Constructed language
Interlingua
(
) is an
international auxiliary language
(IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American
International Auxiliary Language Association
(IALA). It is a
constructed language
of the "naturalistic" variety, whose vocabulary, grammar, and other characteristics are derived from natural languages. Interlingua literature maintains that (written) Interlingua is comprehensible to the hundreds of millions of people who speak
Romance languages
,
[2]
though it is actively spoken by only a few hundred.
[1]
Interlingua was developed to combine a simple, mostly regular grammar with a vocabulary common to a wide range of western European languages, making it easy to learn for those whose native languages were sources of Interlingua's
vocabulary
and grammar.
[3]
[4]
The name Interlingua comes from the Latin words
inter
, meaning 'between', and
lingua
, meaning 'tongue' or 'language'. These
morphemes
are the same in Interlingua; thus,
Interlingua
would mean 'between language'.
Overview
[
edit
]
Interlingua focuses on common vocabulary shared by Western European languages, which are often descended from or heavily influenced by the
Latin language
(such as the
Romance languages
) and
Greek language
. Interlingua organizers have four "primary control languages" where, by default, a word (or variant thereof) is expected to appear in at least three of them to qualify for inclusion in Interlingua. These are
English
;
French
;
Italian
; and a combination of
Spanish
and
Portuguese
which are treated as a single mega-language for Interlingua purposes, as both are
west Iberian languages
. Additionally,
German
and
Russian
have been dubbed "secondary control languages".
[3]
While the result is often akin to
Neo-Latin
as the most frequent source of commonality, Interlingua words can have origins in any language, as long as they have drifted into the primary control languages as
loanwords
. For example, the
Japanese
words
geisha
and
samurai
are used as-is in most Western European languages, and are in Interlingua as well; the same with the likes of
Guugu Yimithirr
gangurru
(Interlingua:
kanguru
, English:
kangaroo
) or the
Finnish
sauna
.
[3]
The maintainers of Interlingua attempt to keep the grammar simple and word formation regular, and use only a small number of
roots
and
affixes
. This is intended to make the language quicker to learn.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
The American heiress
Alice Vanderbilt Morris
(1874?1950) became interested in
linguistics
and the
international auxiliary language
movement in the early 1920s. In 1924, Morris and her husband,
Dave Hennen Morris
, established the non-profit
International Auxiliary Language Association
(IALA) in
New York City
. Their aim was to place the study of IALs on a more complex and scientific basis. Morris developed the research program of IALA in consultation with
Edward Sapir
,
William Edward Collinson
, and
Otto Jespersen
.
[6]
Investigations of the auxiliary language problem were in progress at the International Research Council, the American Council on Education, the American Council of Learned Societies, the British, French, Italian, and American Associations for the advancement of science, and other groups of specialists. Morris created IALA as a continuation of this work.
[7]
International Auxiliary Language Association
[
edit
]
The IALA became a major supporter of mainstream American linguistics. Numerous studies by Sapir, Collinson, and
Morris Swadesh
in the 1930s and 1940s, for example, were funded by IALA. Alice Morris edited several of these studies and provided much of IALA's financial support.
[7]
For example, Morris herself edited Sapir and
Morris Swadesh
's 1932 cross-linguistic study of ending-point phenomena, and Collinson's 1937 study of indication. IALA also received support from groups such as the
Carnegie Corporation
, the
Ford Foundation
, the
Research Corporation
, and the
Rockefeller Foundation
.
[8]
[9]
In its early years, IALA concerned itself with three tasks: finding other organizations around the world with similar goals; building a library of books about languages and
interlinguistics
; and comparing extant IALs, including
Esperanto
,
Esperanto II
,
Ido
,
Peano's Interlingua
(Latino sine flexione),
Novial
, and
Interlingue
(Occidental). In pursuit of the last goal, it conducted parallel studies of these languages, with comparative studies of national languages.
[7]
At the Second International Interlanguage Congress, held in
Geneva
in 1931, IALA began to break new ground; 27 recognized linguists signed a testimonial of support for IALA's research program. An additional eight added their signatures at the third congress, convened in Rome in 1933.
[10]
That same year,
Herbert N. Shenton
and
Edward Thorndike
became influential in IALA's work by authoring studies in the interlinguistic field.
[7]
The first steps towards the finalization of Interlingua were taken in 1937, when a committee of 24 linguists from 19 universities published
Some Criteria for an International Language and Commentary
. However, the outbreak of
World War II
in 1939 cut short the intended biannual meetings of the committee.
[11]
Development of a new language
[
edit
]
Originally, the association had not intended to create its own language. Its goal was to identify which auxiliary language already available was best suited for international communication, and how to promote it more effectively. However, after ten years of research, many members of IALA concluded that none of the existing
interlanguages
were up to the task. By 1937, the members had made the decision to create a new language, to the surprise of the world's interlanguage community.
[12]
To that point, much of the debate had been equivocal on the decision to use naturalistic (e.g.,
Peano's Interlingua
,
Novial
and
Occidental
) or systematic (e.g.,
Esperanto
and
Ido
) words. During the war years, proponents of a naturalistic interlanguage won out. The first support was Thorndike's paper; the second was a concession by proponents of the systematic languages that thousands of words were already present in many, or even a majority, of the European languages. Their argument was that systematic derivation of words was a
Procrustean bed
, forcing the learner to unlearn and re-memorize a new derivation scheme when a usable vocabulary was already available. IALA from that point assumed the position that a naturalistic language would be best.
[9]
IALA's research activities were based in
Liverpool
, before relocating to
New York
due to the outbreak of
World War II
, where
E. Clark Stillman
established a new research staff.
[7]
Stillman, with the assistance of
Alexander Gode
, constructed the methodology for selecting Interlingua vocabulary based on a comparison of control languages.
[9]
In 1943 Stillman left for war work and Gode became Acting Director of Research.
[7]
IALA began to develop models of the proposed language, the first of which were presented in Morris's
General Report
in 1945.
[12]
The four models
[
edit
]
From 1946 to 1948, French linguist
Andre Martinet
was Director of Research. During this period IALA continued to develop models and conducted polling to determine the optimal form of the final language. In 1946, IALA sent an extensive survey to more than 3,000 language teachers and related professionals on three continents.
[9]
[13]
Model P was unchanged from 1945; Model M was relatively modern in comparison to more classical P. Model K was slightly modified in the direction of Ido. The resulting four models that were canvassed were:
[9]
|
Model P
|
|
highly naturalistic, with word forms unchanged from the prototypes
|
|
Model M
|
|
moderately naturalistic, similar to Occidental
|
|
Model C
|
|
slightly schematic, along the lines of Novial
|
|
Model K
|
|
moderately schematic, similar to Ido (less schematic than Esperanto)
[12]
|
An example sentence:
|
Model P
|
|
highly naturalistic
|
|
Jo habe nascite, o dea cum le oculos azure, de parentes barbare, inter le bone et virtuose Cimmerios
|
|
Model M
|
|
moderately naturalistic
|
|
Io have nascit, o dea con le ocules azur, de parentes barbar, inter le bon e virtuos Cimmerios
|
|
Model C
|
|
slightly schematic
|
|
Yo ha nascet, o deessa con le ocules azur, de parentes barbar, inter le bon e virtuose Cimerios
|
|
Model K
|
|
moderately schematic
|
|
Yo naskeba, o dea kon le okuli azure, de parenti barbare, inter le bone e virtuose Kimerii
|
|
(modern Interlingua)
|
|
Io ha nascite, o dea con le oculos azur, de parentes barbar, inter le bon e virtuose Cimmerios
|
|
(English)
|
|
'I was born, O goddess with the blue eyes, of barbarian relations, among the good and virtuous Cimmerians'
|
The vote total ended up as follows: P 26.6%, M 37.5%, C 20%, and K 15%.
[14]
The two more schematic models, C and K, were rejected. Of the two naturalistic models, M attracted somewhat more support than P. Taking national biases into account (for example, the French who were polled disproportionately favored Model M), IALA decided on a compromise between models M and P, with certain elements of C.
[13]
Finalization
[
edit
]
The German-American Gode and the French Martinet did not get along.
[15]
Martinet resigned and took up a position at
Columbia University
in 1948, and Gode took on the last phase of Interlingua's development.
[7]
His task was to combine elements of Model M and Model P; take the flaws seen in both by the polled community and repair them with elements of Model C as needed; and develop a vocabulary. Alice Vanderbilt Morris died in 1950, and the funding that had sustained IALA ceased, but sufficient funds remained to publish a dictionary and grammar.
[15]
The vocabulary and grammar of Interlingua were first presented in 1951, when IALA published the finalized
Interlingua Grammar
and the
Interlingua?English Dictionary
(IED). In 1954, IALA published an introductory manual entitled
Interlingua a Prime Vista
("Interlingua at First Sight").
Interlingua as presented by the IALA is very close to
Peano's Interlingua
(Latino sine flexione), both in its grammar and especially in its vocabulary. A distinct abbreviation was adopted: IA instead of IL.
Interlingua's first decades
[
edit
]
An early practical application of Interlingua was the scientific newsletter
Spectroscopia Molecular
, published from 1952 to 1980.
[16]
In 1954, the Second World Cardiological Congress in Washington, D.C. released summaries of its talks in both English and Interlingua. Within a few years, it found similar use at nine further medical congresses. Between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, some thirty scientific and medical journals provided article summaries in Interlingua.
[17]
Gode wrote a monthly column in Interlingua in the
Science Newsletter
published by the
Science Service
from the early 1950s until his death in 1970.
IALA
closed its doors in 1953 but was not formally dissolved until 1956 or later.
[18]
Its role in promoting Interlingua was largely taken on by Science Service,
[13]
which hired Gode as head of its newly formed
Interlingua Division
.
[19]
Hugh E. Blair
, Gode's close friend and colleague, became his assistant.
[20]
A successor organization, the Interlingua Institute,
[21]
was founded in 1970 to promote Interlingua in the US and Canada. The new institute supported the work of other linguistic organizations, made considerable scholarly contributions and produced Interlingua summaries for scholarly and medical publications. One of its largest achievements was two immense volumes on phytopathology produced by the American Phytopathological Society in 1976 and 1977.
[18]
Beginning in the 1980s, UMI has held international conferences every two years (typical attendance at the earlier meetings was 50 to 100) and launched a publishing programme that eventually produced over 100 volumes.
[22]
[23]
Several
Scandinavian
schools undertook projects that used Interlingua as a means of teaching the international scientific and intellectual vocabulary.
[24]
In 2000, the Interlingua Institute was dissolved amid funding disputes with the UMI; the American Interlingua Society, established the following year, succeeded the institute.
[21]
Interlingua today
[
edit
]
The original goal of an interlanguage meant for global events has faced competition from
English as a lingua franca
and
International English
in the 21st century. The scientific community frequently uses English in international conferences and publications, for example, rather than Interlingua. However, the rise of the Internet has made it easier for the general public with an interest in constructed languages to learn Interlingua. Interlingua is promoted internationally by the Union Mundial pro Interlingua. Periodicals and books are produced by national organizations, such as the Societate American pro Interlingua, the Svenska Sallskapet for Interlingua, and the Union Brazilian pro Interlingua.
[21]
Panorama In Interlingua
is the most prominent of several Interlingua periodicals. It is a 28-page magazine published bimonthly that covers current events, science, editorials, and Interlingua.
It is not certain how many people have an active knowledge of Interlingua.
[9]
Most constructed languages other than
Esperanto
have very few speakers.
[25]
The Hungarian census of 2001, which collected information about languages spoken, found just two people in the entire country who claimed to speak Interlingua.
[26]
Advocates say that Interlingua's greatest advantage is that it is the most widely
understood
international auxiliary language
besides
Interlingua (IL) de A.p.I.
[27]
by virtue of its naturalistic (as opposed to schematic) grammar and vocabulary, allowing those familiar with a Romance language, and educated speakers of English, to read and understand it without prior study.
[27]
Interlingua web pages include editions of
Wikipedia
and
Wiktionary
, and a number of periodicals, including
Panorama in Interlingua
from the Union Mundial pro Interlingua (UMI).
Every two years, the UMI organizes an international conference in a different country. In the year between, the Scandinavian Interlingua societies co-organize a conference in Sweden, as a number of Interlingua speakers are in Scandinavia. National organizations such as the Union Brazilian pro Interlingua also organize regular conferences.
[24]
Interlingua is taught in some high schools and universities, sometimes as a means of teaching other languages quickly, presenting
interlinguistics
, or introducing an international vocabulary.
[24]
[28]
[29]
A two-week course was taught at the
University of Granada
in
Spain
in 2007, for example.
[30]
As of 2019
[update]
,
Google Keyboard
supports Interlingua.
[31]
Orthography
[
edit
]
Interlingua has a largely
phonemic orthography
.
Interlingua alphabet
[
edit
]
Interlingua uses the 26 letters of the
ISO basic Latin alphabet
with no
diacritics
.
[32]
The alphabet, pronunciation in
IPA
and letter names in Interlingua are:
Interlingua alphabet
Number
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
Letters (
upper case
)
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
G
|
H
|
I
|
J
|
K
|
L
|
M
|
N
|
O
|
P
|
Q
|
R
|
S
|
T
|
U
|
V
|
W
|
X
|
Y
|
Z
|
Letters (
lower case
)
|
a
|
b
|
c
|
d
|
e
|
f
|
g
|
h
|
i
|
j
|
k
|
l
|
m
|
n
|
o
|
p
|
q
|
r
|
s
|
t
|
u
|
v
|
w
|
x
|
y
|
z
|
IPA
|
a
|
b
|
k
,
t?s
~
t??
[a]
[b]
[c]
|
d
|
e
|
f
|
?
[d]
|
h
~
?
|
i
|
?
|
k
|
l
|
m
|
n
|
o
|
p
|
k
[e]
|
r
|
s
~
z
[f]
|
t
[g]
|
u
|
v
|
w
~
v
|
k
s
|
i
|
z
|
Names
|
a
|
be
|
ce
|
de
|
e
|
ef
|
ge
|
ha
|
i
|
jota
|
ka
|
el
|
em
|
en
|
o
|
pe
|
cu
|
er
|
es
|
te
|
u
|
ve
|
duple ve
|
ix
|
ypsilon
|
zeta
|
- ^
c
is pronounced
[
t?s
]
(or optionally
[
s
]
) before
e, i, y
.
- ^
ch
is pronounced
/?/
in words of French origin e.g.
chef
=
/?ef/
meaning 'chief' or 'chef',
/k/
in words of Greek and Italian origin e.g.
choro
=
/koro/
meaning 'chorus' and more rarely
/t??/
in words of English or Spanish origin as in
Chile
/t??ile/
(the country
Chile
).
Ch
may be pronounced either
/t??/
or
/?/
depending on the speaker in many cases e.g.
chocolate
may be pronounced either
/t??okolate/
or
/?okolate/
.
- ^
There is no consensus on how to pronounce
sc
before
e, i, y
, as in
scientia
'science', though
[st?s]
is common.
- ^
Unlike any of the Romance languages,
g
is
/g/
even before
e, i, y
, but in
-age
it is
/(d)?/
(i.e. like
j
), as it is in several words of French origin such as
orange
/oran?e/
and
mangiar
/man?ar/
- ^
q
only appears in the digraph
qu
, which is pronounced
[kw]
(but [
k
] in the conjunction and pronoun
que
and pronoun
qui
and in terms derived from them such as
anque
and
proque
).
- ^
a single
s
between vowels is often pronounced like
z
, but pronunciation is irregular.
- ^
t
is generally
[t]
, but
ti
followed by a vowel, unless stressed or preceded by
s
, is pronounced the same as
c
(that is,
[t?sj]
or
[sj]
).
Collateral orthography
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
September 2019
)
|
The book
Grammar of Interlingua
defines in §15 a "collateral orthography"
[33]
that defines how a word is spelt in Interlingua once assimilated regardless of etymology.
Phonology
[
edit
]
Interlingua is primarily a written language, and the pronunciation is not entirely settled. The sounds in parentheses are not used by all speakers.
Pronunciation
[
edit
]
For the most part,
consonants
are pronounced as in English, while the
vowels
are like Spanish. Written double consonants may be
geminated
as in Italian for extra clarity or pronounced as single as in English or French. Interlingua has five falling
diphthongs
,
/ai/,
/au/,
/ei/,
/eu/
, and
/oi/
,
[34]
although
/ei/
and
/oi/
are rare.
Stress
[
edit
]
The
general rule
is that stress falls on the vowel before the last consonant (e.g.,
l
i
ngua
, 'language',
ess
e
r
, 'to be',
requirim
e
nto
, 'requirement') ignoring the final plural
-(e)s
(e.g.
l
i
nguas
, the plural of
lingua
, still has the same stress as the singular), and where that is not possible, on the first vowel (
v
i
a
, 'way',
i
o cr
e
a
, 'I create'). There are a few exceptions, and the following rules account for most of them:
- Adjectives and nouns ending in a vowel followed by
-le
,
-ne
, or
-re
are stressed on the third-last syllable (
fr
a
gile
,
m
a
rgine
,
a
ltere
'other', but
illa imp
o
ne
'she imposes').
- Words ending in
-ica/-ico
,
-ide/-ido
and
-ula/-ulo
, are stressed on the third-last syllable (
pol
i
tica
,
scient
i
fico
,
r
a
pide
,
st
u
pido
,
cap
i
tula
,
s
e
culo
'century').
- Words ending in
-ic
are stressed on the second-last syllable (
c
u
bic
).
Speakers may pronounce all words according to the general rule mentioned above. For example,
kilom
e
tro
is acceptable, although
kil
o
metro
is more common.
[35]
Phonotactics
[
edit
]
Interlingua has no explicitly defined
phonotactics
. However, the prototyping procedure for determining Interlingua words, which strives for internationality, should in general lead naturally to words that are easy for most learners to pronounce. In the process of forming new words, an ending cannot always be added without a modification of some kind in between. A good example is the plural
-s
, which is always preceded by a vowel to prevent the occurrence of a hard-to-pronounce consonant cluster at the end. If the singular does not end in a vowel, the final
-s
becomes
-es.
[
citation needed
]
Loanwords
[
edit
]
Unassimilated foreign
loanwords
, or borrowed words, are spelled as in their language of origin. Their spelling may contain
diacritics
, or accent marks. If the diacritics do not affect pronunciation, they are removed.
[3]
Vocabulary
[
edit
]
Words in Interlingua may be taken from any language,
[36]
as long as their internationality is verified by their presence in seven
control
languages:
Spanish
,
Portuguese
,
Italian
,
French
, and
English
, with
German
and
Russian
acting as secondary controls. These are the most widely spoken
Romance
,
Germanic
, and
Slavic languages
, respectively. Because of their close relationship, Spanish and Portuguese are treated as one unit. The largest number of Interlingua words are of
Latin
origin, with the
Greek
and
Germanic
languages providing the second and third largest number. The remainder of the vocabulary originates in Slavic and non-
Indo-European languages
.
[3]
Eligibility
[
edit
]
A word, that is a form with meaning, is eligible for the Interlingua vocabulary if it is verified by at least three of the four primary control languages. Either secondary control language can substitute for a primary language. Any word of Indo-European origin found in a control language can contribute to the eligibility of an international word.
[37]
In some cases, the archaic or
potential
presence of a word can contribute to its eligibility.
A word can be potentially present in a language when a
derivative
is present, but the word itself is not. English
proximity
, for example, gives support to Interlingua
proxime
, meaning 'near, close'. This counts as long as one or more control languages actually have this basic root word, which the Romance languages all do. Potentiality also occurs when a concept is represented as a
compound
or derivative in a control language, the
morphemes
that make it up are themselves international, and the combination adequately conveys the meaning of the larger word. An example is Italian
fiammifero
(lit. 'flamebearer'), meaning 'match, lucifer', which leads to Interlingua
flammifero
, or 'match'. This word is thus said to be potentially present in the other languages although they may represent the meaning with a single morpheme.
[3]
Words do not enter the Interlingua vocabulary solely because
cognates
exist in a sufficient number of languages. If
their meanings have become different over time
, they are considered different words for the purpose of Interlingua eligibility. If they still have one or more meanings in common, however, the word can enter Interlingua with this smaller set of meanings.
[37]
If this procedure did not produce an international word, the word for a concept was originally taken from Latin (see below). This only occurred with a few
grammatical particles
.
Form
[
edit
]
The form of an Interlingua word is considered an
international prototype
with respect to the other words. On the one hand, it should be neutral, free from characteristics peculiar to one language. On the other hand, it should maximally capture the characteristics common to all contributing languages. As a result, it can be transformed into any of the contributing variants using only these language-specific characteristics. If the word has any derivatives that occur in the source languages with appropriate parallel meanings, then their
morphological
connection must remain intact; for example, the Interlingua word for 'time' is spelled
tempore
and not
*
tempus
or
*
tempo
in order to match it with its derived adjectives, such as
temporal
.
[38]
The language-specific characteristics are closely related to the
sound laws
of the individual languages; the resulting words are often close or even identical to the most recent form common to the contributing words. This sometimes corresponds with that of
Vulgar Latin
. At other times, it is much more recent or even contemporary. It is never older than the classical period.
[37]
An illustration
[
edit
]
The French
œil
, Italian
occhio
, Spanish
ojo
, and Portuguese
olho
appear quite different, but they descend from a historical form
oculus
. German
Auge
, Dutch
oog
and English
eye
(cf. Czech and Polish
oko
, Russian and Ukrainian
око
(
oko
)) are related to this form in that all three descend from
Proto-Indo-European
*ok?
. In addition, international derivatives like
ocular
and
oculista
occur in all of Interlingua's control languages.
[27]
Each of these forms contributes to the eligibility of the Interlingua word.
[37]
German and English base words do not influence the form of the Interlingua word, because their Indo-European connection is considered too remote.
[39]
Instead, the remaining base words and especially the derivatives determine the form
oculo
found in Interlingua.
[27]
Free word-building
[
edit
]
Words can also be included in Interlingua by deriving them using Interlingua words and
affixes
; a method called
free word-building
. Thus, in the
Interlingua?English Dictionary
(IED),
Alexander Gode
followed the principle that every word listed is accompanied by all of its clear compounds and derivatives, along with the word or words it is derived from. A reader skimming through the IED notices many entries followed by large groups of derived and compound words. A good example is the Interlingua word
nation
, which is followed by
national
,
nationalismo
,
nationalista
,
nationalitate
,
nationalisar
,
international
,
internationalitate
, and many other words.
Other words in the IED do not have derivatives listed. Gode saw these words as potential word families. Although all derived words in the IED are found in at least one control language, speakers may make free use of Interlingua roots and affixes. For example,
jada
('jade') can be used to form
jadificar
, ('to jadify, make into jade, make look like jade'),
jadification
, and so on. These word forms would be impermissible in English but would be good Interlingua.
Word-building by analogy
[
edit
]
Gode and Hugh E. Blair explained in the
Interlingua Grammar
that the
basic principle of practical word-building
is analogical. If a pattern can be found in the existing international vocabulary, new words can be formed according to that pattern. A meaning of the suffix
-ista
is 'person who practices the art or science of....' This suffix allows the derivation of
biologista
from
biologia
,
physicista
from
physica
, and so on. An Interlingua speaker can freely form
saxophonista
from
saxophone
and
radiographista
from
radiographia
by following the same pattern.
Usefulness and clarity
[
edit
]
As noted above, the only limits to free word-building in Interlingua are
clarity
and
usefulness
. These concepts are touched upon here:
Any number of words could be formed by stringing roots and affixes together, but some would be more useful than others. For example, the English word
rainer
means 'a person who rains', but most people would be surprised that it is included in English dictionaries. The corresponding Interlingua word
pluviator
is unlikely to appear in a dictionary because of its lack of utility. Interlingua, like any traditional language,
could
build up large numbers of these words, but this would be undesirable.
Gode stressed the principle of
clarity
in free word-building. As Gode noted, the noun
marinero
('mariner') can be formed from the adjective
marin
, because its meaning is clear. The noun
marina
meaning 'navy' cannot be formed, because its meaning would not be clear from the adjective and suffix that gave rise to it.
Grammar
[
edit
]
Interlingua has been developed to omit any grammatical feature that is absent from any one primary control language. Thus, Interlingua has no
noun?adjective agreement
by gender, case, or number (cf. Spanish and Portuguese
gatas negras
or Italian
gatte nere
, 'black female cats'), because this is absent from English, and it has no progressive verb tenses (English
I am reading
), because they are absent from French. Conversely, Interlingua
distinguishes singular nouns from plural nouns
because all the control languages do.
[35]
With respect to the secondary control languages, Interlingua has articles, unlike Russian.
The definite article
le
is invariable, as in English ("the"). Nouns have no
grammatical gender
.
[35]
[40]
Plurals are formed by adding
-s
, or
-es
after a final consonant.
[35]
Personal pronouns
take one form for the subject and one for the direct object and reflexive. In the third person, the reflexive is always
se
.
[35]
[40]
Most
adverbs
are derived regularly from
adjectives
by adding
-mente
, or
-amente
after a
-c
. An adverb can be formed from any adjective in this way.
[41]
Verbs take the same form for all persons (
io vive
,
tu vive
,
illa vive
, 'I live', 'you live', 'she lives'). The
indicative
(
pare
, 'appear', 'appears') is the same as the
imperative
(
pare!
'appear!'), and there is no
subjunctive
.
[35]
Three common verbs usually take short forms in the present tense:
es
for 'is', 'am', 'are;'
ha
for 'has', 'have;' and
va
for 'go', 'goes'.
[40]
A few irregular verb forms are available, but rarely used.
[42]
There are four simple tenses (present, past, future, and conditional), three compound tenses (past, future, and conditional), and the passive voice. The compound structures employ an auxiliary plus the infinitive or the past participle (e.g.,
Ille ha arrivate
, 'He has arrived').
[35]
Simple and compound tenses can be combined in various ways to express more complex tenses (e.g.,
Nos haberea morite
, 'We would have died').
[43]
Word order is
subject?verb?object
, except that a direct object pronoun or reflexive pronoun comes before the verb (
io les vide
, 'I see them').
[35]
[40]
Adjectives may precede or follow the nouns they modify, but they most often follow it.
[35]
The position of adverbs is flexible, though constrained by common sense.
[40]
The grammar of Interlingua has been described as similar to that of the Romance languages, but simplified, primarily under the influence of English.
[35]
A 1991 paper argued that Interlingua's grammar was similar to the simple grammars of Japanese and particularly Chinese.
[44]
F. P. Gopsill has written that Interlingua has no irregularities, although Gode's
Interlingua Grammar
suggests that Interlingua has a small number of irregularities.
[35]
[34]
Reception
[
edit
]
One criticism that applies to naturalistic constructed languages in general is that if an educated traveler is willing to learn a naturalistic conlang, they may find it even more useful to learn a
natural language
outright, such as
International English
. Planned conlangs at least hold out the promise of "fixing" or standardizing certain irregular aspects of natural languages and providing unique advantages, despite the lack of speakers, but naturalistic conlangs have to compete with the natural languages they are based on. In practice, conferences with international attendance tend to be held in a natural language popular among the attendees rather than an
international auxiliary language
.
Samples
[
edit
]
From an essay by Alexander Gode:
- Interlingua se ha distacate ab le movimento pro le disveloppamento e le introduction de un lingua universal pro tote le humanitate. Si on non crede que un lingua pro tote le humanitate es possibile, si on non crede que le interlingua va devenir un tal lingua, es totalmente indifferente ab le puncto de vista de interlingua mesme. Le sol facto que importa (ab le puncto de vista del interlingua ipse) es que le interlingua, gratias a su ambition de reflecter le homogeneitate cultural e ergo linguistic del occidente, es capace de render servicios tangibile a iste precise momento del historia del mundo. Il es per su contributiones actual e non per le promissas de su adherentes que le interlingua vole esser judicate.
[45]
- Interlingua has detached itself from the movement for the development and introduction of a universal language for all humanity. Whether or not one believes that a language for all humanity is possible, whether or not one believes that Interlingua will become such a language is totally irrelevant from the point of view of Interlingua itself. The only fact that matters (from the point of view of Interlingua itself) is that Interlingua, thanks to its ambition of reflecting the cultural and thus linguistic homogeneity of the West, is capable of rendering tangible services at this precise moment in the history of the world. It is by its present contributions and not by the promises of its adherents that Interlingua wishes to be judged.
The
Lord's Prayer
(compared)
Latin
|
Latino sine flexione
|
Interlingua
|
Esperanto
|
English
(traditional)
|
Pater noster, qui es in caelis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum.
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in caelo, et in terra.
|
Patre nostro, qui es in celos,
que tuo nomine fi sanctificato;
que tuo regno adveni;
que tuo voluntate es facto
sicut in celo et in terra.
|
Patre nostre, qui es in le celos,
que tu nomine sia sanctificate;
que tu regno veni;
que tu voluntate sia facite
como in le celo, etiam super le terra.
|
Patro nia, Kiu estas en la ?ielo,
sanktigata estu Via nomo.
Venu Via regno,
fari?u Via volo,
kiel en la ?ielo tiel anka? sur la tero.
|
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
|
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,
sed libera nos a malo.
Amen.
|
Da hodie ad nos nostro pane quotidiano,
et remitte ad nos nostro debitos,
sicut et nos remitte ad nostro debitores.
Et non induce nos in tentatione,
sed libera nos ab malo.
Amen.
|
Da nos hodie nostre pan quotidian,
e pardona a nos nostre debitas
como etiam nos los pardona a nostre debitores.
E non induce nos in tentation,
sed libera nos del mal.
Amen.
|
Nian panon ?iutagan donu al ni hodia?
kaj pardonu al ni niajn ?uldojn,
kiel anka? ni pardonas al niaj ?uldantoj.
Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton,
sed liberigu nin de la malbono.
Amen.
|
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we have forgiven those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
|
Flags and symbols
[
edit
]
As with Esperanto, there have been proposals for a flag of Interlingua;
[46]
the proposal by Czech translator Karel Podrazil is recognized by multilingual sites.
[47]
It consists of a white four-pointed star extending to the edges of the flag and dividing it into an upper blue and lower red half. The star is symbolic of the four cardinal directions, and the two halves symbolize Romance and non-Romance speakers of Interlingua who understand each other.
Another symbol of Interlingua is the
Blue Marble
surrounded by twelve stars on a black or blue background, echoing the twelve stars of the
Flag of Europe
(because the source languages of Interlingua are purely European).
-
Unofficial flag often appearing in the Interlingua-speaking community
-
Unofficial flag of Interlingua proposed by Karel Podrazil
-
Another possible flag of Interlingua
See also
[
edit
]
- Comparisons with other languages
- Other languages
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Fiedler, Sabine (2007). "Phraseology in planned languages". In Burger, Harald; Dobrovol'Skij, Dmitrij; Kuhn, Peter; Norrick, Neal R. (eds.).
Phraseology: Ein internationales Handbuch der zeitgenossischen Forschung, Volume 2
. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 779?788.
doi
:
10.1515/9783110190762.779
.
ISBN
978-3-11-019831-7
.
- ^
Yeager, Leland B. (1991). "Le linguistica como reclamo pro Interlingua" [Linguistics as an advertisement for Interlingua].
Interlinguistica e Interlingua: Discursos public
. Beekbergen, Netherlands: Servicio de Libros UMI.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Gode 1971
, Introduction
- ^
Breinstrup, Thomas, Preface,
Interlingua course for beginners
, Bilthoven, Netherlands: Union Mundial pro Interlingua, 2006.
- ^
Morris, Alice Vanderbilt
,
General Report
Archived
2004-07-02 at the
Wayback Machine
, New York: International Auxiliary Language Association, 1945.
- ^
Falk, Julia S. (1995). "Words without grammar: Linguists and the international language movement in the United States".
Language and Communication
.
15
(3). Pergamon: 241?259.
doi
:
10.1016/0271-5309(95)00010-N
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Bray 1971
, Foreword
- ^
Gopsill, F. P., and Sexton, Brian,
"Le historia antenatal de interlingua"
Archived
2011-05-14 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Historia de interlingua
, 2001, revised 2006.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Gopsill 1990
- ^
Gopsill 1990
, pp. 95?99
- ^
Gopsill 1990
, pp. 99?101
- ^
a
b
c
Gopsill, F. P., and Sexton, Brian,
"Profunde recerca duce a un lingua"
Archived
2022-12-10 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Historia de interlingua
, 2001, revised 2006.
- ^
a
b
c
Gopsill, F. P., and Sexton, Brian,
"Le natura, si ? un schema, no"
Archived
2022-04-12 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Historia de interlingua
, 2001, revised 2006.
- ^
"Cosmoglotta A, 1948, p. 101"
.
- ^
a
b
Gopsill 1990
, p. 103
- ^
Breinstrup, Thomas,
"Un revolution in le mundo scientific" (A revolution in the scientific world).
Archived
2019-04-27 at the
Wayback Machine
Accessed January 16, 2007.
- ^
Gopsill 1990
, pp. 104?106
- ^
a
b
Esterhill, Frank,
Interlingua Institute: A History
. New York: Interlingua Institute, 2000.
- ^
Biographias: Alexander Gottfried Friedrich Gode-von Aesch
Archived
2011-05-14 at the
Wayback Machine
. Accessed January 16, 2007
- ^
Biographias: Hugh Edward Blair.
Archived
2019-04-28 at the
Wayback Machine
Accessed January 16, 2007
- ^
a
b
c
Portrait del organisationes de interlingua.
Archived
2006-10-16 at the
Wayback Machine
Access January 16, 2007.
- ^
Bibliographia de Interlingua.
Accessed January 16, 2007.
- ^
Biographias: Ingvar Stenstrom.
Archived
2019-04-26 at the
Wayback Machine
Accessed January 16, 2007
- ^
a
b
c
Breinstrup, Thomas,
"Interlingua: Forte, Fructuose, Futur"
, Historia de Interlingua, 2001, Revised 2006.
- ^
Gopsill 1990
, p. 46
- ^
"18. Demografiai adatok ? Kozponti Statisztikai Hivatal"
.
www.nepszamlalas2001.hu
. Archived from
the original
on 2018-06-17
. Retrieved
2013-03-10
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Blandino, Giovanni, "Le problema del linguas international auxiliari",
Philosophia del Cognoscentia e del Scientia
, Rome, Italy: Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis, Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, 1989. In Interlingua.
- ^
Stenstrom, Ingvar, "The Interlingua of IALA: From 'the linguists' project' of 1951 to the working 'tool of international scientific communication' of 1981",
Interlinguistica e Interlingua: Discursos public per Ingvar Stenstrom e Leland B. Yeager
, Beekbergen, Netherlands: Servicio de Libros UMI, 1991.
- ^
Stenstrom, Ingvar, "Utilisation de Interlingua in le inseniamento de linguas" (Utilization of Interlingua in the teaching of languages),
Interlinguistica e Interlingua: Discursos public per Ingvar Stenstrom e Leland B. Yeager
, Beekbergen, Netherlands: Servicio de Libros UMI, 1991.
- ^
"A notar,"
Panorama in Interlingua
,
Issue 4, 2006. See
[1]
. Offered in collaboration with the Centro de Formacion Continua.
- ^
"Google Gboard keyboard now supports more than 500 languages and 40 writing systems"
.
TechWarrant
. 2018-12-19.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-05
. Retrieved
2021-10-28
.
- ^
Interlingua Alphabet
on Omniglot
- ^
"
Grammar of Interlingua
"
.
- ^
a
b
Gopsill, F. P.,
Interlingua today: A course for beginners
, Sheffield, UK: British Interlingua Society, 1994.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
Gode & Blair 1955
- ^
Morris, Alice Vanderbilt,
"IALA's system: Underlying facts and reasoning"
Archived
2004-07-02 at the
Wayback Machine
,
General report
, New York: International Auxiliary Language Association, 1945.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Stillman, E. Clark, and Gode, Alexander,
Interlinguistic standardization
, New York: International Auxiliary Language Association, 1943.
Articles 82?100
Archived
2008-05-15 at the
Wayback Machine
translated by
Stanley A. Mulaik
. Revised 2006.
- ^
Gode 1971
, Introduction. See
"Forms of international words in derivational series"
.
- ^
Gode 1971
, Introduction See
"Methods and techniques: Non-Latin examples"
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Wilgenhof, Karel.
Grammatica de Interlingua
. Union Mundial pro Interlingua, Beekbergen, Netherlands, 1995.
- ^
Brauers, Karl.
Grammatica synoptic de Interlingua
. Morges, Switzerland: Editiones Interlingua, 1975.
- ^
These are optional short forms for
esser
, 'to be'. They are found in Wilgenhof, who stops short of calling them irregular verb forms. Two such forms appear in Gode and Blair, and one is labeled irregular; none are in Brauers.
- ^
See for example Gode (1955),
§115, "Table of Conjugation"
Archived
2007-02-21 at the
Wayback Machine
, pp. 38?40.
- ^
Yeager, Leland B., "Artificialitate, ethnocentrismo, e le linguas oriental: Le caso de Interlingua",
Interlinguistica e Interlingua: Discursos public per Ingvar Stenstrom e Leland B. Yeager
, Beekbergen, Netherlands: Servicio de Libros UMI, 1991.
- ^
Novas de Interlingua
, May/June 1958.
- ^
Flags of Interlingua (IALA)
from fotw.net (archived URL)
- ^
"Toto super le airbag jachetta e gilet / jachetta e gilet con airbag (invento hungaro) - interlingua - All about Airbag Jacket and Airbag Vest"
.
Airbagjacket.eu
. Retrieved
2016-06-23
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Falk, Julia S.
Women, Language and Linguistics: Three American stories from the first half of the twentieth century.
Routledge, London & New York: 1999.
- Gode, Alexander
;
Blair, Hugh E.
(1955) [1951].
Interlingua; a grammar of the international language
(Second ed.).
New York
: Frederick Ungar Publishing.
ISBN
0-8044-0186-1
.
OCLC
147452
. Retrieved
2007-03-05
.
- International Auxiliary Language Association
(1971) [1951].
Alexander Gode
(ed.).
Interlingua-English; A dictionary of the international language
(Second ed.).
New York
: Frederick Ungar Publishing.
ISBN
0-8044-0188-8
.
OCLC
162319
. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27
. Retrieved
2010-04-18
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- Gopsill, F. P. (1990).
International languages: a matter for Interlingua
.
Sheffield
,
England
: British Interlingua Society.
ISBN
0-9511695-6-4
.
OCLC
27813762
.
- Gopsill, F.P.
Le historia antenatal de Interlingua.
. (In Interlingua.) Accessed 28 May 2005.
- International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA).
General Report
. IALA, New York: 1945.
- Pei, Mario.
One Language for the World and How To Achieve It.
Devin-Adair, New York; 1958.
- Sexton, Brian C.; Wilgenhoff, Karel; and F. Peter Gopsill.
Supplementary Interlingua-English Dictionary
. British Interlingua Society, Sheffield, 1991
- Union Mundial pro Interlingua (UMI).
Interlingua 2001: communication sin frontieras durante 50 annos
Archived
2015-04-22 at the
Wayback Machine
(in Interlingua). Accessed 17 August 2006.
External links
[
edit
]
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Classification
| |
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Specific
languages
by group
| |
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Neography
| |
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Study
| |
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Comparisons
| |
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