INTERSLAVIC

CLICK HERE FOR: Interslavic Lexicon

Interslavic or Medžuslovjanski is an auxiliary panslavic language intended for regional communication among speakers and writers of the related SLAVIC languages Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian, which all derive from an original "PROTO-SLAVIC" tongue, but which, over thousands of years, have morphed into very divergent "dialects," each becoming a separate language unto itself.

INTERSLAVIC is a collaborative effort of a group of SLAVIC LANGUAGE speakers to establish the first panslavic language that is fully based on the commonalities of the living SLAVIC languages, augmented with key elements of traditional Old Church Slavonic word-forms.

INTERSLAVIC is currently being tested by a consortium of law firms in four SLAVIC countries as a lingua franca for legal and financial agreements. Also, a Blog of interesting articles written in INTERSLAVIC may be found at www.izviestija.info

The "GRAMMAR STRUCTURES" of INTERSLAVIC may be found at www.medzuslovjanski.com and www.neoslavonic.org

THE FOLLOWING IS OLD TEXT AND NO LONGER APPLICABLE:

Origins

The authors' original intention was to provide a more "Slavic" sounding and acting language than Slovio - especially for Slavic speaking individuals, who are inherently more familiar with "declensions" and "conjugations" that do not exist in the more simplified Slovio structure. Interslavic (formerly known as "Slovioski") was created from the efforts of Michal Borovička of Slovakia, Andrej Moraczewski of Russia and Steeven Radzikowski from the USA. Their efforts would not exist without the work of Marek Hucko creator of Slovio.

Dictionary and Grammar

Interslavic uses its own dictionary, which was originally based upon the Slovio dictionary. However, over time, Interslavic has established its own vocabulary, with an emphasis on word forms that are generally common to all or most of the natural Slavic languages. The online dictionary was created and is maintained by Milovan Gal of Osijek, Croatia. Interslavic also utilizes certain vocabulary from another "constructed" Slavic language - called "Slovianski".

The grammar of Interslavic reflects the more traditional grammar of all natural Slavic languages - including verb conjugations and in the "Full" or "Polnij" version of Interslavic, a full system of noun and adjective declensions.

ALPHABET

See the Interslavic Alphabet

There is no set way for pronouncing vowels - for example, the letter "e" - may be pronounced either like the "e" in the English word "bed" or like the "ye" in the English word "yet"; similarly, the letter "i" may represent sounds of various different letters that approximate the "i" in other Slavic languages - Russian and Ukrainian being notable examples of various "i" sounds or symbols: и, й, і, ы . The pronunciation is the choice of the speaker.

LETTER ALTERNATIVES:

Letter "J" versus "I" - these letters are sometimes interchangeable in Interslavic. This is a decision of the writer:

Example:

• "Slovianskij" or "Slovjanskij"

cx = cz = č ( = c // in non-confusing cases ) sx = sz = š ( = s // in non-confusing cases ) zx = zs = ž ( = z // in non-confusing cases )

NOUNS (NOMINATIVE CASE)

Singular

The singular forms for nouns in Interslavic end as they appear in the INTERSLAVIC and SLOVIANSKI dictionaries.

Plural

SIMPLE INTERSLAVIC - PROSTIJ MEDŽUSLOVJANSKI

Plural for nouns in Simple Interslavic (Prostij Medžuslovjanski) is formed as follows:

(1) adding: "-i" to nouns ending in a consonant

• "slon" > "sloni" - elephant / elephant
• "muž" > "muži" - man / men

(2) if a noun ends in a vowel other than "i", “-i” replaces the last vowel

• "okno" > "okni" - window(s)
  
• "pismo" > "pismi" - writing(s) or letter(s)
  
• "žena" > "ženi" - woman / women
  

(3) if the word ends with "ia" or "ie", the plural can be either "i" or "ii"

• "historia" > "histori or "historii" - history

FULL INTERSLAVIC - POLNIJ MEDŽUSLOVJANSKI

Plural for nouns in Full Interslavic (Polnij Medžuslovjanski) is formed as in the natural Slavic languages, as shown in the following chart:

Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
- Singular -	- Plural -	- Singular -	- Plural -	-Singular -	- Plural -
-Ø	-i	-a	-i	-o, -e	-a

PLEASE NOTE - this ARTICLE and SECTION is undergoing revision; so please excuse the incomplete appearance. Blago te! ......THE MANAGEMENT

NOUN DECLENSIONS - Full Interslavic

Case	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
	- Singular -	- Plural -	- Singular -	- Plural -	-Singular -	- Plural -
Nominative	-Ø	-i	-a	-i	-o, -e	-a
Genitive	-a	-ov, -ev	-i	-Ø	-a	-Ø
Dative	-u	-am	-e	-am	-u	-am
Accusative	N or G*	N or G*	-u	N or G*	N or G*	N or G*
Locative	-e	-ah, -eh	-e	-ah, -eh	-e	-ah, -eh
Instrumental	-em, -om	-ami	-ou	-ami	-em, -om	-ami
Vocative	N or **	N or **	N or **	N or **	N or **	N or **

• * ACCUSATIVE uses Nominative for inanimate subjects and Genitive for animate subjects
• ** VOCATIVE uses either the Nominative case or the "Writer's Choice"'

ACCUSATIVE CASE

The Accusative Case in INTERSLAVIC is the same as the NOMINATIVE CASE:
(the "noun" is the direct object of the "verb")

• Jan vidi stol
• Jan sees the/a table

• Michal zakritil okno
• Michal closed the window

• Michal okni zakritil
• Michal zakritil okni
• Michal closed the windows

• Jan napisal dopis prijatelu.
• Jan wrote a letter to a friend

• Michal podal kniga Janu
• Michal gave the book to Jan

• Michal podal knigi detum
• Michal podal knigi do deti
• Michal gave the books to the children

NOTE: in many instances, a native Slavic Speaker will use the Genitive Case instead of the Nominative Case for direct object nouns, when they are "animated nouns" (a "man," a "sailor") - as well as for certain other nouns. This is because most of the natural Slavic Languages have "exceptions" to the use of the Nominative for the Accusative Case

EXAMPLES:

• Michal uvidel Jana - instead of - Michal uvidel Jan
• Michal saw John

• Michal uvidel korabnikov - instead of - Michal uvidel korabniki
• Michal saw the sailors

GENITIVE (aka "Possessive" or "of") CASE

The Genitive Case is the "Possessive" or "of" case in that it is used to express various meanings of "of" in noun-to-noun relations, including most importantly the notion of possession broadly speaking. The Genitive Case may also indicate various "relationships" other than possession.

The Genitive Case is formed for all genders of nouns by the following endings:

• "-a" (singular) .........An alternative for the genitive feminine case is to add the letter "-f " to the ending letter "a" > "-af "
  
• "-ov" (plural)

in the following manners::*Masculine nouns: by adding the "-a" ending to the masculine noun:

• muž > muža

• Feminine nouns: by retaining its existing "-a" ending:

• žena > žena or > ženaf

• Neuter nouns: by dropping its existing "-o" ending and adding the "-a" ending:

• mesto > mesta

EXAMPLES:

• Part or Component of:

• steni doma
• walls of the house

• ostrie noža
• blade of the knife

• konec filma
• end of the film

{ more examples to follow }

INSTRUMENTAL CASE

"-em" (singular )

alternative ending: "-om"

"-ami" (plural)

VOCATIVE CASE

"-e" (singular ) - alternative endings: "-o"
or "-u"

"-ove" (plural)

However, "User's Choice" is also optional for both singular and plural.

EXAMPLES:

• Obrene! Što ti delaš? - Obren! What are you doing?

• Jovano! Dokud ti ideš? - JoVana! Where are you going?

ADJECTIVES

NOMINATIVE CASE > "-IJ -JA -JO -JE"

'The nominative case declension is based upon the' gender of a NOUN:

• "-ij" (masculine) dobrij
• "-ja" (feminine) dobrja
• "-jo" (neuter) dobrjo
• "-je" (plural – genderless) dobrje

Added as a suffix to words, subject to the follow possible rules:

When an adjective is derived from a noun, one of three suffixes: "-n" "-ov-" or "-sk" usually must be added to the root noun,
followed by the appropriate regular adjective ending: "-ij" > "-ja" > "-jo" > "-je"

1. An "-n-" may be added to a noun when the adjective is used in the sense of "pertaining to something"; or if needed for better Slavic enunciation.

Examples:

"last" = "posled" > "last exit" > poslednij izhod

"blood" = "krev" > "blood pressure" > krevnij gnet

2. An "-ov-" is used when the adjective is intended to express "having the characteristics of" or if needed for better Slavic enunciation.

Examples:

"atom" > "atomic" = atomovja bomba > atomic bomb or atom bomb

"bank" = bankovij sčet > bank account

3. A "-sk-" is added to the root of a noun which is a nation, language, a geographical name or population or a person:

• "-ski"
• "-sk(ij)" - masculine
• "-sk(ja)" - feminine
• "-sk(jo)" - neuter
• "-sk(je)" - plural (genderless)

Examples:

Ruskij Jazik - Russian language

Karpatskje Gori - Carpathian mountains

ADJECTIVE DECLENSION TABLE:

Mirrors most common declensions used in natural Slavic languages

Case	Singular				Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		All
Nominative	-ij	-ja	-jo		-je
Genitive	-ego or -eg -ogo or -og	-ej	-ego or -eg -ogo or -og		-ih
Dative	-emu	-oj	-emu		-im
Accusative	N or G*	-ou	N		N or G*
Locative	-om	-ej	-om		-ih
Instrumental	-im	-oju	-im		-imi
Vocative	N or **	N or **	N or **		N or **

* - Nominative is used for Inanimate subjects & Genitive for Masculine Animate subjects
** - Either Nominative may be used or the User's Choice for Vocative

Last Revised by Steevenusx - 27 feb 2010

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

This configuration may be subject to imminent change - due to conflict with regular adjective formations using the "-ov-ij" format
Steevenusx 05:30, February 4, 2010 (UTC)

SIMPLE POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE (no gender or declension) = -voj

• Ženavoj pes - the woman's dog - (1 woman) (1 dog)
• Ženavoj psi - the woman's dogs - (1 woman) (2+ dogs)
• Ženivoj psi - the women's dogs - (2+ woman) (2+ dogs)

SINGULAR:

• -ovij - masculine
• -ovja - feminine
• -ovjo - neuter
• -ovje - plural (genderless)

PLURAL:

• -ovih

EXAMPLES:

Genderless:

• Ženovju sin - the woman's son - (1 woman) (1 son)

Gender:

• Ženovij sin - the woman's son - (1 woman) (1 son)
• Ženovje sini - the woman's sons - (1 woman) (2+ sons)
• Ženovij pes - the woman's dog - (1 woman) (1 dog)
• Ženovje psi - the woman's dogs - (1 woman) (2+ dogs)
• Ženovih pes - the women's dog - (2+ women) (1 daughter)
• Ženovih psi - the women's dogs - (2+ women) (2+ dogs)

• Mužovjo okno - the man's window - (1 man) (1 window)
• Mužovje okni - the man's windows - (1 man) (2+ windows)
• Mužovih okno - the men's window - (2+ men) (1 window)
• Mužovih okni - the men's windows - (2+ men) (2+ windows)

___________________________

ADVERBS

Adverbs are genderless and may end in two forms:

"-o" - dobro

"-e" - dobre

Examples:

• On jes velmo dobre
• On jes velme dobro

= He is very good

PRONOUNS

• Ja - me - mne
• Ti - te - tobe, tebe
• On - jeg - jego, njego, go, nim, jemu, njemu, mu
• Ona - jej, njej, jom, njom
• Ono - jego, njego, tego, go
• To - tego, go, tom
• Mi - nam - nami
• Vi - vam - vami
• Oni - im, ih, imi

• seba - sobe, sebe

• Reflexive: se

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS:

moj, moja, mojo, moje - my
tvoj, tvoja, tvojo, tvoje - your (thy in "Old English")
jego - his, its
jej - hers
toj - its
naš - our
vaš - your
ih - their
svoj, svoja, svojo, svoje, svojih - one's own

DEFINITE PRONOUNS

VSE - ALL

Experimental Declension of "VSE"

Case	Singular					Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		All
Nominative	ves / vse	vsa	vse		vse
Genitive	vsego	vsej	vsego		vseh
Dative	vsemu	vsoj	vsemu		vsem
Accusative	N / G*	vsu	vso		N / G*
Locative	vsem	vsej	vsem		vseh
Instrumental	vsim	vsej	vsim		vsemi

* - Nominative is used for Inanimate subjects & Genitive for Masculine Animate subjects

VERBS

• govorit - to speak; to talk
• govorivat - to be speaking; to be talking

PRESENT TENSE

Simple:

• Ja govorit - I speak
• Ti govorit - You speak
• On, Ona, Ono govorit - He, She, It speaks
• Mi govorit - We speak
• Vi govorit - You speak
• Oni govorit - They speak

Regular

• Ja govorim - I speak, I talk
• Ti govoriš - you speak
• On, Ona, Ono govori - he, she, it speaks
• Mi govorime - we speak
• Vi govorite - you speak
• Oni govorijut - they speak

_________________

• Ja govorivam - I am speaking/talking
• Ti govorivaš - you are speaking
• On, Ona, Ono govoriva - he, she, it is speaking
• Mi govorivame - we are speaking
• Vi govorivate - you are speaking
• Oni govorivajut - they are speaking

PAST TENSE

Simple:

• bil, bila, bilo, bili govorit

Regular:

• Ja govoril, govorila - I spoke
• Ja govorival, govorivala - I was speaking
• Ti govoril, govorila - You spoke
• Ti govorival, govorivala - You were speaking
• On govoril - He spoke
• Ona govorila - She spoke
• Ono govorilo - It spoke
• On govorival - He was speaking
• Ona govorivala - She was speaking
• Ono govorivalo - It was speaking

• Mi govorili - We spoke
• Mi govorivali - We were speaking
• Vi govorili - You spoke
• Vi govorivali - You were speaking
• Oni govorili - They spoke
• Oni govorivali - They were speaking

FUTURE TENSE

• Ja budem govorit - I will speak
• Ja budem govorivat - I will be speaking
• Ti budeš govorit - You will speak
• Ti budeš govorivat - You will be speaking
• On } Ona } Ono } bude govorit - He, She, It will speak
• On } Ona } Ono } bude govorivat - He, She, It will be speaking

• Mi budeme govorit - We will speak
• Mi budeme govorivat - We will be speaking
• Vi budete govorit - You will speak
• Vi budete govorivat - You will be speaking
• Oni budejut/budjut govorit - They will speak
• Oni budejut/budjut govorivat - They will be speaking

CONDITIONAL TENSE

• Ja bi govoril / govorila - I would speak
• Ja bi govorival / govorivala - I would be speaking
• Ti bi govoril / govorila - You would speak
• Ti bi govorival / govorivala - You would be speaking
• On } Ona } Ono bi govoril / govorila / govorilo - He / She / It would speak
• On } Ona } Ono bi govorival / govorivala / govorivalo - He / She / It would be speaking

• Mi bi govorili - We would speak
• Mi bi govorivali - We would be speaking
• Vi bi govorili - You would speak
• Vi bi govorivali - You would be speaking
• Oni bi govorili - They would speak
• Oni bi govorivali - They would be speaking

IMPERATIVE TENSE

• Govorij! - (You) Speak!
• Govorijme! - Let’s Speak!
• Govorijte! -(You) Speak!

PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

Infinitive: "-t" + "cij" "cja" "cjo" "cje"

• siditcij - masculine
• siditcja - feminine
• siditcjo - neuter
• siditcje - plural genderless

Examples:

• osoba, ktorja sidi na divanu - the person who is sitting on the couch
• osoba siditcja na divanu - the person sitting on the couch

• mlodica, ktorja domovi u nas - the girl who lives with us
• mlodica, domovitcja u nas - the girl living with us

PAST ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

Past Tense: "-l + "-šij" "-šja" "-šjo" "-šje"

• govorilšij - masculine
• govorilšja - feminine
• govorilšjo - neuter
• govorilšje - plural genderless

Examples:

• govorilšja, ona pošla

= having spoken'', she went (left)

• Igralšje futbal za 3 časi, muži načili pitit pivo

= having played football for 3 hours, the men began to drink beer

• Moj prijatel, ktorij prostuo zukoncil pracu/rabotu, otjehal {do, u} domu. (- Standard Sentence Construction )

= My friend, who just finished work, went (by vehicle) home.

• Moj prijatel, zukoncilšij pracu/rabotu, otjehal {do, u} domu. (- Past Active Participle Construction )

= My friend, having just finished work, went (by vehicle) home.

PRESENT PASSIVE PARTICIPLE:

Infinitive Stem + "-em+ij" "-em+ja" "-em+jo" "-em+jo"

• Čitat - to read
• Čita+emij - masculine
• Čita+emja - feminine
• Čita+emjo - neuter
• Čita+emje - plural genderless - are spoken

Examples:

• gazeta, ktorja človek čita

= the newspaper, which the man is reading

• gazeta, čitaemja človekem.

= the newspaper being read by a person

PAST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE

Masculine Past Tense: "-l" + "-nij" "-nja" "-njo" "-nje"

• govorilnij - masculine
• govorilnja - feminine
• govorilnjo - neuter
• govorilnje - plural genderless

Examples:

• Imal popred sobe otzaginilnja gazeta.

• Imal popred sobe otzaginilnju gazetu. (using objective case endings)

= He had in front of him an unfolded newspaper.

• Dopis poslalnij tuden ot Moskve, zautro bude vo Sankt Peterburge.

= A letter sent today from Moscow will be in Saint Petersburg tomorrow.

VERBAL NOUN

A verbal noun is a conversion of a verb into noun.

---

In English, a verbal noun may be:

• - a noun ending in "-ing" or "-ment"
• - an infinitive, or
• - some other noun derived from a verb

English Examples:

• walking is good exercise
• to err is human
• We scored a win

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In INTERSLAVIC a verbal noun is derived by adding an ending to the root of the verb:

Root + "-nie" or "-enie" or "-tie"

1. Generally, verbs which end in "-at" or "-et" form their verbal nouns by dropping the final "-t" and adding the ending "-nie":

• pisat > pisa-t > pisanie = "writing"
• jedat > jeda-t > jedanie = "eating" or "dining"
• doltiagat > doltiaga-t > doltiaganie = "downloading"
• razvijat > razvija-t > razvijanie = "developing" or "development"
• pijet > pije-t > pijenie = "drinking"
• živet > žive-t > živenie = "living"

2. Verbs which end in "-it" form their verbal nouns by dropping the final "t" and adding the ending "-enie" or "-tie":

• žit > ži-t > žitie = "living"
• bit > bi-t > bitie = "being"

• razumit > razumi-t > razumienie = "understanding"
• razumit > razumi-t > razumitie = "understanding"

3. Verbs which end in "-ut" form their verbal nouns by dropping the final "t" and adding the ending "-tie":

• but > bu-t > butie = "being"
• vernut > vernu-t > vernutie = "returning" or "return"
• izčeznut > izčeznu-t > izčeznutie = "disappearing"
• tonut > tonu-t > tonutie = "drowning"

---

NOTE: All verbal nouns are neuter in gender, and decline as neuter nouns.

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EXAMPLE OF VERBAL NOUN in INTERSLAVIC:

Publikovjo govorienie ne jese dla nesmelih človekov

= Public speaking is not for shy people.

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ADVERBIAL PARTICIPLES

Adverbial Participles are formed the same way in Interslavic as they are in Slovio:

Active Adverbial Participles:

Verb Root +

• "-bsuo" - Future Active Adverbial Participle
• "-tsuo" - Present Active Adverbial Participle
• "-lsuo" - Past Active Adverbial Participle

EXAMPLES:

• "Obedit - to dine; to have dinner or lunch
• "Obedi- + ending

• Obedibsuo on slušal muzik - Preparing to dine, he listened to music.
• Obeditsuo on slušal muzik - While dining, he listened to music.
• Obedilsuo on slušal muzik - Having dined, he listened to music.

Passive Adverbial Participles:

Verb Root +

• "-buo" - Future Passive Adverbial Participle
• "-tuo" - Present Passive Adverbial Participle
• "-luo" - Past Passive Adverbial Participle

EXAMPLES:

• Masažit - to massage
• Masaži- + ending

• Masažibuo on slušal muzik - Preparing to be massaged, he listened to music.
• Masažituo on slušal muzik - While being massaged, he listened to music.
• Masažiluo on slušal muzik - Having been massaged, he listened to music.

BUTI or BITI - TO BE

PRESENT TENSE (Simple)

• Ja jes / je - I am
• Ti jes / je - You are (Old English = "Thou art")
• On jes / je - He is
• Ona jes / je - She is
• Ono jes / je - It is

• Mi jes / je / sou - We are
• Vi jes / je / sou - You are
• Oni jes / je / sou - They are

PRESENT TENSE (Conjugated)

• Ja jesem - I am
• Ti jeseš - You are (Old English = "Thou art")
• On jese - He is
• Ona jese - She is
• Ono jese - It is

• Mi jeseme - We are
• Vi jesete - You are
• Oni sou - or: jesjut - They are

(NOTE: The verb TO BE is the only irregular verb in Slovioski; and its third person plural verb form is the only one with three optional forms)

FUTURE TENSE

• Ja budem - I will be
• Ti budeš - You will be (Old English = "Thou shalt")
• On bude - He will be
• Ona bude - She will be
• Ono bude - It will be
• Mi budeme - We will be
• Vi budete - You will be
• Oni budjut - They will be

IMATI - TO HAVE

PRESENT TENSE

• Ja imam - I have
• Ti imaš - You are (Old English = "Thou hast")
• On ima - He has
• Ona ima - She has
• Ono ima - It has

• Mi imame - We have
• Vi imate - You have
• Oni imajut - They have

External Links

• Interslavic dictionary.
• Interslavic Link Page.