Portal:Constructed languages/Language of the month/August 2009

Novial [nov- ("new") + IAL, International Auxiliary Language] is a constructed international auxiliary language (IAL) intended to facilitate international communication and friendship, without displacing anyone's native language. It was devised by Professor Otto Jespersen, a Danish linguist who was previously involved in the Ido movement, and subsequently in the development of Interlingua.

Its vocabulary is based largely on the Germanic and Romance languages and its grammar is influenced by English.

Novial was first introduced in Jespersen's book An International Language in 1928. It was updated in his dictionary, Novial Lexike, published two years later and further modifications were proposed in the 1930s, but the language became dormant with Jespersen's death in 1943. In the 1990s, with the revival of interest in constructed languages brought on by the Internet, some people rediscovered Novial. Find out more...