View source for Idiom Neutral

{{short description|International auxiliary language, published by the International Academy of the Universal Language in 1902 under the leadership of W. Rosenberger; a heavy revision of Volapük}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Original research|date=March 2013}}
{{Primary sources|date=March 2013}}
}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Idiom Neutral
|creator=[[Waldemar Rosenberger]]
|created=1902
|setting=[[international auxiliary language]]
|speakers=none
|fam1=[[constructed language]]s
|fam2=[[international auxiliary language]]s
|posteriori= developed from a heavily revised form of [[Volapük]]
|iso3=none
|glotto=none
}}

'''Idiom Neutral''' is an [[international auxiliary language]], published in 1902 by the [[International Academy of the Universal Language]] (''Akademi Internasional de Lingu Universal'') under the leadership of [[Waldemar Rosenberger]], a [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]] [[engineer]].

== History ==
The Academy had its origin as the ''Kadem bevünetik volapüka'' (literally 'International Academy of the World Language') at a congress in [[Munich]] in August 1887, was set up to conserve and perfect the auxiliary language [[Volapük]]. Under Rosenberger, who became the Academy’s director in 1892, the group began to make considerable changes in the grammar and vocabulary of Volapük, changing its nature into an entirely different language. The vocabulary was almost completely replaced by words more closely resembling those used in Western European languages, and a number of grammatical forms unfamiliar to Western Europeans were discarded. It was understood that the changes effectively resulted in the creation of a new language, which was named “Idiom Neutral” (which means “the neutral idiom” or “the neutral language”).

The name of the Academy was changed to ''Akademi Internasional de Lingu Universal'' in 1898 and the circulars of the Academy were written in the new language from that year. Those who continued to use Volapük re-formed the [[International Academy of Volapük]], retaining its name (with a spelling change) as ''Kadäm Bevünetik Volapüka''.

Dictionaries of Idiom Neutral including an outline of the grammar were published in several European languages in 1902 and 1903.

The language, sometimes referred to as “Neutral” or “the Neutral language” by English-speaking writers, created interest among international language enthusiasts at the time. Rosenberger published a periodical in the language called ''Progres''. In 1907 Neutral was one of the projects considered by a committee of scholars which met in [[Paris]] to select an international auxiliary language (what the committee actually decided upon is disputed; see [[Ido (language)|Ido]] and its external links for more information).

In 1908 the Akademi which had created Idiom Neutral effectively chose to abandon it in favor of [[Latino sine flexione]], a simplified form of [[Latin]] developed by Italian mathematician [[Giuseppe Peano]]. Peano was appointed the director of the Akademi, and its name was changed to [[Academia pro Interlingua]]. Peano's language was also called ''Interlingua'', not to be confused with the better-known [[Interlingua]] presented in 1951 by the [[International Auxiliary Language Association]] ([[International Auxiliary Language Association|IALA]]).

{{anchor|Reform-Neutral}}
In 1912 Rosenberger published a reformed version of Neutral called '''Reform-Neutral'''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/ManualOfThePracticalUniversalLanguageReformNeutralW.Rosenberger1912] Handbook of Reform-Neutral (1912) at archive.org</ref>

== Grammar ==

The following is a rough sketch of Idiom Neutral [[grammar]]. It does not lay out every detail of grammar worked out for the language. The simple grammar of Idiom Neutral is similar to [[Interlingua|Interlingua's]].

=== Writing and pronunciation ===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed"
|+ Idiom neutral alphabet (+ 1 digraph)
|-
! Number ||1||2||3||4||5||6||8||8||9||10||11||12||13||14||15||16||17||18||19||20||21||22||-
|-
! [[Upper case]] 
| [[A]]||[[B]]||[[C]]||[[D]]||[[E]]||[[F]]||[[G]]||[[H]]||[[I]]||[[J]]||[[K]]||[[L]]||[[M]]||[[N]]||[[O]]||[[P]]||[[R]]||[[S]]||[[T]]||[[U]]||[[V]]||[[Y]]||[[sh (digraph)|SH]]
|-
! [[Lower case]]
| a||b||c||d||e||f||g||h||i||j||k||l||m||n||o||p||r||s||t||u||v||y||sh
|-
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] [[phonemes]]
|{{IPAlink|a}}
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|style="background-color:#fcc"|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|{{IPAlink|e}}
|{{IPAlink|f}}
|{{IPAlink|g}}
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|{{IPAlink|i}}
|style="background-color:#fcc"|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|{{IPAlink|o}}
|{{IPAlink|p}}
|{{IPAlink|r}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|{{IPAlink|u}}
|{{IPAlink|v}}
|style="background-color:#fcc"|{{IPAlink|j}}
|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|}

Twenty-two letters of the [[Latin script]] are used to write Neutral; the letters q, w, x, and z do not occur. The five [[vowel]]s ('''a''', '''e''', '''i''', '''o''', '''u''') are pronounced roughly as in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. Vowels which appear next to each other are pronounced separately, not as a [[diphthong]]. The [[consonant]]s have the same values as in [[English language|English]], except that '''c''' is pronounced like English ''ch'' in ''church'', '''g''' is always like the ''g'' in ''gate'', and '''j''' is pronounced as the ''s'' in ''measure''. The combination '''sh''' is pronounced like English ''sh''.

The [[lexical stress|stress]] falls on the vowel that precedes the last consonant. If no vowel precedes the last consonant (e.g. '''via''' ''way'') the stress is on the first vowel. In a few cases the vowel at the end of a word is stressed; these vowels are marked with an [[acute accent]] (e.g. '''idé''' ''idea''). Such accents are the only [[diacritic]]s used in writing Neutral words.

===Nouns and adjectives===

Unlike [[Esperanto]] and [[Ido (language)|Ido]], [[noun]]s can end in any letter. There is no [[inflection]] for [[grammatical case|case]]. The [[plural]] is formed by adding the letter '''i''' at the end of the word.

[[Adjective]]s can also end in any letter. They normally appear after the nouns they modify and do not agree in [[grammatical number|number]] with their nouns, e.g. '''kaset grand''' ''big box'', '''kaseti grand''' ''big boxes''.

[[comparative|Comparison]] of adjectives (and [[adverb]]s) is with '''plu ... ka''' (''more ... than''), '''tale ... kuale''' (''as ... as'') and '''leplu''' (''most, -est'').

===Verbs===

[[Verb]]s are [[grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] as follows. Examples are shown for the verb '''amar''' ''to love'' in the [[grammatical voice|active voice]]; the endings do not change for [[grammatical person|person]] or [[grammatical number|number]], except in the [[imperative mood|imperative]].

[[Infinitive]]: '''amar''' ''to love''<br>
[[Present tense|Present]]: '''mi am''' ''I love''<br>
Imperfect: '''mi amav''' ''I loved, I was loving''<br>
[[Future tense|Future]]: '''mi amero''' ''I shall love''<br>
[[Present perfect]]: '''mi av amed''' ''I have loved''<br>
[[Pluperfect]]: '''mi avav amed''' ''I had loved''<br>
[[Future perfect]]: '''mi avero amed''' ''I shall have loved''<br>
[[Conditional tense|Conditional]]: '''mi amerio''' ''I would love''<br>
Past conditional: '''mi averio amed''' ''I would have loved''<br>
[[imperative mood|Imperative]] second person singular: '''ama!''' ''Love!''<br>
Imperative second person plural: '''amate!''' ''Love!''<br>
Imperative first person plural: '''amam!''' ''Let's love!''<br>
Active [[participle]]: '''amant''' ''loving''<br>
Passive [[participle]]: '''amed''' ''loved''

The [[grammatical voice|passive voice]] is formed with the verb '''esar''' ''to be'' and the passive participle: '''mi es amed''' ''I am loved'', '''mi averio esed amed''' ''I would have been loved'', etc.

There is no inflection for a [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] or volitive. In expressions of desire etc., the present tense is used e.g. '''mi volu ke il am''' ''I want him to love''; '''ila demandav ke vo lekt it''' ''she asked you to read it''.

===Other parts of speech===

There is no definite or indefinite [[article (grammar)|article]]. [[Adverb]]s can be formed from adjectives by adding '''e'''. Some [[preposition]]s are formed from other words by adding '''u''' e.g. '''relativu''' ''relative to'' from '''relativ''' ''relative'' (adj.).

== Sample texts ==

"Aparati deb esar adresed<!--The spelling "adresed" is correct here; this is a sample text in another language--> a shef de stasion Peterburg e deb esar asekured per vo e per votr kont; if aparati u partii de ili esero ruined u perded in voyaj, vo deb mitar nemediate otri, plasu aparati e partii ruined u perded."

''The apparatus must be addressed to the chief of the St. Petersburg station and must be insured by you and by your account; if the apparatus or parts of them are ruined or lost in the voyage, you must send others immediately in place of the apparatus and parts ruined or lost.''

"Publikasion de idiom neutral interesero votr filio, kel kolekt postmarki, kause ist idiom es lingu praktikal pro korespondad ko kolektatori in otr landi."

''The publication of Idiom Neutral will interest your son, who collects postage stamps, because this idiom is a practical language for correspondence with collectors in other countries.''

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* Holmes, M. A. F. (1903), [https://books.google.com/books?id=tLc9AAAAYAAJ ''Dictionary of the Neutral Language''] (Idiom Neutral), Neutral-English and English-Neutral, with a complete grammar in accordance with the resolutions of the International Academy of the Universal Language and a brief history of the Neutral Language. [https://sites.google.com/site/diksionardeidiomneutral/home], [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryneutr01holmgoog]. Rochester, N. Y. (1903); Milton Keynes, UK (2010).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091029033241/http://geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5037/AILidn.html  Chapter on Idiom Neutral] in [[Otto Jespersen]]'s ''An International Language'' (1928)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080117112956/http://www.langmaker.com/db/Idiom_Neutral LangMaker entry about Idiom Neutral (archived)]
* [http://www.pagef30.com/2010/05/complete-grammar-of-idiom-neutral.html Page F30: Complete grammar of Idiom Neutral]
{{conlangs}}

[[Category:International auxiliary languages]]
[[Category:Constructed languages introduced in the 1900s]]
[[Category:1902 introductions]]
[[Category:Volapük]]
[[Category:Constructed languages]]