International Language and Science / Considerations on the Introduction of an International Language into Science

The Délégation pour l'Adoption d'une Langue Auxiliaire Internationale, founded in Paris in 1901, has received the support of 310 societies of many countries and the approval of 1,250 professors and academicians. It elected in 1907 an international committee, composed of eminent linguists and men of science, which, after having studied all the projects for international language, adopted Esperanto with certain modifications. These modifications, whilst preserving the principles and essential qualities of Dr. Zamenhof's language, aim at a more logical and strict application of these principles and the elimination of certain unnecessary complications. The following are the principal modifications:—

(1) Suppression of the accented letters, thus permitting the language to be printed everywhere, and at the same time preserving the phonetic and frequently re-establishing the international spelling;

(2) Suppression of certain useless grammatical rules which are very troublesome to many nations, and especially to persons possessing only an elementary education (accusative, concord of the adjective);

(3) Regularisation of the method of derivation, this being the only means of preventing the intrusion of idioms and of furnishing a solid foundation for the working out of the scientific and technical vocabulary so indispensable for the propagation of the language in the scientific world;

(4) Enrichment of the vocabulary by the adoption of new stems carefully chosen according to the principle of maximum internationality.

All the words have, in fact, been formed from international stems, that is to say those which are common to the majority of European languages, with the result that they are immediately recognised by everyone of medium education. It is not necessary therefore to learn a new language; the international language is the quintessence of the European ones. It is, however, incomparably more easy than any of them on account of its simplicity and absolute regularity; there are no useless rules, and no exceptions. It can be learnt by reading it; as soon as one can read it one can write it; as soon as one can write it one can speak it. And experience has proved that the differences of pronunciation amongst people of the most diverse countries are insignificant and cause no trouble at all. To sum up, the linguo internaciona is a simplified and improved Esperanto, very analogous to primitive Esperanto, but possessing the advantage over the latter of being immediately intelligible, so that it is destined to become the international language. Besides, it has already received the warm approval and support of many of the earliest and best Esperantists. It alone, thanks to the support of the scientific and literary men of the Delegation and Committee, has a chance of being adopted some day by Governments and of being introduced into the schools of all countries.

The following pages provide a key which enables one to read a text in this language.

GRAMMAR.

Pronunciation.—All letters are pronounced, and have always the same sound: a (as in father), c (like ts), e (like e in set, or a in fate), g (always hard, as in go), i (like ee in sweet), j (either as in English, or like the French j in journal), o (like o in not or like o in go), q (qu as in English, or like kv), s (unvoiced), u (like oo in too), x (like ks or gz), y (as in English), z (as in English), ch (as in church), sh (as in English), au (like ow in how), eu (= e-u). It will be seen that a certain amount of latitude is permitted, in order to suit the convenience of different nations. Stress (tonic accent) on the penultimate syllable, except in the infinitive, when it falls on the last syllable (-ar, -ir, -or). Since y is a consonant, it does not count as a separate syllable (fluvyo).

Definite Article.—La, for all genders and numbers.

Substantive.—Ends in -o in the singular, in -i in the plural.

Adjective.—Is invariable, and ends in -a.

Personal Pronouns.—Me = I, tu = thou, vu = you (singular), il = he or it (masculine), el = she or it (feminine), ol = it (thing); ni = we, vi = you (plural), li = they (all genders). If distinction is necessary, ili = they (masculine), eli = they (feminine), oli = they (neuter).

Possessive Pronouns.—Mea = my, mine, tua = thy, thine, vua = your, yours (singular), sa = his, her, hers, or its; nia = our, ours, via = your, yours (plural), lia = their, theirs. In the plural the ending -i is substituted for -a when the above words are used as true possessive pronouns.

Reflexive Forms.—Su is used as an objective (reflexive) personal pronoun (for singular and plural) in the third person. The corresponding possessive forms are sua and sui (plural pronoun). It may be remarked that the possessive pronominal adjectives sa (singular) and lia (plural) may be made to indicate sex in the following way:—

Demonstrative Pronouns.—Ica = this, these; ita = that, those. The plural forms ici = these, and iti = those, are only used as true demonstrative pronouns. The indeterminate (neuter) forms are ico = this, ito = that. In all the above words the initial i is usually omitted, except where euphony requires it.

If it is required to indicate sex, or something which is not alive, this may be done as follows:—

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns: qua = who, which, what; plural, qui. Quo = what (indeterminate, general).

Accusative (objective case).—When the direct object of the verb precedes the subject, the former is indicated by the inflexion -n: la homo quan vu vidis = the person whom you have seen.

Verb.—Invariable in person and number. Endings of the principal tenses:—

The auxiliary verb esar, to be, is used for the passive, and for the compound tenses of the active.

Passive.

Compound Tenses of the Active.

The past tenses of the passive (indicating completed states) are formed by means of the passive participle in -ita:—

Derived adverbs are formed by substituting the ending -e for the -a of the adjective or the -o of the noun: bone = well; nokte = at night.

FORMATION OF WORDS.

All words are composed of three elements, possessing an invariable form and meaning: stems, affixes (prefixes and suffixes), and grammatical terminations.

Prefixes:—

ge-, the two sexes united: ge-patri = parents.
bo-, relation by marriage: bo-patro = father-in-law.
ex-, former, ex-: ex-oficero = ex-officer.
mal-, opposite, contrary: mal-bela = ugly.
mis-, error, mistake: mis-komprenar = misunderstand.
mi-, half: mi-horo = half an hour.
re-, repetition: re-dicar = repeat, say again.
retro-, backwards: retro-sendar = return (send back).
ne-, negation: ne-utila = useless (but mal-utila = harmful).
sen-, want of: sen-arma = unarmed.

Suffixes:—

-in, female sex: frat-ino = sister.
-id, descendant: Sem-ido = Semite.
-estr, chief, director: urb-estro = mayor.
-an, member of: senat-ano = senator.
-ism, system, doctrine: socialismo = socialism.
-ist, profession, occupation: dent-isto = dentist.
-er, amateur: fotograf-ero = amateur photographer.
-ul, person who is characterised by ...: kuras-ulo = cuirassier.
-aj, concrete thing, consisting of, or made of: lan-ajo = woollen goods.
-ur, product, result: pikt-uro = a picture.
-ar, collection of a number of similar things: hom-aro = mankind.
-il, instrument, tool: bros-ilo = brush.
-ey, place for ...: kaval-eyo = stable; dorm-eyo = dormitory.
-uy, container, recipient: ink-uyo = inkpot.
-yer, that which bears or carries: pom-yero = apple tree.
-al, relating to: nacion-ala = national.
-oz, full of, provided with: por-oza = porous.
-atr, similar, like: spong-atra = sponge-like, spongy.
-iv, that which can, active possibility: instrukt-iva = instructive.
-em, addicted to: babil-ema = talkative, garrulous.
-ebl, passive possibility, that which can be ...: vid-ebla = visible.
-end, that which is to be, or must be ...: solv-enda = to be solved, requiring solution.
-ind, worthy of being: respekt-inda = worthy of respect.
-es, state of being: san-esar = to be well, whence the substantives expressing state or quality, e.g., san-eso = health.
-esk, to commence to do or to be: dorm-eskar = to fall asleep.
-ig, to make or cause to do or to be: bel-igar = beautify; dorm-igar = to send to sleep.
-ij, to become: rich-ijar = to get rich.
-iz, to furnish or provide with: arm-izar = to arm.
-if, to produce, bring forth: frukt-ifar = to fructify.
-ad, repetition, continuation: dans-ado = dancing.
-eg, augmentative: bel-ega = very beautiful.
-et, diminutive: mont-eto = hill, hillock.
-ach, derogative: popul-acho = populace, the mob.
-um, indeterminate relationship (see the dictionary),
-esm, ordinal number: un-esma = first.
-opl, multiplicative number: du-opla = double.
-on, fractional number: tri-ono = a third.
-op, distributive number: quar-ope = in fours.

LEXIKO DI LA GRAMMATIKALA VORTI.

The following excerpt from the provisional statutes of the Uniono is only intended to give an indication of its nature. The full statutes will be willingly sent to anyone interested by one of the authors of this brochure or by the Secretary of the Uniono, Herr A. Waltisbühl, 46, Bahnhof Strasse, Zürich.

Excerpt from the Provisional Statutes.

(1) The sole purpose of the Uniono di l'Amiki di la Linguo Internaciona is to unite, for the purposes of common action, all persons who recognise and approve of the idea of an international language in the form given to it by the Délégation pour l'Adoption d'une Langue Auxiliaire Internationale.

(2) The Uniono accepts as the international auxiliary language the Linguo internaciona di la Delegitaro resulting from the labours and decisions of the commission and the working committee of the Delegation, but expressly declares that this language is not to be regarded as "perfect" and "infallible." On the contrary, it takes the view that the language is capable of continuous improvement according to the principles resulting from the work of the Delegation.

(3) The Uniono consists of members of both sexes of all nationalities (at least eighteen years old) who are willing to learn the language, to employ it on all suitable occasions in intercourse with foreigners, and to take part in its propagation.

(4) The yearly subscription amounts to 1·25 francs, 1 shilling, 1 mark, or 1·20 krone (Austrian). Half of this sum goes to the Academy, the other half to the credit of the "Komitato." Permanent membership is obtained by a single payment of 50 francs. Persons paying at least 100 francs in a single payment become membri protektanta.

(5), (6), (7) All members take part in the election of the two directing bodies of the Uniono (the Academy and the "Komitato") according to a specially arranged method of representation (in which account is taken of the number of adherents belonging to each nationality).

(8), (9), (10) The Academy is concerned only with questions relating to the development and improvement of the international language. It has to reply within six months to all questions and suggestions emanating from at least three elected representatives. The official organ of the Academy is the journal Progreso (pronounced Progresso). The Komitato has the practical direction and organisation of the Uniono which it controls and represents. It is intended to found in the different countries language courses, offices for the practical employment of the language in commerce and travel, and translation bureaus. The Academy and Komitato may unite for the purpose of discussing general questions concerning the international language.

(11), (12), (13) deal with local groups, change of statutes, dissolution of the Society, etc.

(14) All questions or proposals to be settled by the Academy or the Komitato must be published in the journal Progreso three months before the decision in order to allow of general discussion.