Slovianski / Slovijanski / Словиянски

Version: March 2010



WELCOME
to the pages of the inter-Slavic language "Slovianski"!




DOBRODOŠLI
na stronici medžuslovianskogo jazika "Slovianski"!




ДОБРОДОШЛИ
на строници меджусловянского язика "Словянски"!



Slovianski is a Slavic interlanguage created in 2006 as the collaborative effort of a group of people from several countries, gathered in the Slovianski Forum. It can be a great help for travellers and a very useful tool for anyone who is interested in addressing the entire Slavic world via websites, fora, mailing lists, etc., without having to translate a text into several languages. Knowledge of the language will enable a person to make himself reasonably understandable to any Slavic speaker and to understand more than just the basics of a text in any Slavic language. Slovianski is also an excellent method for those who want to start learning their first Slavic language.

Slovianski je slovianski medžujazik iztvorieni v gode 2006 kak sotrudnične usilie grupi liudov iz rozličnih krajov, sbiranih v Slovianski Forum. On može biti velika pomoč dlia putujučih i mnogo upotrebime orudie dlia libo-kogo, ktori bi hotel adresovati celi slovianski svet posredstvom vebsajtov, forumov, spisov e-mejlskih i.t.d., bez potrebovania prevoditi tekst v rozne jaziki. Znanie togo jazika umožlivi človeku biti rozumemi dlia libo-ktorogo govoritelia slovianskogo jazika i rozumeti viačej, než tolko osnovu teksta v libo-ktorom slovianskom jazike. Slovianski tož je mnogo dobra metoda dlia tih, ktore hočut načati učiti se svoj pervi slovianski jazik.

Словянски е словянски меджуязик изтворьени в годе 2006 как сотрудничне усилье групи людов из розличних крайов, сбираних в Словянски Форум. Он може бити велика помоч для путуючих и много употребиме орудье для либо-кого, ктори би хотел адресовати цели словянски свет посредством вебсайтов, форумов, списов э-мейлских и.т.д., без потребованя преводити текст в розне язики. Знанье того язика уможливи чловеку бити розумеми для либо-кторого говорителя словянского язика и розумети вячей, неж толко основу текста в либо-ктором словянском язике. Словянски тож е много добра метода для тих, кторе хочут начати учити ся свой перви словянски язик.

On these pages you will find the basics of Slovianski: a short grammar, a dictionary, text samples, various tools, links and more. In the nearest future, there will be a language course as well. If you like to see Slovianski in action, you are invited to visit our wiki.

Na tuttih stronicah vi najdete osnovi slovianskogo jazika: krotku gramatiku, slovnik, prikladne teksti, rozlične orudia, linki i inu informaciju. V najblizkoj budučosti tož bude kurs jazika. Jesli vi hočete uvideti slovianski v akcije, zoveme vas posetiti našu viki.

На туттих строницах ви найдете основи словянского язика: кротку граматику, словник, прикладне тексти, розличне орудя, линки и ину информацию. В найблизкой будучости тож буде курс язика. Если ви хочете увидети словянски в акцие, зовеме вас посетити нашу вики.

We wish you a pleasant and, hopefully, useful stay!

Mi želame vam prijemnogo i, imajme nadeju, upotrebimogo pobitia!

Ми желаме вам приемного и, имайме надею, употребимого побитя!


Sdržanje ~ Сдржанје ~ Contents


3. Phonology & orthography

4. Grammar

5. Word formation

6. Sample texts

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3. PHONOLOGY & ORTHOGRAPHY

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3.1. Phonology

Slovianski has a simple phonology, primarily based on sounds that occur in all Slavic languages. Therefore, it does not make a distinction between, for example, i and y.

Vowelsa e i o u
Semivowelsj
Voiceless stopsp t k
Voiced stopsb d g
Voiceless fricativesf s š h
Voiced fricativesv z ž
Voiceless affricatesc č
Voiced affricatesdz dž
Nasalsm n
Trillsr
Lateralsl

Consonants can be palatalised as well. In that case, they are followed by e, i, j or . This pronunciation, however, is not mandatory.

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3.2. Orthography

3.2.1. Alphabet

Slovianski can be written using in the Latin alphabet (Latinica) and the Cyrillic alphabet (Kirilica). One basic design principle is that it can be written on any Slavic keyboard. Therefore, it is inevitable to allow alternate spellings that are both natural and convenient:

Thus we have:

Latin
(Polish)
(ASCII)
A B C Č
CZ
D E F G H I J / ’ K L M N O P R S Š
SZ
T U V Z Ž
Ż
ZS
Cyrillic
(Serbian)
А Б Ц Ч Д Е / Э
Е
Ф Г Х И Й / Ь
Ј
К Л М Н О П Р С Ш Т У В З Ж
Pronunciation [ɑ]
[a]
[b] [ʦ] [ʧ] [d] [ɛ] [f] [g]
[ɦ]
[x] [ɪ]
[i]
[ɨ]
[j]
[ʲ]
[k] [l] [m] [n] [o]
[ɔ]
[p] [r] [s] [ʂ]
[ʃ]
[t] [u] [v]
[ʋ]
[z] [ʐ]
[ʒ]

In addition, we have the following digraphs in Cyrillic:

Latin IU / JU IA / JA IE / JE DJ / D’ LJ / L’ NJ / N’ TJ / T’
Cyrillic
(Serbian)
Ю
ЈУ
Я
ЈА
Е (*)
ЈЕ
ДЬ
Ђ
ЛЬ
Љ
НЬ
Њ
ТЬ
Ћ

(*) only at the beginning of a word or after a vowel.

The Slovianski Transliterator makes it possible to transliterate any of these versions into any of the other.

3.2.2. Palatalisation and the semivowel „j”

Slovianski distinguishes between hard and soft consonants. In Latin orthography, a consonant is softened before i, and (optionally) e. How this palatalisation is realised exactly may depend on the speaker (see 3.3.1 for details). There is much interaction between the softener and the semivowel j (pronounced like English y), and it depends largely on the speaker whether a preceding consonant is indeed palatalised or simply followed by a j-like sound. The representation of both is somewhat problematic in all orthographies. In general, a softener can occur only after a consonant, while j will occur after a vowel or word-initially; in rare cases, usually after a prefix, it can follow a consonant as well. Because the two are largely complementary, they could theoretically be represented by one letter, if it hadn't been for the following problems:

All this is demonstated in the following table:

LatinCyrillic (non-Serbian)Cyrillic (Serbian)
Vowel (word-initially or after a vowel) a, u, o, e, i а, у, о, э, и а, у, о, е, и
Vowel (after a consonant) а, у, о, е, и
Semivowel (word-finally or before a consonant) j й ј
Semivowel + vowel ja, ju, jo, je, ji я, ю, йо, е, и ја, ју, јо, је, ји
Consonant + softener (word-finally) t’, d’, n’, l’, r’ ть, дь, нь, ль, рь тј, дј, њ, љ, рј
Softener + vowel ia, iu, io, ie, ii я, ю, ьо, ье, ьи ја, ју, јо, је, ји

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3.3. Pronunciation

Pronunciation in Slovianski is fairly free. That is to say, Slovianski pronounced "the Russian way" is by no means considered better or worse than Slovianski pronounced the Polish or the Serbian way. Therefore, the recommended pronuncation given in the table above is not more than an approximation.

3.3.1. Soft consonants

The largest discrepancy in pronunciation will probably be related to palatalisation, i.e. differentiating between hard and soft consonants. How palatalised consonants are realised depends on the speaker. Thus:

t’ — [tj], [tʲ], [c]
d’ — [dj], [dʲ], [ɟ]
n’ — [nj], [nʲ], [ɲ]
r’ — [rj], [rʲ], [r̝] (raised alveolar trill)
l’ — [lj], [lʲ], [ʎ]

In Latin orthography, consonants are softened before i, and (optionally) e. In Cyrillic, palatalisation occurs before ь, я, ю and ј, as well optionally before е.

3.3.2. Stress

Accentuation is free. However, if you want to stay on the safe side, it would deserve recommendation to follow as guidelines:

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4. GRAMMAR

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4.1. Nouns

As in all natural Slavic languages, nouns in Slovianski have three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). All Slavic languages, except Bulgarian and Macedonian, have six or seven cases. These cases are fairly consistent with one another. Therefore, Slovianski has six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative. The vocative, used in some Slavic languages, is absent in Slovianski, but Slavic vocatives can be used anyway, if desired. A simplified form of Slovianski, Slovianski-P, has no declension at all, and replaces all grammatical cases by means of prepositions or word order.

Long and complicated paradigms are to be avoided, but we cannot escape distinguishing between a few different word classes.

These are the basic endings in Slovianski-N:

masc.sg. neut.sg. fem.sg.
Nom -o (-e)2 -a -'
Acc -Ø / -a1 -u
Gen -a -i
Dat -u -e -i
Ins -om (-em)2 -u -ju
Loc -e (-u) -e -i
masc.pl. neut.pl. fem.pl.
Nom -i -a -i
Acc -i / -ov (-ev)1
Gen -ov (-ev)2 -i
Dat -am
Ins -ami
Loc -ah

1 When a masculine noun is inanimate, the accusative has the same form as the nominative; when it is animate, the genitive is used instead.
2 It is recommended that after j the endings -o, -om and -ov are changed to -e, -em and -ev.

Below follow a few examples of each declension:

4.1.1. Masculine declension

One declension will do here. After i/j, the endings -om and -ov are preferably changed to -em/-ev. For animals and male persons the accusative is identical to the genitive, while in the case of inanimate objects the accusative is identical to the nominative.
Three examples: muž „man”, p(e)s „dog”, put' „journey”.

singular plural
Nom muž, pes, put' muži, psi, puti
Acc muža, psa, put' mužov, psov, puti
Gen muža, psa, putia mužov, psov, putiev
Dat mužu, psu, putiu mužam, psam, putiam
Ins mužom, psom, putiem mužami, psami, putiami
Loc muže, pse, putie mužah, psah, putiah

4.1.2. Feminine declension

Here we can't escape introducing two different declensions: one for words on -a, one for words ending in a consonant. Note that the declensions of nouns on -a and nouns on -ia are identical. Examples: žena „woman”, zemia „earth”, jednost' „unit(y)”.

singular plural
Nom žena, zemia, jednost' ženi, zemii, jednosti
Acc ženu, zemiu, jednost'
Gen ženi, zemii, jednosti žen, zem, jednosti
Dat žene, zemie, jednosti ženam, zemiam, jednostiam
Ins ženu, zemiu, jednostiu ženami, zemiami, jednostiami
Loc žene, zemie, jednosti ženah, zemiah, jednostiah

4.1.3. Neuter declension

Neuter nouns can end in -o or -e, but this difference does hardly affect declension. Like in the case of masculine nouns, the ending -om can best be changed to -em after j. Also, when the noun ends in -e, use -u in the locative singular instead of -e. Again, three examples: slovo „word”, imeno „name”, and morie „sea”.

singular plural
Nom slovo, imeno, morie slova, imena, moria
Acc
Gen slova, imena, moria slov, imen, mor'
Dat slovu, imenu, moriu slovam, imenam, moriam
Ins slovom, imenom, moriem slovami, imenami, moriami
Loc slove, imene, moriu slovah, imenah, moriah

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4.2. Adjectives

Adjectives match with the noun they modify in gender, case and number. Declension is regular. Example: dobri „good”.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
Nom dobri dobra dobre dobre
Acc dobru
Gen dobrogo dobroj dobrogo dobrih
Dat dobromu dobroj dobromu dobrim
Ins dobrim dobroju dobrim dobrimi
Loc dobrom dobroj dobrom dobrih

4.2.1. Adverbs

An adjective can be made into an adverb by using the ending -o: dobro „well”.

4.2.2. Comparison

Comparatives and superlatives can be made in two ways: a simple form and a more complex form. The simple form uses the words više- (more), mene- (less), najviše- (most) and najmene- (least), preceding the adjective and preferably connected to it with a hyphen. The complex form replaces the ending -i with -ejši for the comparative, which in turn can be turned into a superlative by adding the prefix naj-.

When changed into an adverb, instead of *-ejšo we simply use -ej.

There is also another superlative with the prefix pre-, meaning „very” or „too”. An adjective can be turned into the opposite by by prefix ne-.

Here is again the word dobri as an example:

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4.3. Pronouns

4.3.1. Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns have the same six cases as the nouns. Because even the Slavic languages that got rid of most declension kept dative and accussative forms of personal pronouns besides the nominative ones, Slovianski-P has got them, too.

Singular Plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
masc. (neut.) fem.
Nom ja ti on (ono) ona mi vi oni
Acc mene (me) tebe (te) jego ju nas vas ih
Gen mene tebe jego jej
Dat mne (mi) tobe (ti) jemu jej nam vam im
Ins mnoju toboju im ju nami vami imi
Loc mne tebe im jej nas vas ih

Notes:

  1. After a preposition, all pronouns of the third person are preceded by n-: jego > do njego; im > pri nim, etc.
  2. Slovianski-P uses the short forms in the accusative singular and the long forms in the dative (preceded by n-).

And a few notes regarding usage:

4.3.2. Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns

The reflexive pronoun is sebe. It is inflected like ti, tebe, ..., the only difference being that it does not have a nominative.

There is also a shorter form, almost always used in reflexive verbs: se. For example: „Ja mijem se” „I'm washing myself”. Instead of se, the form sia can be used as well and should even be preferred when writing in Cyrillic.

The reflexive pronoun can also be used as a reciprocal pronoun: „Oni bijut se” can mean „They are hitting themselves”, but would rather have the meaning: „They are hitting each other”. To be more explicit about the meaning „each other”, you can add the formula jedin drugogo: „Oni bijut se jedin drugogo”.

4.3.3. Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns are inflected like adjectives, except that they have a zero ending in the masculine singular and the ending -e in the neuter singular. The forms are:

There is no possessive pronoun of the third person. If the possessor is also the subject of the sentence, the reflexive svoj is used. Otherwise, the genitive form of the corresponding personal pronoun is used: jego, jej, ih. These do not change their form.

There are also interrogative, definite and indefinite possessive pronouns: čij „whose”, ničij „nobody's”, etc. They are inflected like moj. For more forms, see section 4.3.7.

Just like adjectives, possessive pronouns correspond with the noun they modify in gender, number and case. Here is an example of their declension:

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
Nom moj, naš moja, naša moje, naše moje, naše
Acc moju, našu
Gen mojego, našego mojej, našej mojego, našego mojih, naših
Dat mojemu, našemu mojej, našej mojemu, našemu mojim, našim
Ins mojim, našim mojeju, našeju mojim, našim mojimi, našimi
Loc mojem, našem mojej, našej mojem, našem mojih, naših

4.3.4. Demonstrative pronouns

The demonstrative pronoun in Slovianski is toj „this, that”. When it is necessary to make a distinction between here and there, we use tuttoj „this” and tamtoj „that, yonder”. Except for the nominative, toj, tuttoj, and tamtoj are declined like adjectives.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
Nom toj ta to te
Acc tu
Gen togo toj togo tih
Dat tomu toj tomu tim
Ins tim toju tim timi
Loc tom toj tom tih

4.3.5. Relative pronouns

The relative pronoun is ktori (declined like an adjective). Alternatively, the use of čo „what” is also allowed.

4.3.6. Interrogative, definite and indefinite pronouns

The basic forms are kto „who” and čo „what”. Derived from these are also several indefinite pronouns, e.g. nekto „somebody”, libokto „anybody”, ničo „nothing”, vsečo „everything”. For more forms, see section 4.3.7. They are inflected as follows:

who? what?
Nom kto čo
Acc kogo
Gen čego
Dat komu čemu
Ins kim čim
Loc kom čem

4.3.7. Pronominal adverbs

One of Zamenhof's best inventions was his table of correlatives, a group of interrelated pronouns, adverbs and adjectives. There words have been kept as regular as possible in Slovianski, but not at the expense of recognisability for speakers of Slavic languages. A few virtually impossible words have been left out, and a few other regular forms have been replaced by forms that are common in the natural languages.

question here there some any no every else
which? ktori (tut)toj (tam)toj nektori liboktori žadni vse, každi ini
who? kto nekto libokto nikto vsekto inokto
what? čo1 (tut)to (tam)to nečo1 libočo1 ničo1 vsečo1 inočo1
how much? kolko tolko nekolko libokolko
whose? čij nečij libočij ničij vsečij inočij
what kind of? kaki2 taki nekaki2 libokaki2 nikaki2 vsekaki2 inokaki2
how? kak2 tak nekak2 libokak2 nikak2 vsekak2 inokak2
where? gde tut tam negde libogde nigde vsegde inogde
when? kogda tutčas togda nekogda libokogda nikogda vsekogda inokogda
whither? kude tude nekude libokude nikude vsekude inokude
whence? odkude odtude odnekude odlibokude odnikude odvsekude odinokude
why? začo1,
čemu
zato,
tomu
zanečo1,
nečemu
zalibočo1,
libočemu
zaničo1,
ničemu

1 In all cases when čo appears, što can be used interchangeably.
2 In all cases when kak or kaki appears, jak/jaki can be used interchangeably.

In the table above, adverbs are in  black , adjectives in  blue , demonstrative and possessive pronouns in  green , interrogative and indefinite pronouns in  red . Irregular forms (i.e. not looking the way they should according to the table) are in italics.

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4.4. Numerals

4.4.1. Cardinal numbers

The cardinal numbers are:

1-10 11-19 20-90 100-900 1000-
jedin (jedna, jedno)
dva (dve)
tri
četiri
piat'
šest'
sedem
osem
deviat'
desiat'
jedinnast
dvanast
trinast
četirnast
piatnast
šestnast
sedemnast
osemnast
deviatnast

 
dvadesiat'
tridesiat'
četirdesiat'
piatdesiat'
šestdesiat'
sedemdesiat'
osemdesiat'
deviatdesiat'
 
sto
dvasto
tristo
četiristo
piatsto
šeststo
sedemsto
osemsto
deviatsto
 
tisiač
dva-tisiač
tri-tisiač





milion
miliard

Combinations of these are always made from high to low: tri-tisiač četiristo piatdesiat šest' „3,456”.

4.4.2. Ordinal numbers

Basically, ordinal numbers are formed by adding -i to the corresponding cardinal number. Except for the following:

1st — pervi
2nd — drugi
3rd — treti
4rd — četverti
7th — sedmi
8th — osmi
100th — sotni or stoti
1000th — tisiačni

When a higher number forms a string, only the last member is modified to create an ordinal number: v tisiač deviatsto osemdesiat' četvertom gode „in the year 1984”.

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4.5. Verbs

Verbs in Slovianski behave pretty much the way they do in the natural Slavic languages: they are conjugated for three persons in two numbers. There are three tenses: present tense, past tense and future tense. Furthermore, there are participles, imperatives and verbal nouns. There is also aspect: most verbs are either perfective or imperfective, most perfective verbs have an imperfective counterpart and vice versa.

Slavic verbs are quite a complicated thing. Most verbs have two different forms („aspects”), both listed the dictionary: the imperfective and the perfective one. Usually, they need to be learned separately. In addition to that, many verbs have two basic roots, which also need to be memorised. And since this phenomenon occurs in áll Slavic languages, that leaves us little choice but to incorporate it into Slovianski as well.

Verbal conjugation is simplified to the highest possible extent, however, without sacrificing naturalism. As a result:

4.5.1. Infinitive stem and present tense stem

Infinitive stem

In Slovianski, infinitives always have the ending -ti. The infinitive stem is created by simply removing this ending. The result serves as a starting point for the infinitive, the past tense, the conditional, the past passive participle, and the verbal noun.

Present tense stem

For most verbs goes that the present tense stem can be derived regularly from the infinitive, so that the infinitive is enough to establish the entire conjugation of a verb. Usually, the present tense stem it is identical to the infinitive stem: it can be derived by simply removing the ending -ti:
delati > dela-, prositi > prosi-, nesti > nes-. There are, however, a few exceptions:

In these cases conjugation is simply a matter of regularly establishing the present tense stem and adding the correct endings to it. A number of verbs, however, use a separate root in the present tense. In most cases, these are verbs of the mixed a/j, a/i and e/i classes. An active user of Slovianski will have to learn both forms. He will notice, however, that in most cases the formation of this second root happens in a predictable way. Whenever the present-tense stem cannot be derived from the infinitive by applying the rules above, it will be given in the dictionary. A few examples: pisati (piš-) „to write”, plakati (plač-) „to cry, weep”, spati (spi-) „to sleep”, videti (vidi-) „to see”, hoteti (hoč-) „to want”, zvati (zov-) „to call”, brati (ber-) „to take”.

This system gives a fairly accurate approximation of verbal conjugation in the Slavic languages. We are of course aware that it is more complicated than in a language with a fully regular grammar, but any further simplification would be impossible without creating a greater distance to the natural Slavic languages. And with this approach, we can at least avoid subdividing verbs into classes and the like.

4.5.2. Conjugation

Infinitives

All infinitives have the ending -ti: delati „do, make”, umeti „can, to be able”, prositi „to ask”, nesti „to carry”, pisati „to write”, čuti „to feel”, diakovati „to thank”, tiagnuti „to pull”.

Present tense

The present-tense endings are:

In the first person singular, the ending -(e)m is preferred, but the ending -(j)u is also allowed.

In the case of the i-stems, the sequence -iju- should be avoided: *-siju-, *-ziju-, *-tiju-, *-diju-, *-stiju- and *-zdiju- become -šu-, -žu-, -ču-, -džu-, -šču- and -ždžu-, while in other cases -iju- becomes -ju-.

In the case of the consonantal stems, -k and -g become and before -e. Thus: mog-eš > možeš, etc.

Examples:

infinitive delati umeti prositi nesti pisati čuti diakovati tiagnuti
present-tense root on a vowel on a consonant
dela- ume- prosi- nes- piš- čuj- diakuj- tiagn-
ja delam
(delaju)
umem
(umeju)
prosim
(prošu)
nesem
(nesu)
pišem
(pišu)
čujem
(čuju)
diakujem
(diakuju)
tiagnem
(tiagnu)
ti delaš umeš prosiš neseš pišeš čuješ diakuješ tiagneš
on/ona/ono dela ume prosi nese piše čuje diakuje tiagne
mi delame umeme prosime neseme pišeme čujeme diakujeme tiagneme
vi delate umete prosite nesete pišete čujete diakujete tiagnete
oni delajut umejut prošut nesut pišut čujut diakujut tiagnut

Explanation of our choice for the forms:

Past tense

The past tense in formed by adding the ending -l (masculine singular), -la (feminine singular), -lo (neuter singular), -li (plural) to the infinitive stem. Examples:

infinitive delati umeti prositi nesti pisati čuti diakovati tiagnuti
(masculine) ja/ti/on delal umel prosil nesl pisal čul diakoval tiagnul
(feminine) ja/ti/ona delala umela prosila nesla pisala čula diakovala tiagnula
(neuter) ono delalo umelo prosilo neslo pisalo čulo diakovalo tiagnulo
(plural) mi/vi/oni delali umeli prosili nesli pisali čuli diakovali tiagnuli

One verb has an irregular past tense: the verb idti „to go” has šel, šla, šlo, šli „went”.

Future tense

The future tense is formed by combining the future tense of the verb biti „to be” with the infinitive. The forms are the same as if a verb with the stem bud- were conjugated in the present tense.

delati ja budem delati, ti budeš delati, on/ona/ono bude delati, mi budeme delati, vi budete delati, oni budut delati
umeti ja budem umeti, ti budeš umeti, ...
etc.

A perfective verb cannot have a future tense form: the future tense is expressed by the present form.

Conditional

The conditional is formed by adding the particle bi to the past tense: ja bi delal(a) „I would do/I would have done”.

If really needed, a past conditional can be formed by inserting the paste tense of the verb „to be” into the normal conditional form:

Imperative

The imperative has forms for the 2nd person singular, the 1st person plural and the 2nd person plural: delaj „do!” (to one person), delajme „let's do!”, delajte „do!” (to more persons). The imperative can always be recognised by the letter -j, added to the present tense stem. If the stem already ends in -j, it is not added again. If the stem ends in another consonant, -i- is inserted. Examples:

infinitive delati umeti prositi nesti pisati čuti diakovati tiagnuti
present tense stem dela- ume- prosi- nes- piš- čuj- diakuj- tiagn-
2sg delaj umej prosij nesij pišij čuj diakuj tiagnij
1pl delajme umejme prosijme nesijme pišijme čujme diakujme tiagnijme
2pl delajte umejte prosijte nesijte pišijte čujte diakujte tiagnijte

Participles

There are two participles: the present active participle and the past passive participle.

Examples:

infinitive delati umeti prositi nesti pisati čuti diakovati tiagnuti
present-tense root on a vowel on a consonant
dela- ume- prosi- nes- piš- čuj- diakuj- tiagn-
p.a.p. delajuč(i) umejuč(i) prošuč(i) nesuč(i) pišuč(i) čujuč(i) diakujuč(i) tiagnuč(i)
p.p.p. delani umeni prošeni neseni pisani čuti diakovani tiagnuti
verbal noun delanie umenie prošenie nesenie pisanie čutie diakovanie tiagnutie

The passive voice

The passive voice is created as in English, by combinating a form of the verb biti „to be” with the past passive participle:

Now, a sentence like: „Pica je delana” „Pizza is being made” is grammatically completely correct. It is, however, recommended to avoid such constructions because they sound clumsy to those Slavs who are not accustomed to using the verb „to be” very often, especially in the present tense. If the subject is known, it is better to utilise a normal active sentence. And if the subject isn't known, as in the case of our pizza, it is possible to use third person plural form without the subject: „Delajut picu” „They make pizza, one makes pizza, pizza is being made”.

4.5.3. Irregular verbs

Slovianski has only one irregular verb: biti „to be”. It is conjugated as follows:

present past future imperative
1sg jesem (jesu) bil, bila, bilo budu (budem) (*)  
2sg jesi budeš bud'
3sg je bude  
1pl jesme bili budeme bud'me
2pl jeste budete bud'te
3pl sut (jesut) budut  

infinitive biti   present active participle buduč(i) verbal noun bitie

(*) Because „budem” would be understood as „we will be” rather than „I will be”, the form on -u is preferred here.

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4.6. Prepositions

Prepositions should only be used according to their logical meaning, not according to national idioms. As a general rule, prepositions that indicate a location govern the following cases:

In most other cases, the genitive is used. Here follows an incomplete list of prepositions in Slovianski:

aždo (+ gen.) — till
bez (+ gen.) — without
bez obzira na (+ acc.) — regardless
blizko (+ acc./loc.) — close to
dlia (+ gen.) — for
do (+ acc.) — to
iz (+ gen.) — from (out of)
iz-nad (+ gen.) — from above
iz-pod (+ gen.) — from under
iz-pred (+ gen.) — from before
iz-za (+ gen.) — from behind
k (+ dat.) — to (direction)
krome (+ gen.) — except
medžu (+ acc./loc.) — between
mimo (+ acc./loc.) — next to
na (+ acc./loc.) — on
nad (+ acc./loc.) — above
ob (+ loc.) — about
od (+ gen.) — of, from (away from); since; by (agent)
od stroni (+ gen.) — by (agent in passive constructions)
okolo (+ acc./loc.) — around
po (+ loc.) — after; in the manner of
pod (+ acc./loc.) — under
podčas (+ gen.) — during
podolg (+ gen.) — according to
polev (+ acc./loc.) — left of
pomimo (+ gen.) — in spite of
poprav (+ acc./loc.) — right of
posred (+ acc./loc.) — amidst, in the middle of
posredstvom (+ gen.) — by means of, using
poverh (+ acc.) — across
pre (+ acc.) — because of
pred (+ acc./loc.) — before, in front of, ahead of
prez (+ acc.) — through, across
pri (+ acc./loc.) — near
protiv (+ dat.) — against
s (+ instr.) — with; together with; by means of, using
soglosno (+ gen.) — according to
v (+ acc./loc.) — in
v čase (+ gen.) — during
vmeste, vmesto (+ gen.) — instead of
vnutr (+ acc./loc.) — inside
za (+ acc./loc.) — after, behind (time & place); because of

In caseless Slovianski-P, all preposition govern the nominative (the accusative in case of personal pronouns). Besides, od (sometimes s) replaces the genitive case, k the dative case, and s (sometimes posredstvom) the instrumental case, while na serves as a „universal preposition”.

Many prepositions can also be used as prefixes. See word formation for details.

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4.7. Conjunctions

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4.8. Syntax

The preferred (and stylistically most neutral) word order is subject – verb – object. It isn't mandatory, but please note that if you put the object before the subject, the meaning will no more be clear. This is not the case of sentences where either a personal pronoun or the pronoun kto is either subject or object, because personal pronouns and kto have their own accussative forms, so the meaning is always clear.

There are two types of questions:

Final clauses are translated by means of čobi or da bi which is followed by past tense forms:

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5. Word formation

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5.1. Vocabulary patterns

Words are created in accordance with the living Slavic languages, and when they are not in agreement with each other, we basically follow the majority. However, merely counting „votes” does not always give the desired result. To avoid inconsistencies, we have to assume that words using the same root always use that root in the same form. Besides, since all Slavic languages derive their forms from Common Slavic in a fairly predictable way, it would be helpful if Slovianski follows a model for simple derivation from Common Slavic as well (although Slovianski is by no means intended to be directly based on it). This will make the language easier to recognise for everybody, if he knows how a given sound in his own language is represented in Slovianski – something he will learn very quickly and automatically while reading a few texts.

Words derived from Latin or other Western languages should have predictable forms as well:

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6. Sample texts

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6.1. The Lord's Prayer

Naš otec, ktori jesi v nebah,
da svečene je tvoje imeno,
da prijde tvoje krolevstvo,
da bude tvoja volia, kak v nebah tak i na zemie,
hleb naš každodenni daj nam tutden',
i izvinij nam naše grehi, tak kak mi izvinime naših grešnikov,
i ne vedij nas v pokušenie,
ali spasij nas od zlogo.

Наш отец, ктори еси в небах,
да свечене е твое имено,
да прийде твое кролевство,
да буде твоя воля, как в небах так и на земье,
хлеб наш каждоденни дай нам тутдень,
и извиний нам наше грехи, так как ми извиниме наших грешников,
и не ведий нас в покушенье,
али спасий нас од злого.

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6.2. Babel text

  1. I cela zemia imala jedin jazik i podobne slova.
  2. Ali kogda liudi premestili se iz voshoda, oni našli rovninu v kraje Šinar i tam osadili se.
  3. I oni govorili jedin drugomu: "Hodijte, izdelajme ceglini i dobro palijme ih!" I ceglini služili im kak kameni, a smola služila im kak cement.
  4. I oni govorili: "Hodijte, budujme grod i vežu, ktora bude dosiagati do neba, i izdelajme si imeno, da bi mi ne rozsipali se na celu zemiu."
  5. Togda Bog izšel v dol, da bi videl grod i vežu, ktore detka liudov budovali.
  6. I Bog govoril: "Vidijte! Jedin narod i jedin jazik dlia vsih, a vidij, čo oni načali delati. I tutčas, ničo ne bude dlia nih ne-možlive, čo oni ne bi hoteli izdelati.
  7. Vidijte! Izpustime se i rozmešime ih jazik, da bi oni se ne rozumeli jedin drugogo."
  8. I Bog rozsipal ih na celu zemiu, a oni obstanovili budovati grod.
  9. Preto on naziva se Babel, preto čo tam Bog rozmešil jazik celoj zemii i odtude Bog rozsipal ih na celu zemiu.
  1. И цела земя имала един язик и подобне слова.
  2. Али когда люди преместили ся из восхода, они нашли ровнину в крае Шинар и там осадили ся.
  3. И они говорили един другому: "Ходийте, изделайме цеглини и добро палийме их!" И цеглини служили им как камени, а смола служила им как цемент.
  4. И они говорили: "Ходийте, будуйме грод и вежу, ктора буде досягати до неба, и изделайме си имено, да би ми не розсипали ся на целу земю."
  5. Тогда Бог изшел в дол, да би видел грод и вежу, кторе детка людов будовали.
  6. И Бог говорил: "Видийте! Един народ и един язик для всих, а видий, чо они начали делати. И тутчас, ничо не буде для них не-можливе, чо они не би хотели изделати.
  7. Видийте! Изпустиме ся и розмешиме их язик, да би они ся не розумели един другого."
  8. И Бог розсипал их на целу земю, а они обстановили будовати грод.
  9. Прето он назива ся Бабел, прето чо там Бог розмешил язик целой земьи и одтуде Бог розсипал их на целу земю.