Revision 76661612 of "Slovio" on enwiki

{{cleanup-ipa}}
{{Infobox Language
|name=Slovio/Словио
|caption=Flag
|image=[[Image:Pan-Slavic flag.svg|150px|center|Pan-Slavic flag, also used as Slovio flag]]
|creator=[[Mark Hucko]]
|date=[[2001]]
|speakers=unknown
|setting=[[International auxiliary language]], designed for native speakers of [[Slavic languages]]
|fam2=[[international auxiliary language|auxiliary language]]
|posteriori=[[a posteriori language]] based on the [[Slavic languages]]}}

'''Slovio''' is a written and spoken [[constructed language]] created by [[Switzerland|Swiss]]-based [[Slovakia|Slovak]] linguist [[Mark Hucko]] and published on the Internet in [[2001]]. Slovio is an [[international auxiliary language]] created to help [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] speakers intercommunicate. 

The name, Slovio, comes from the [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] ''slovo'' which means "word" and has been retained in similar form in contemporary [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] languages. As of May 2006, the dictionary of Slovio contains over 37,000 entries.

== Characterization ==

The grammar principles of Slovio are similar to [[Esperanto]] (unified noun, adjective and verb endings, no flexion). [[Affix|Affixes]] are used to change the function or meaning of a word. For example, adding ''-ju'' to the end of a word makes it an [[adjective]] to a neighbouring noun. Consequently, there is no need for a strict word sequence:

:''trava zelenju'' - "green grass"
:''zelenju trava'' - "green grass"

The vocabulary is derived from the most common words from [[Slavic languages]]. According to Hucko, Slovio is understandable by more than 400 million people (Slavic-speaking) throughout the world without any prior study of the language. 

However, critics say that such intelligibility is far from granted, especially for speakers of [[West Slavic languages|West]] and [[South Slavic languages]]. For example, the Slovio words "sobak" (dog), "tper" (now), and "pecxen" (liver) are very similar to the Russian words "sobaka", "teper", and "pyechen", but have different roots in the South and West Slavic languages. To overcome this, sometimes synonyms are used, e.g. the word "pes" for (dog).

== Alphabet ==

Slovio can be written using the [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] letters, as well as using [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]] letters. The Slovio letters lack any diacritic markings. 

The sound and pronunciation of the letters are similar to Esperanto, except for the Slovio letters ''cx, gx, sx'' (present only in the [[x-convention]]) and ''zx'' (equivalent to the Esperanto letter ''[[ĵ]]''). Using a letter in combination with the letter ''x'' forms a new single sound. For example, ''s'' represents the ''s'' sound, and ''sx'' the English ''sh'' sound.  This system allows for easy transmission via computer and other communication networks without the need for any special fonts.

:{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align:center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 30%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right"

! colspan=2 |  [[Latin alphabet|Latin]]  
! colspan=2 | [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]
! sounds like...
|-
|A||a||А||а||
|-
|B||b||Б||б||
|-
|C||c||Ц||ц||''ts'' in rats
|-
|Cx||cx||Ч||ч||''ch'' in china
|-
|D||d||Д||д||
|-
|E||e||Е||е||
|-
|F||f||Ф||ф||
|-
|G||g||Г||г||''g'' in good
|-
|Gx||gx||ДЖ||дж||''g'' in George
|-
|H||h||Х||х||''h'' in hotel or ''j'' in Juan
|-
|I||i||И||и||
|-
|J||j||Й||й||''y'' in yes
|-
|K||k||К||к||
|-
|L||l||Л||л||
|-
|M||m||М||м||
|-
|N||n||Н||н||
|-
|O||o||О||о||
|-
|P||p||П||п||
|-
|R||r||Р||р||rolling ''r''
|-
|S||s||С||с||''s'' in suit
|-
|Sx||sx||Ш||ш||''sh'' in shoot
|-
|T||t||Т||т||
|-
|U||u||У||у||
|-
|V||v||В||в||
|-
|Z||z||З||з||''z'' in zoo
|-
|Zx||zx||Ж||ж||''s'' in leisure
|-
|}

Optional letters are:

:{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align:center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 30%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right"

! colspan=2 |  [[Latin alphabet|Latin]]  
! colspan=2 | [[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]
! sounds like...
|-
|Hq||hq|| || ||always ''h'' in hotel
|-
|Hx||hx|| || ||always ''j'' in Spanish Juan
|-
|X||x||Кс||кс||''ks'' in extra
|-
|Wx||wx||Щ||щ||''shtsh'' in wish-chest
|-
|Q||q|| || ||softner, ''nq'' is ''ñ'' as in ca''ny''on
|-
|}

== Text sample in Slovio==

:Slovio es novju mezxunarodju jazika ktor razumijut cxtirsto milion ludis na celoju zemla. Ucxijte Slovio tper!
:Словио ес новйу межународйу йазика ктор разумийут чтирсто милион лудис на целойу земла. Учийте Словио тпер!
:Slovio is a new international language that is understood by 400 million people in the world. Learn Slovio now!

==External links==
{{Wikibooks}}
*[http://www.slovio.com/ Official Slovio webpage]
*[http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/_slovio Generator for Slovio typographical filler text]
*[http://slavopedia.vikipedija.org/index.php Forum about Slavopedia project and Slovio]
*[http://www.pravapis.org/art_swadesh_russian_polish.asp Swadesh word list: comparing Slovio, Polish, Russian, Czech, Bulgarian and Belarusian]
*[http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/translation/Slovio/ Slovio-English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Dictionary]

==See also==
*[[:meta:Slavopedia|Slavopedia]]

{{Slavic languages}}

[[Category:International auxiliary languages]]
[[Category:Slavic languages]]

[[bs:Slovio]]
[[bg:Словио]]
[[ca:Slovio]]
[[cs:Slovio]]
[[da:Slovio]]
[[de:Slovio]]
[[eo:Slovio]]
[[fr:Slovio]]
[[ja:スロヴィオ]]
[[ko:슬로비오]]
[[hr:Slovio]]
[[ia:Slovio]]
[[csb:Slovio]]
[[hu:Slovio nyelv]]
[[nl:Slovio]]
[[no:Slovio]]
[[pl:Slovio]]
[[pt:Slovio]]
[[ru:Словио]]
[[sk:Slovio]]
[[sl:Slovio]]
[[sr:Словио]]
[[fi:Slovio]]
[[sv:Slovio]]
[[uk:Словіо]]