International auxiliary language

An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) is a language used (or to be used in the future) for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language.

Auxiliary language

The term "auxiliary" implies that it is intended to be an additional language for the people of the world, rather than replace their native languages. Often, the phrase is used to refer to constructed languages proposed specifically to ease worldwide international communication, such as Esperanto, Ido, and Interlingua. However, it can also refer to the concept of such a language being determined by international consensus, including even a natural language so chosen. Auxiliary language aficionados call these languages auxlangs.

Classification

The following classification of auxiliary languages is based on Pierre Janton's Esperanto: Language, Literature, and CommunityEsperanto: Language, Literature, and Community by Pierre Janton, translated by Humphrey Tonkin et al. State University of New York Press, 1993. ISBN 0791412547.

A priori languages are characterized by largely artificial morphemes (not borrowed from ethnic languages), schematic derivation, simple phonology, grammar and morphology. None of these languages have a large number of speakers.

Philosophical languages are based on philosophical ideas about thought and language.

Oligosynthetic languages have no more than a few hundred morphemes. Most of their vocabulary is made of compound words coined from these morphemes.

Taxonomic languages, for example, Ro resemble the Dewey Decimal Classification System used in libraries.

Logical languages, for example, Loglan and Lojban, aim to eliminate ambiguity.

These categories are not exhaustive and may also overlap.

A posteriori languages are based on existing ethnic languages. Nearly all the auxiliary languages with fluent speakers are in this category. Most of the a posteriori auxiliary languages borrow their vocabulary primarily or solely from European languages, and base their grammar more or less on European models. (Aficionados sometimes refer to these European-based languages as "Euroclones", although this term is not used in the academic literature.) A posteriori languages (or language projects) have been based on all the major linguistic divisions within Europe: Romance, Germanic, Slavic and Celtic. The only ones to achieve any notable success have been based largely on Romance and the Neolatin element in the International Scientific Vocabulary. The most widely spoken of these is Esperanto (which includes significant Germanic and Slavic elements). Other languages with significant groups of speakers (now or in the past) include Ido, Occidental (some Germanic elements), Interlingua and Lingua Franca Nova. Slovio is based on the Slavic languages, whle the ongoing Folkspraak project aims at creating a pan-Germanic IAL.

Simplified ethnic languages, for example, Basic English and Special English.

Mixed languages use some morphemes borrowed from ethnic languages, and some a priori coinages.

Schematic languages have ethnic morphemes in distorted form (e.g., Volapuk) or both artificial and ethnic morphemes (e.g., Perio).

Partly Schematic Languages have partly schematic and partly naturalistic derivation, for example, Esperanto and Ido. Ethnic morphemes of languages in this group are seldom or never distorted, but compound and derived words are generally not recognizable at sight by people familiar with the source languages.

Naturalistic languages resemble existing ethnic languages.

Languages with some schematic traits, for example, Novial.

Languages with naturalistic derivation; for example, Occidental and Interlingua are designed so that not only the root words but their compounds and derivations will often be recognizable at sight by people familiar with the source languages.

Proposals

Proposals for languages to serve as an official international auxiliary language fall into two categories; sentential languages or diagrammatic/pictographic languages.

Sentential languages are written languages like English, or Spanish. While some existing sentential languages have been proposed to serve as an official international auxiliary language, the concept has been most commonly associated with constructed sentential languages such as Esperanto which were designed from the beginning to serve this purpose. Proponents of Esperanto often use the term planned language instead, derived from the Esperanto word planlingvo (but this is somewhat ambiguous since it could also refer to a standardized ethnic language or constructed languages in general). Invented auxiliary sentential languages are not widely used; nor has English penetrated universally, as some people imagine. Moreover, advocates of various languages disagree about which sentential language should be universal. To overcome these difficulties, it has been proposed that some language (natural or invented) be chosen by consensus of officials elected by the nations of the world, perhaps through the United Nations, in consultation with experts of various disciplines, a top-down approach. The adoption of an official script for the blind has also been proposed, to correspond to the chosen written international language. The sentential language would be implemented in each nation as an additional (second) language, alongside the national languages. A bottom-up strategy tries to spread the language among ordinary users, so that it becomes the de facto standard. However, the idea has not yet spread as widely as intended. Some people see the need for an official political endorsement from the nations of the world, backed by resources for instruction and implementation.

Diagrammatic languages are languages of drawing diagrams and pictures, like the Phonetic Picture-Writing, schematics of electronic circuits, Chemical symbols, or the Energy Systems Language of Systems Ecology. Proposals for a diagrammatic language to be used as an international auxiliary go back as far as Leibniz's Characteristica Universalis. Modern forms of such languages are designed to convey and model the circuit properties of systems that involve energy, money and information flow through different compartmens. Unlike sentential languages, diagrammatic languages are widely used as auxiliaries to national sential lanaguages throughout the world in the scientific and engineering communities. Moreover languages like the Energy Systems Language have also been used in the search for sustainablity through an ambitious attempt to unify science, society and religions of the world by modeling and simulating embodied energy flows as a common basis for value.

Sign language

An international auxiliary sign language has been developed by deaf people who meet regularly at international forums such as sporting events or in political organisations. Previously referred to as Gestuno but now more commonly known simply as 'international sign', the language has continued to develop since the first signs were standardised in 1973, and it is now in widespread use. International sign is distinct in many ways from spoken IALs; many signs are iconic and signers tend to insert these signs into the grammar of their own sign language, with an emphasis on visually intuitive gestures and mime. A simple sign language called Indian Sign Language was used by indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Sources

Sudre, François. "Langue musicale universelle inventée par François Sudre également inventeur de la téléphonie". G. Flaxland, Editeur, 4, place de la Madeleine, Paris (France), 1866.

Pirro, Jean, und L. A.. "Versuch einer Universalischen Sprache". Guerin und Cie., Bar-Le-Duc (France), 1868.

Mainzer, Prof. Ludwig, Karlsruhe. "Linguo international di la Delegitaro (Sistemo Ido.), Vollständiges Lehrbuch der Internationalen Sprache (Reform-Esperanto)". Otto Nemmich Verlag, Leipzig (Germany), 1909.

De Wahl, Edgar. "Radicarium directiv del lingue international (Occidental) in 8 lingues". A.-S. "Ühisell" Trükk. Pikk Uul. 42, Tallinn, 1925.

Gär, Joseph. "Deutsch-Occidental Wörterbuch nach dem Kürschners "Sechs-Sprachen-Lexicon", mit kurzer Occidental-Grammatik". Kosmoglott, Reval, Estland, 1925/1928.

Pigal, E. and the Hauptstelle der Occidental-Union in Mauern bei Wien. "OCCIDENTAL, Die Weltsprache, Einführung samt Lehrkursus, Lesestücken, Häufigkeitswörterverzeichnis u. a.", Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart, 1930.

Gode, Alexander, et al. Interlingua-English: a dictionary of the international language. Storm Publishers, New York, 1951.

Pham Xuan Thai. "Frater (Lingua sistemfrater). The simplest International Language Ever Constructed". TU-HAI Publishing-House, Saigon (Republic of Vietnam), 1957.

External links

Proposed Guidelines for the Design of an Optimal International Auxiliary Language - An article written by Richard K. Harrison.
The Function of an International Auxiliary Language - An article written by linguist Edward Sapir discussing the need for prospects of an international language.
Making a commitment to a universal auxiliary language.- Statement of the Bahá'í International Community on the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations (1995).
Conlang Directory - A page of links to over 170 auxlangs.
Farewell to auxiliary languages, a criticism of the auxiliary language movement
IAL Wiki - a wiki for the Auxlang Community.
OneTongue.com - A project for promoting a world auxiliary language.

Constructed languages | Communalism | Globalization | Human communication | Utopian movements