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A review of "The Artificial Language Movement"
Andrew
Large has written an entire book about a rather obscure, yet highly
entertaining subject: artificial languages. For centuries, enthusiasts have
tried to create a new, universal language in the hope of facilitating
international communication. The attempts have ranged from the serious to the
frivolous, with most artificial languages being parked somewhere in-between.
Most of the artificial languages have been quietly forgotten (who today
remembers Novial, Neo, Basic English or Volapük?), but a few have managed to
recruit followers, and one have become a world movement: Esperanto.
Some of the language projects mentioned by Large are so eccentric that they will strain your credulity to the breaking point. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, a certain Frenchman invented a language called Solresol. The language could be both written, spoken, sung, whistled, played on piano, or expressed with the help of seven signal flags in different colors! Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to learn, since all words were based on the diatonic scale (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti). Thus, doredo meant "time", doremi "day" and doresi "century". Incidentally, domisol meant "God" and solmido "the Devil". Naturally, such a crazy language became quite popular, at least in France, and had followers still during World War One, about a century after it was first invented!
Most of Large's book is devoted to Esperanto, created by the Polish Jew Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887. As already mentioned, Esperanto is the only artificial language with a degree of international success. (My maternal grandfather was an Esperantist, BTW). The most interesting chapter of the book deals with the political and religious connections of the early Esperantist movement. Zamenhof wanted to create a new religion, a kind of Reform Judaism, and use Esperanto to promote it. Meanwhile, many socialists and Communists joined the Esperantist movement, leading to splits between radicals and moderates in the movement. Unsurprisingly, Stalin prohibited Esperanto (so did Hitler), but it was revived in the Eastern bloc after his death, being used by the Communist regimes in their peace propaganda. A rather humorous chapter of the book is devoted to the British Esperantists, who turn out to be rather excentric. As Large sums up: "A fairly typical Esperantist, therefore might be a rather well-educated, unmarried, middle-aged, female teacher who votes Labour, does not believe in God, and never eats meat".
The book also contains a chapter on Esperanto grammar, and one dealing with the modern challengers to Esperanto, including Interlingua, a language actually used for resumes in scientific journals. Finally, Large asks what the prospects for an artificial, international language might be, and answers that they probably are quite bleak. In the real world, the "real" languages always dominate, and they are spread by powerful social forces: empire-building, science, even travel and commerce. The artificial languages, by contrast, lack power and will remain small, sectarian movements for the foreseeable future. Still, new attempts at creating the perfect universal language are being made every year, Glosa and Eurolengo being two examples mentioned by Large. (I happen to know of one not even mentioned in the book, a simplified form of Latin self-ironically christened SPL, the Latin abbreviation for "Without Legal Issue"!)
Finally, a word of warning. The first part of the book, dealing with pre-19th century philosophical languages, is quite boring, so a good tip is to read the introduction, and then go straight for Part II, the really interesting and entertaining part.
Some of the language projects mentioned by Large are so eccentric that they will strain your credulity to the breaking point. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, a certain Frenchman invented a language called Solresol. The language could be both written, spoken, sung, whistled, played on piano, or expressed with the help of seven signal flags in different colors! Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to learn, since all words were based on the diatonic scale (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti). Thus, doredo meant "time", doremi "day" and doresi "century". Incidentally, domisol meant "God" and solmido "the Devil". Naturally, such a crazy language became quite popular, at least in France, and had followers still during World War One, about a century after it was first invented!
Most of Large's book is devoted to Esperanto, created by the Polish Jew Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887. As already mentioned, Esperanto is the only artificial language with a degree of international success. (My maternal grandfather was an Esperantist, BTW). The most interesting chapter of the book deals with the political and religious connections of the early Esperantist movement. Zamenhof wanted to create a new religion, a kind of Reform Judaism, and use Esperanto to promote it. Meanwhile, many socialists and Communists joined the Esperantist movement, leading to splits between radicals and moderates in the movement. Unsurprisingly, Stalin prohibited Esperanto (so did Hitler), but it was revived in the Eastern bloc after his death, being used by the Communist regimes in their peace propaganda. A rather humorous chapter of the book is devoted to the British Esperantists, who turn out to be rather excentric. As Large sums up: "A fairly typical Esperantist, therefore might be a rather well-educated, unmarried, middle-aged, female teacher who votes Labour, does not believe in God, and never eats meat".
The book also contains a chapter on Esperanto grammar, and one dealing with the modern challengers to Esperanto, including Interlingua, a language actually used for resumes in scientific journals. Finally, Large asks what the prospects for an artificial, international language might be, and answers that they probably are quite bleak. In the real world, the "real" languages always dominate, and they are spread by powerful social forces: empire-building, science, even travel and commerce. The artificial languages, by contrast, lack power and will remain small, sectarian movements for the foreseeable future. Still, new attempts at creating the perfect universal language are being made every year, Glosa and Eurolengo being two examples mentioned by Large. (I happen to know of one not even mentioned in the book, a simplified form of Latin self-ironically christened SPL, the Latin abbreviation for "Without Legal Issue"!)
Finally, a word of warning. The first part of the book, dealing with pre-19th century philosophical languages, is quite boring, so a good tip is to read the introduction, and then go straight for Part II, the really interesting and entertaining part.
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