: slovo "word", morje "sea"

There are consonantal declensions which are considered "archaic":

Declension of nouns
masculine neuter feminine consonantal
hard, animate hard, non-animate soft, animate soft, non-animate hard soft -a, hard -a, soft -Ø m. n. f.
singular
N. brat
"brother"		 dom
"house"		 mųž
"man"		 kraj
"land"		 slovo
"word"		 morje
"sea"		 žena
"woman"		 zemja
"earth"		 kost́
"bone"		 kamen
"stone"		 imę
"name"		 mati
"mother"
A. brata dom mųža kraj slovo morje ženų zemjų kost́ kamen imę mater
G. brata doma mųža kraja slova morja ženy zemje kosti kamene imene matere
D. bratu domu mųžu kraju slovu morju ženě zemji kosti kameni imeni materi
I. bratom domom mųžem krajem slovom morjem ženojų zemjejų kost́jų kamenem imenem materjų
L. bratu domu mųžu kraju slovu morju ženě zemji kosti kameni imeni materi
V. brate dome mųžu kraju slovo morje ženo zemjo kosti kameni imę mati
plural
N. brati domy mųži kraje slova morja ženy zemje kosti kameni imena materi
A. bratov domy mųžev kraje slova morja ženy zemje kosti kameni imena materi
G. bratov domov mųžev krajev slov morej žen zem(ej) kostij kamenev imen materij
D. bratam domam mųžam krajam slovam morjam ženam zemjam kost́am kamenam imenam materam
I. bratami domami mųžami krajami slovami morjami ženami zemjami kost́ami kamenami imenami materami
L. bratah domah mųžah krajah slovah morjah ženah zemjah kost́ah kamenah imenah materah

Adjectives

Adjectives are always regular. They agree with the noun they modify in gender, case and number, and are usually placed before it. In the column with the masculine forms, the first relates to animate nouns, the second to inanimate nouns. A distinction is made between hard and soft stems, for example: dobry "good" and svěži "fresh":

Declension of adjectives
hard soft
m. n. f. m. n. f.
other
animate
other
animate
singular
N. dobry dobro dobra svěži svěže svěža
A.
dobry
dobrogo
 dobrų
svěži
svěžego
 svěžų
G. dobrogo dobroj svěžego svěžej
D. dobromu svěžemu
I. dobrym dobrojų svěžim svěžejų
L. dobrom dobroj svěžem svěžej
plural
N.
dobre
dobri
 dobre
svěže
svěži
 svěže
A.
dobre
dobryh
svěže
svěžih
G. dobryh svěžih
D. dobrym svěžim
I. dobrymi svěžimi
L. dobryh svěžih

Some writers make no distinction between hard and soft adjectives. One can write dobrego instead of dobrogo, svěžogo instead of svěžego.


Comparison

The comparative is formed with the ending -(ěj)ši: slabši "weaker", pȯlnějši "fuller". The superlative is formed from the comparative with the prefix naj-: najslabši "weakest". Comparatives can also be formed with the adverbs bolje or vyše "more", superlatives with the adverbs najbolje or najvyše "most".

Adverbs

Hard adjectives can be turned into an adverb with the ending -o, soft adjectives with the ending -e: dobro "well", svěže "freshly". Comparatives and superlatives can be adverbialized with the ending -ěje: slaběje "weaker".

Pronouns

The personal pronouns are: ja "I", ty "you, thou", on "he", ona "she", ono "it", my "we", vy "you" (pl.), oni/one "they". When a personal pronoun of the third person is preceded by a preposition, n- is prepended onto it.

Personal pronouns
singular plural reflexive
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
masculine neuter feminine
other
masculine animate
N. ja ty on ono ona my vy
one
oni
 —
A. mene (mę) tebe (tę) jego (go) jų nas vas
je
jih
 sebe (sę)
G. mene tebe jego jej jih sebe
D. mně (mi) tobě (ti) jemu (mu) nam vam jim sobě (si)
I. mnojų tobojų jim jejų nami vami jimi sobojų
L. mně tobě jej nas vas jih sobě

Other pronouns are inflected as adjectives:

  • the possessive pronouns 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 toj "this, that", tutoj "this" and tamtoj "that"
  • the relative pronoun ktory "which"
  • the interrogative pronouns kto "who" and čto "what"
  • the indefinite pronouns někto "somebody", něčto "something", nikto "nobody", ničto "nothing", ktokoli "whoever, anybody", čto-nebųď "whatever, anything", etc.

Numerals

The cardinal numbers 1–10 are: 1 – jedin/jedna/jedno, 2 – dva/dvě, 3 – tri, 4 – četyri, 5 – pęt́, 6 – šest́, 7 – sedm, 8 – osm, 9 – devęt́, 10 – desęt́.

Higher numbers are formed by adding -nadsęť for the numbers 11–19, -desęt for the tens, -sto for the hundreds. Sometimes (but not always) the latter is inflected: dvasto/tristo/pęt́sto and dvěstě/trista/pęt́sȯt are both correct.

The inflection of the cardinal numerals is shown in the following table. The numbers 5–99 are inflected either as nouns of the kosť type or as soft adjectives.

Declension of the numbers 1–5
1 2 3 4 5
m. n. f. m./n. f.
N. jedin jedno jedna dva dvě tri četyri pęt́
A. jedin jedno jednų dva dvě tri četyri pęt́
G. jednogo jednoj dvoh trěh četyrěh pęti
D. jednomu jednoj dvoma trěm četyrěm pęti
I. jednym jednojų dvoma trěma četyrmi pęt́jų
L. jednom jednoj dvoh trěh četyrěh pęti

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the adjective ending -y to the cardinal numbers, except in the case of pŕvy "first", drugy/vtory "second", tretji "third", četvŕty "fourth", stoty/sȯtny "hundredth", tysęčny "thousandth".

Fractions are formed by adding the suffix -ina to ordinal numbers: tretjina "(one) third", četvŕtina "quarter", etc. The only exception is pol (polovina, polovica) "half".

Interslavic has other categories of numerals as well:

  • collective numerals: dvoje "pair, duo, duet", troje, četvero..., etc.
  • multiplicative numerals: jediny "single", dvojny "double", trojny, četverny..., etc.
  • differential numerals: dvojaky "of two different kinds", trojaky, četveraky..., enz.

Verbs

Aspect

Like all Slavic languages, Interslavic verbs have grammatical aspect. A perfective verb indicates an action that has been or will be completed and therefore emphasizes the result of the action rather than its course. On the other hand, an imperfective verb focuses on the course or duration of the action, and is also used for expressing habits and repeating patterns.

Verbs without a prefix are usually imperfective. Most imperfective verbs have a perfective counterpart, which in most cases is formed by adding a prefix:

  • dělati ~ sdělati "to do"
  • čistiti ~ izčistiti "to clean"
  • pisati ~ napisati "to write"

Because prefixes are also used to change the meaning of a verb, secondary imperfective forms based on perfective verbs with a prefix are needed as well. These verbs are formed regularly:

  • -ati becomes -yvati (e.g. zapisati ~ zapisyvati "to note, to register, to record", dokazati ~ dokazyvati "to prove")
  • -iti become -jati (e.g. napraviti ~ napravjati "to lead", pozvoliti ~ pozvaljati "to allow", oprostiti ~ oprašćati "to simplify")

Some aspect pairs are irregular, for example nazvati ~ nazyvati "to name, to call", prijdti ~ prihoditi "to come", podjęti ~ podimati "to undertake".

Stems

The Slavic languages are notorious for their complicated conjugation patterns. To simplify these, Interslavic has a system of two conjugations and two verbal stems. In most cases, knowing the infinitive is enough to establish both stems:

  • the first stem is used for the infinitive, the past tense, the conditional mood, the past passive participle and the verbal noun. It is formed by removing the ending -ti from the infinitive: dělati "to do" > děla-, prositi "to require" > prosi-, nesti "to carry" > nes-. Verbs ending in -sti can also have their stem ending on t or d, f.ex. vesti > ved- "to lead", gnesti > gnet- "to crush".
  • the second stem is used for the present tense, the imperative 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. In the present tense, a distinction is made between two conjugations:
    • the first conjugation includes almost all verbs that do not have the ending -iti, as well as monosyllabic verbs on -iti:
      • verbs on -ati have the stem -aj-: dělati "to do" > dělaj-
      • verbs on -ovati have the stem -uj-: kovati "to forge" > kuj-
      • verbs on -nųti have the stem -n-: tęgnųti "to pull, to draw" > tęgn-
      • monosyllabic verbs have -j-: piti "to drink" > pij-, čuti "to feel" > čuj-
      • the second stem is identical to the first stem if the latter ends in a consonant: nesti "to carry" > nes-, vesti "to lead" > ved-
    • the second conjugation includes all polysyllabic verbs on -iti and most verbs on -ěti: prositi "to require" > pros-i-, viděti "to see" > vid-i-

There are also mixed and irregular verbs, i.e. verbs with a second stem that cannot be derived regularly from the first stem, for example: pisati "to write" > piš-, spati "to sleep" > sp-i-, zvati "to call" > zov-, htěti "to want" > hoć-. In these cases both stem have to be learned separately.

Conjugation

The various moods and tenses are formed by means of the following endings:

  • Present tense: -ų, -eš, -e, -emo, -ete, -ųt (first conjugation); -jų, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -ęt (second conjugation)
  • Past tense – simple (as in Russian): m. -l, f. -la, n. -lo, pl. -li
  • Past tense – complex (as in South Slavic):
    • Imperfect tense: -h, -še, -še, -hmo, -ste, -hų
    • Perfect tense: m. -l, f. -la, n. -lo, pl. -li + the present tense of byti "to be"
    • Pluperfect tense: m. -l, f. -la, n. -lo, pl. -li + the imperfect tense of byti
  • Conditional: m. -l, f. -la, n. -lo, pl. -li + the conditional of byti
  • Future tense: the future tense of byti + the infinitive
  • Imperative: -Ø, -mo, -te after j, or -i, -imo, -ite after another consonant.

The forms with -l- in the past tense and the conditional are actually participles known as the L-participle. The remaining participles are formed as follows:

  • Present active participle: -ųći (first conjugation), -ęći (second conjugation)
  • Present passive participle: -omy/-emy (first conjugation), -imy (second conjugation)
  • Past active participle: -vši after a vowel, or -ši after a consonant
  • Past passive participle: -ny after a vowel, -eny after a consonant. Monosyllabic verbs (except for those on -ati) have -ty. Verbs on -iti have the ending -jeny.

The verbal noun is based on the past passive participle, replacing the ending -ny/-ty with -ńje/-t́je.

Examples

First conjugation (dělati "to do")
present imperfect perfect pluperfect conditional future imperative
ja dělajų dělah jesm dělal(a) běh dělal(a) byh dělal(a) bųdų dělati
ty dělaješ dělaše jesi dělal(a) běše dělal(a) bys dělal(a) bųdeš dělati dělaj
on
ona
ono 		dělaje dělaše jest dělal
jest dělala
jest dělalo		 běše dělal
běše dělala
běše dělalo		 by dělal
by dělala
by dělalo		 bųde dělati
my dělajemo dělahmo jesmo dělali běhmo dělali byhmo dělali bųdemo dělati dělajmo
vy dělajete dělaste jeste dělali běste dělali byste dělali bųdete dělati dělajte
oni
one 		dělajųt dělahų sųt dělali běhų dělali by dělali bųdųt dělati
infinitive dělati
present active participle dělajųć-i (-a, -e)
present passive participle dělajem-y (-a, -o)
past active participle dělavš-i (-a, -e)
past passive participle dělan-y (-a, -o)
verbal noun dělańje
Second conjugation (hvaliti "to praise")
present imperfect perfect pluperfect conditional future imperative
ja hvaljų hvalih jesm hvalil(a) běh hvalil(a) byh hvalil(a) bųdų hvaliti
ty hvališ hvališe jesi hvalil(a) běše hvalil(a) bys hvalil(a) bųdeš hvaliti hvali
on
ona
ono 		hvali hvališe jest hvalil
jest hvalila
jest hvalilo		 běše hvalil
běše hvalila
běše hvalilo		 by hvalil
by hvalila
by hvalilo		 bųde hvaliti
my hvalimo hvalihmo jesmo hvalili běhmo hvalili byhmo hvalili bųdemo hvaliti hvalimo
vy hvalite hvaliste jeste hvalili běste hvalili byste hvalili bųdete hvaliti hvalite
oni
one 		hvalęt hvalihų sųt hvalili běhų hvalili by hvalili bųdųt hvaliti
infinitive hvaliti
present active participle hvalęć-i (-a, -e)
present passive participle hvalim-y (-a, -o)
past active participle hvalivš-i (-a, -e)
past passive participle hvaljen-y (-a, -o)
verbal noun hvaljeńje

Whenever the stem of verbs of the second conjugation ends in s, z, t, d, st or zd, an ending starting -j causes the following mutations:

  • prositi "to require": pros-jų > prošų, pros-jeny > prošeny
  • voziti "to transport": voz-jų > vožų, voz-jeny > voženy
  • tratiti "to lose": trat-jų > traćų, trat-jeny > traćeny
  • slěditi "to follow": slěd-jų > slěđų, slěd-jeny > slěđeny
  • čistiti "to clean": čist-jų > čišćų, čist-jeny > čišćeny
  • jezditi "to go (by transport)": jezd-jų > ježđų, jezd-jeny > ježđeny

Alternative forms

Because Interslavic is not a highly formalized language, a lot of variation occurs between various forms. Often used are the following alternative forms:

  • In the first conjugation, -aje- is often reduced to -a-: ty dělaš, on děla etc.
  • Instead of the 1st person singular ending -(j)ų, the ending -(e)m is sometimes used as well: ja dělam, ja hvalim, ja nesem.
  • Instead of -mo in the 1st person plural, -me can be used as well: my děla(je)me, my hvalime.
  • Instead of -hmo in the imperfect tense, -smo and the more archaic -hom can be used as well.
  • Instead of the conjugated forms of byti in the conditional (byh, bys etc.), by is often used as a particle: ja by pisal(a), ty by pisal(a) etc.
  • Verbal nouns can have the ending -ije instead of -je: dělanije, hvaljenije.

Irregular verbs

A few verbs have an irregular conjugation:

  • byti "to be" has jesm, jesi, jest, jesmo, jeste, sųt in the present tense, běh, běše... in the imperfect tense, and bųdų, bųdeš... in the future
  • dati "to give", jěsti "to eat" and věděti "to know" have the following present tense: dam, daš, da, damo, date, dadųt; jem, ješ...; věm, věš...
  • idti "to go by foot, to walk" has an irregular L-participle: šel, šla, šlo, šli.


Example

The Sheep and the Horses
A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
Овца и коњи
На возвышености овца, ктора не имєла волну, увидєла коњев. Првы тегал тежкы воз, вторы носил велико брєме, третји брзо возил мужа. Овца рєкла коњам: «Боли мнє срдце, когда виджу, како чловєк владаје коњами.» Коњи рєкли: «Слушај, овцо, нам боли срдце, когда видимо ово: муж, господар, бере твоју волну, да бы имєл дља себе тепло палто. А овца јест без волны.» Услышавши то, овца избєгла в равнину.

Notes

Universal Languages
AFRICA SEDES (Horn of Africa), Middle Semitic (Semitic languages), Kintu (Bantu languages), Guosa (West Africa) Universal Language.png
CENTRAL ASIA Jalpi (Turkic languages), Zens (Iranian languages), Dravindian (Dravidian languages), Neo-Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan languages)
EUROPE Interlingua (Romance languages), Folksprak (Germanic languages), Interslavic Slavic languages, Balkan (Balkans)
FAR EAST Dan'a'yo (CJKV), MSEAL (Mainland Southeast Asia), Indo-Malay (Maritime Southeast Asia)
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