International Language

P T E ’ AS , PR SE N T fis F U T U R E WITH SPEC IME N S OF ESPERAN TO AN D GRAMMAR C LA R K BY W . J . M .A . OXO . P H . D. LE Z N , IP IG c - - R B C HE l R - -DR IT LI CE é izs LE TT E S . A L E EN O P A R I S L O N D O N C) P P R E FAC E e An artificial language may be more regular, more p rfect, and — M Ax M LLER a . fi easier to learn th n a natural one . o l is S nn n fas own the rooves of han e THE w r d pi i g t d g c g . T ld o r han h Ha l is l n l e h e o dis rde c get . p y it yie di g p ac to i The on ue s a l t mem . It shoul no lon n ew. t g it le ber d ger be allowed to div ide the n ations. wo h n s s an out i n he sw f han en e h T t i g t d t i t c ge . Sci c wit s a l The E as all its wo s i s e n to all an s . t led rk pr di g d , by n is omin nto l n w h the West a a . J p , c g i i e it St an d ardi zati on o f life may fittin gly be accompanied by n a z a n of l n ua e The eff t ma s t a d rdi tio a g g . ec y be twofold i n I al P ract cal a d de . c P r acti al. The World has a thousand tongues, Science b ut one They’ll climb up a thousand rungs B b ’ When a el s done . M I deal. ankind has a thousand F riendship but one Ba z ai n n . then from heart and lu gs F or R S un the ising . w . J . c. NOTE — The followi ng page s have had the ad vantage B n k e n b Mr . H. o M a d of n a i n M . o bei g re d S y li gb r udie , to him for m n o tions and su est o I am i ndebted a y c rrec gg i ns . iii A N I NTE R N ATI O NAL A UX I LI A R Y LA N GU AGE “ N OTE — To avoid repeating the cumbrous phrase international ' ” ' u a auxi lzai / It t a xiliary l nguage, the word j is usually omitted . mus “ ” be cle arly understood th at when international or universal auxi li ar language is spoken of, y is also implied. Introductory The Q uestion of Principle— E conomic Advantage of an International Language The Question of Practice— An International Language is Possible ccon ti n u ed — An Th e Question of Practi e ( ) International Language is E asy Th e con ti n u ed — The V . Question ofPractice ( Introduction of an International Language would not cause Dislocation International Action already taken for the Introduction of an Auxiliary Language C an the International Language b e Latin ? ‘ Can the International Language be Greek ? C an the International Language b e a M odern Language ? X Gan E be . the volution of an International Language left to the Process of N atural Selection by F ree m Co petition . ONTENTS Objections to an Intern ational Langu age on Aesthetic C1 Grounds Will an International Language discourage the Study M be D of odern Languages , and thus etrimental to V Culture — Parallel with the Question of Com pulsory Greek X Ob u Gr III . jection to an International Lang age on the ound that it will soon split up into Dialects XIV Ob e u . jection that the Pres nt International Lang age E D ( speranto) is too ogmatic, and refuses to profit b y C riticism S ummar Ob V y of jections to an International Language . The Wider Cosmopolitanism— The Coming of Asia Importance of an International Language for th e Blind [deal Practical Literary Commercial ’ Is an International Language a C rank s Hobby ? What an International Language is not What an International Lan guage is PART II HISTORICAL Some E xisting International Languages already in Partial U se Outline of History of the Idea of a U niversal Language ' -List of Schemes proposed Th e E arliest British Attempt H — a istory . of Volapuk Warning History of Idiom N eutral vi CONTENTS C R A P . VI : The Newest Langu ages : a N eo-Latin Group— Grop “ ” ings towards a Pan - E uropean Amalgamated Scheme l l H of E fi . istory speranto “ m x V II I Present State of E speranto 5 ( a) General ; (a) in E ngland . m m IX I Lesson s be the F H . V to drawn from oregoing istory PART I I I THE C LAIMS O F E SPE RANTO TO BE TAKE N SERIOUSLY C ONS IDE RATIONS BASE D O N THE STRUCTURE O F THE LANGUAGE ITSE LF ‘ I E e o S fi fi the . sp rant is cienti cally constructed, and ful ls Natural Tenden cy in E volution of Language II E a E — It w ill . sper nto from an ducational Point of View aid the learning of other Languages and stimu late Intelligence I I I C T b b . omparative a les illustrating La our saved in learn ing E sperantO 'as contrasted with other Languages (a) Word—building (a) Participles and Auxiliaries I SS How E be C IV . speranto can used as a ode Language to communicate with Persons who have never learnt it PART IV S EC E S OF E S E H G A A AN D P IM N P RANTO, WIT R MM R VOCABULARY N ote Pronunciation Specimens of E speranto I . Parolado M arbord isto 2 . La j N esa a G : Ale orio 3 . g ento g CONTENTS I II G . rammar Affi xes IV . List of T b C V . a le of orrelative Words b VI . Voca ulary APPE N D IX A b s I II a. R 2 ee . l 00 Pro lems ( Part , ch p in egu ar Language APPE N D IX B H m b Dr Z E speranto y n y . amenhof APPE N DIX C The Letter cin E speranto PART I G E N E R A L INT R ODU CTORY IN dealin g with the problem of the introduction of an international u b lang age , we are met on the threshold y two main questions f I . o The question principle . 2 The of . question practice By the question of principle is meant , Is it desirable to have n ? for one ? a universal la guage do we wish in short , is there a demand ? of The question practice includes the inquiries, Is such a language possible ? is it easy ? would its introduction be fraught f ? with prohibitive di ficulties and the like . or It is clear that , however possible easy it may be to d o a s nless ; thing , there is no ca e for doin it it is wanted therefore um m im m m the q the case before us the question of principle involves many considerations e i . T aesth tic , political , social , even relig ous hese will be glanced at in their proper place but for ou r present purpose they are all subordinate to the on e great paramount considerati on— the n t e of ff economic o e. In h a airs experience shows that “world , f i given a demand o any k nd whatever, as between an economical of - t method supplying that demand and a non economical me hod , in the long run the economical method will surely prevail . I INTERNATIONAL LANGU AGE d for If, then, it can be shown that there is a growing nee a of me ns international communication , and that a unilingual one solution is more economical than a multilingual , there is good ground for thinking that the unilingual method of transacting ff b international a airs will surely prevail . It then ecomes a question of time and method : When will men feel the pressure of the demand su fli cien tly strongly to set about supplying it ? and what means will they adopt ? The ff T time and the method are by no means indi erent . hough b a demand (for what is possi le) is sure , in the long run , to get of itself supplied , a long period wasteful and needless groping may be avoided by a clear- sighted and timely realization of the z co - demand, and by consequent organi ed operation in supplying it . Intelligent anticipation sometimes helps events to occur . It is the object of this book to call attention to the present state of ff z a airs, and to emphasi e the fact that the time is now ripe for dealing with the question , and the present moment pro The pitious for solving the problem once for all in an orderly way .

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