The Rotary Balita no. 736 (December 24, 1953).

THE PROBLEM is at least as old as the Tower of Babel. There are 2796 known languages in the world; over 1500 of the literary tongues, the rest dialects. At one period, knowledge of Latin by the clergy cased communication in Christendom. Later, French was acknowledged as the language of diplomats. But in these days of total war and indivisible peace, the need for communication between peoples transcends class and profession. Three fourths of the world's people cannot read and write. Yet literacy in their national tongues will not solve the problem of communication between nations. To counteract propaganda for war, to promote understanding and goodwill, to spread the technical information vital to the survival of backward people - an international language is urgently needed." BUT WHAT SHALL IT BE? Universal claims have been advanced for several languages. It has been suggested that English is already spoken by 600 million of the earth's people and that it boasts more words than any other language. But national pride is an obstacle to this solution. Moreover, an international language should be as simple as possible, very easy to learn yet adequate for communication. To meet these conditions various auxiliary languages have been constructed. The first to gain considerable popularity was Volapuk, invented by a German priest in 1880. Next came Esperanto, the creation of a Polish optician, Dr. Zamenhof, in 1887. Then followed Latino sine flexione, invented by Professor Peano, 1903; Ido, by M. Beaufront, 1907; Occidental, by Edgar von Whal, in 1922; and Novial, by Professor Jespersen, 1928. Recently, "basic" systems have been proposed in English, Russian, and Spanish. A veritable Babel of international languages has emerged but the proposals that have merited more favorable comments and aligned more followers are the three recorded below: 1. BASIC ENGLISH C. K. Ogden of Magdalene College, Cambridge, England is the originator of this system of simplified English. Basic English consists of 850 words divided as follows: 600 for things (400 general and 200 pictureable) 100 for qualities (adjectives) and 100 for operations (18 verbs and the rest prepositions which make verbs in conjunction with things). An absolute minimum of grammar is required. A standard textbook is Basic English and Its Uses by I. A. Richards (Norton, 1943) and further information is available from the Orthological Committee, 9 Kirkland Place, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. Old English: Love suffereth long and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, secketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil. Translated in Basic English: Love is never tired of waiting, love is kind; love has no enty; love bas no high opinion of itself, love has no pride; love's ways are ever fair, it takes no thought for itself; it is not quickly made angry, it has no thought of evil. 2. ESPERANTO Its author signed himself "Doktoro Esperanto" (a doctor who hopes) naming an international language now used by hundreds of thousands. A petition to the United Nations obtained 12,420,295 signatures including the prime ministers of The Netherlands and Poland, the President of France, and leaders in many fields. It has a few thousand root words, enriched by a regular system of prefixes and suffixes. Its grammar has 16 rules without exceptions. English-speaking people recognize more than 70 percent of the words at sight. Standard text is Esperanto: The World Interlanguage available from Esperanto, 114 West 16th St., New York 11, N.Y. U.N. Declaration of Human Rights: Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, (First clause of the preamble) Translated in Esperanto: Konsiderante, ke la rekono de la natura digneco kaj neforigeblaj rajtoj de cinj membroj de la boma familio estas la fundamento de libereco, justeco kaj pacn en la mondo. 3. INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (IALA) Since 1938, Rotary International has been interested in the efforts of IALA to find some common ground for the various forms of universal language. After many years of study, there was published in 1950 a dictionary of the authentic international vocabulary in natural languages. Comprising 25,000 words and a simple grammar to operate it, this dictionary stems from the idea that the true international language is potentially existent. Further information is available from IALA, 420 Lexington Avenue, New York 17, N.Y. Letter from the Director of Research: It is hoped that the provision of a common basis for the auxiliary language will be the means for consolidating the diverse activities of many groups in many countries which make up the present day movement for an international language. Translated in Interlingus: Nos spera que le presentation de un base commun per le linguas auxiliar essera un medio consolidante pro le activitates diverse de multe groppos in multe paises que representa le movimento presente del lingua international. Rotary International has suggested thru appropriate pamphlets that the Rotary Clubs prepare programs on international language and has encouraged its members to express their opinion on the subject. Is there any Manila Rotarian interested in this problem? If so, the Balita will appreciate that his views be expressed in writing for publication in our columns. If this problem of international language would attract the attention of any of our fellow members, we will appreciate that he sends us his views and as R. I. suggests, discussions be stimulated on the following questions: Which form deserves support as the most practical and immediate solution of the problem? What sort of official sanction, if any, should be employed to universalize knowledge of the chosen form? What part might this Rotary club play in solving the problem? An obscure village near the borders claimed by Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey was peopled by all three nationalities. When Turkish armies approached, the Greeks and Bulgars fled. When the Bulgarian forces threatened, the Greeks and Turks departed hastily. But the old woman who ran the inn stayed through occupations by all three armies. Asked how she could be so fearless, she explained: "You see I speak all three languages so they never molest me!" Understanding them all, and being able to explain to all three nationalities, the danger did not exist. If only we had the gift to make all nationalities understand! If only there were some universal language to spread among all nations, we could live together in the world without armed force! -Tom J. Davis, Past President, R.I.