User:BasilDiggswell/Comparison of international auxiliary languages

This article compares several languages specifically designed to serve as an international auxiliary language:


 * 1) Esperanto - presented in 1887 by L. L. Zamenhof.
 * 2) Ido - presented in 1907 by a committee led by Louis Couturat and Louis de Beaufront.
 * 3) Occidental (Interlingue) - presented in 1922 by Edgar de Wahl.
 * 4) Novial - presented in 1928 by Otto Jespersen.
 * 5) Interlingua - presented in 1951 by a research team led by Alexander Gode.
 * 6) Lingua Franca Nova - presented in 1998 by C. George Boeree.

Spelling
These IAL languages have highly regular spelling systems, although Occidental and Interlingua permit some variations that are less logical or regular. Ido, Novial, and LFN attempt to avoid difficult sound combinations, although they still accept combinations such as scr in "scrive" (write). Esperanto differs from the others in using a set of letters with a diacritic called a "ĉapelito". LFN has a parallel Cyrillic alphabet.

Vowels are identical in all six IALs:

Diphthongs are the same in all but Esperanto:

Most consonants are also identical, but many are different. Those shown in brackets are not normally used in that language.

Notes:
 * 1) H is silent in Interlingua.
 * 2) All pronounce n before [k] or [g] as [ŋ].
 * 3) Interlingua permits double consonants.

Grammar
All six have grammars significantly simpler than most natural languages. Esperanto, Ido, Occidental, Novial, and LFN are logical and regular. Although still more regular than most natural languages, Interlingua does permit a number of irregularities.

Esperanto and Ido differentiate the parts of speech by means of specific endings:

The other languages generally use word order to distinguish parts of speech.

Esperanto makes a distinction between subject and object nouns, marking objects with the suffix -n. The plural is marked with -j, and the plural object with -jn. Further, adjectives agree with their nouns with the same markers.

Ido changes the -o of nouns to -i to mark the plural. Marking objects with -n is possible, but not necessary. There is no noun-adjective agreement.

Occidental, Novial, Interlingua, and LFN use -s to mark the plural.

In Novial, objects may be indicated with -m (or -mes for plural) if necessary, or one may use the preposition em. It has two ways to indicate possession: One can use de, or one can use -n (-sen for plural). There is no noun-adjective agreement.

In Occidental and Interlingua, objects are not specially marked, except for pronouns. LFN does not mark objects even for pronouns. None has noun-adjective agreement.

Occidental and Novial reserve the ending -i for adjectives, but both permit one to drop it when convenient.

Occidental uses -men, Novial uses -im, and Interlingua uses -mente for adverbs derived from adjectives. LFN does not differentiate adverbs from adjectives, and also permits both adjectives and verbs to be used as nouns without change.

Esperanto uses the prefix mal- to create opposite adjectives (for example, bona = good, malbona = bad). The other languages usually use distinct words.

Word order in all languages is basically subject-verb-object. Esperanto permits considerable variation, since part of speech endings clarify relationships. Ido, Occidental, Novial, and Interlingua are somewhat more rigid. LFN is the strictest in regard to word order.

Pronouns
These IAL languages have specific words for pronouns in three persons in singular and plural. Esperanto, Ido, Occidental, Novial, and Interlingua provide for male, female, and neuter third person singular pronouns. Ido, Novial, and Interlingua also do so for the plural. Ido and Novial also have a separate common third person pronoun. LFN, on the other hand, has only one pronoun for all genders in the singular and one in the plural.

Where there are pairs of pronouns above, the first is the subject form, the second is the object form (the precise use of which varies for each language).

To form possessive adjectives, Esperanto adds -a to the pronoun, which then also accepts -j and -n to agree with its noun. Ido also uses -a, but the adjective does not vary. Novial uses -n (-en after consonants).

Occidental uses a set of irregular forms: mi, tui, su, nor, vos, lor. Interlingua also uses a set of irregular forms: mi, tu, su, nostre, vostre, lor.

LFN uses the pronouns without change, except in the third person, singular and plural, where the possessive adjective is se.

Verbs
In all the languages, verbs do not vary in regards to person or number. In Esperanto and Ido, infinitives and participles can be differentiated into past, present, and future, as indicated by "(i/a/o)". In LFN, tense is indicated with preceding particles rather than with suffixes. Novial uses particles, but allows for an alternate -d for the past tense. Occidental uses particles for future and conditional, and endings for other verbal forms.

All these IAL languages permit passive constructions using "to be" and a passive participle. Novial specifically adds a "passive voice of becoming" using bli (become). All permit constructions for perfect aspects using "to have" and the passive participle except LFN, which uses adverbs instead.

In Interlingua, irregular variations for haber and esser are available but not required. Also, hundreds of verbs have two stems, based on their Latin roots. For example, ager (to act) has an alternate form act- used for making nouns and adjectives. Similarly, sentir has sens-, repeller has repuls-, etc. The other languages select one root or the other.

Lexicon
These IAL languages are often referred to as "euroclones", a somewhat disparaging term that suggests they are designed to only appeal to people who speak European languages (especially the Romance and Germanic ones). However, it should be noted that taking words from languages from around the globe, or creating words from scratch, does not actually make an artificial language any easier for anyone.

Esperanto takes its vocabulary from Romance languages (especially French and Italian, but also Spanish and Portuguese) and Germanic languages (English, German). A few words and affixes are taken from Slavic languages (Russian, Polish).

Ido takes most of its vocabulary from Esperanto, but changes many words from non-Romance sources to words common to the Romance languages and adds separate words for the mal- oppositions of Esperanto.

Occidental takes nearly all its vocabulary from the Romance languages and the latinate aspect of English.

Novial takes most of its vocabulary from the Romance languages, but takes a considerable number from English and some from German as well.

Interlingua takes most of its vocabulary from the Romance languages, but favors versions of roots that are also found in English, German, and Russian. This leads to a preference for the Latinate forms of roots found in English and French. It also uses Latin as a fallback source for words that do not have obvious modern language agreement.

LFN takes all of its vocabulary from the modern Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, and Italian) with little attention to English or Latin.

Esperanto, Ido, and Novial make considerable use of regular, albeit occasionally a priori, affixes to create new words. Occidental, Interlingua, and LFN use affixes as well, but in a more naturalistic, hence less regular, manner.

Examples
Here is the Lord's Prayer translated into each language:

Additional resources

 * Bodmer, Frederick, and Lancelot Hogben. The Loom of Language. N.Y.: Norton, 1944.
 * Gode, Alexander, et al. Interlingua-English: a dictionary of the international language. Storm Publishers, New York, 1951.
 * Harrison, Richard H. (2008) Lingua Franca Nova. Invented Languages, 1, pp. 30 –33.
 * Pei, Mario. One Language for the World. N.Y.: Devin-Adair, 1958.