UC-NRLF 557 GIFT OF - 1 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL USE By W. JONES CUTHBERTSON PRICE, $1.00 SAN FRANCISCO 1919 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL USE By W. JONES CUTHBERTSON SAN FRANCISCO 1919 ^ u COPYRIGHT BY W. JONES CUTHBERTSON 1919 INDEPENDENT FOREWORD THIS TREATISE, embodying suggestions for a com- mon Language and Speech for all peoples of the Earth, requires no apology, as the immediate need of such a Speech is very evident. The present World's War has brought all the Na- tions of the Earth into contact and commingled them, so that there can not be a more opportune time than this to introduce a common language to facilitate their mutual intercourse and so bring quickly the time when the ends for which Humanity is fighting shall be gained; by the Federation of the World THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS; whose Police the Interna- tional Army and Navy composed of the citizens of every country on the Globe, must be able to TALK together in one Tongue. There can not be a better engine for Universal peace. The Tongue suggested herein differs from former universal Languages in that the Talking part is the most prominent and the Literary part subordinate; being in fact a TALKING Language instead of a WRITING Language. It is made to fit the case of the ordinary uneducated, illiterate person, of which the great majority of the World's inhabitants are composed; therefore let not the Reader condemn it hastily because it looks vulgar, rough, and uncouth. It also differs from most of the aforesaid Languages in that it is not an attempt to invent a NEW Lan- guage, which History shows to be impossible, but an adaptation of those already in existence. For these reasons the Author believes it deserves serious consideration on the part of all Humanists. 2 4 STANDARD V7ORLD LANGUAGE , 3?Me waiter liortui. is not put forward as a finished product, but is simply a Sketch of an idea of a com- mon Tongue an OUTLINE to be filled in and worked upon by the savants of all languages in co-operation, so as to make plans of a Language which shall be ac- ceptable to all nations and races and which they, there- fore, will all agree to use. A few private persons can not do this alone; they must have the support of those high up in the Councils of the Nations. To get their support some feasible scheme must be set before them; therefore the sending out of this Booklet as a starter, a nucleus around which may cluster all the ideas which already have been and yet may be evolved on the subject. STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 5 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. "Did it never occur to you that all the noblest things which custom compels us to learn, to which in- deed we owe our knowledge of life, have all been learned by means of speech and reason; and if there be any other noble learning which a man may learn, it is this same whereby he learns it. ' ' In this saying Socrates emphasizes the importance of Speech in the acquisition of knowledge; for without it Wisdom or Learning could not be acquired nor com- municating its matter be possible. This importance of Speech and Philology has been recognized by the learned of all ages; as witnessed by the abundance of books upon the subject, extending from the age of the Chinese and Sanscrit grammarians to the present day. The history of Speech exhibits an Evolution similar to that of all other living things. As from the proto- plasm all the several genera of animals have b.een evolved, some developing on different lines from others, so from the original Onomatopoetic has been evolved during the lapse of centuries the intricate inflectional languages of Greece and Rome. So also, as in Nature, branches have stopt short in their development as the Chinese and Egyptian languages; and others again have branched off from the parent stem in different directions. The trunk line of development, however, corresponding to the line of Man in Nature, has been the Sanscrit and the several Indo-European tongues. As the modern Man found that the inflexional sys- tems were not suitable to modern use they are being gradually changed and disintegrated and the useless 6 STANDARD WOULD LANGUAGE genders, cases, and moods cut out in like manner as the useless appendages of animals when their environ- ment become changed ; and so finally we get the simple Anglo-Saxon tongue developed into the modern Eng- lish and American, in which grammar is gradually being relegated to desuetude and a direct, simple, forthright method of getting at the thoughts of others is being evolved. At first blush at this point the analogy between Natural History and Word History ceases; yet if we consider the wonderful rapport established between the Animals and Man by domestication we may also con- sider a common tongue among mankind possible. We shall therefore proceed to work upon such a Tongue, taking it for granted that all thinking people see its necessity. Not a UNIVERSAL, but a COM- MON tongue; not to supersede the present NA- TIONAL tongues, but to form an INTERNATIONAL tongue. CHAPTER II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. We deduce from the introductory statement that all that can be known to us can be divided into two equally important parts First, the existing mass of facts and ideas which we will call PHILOSOPHY (the Wisdom) ; Second, that which interprets the same to us called PHILOLOGY (the Word), defined as "the most scientific way of arranging words to express thoughts. " It is this with which we have to deal here. It has two ways of expressing itself by PHONOL- OGY (Talk) and GRAPHOLOGY (Writing), which latter is used when one is riot in reach of the voice and STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 7 for recording purposes. Here the word WRITING is used in its broad sense and includes not only recording by the Pen, but by Printing Type, a Keyboard such as in Typewriting and Telegrafy or by the recording plate of a Phonograf: all tools invented since the word Writing was first used. The Phonological Arts are Phonetics, Vocabulary, Grammar, etc.; the Graphological Arts are Phonog- raphy, Calligraphy, Orthography, Phonotyping, etc. Surveying these Philological Sciences and Arts as they have come down to us we find, in contrast to the unity characteristic of the Philosophical Sciences and arts, disunity, differentiation, and inconsistency caus- ing innumerable differently built up tongues making it impossible for the great majority of peoples to be able to communicate their thoughts one to the other. This is a blot on the World 's common sense that should be obliterated. This trouble has been alleviated somewhat by scien- tists, by whom the necessity of a worldwide language has been recognized as a means of disseminating the discoveries of Science amongst all groups of scientific people; so we find that professors of Medicine, Natural History and others have adopted Latin and Greek for the universal nomenclature of their respective Sciences. Some attempts have been made to extend this uni- formity of Language to all purposes and all peoples; but the difficulty of doing this has so far been due to the wrong light in which those who have made the attempts have viewed their work. They have looked at it in the LITERARY instead of the TALKING light. Amongst all the ready-made languages we have the 8 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE best example in the scientifically devised and quite beautiful language ' ' Esperanto. ' ' The trouble with it is that it appeals only to the well educated and scientific people. It makes an almost perfect literary language; but it is too elaborate for ordinary every day use. They have not considered the question: For whom are we to make this language? For the great mass of the World's people or for a few thinkers? We say, decidedly for the great mass of the people; otherwise it can not become a GENERAL language. For these people we want an easy, very simple, short, we might say an inartistic language : one easily understood and pickt up by the great uneducated mass, who are too ignorant to go into the intricacies of scientific grammar or into subtle shades of meanings of words and affixes. We want a Tongue that can be spoken by Chinese, Finns, Lascars, Arabs, and Negros as well as by all the Aryan peoples, and be able to be written by the Stenografers of all nationalities. Therefore in laying the Foundations of our Lan- guage we must bear this in mind, and make its char- acter accordingly otherwise the whole Superstructure goes for naught and we shall not succeed. CHAPTER III. THE REQUIREMENTS OF A WORLD LANGUAGE. We have elected to make our Language a Talking- Language, for the many reasons given before, and subordinate all literary excellences to that. In putting together a Talking Language of a char- acter which assures the, use of it by all peoples no mat- STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 9 ter how illiterate they may be, the following Specifica- tions of required Qualifications must be followed. (1) It is to be founded on existing Languages and can not be made " de novo." Those principally used to be those best known and used among commercial peoples. (2) PHONETICS. The sounds used are to be rea- sonably numerous and the means of making them easy and natural, resulting in a smooth euphonic product. Eliminate all harsh, gutteral, and lisping sounds and any other sounds not pronouncible by certain races and nations. (3) PHONOGRAPHY. The above sounds to be represented by characters simple in form, easy to make, and plain to see; and in most general use amongst civilized peoples. No letters so intricate as to be difficult to decipher allowed. (4) ORTHOGRAPHY. The Spelling to be PHO- NETIC. (5) GRAMMAR. To be reduced to a Minimum, and as regular as possible consistent with euphony. Do away with all Inflexions possible. (6) SYNTAX. To generally follow the usually re- ceived forms of Sentences, and to be uniform; except when uneuphonic when exceptions may be made as long as the meaning of the Talk is not interfered with. (7) VOCABULARY. The words to be short gen- erally not more than of two Syllables and easily pro- nounced and learnt: to be culled from the most gener- ally used and ' ' apropos ' ' words, especially from those used by travelers and commercial people. 10 STAND AED WOELD LANGUAGE It is useful to have some short Title for the World Tongue. GAB is appropriate, being the Scottish and Danish word for MOUTH, whence all Vocables issue. We shall therefore use that name until some better one is found. CHAPTEE IV. BUILDING A WORLD LANGUAGE. To get at this systematically we shall divide our subject into six heads, viz.: 1. PHONETICS. The Art of correctly sounding Vocables. 2. PHONOGEAPHY. The Art of representing spoken sounds by characters. 3. OETHOGEAPHY. The Art of arranging Let- ters to form Words. 4. LEXICOGEAPHY.-^The Art of making a Vo- cabulary or Dictionary of Words. 5. GEAMMAE. The Art of classifying and mod- ifying Words. 6. SYNTAX. The Art of building up Sentences. Under these heads we shall outline a World tongue based on the principles already enunciated, with a suffi- cient description of the Science of Language to make plain to the Eeader the reasons for the adoption of its several items. Before doing this, however, we shall consider the question: Upon which present language shall a World Language be built? A world tongue, like the permanent Constitution of a Country, can not be made to order; it must be built upon the Experience and Work of our Forefathers. STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 11 The present languages are the results of the work of thousands of years, and can not be lightly overthrown. A new Language therefore to be accepted must be made by using and assimilating these results and con- tinuing their evolution ; and must compromise with the preconceived ideas of the people for whom it is made. Recognizing these facts it is our duty to find out which, among the present languages, is the most suit- able for a foundation or motif for a new one. For the following reasons ENGLISH seems the best language for our purpose. A. It is the one most generally diffused thruout the Globe; being spoken from Australia all around the world to the West coast of California and Alaska. It is the ruling language of India, Africa and the Malay Peninsula. Most of the Merchant Marine being in the hands of nations speaking that Language every port in the World is acquainted with it. B. It has a greater range of Vowel sounds than most languages. C. Its Alphabet is that of the majority of the principal languages. D. Its Words of Anglo Saxon and Norse stock are short, direct and to the point; and when written pho- netically the result is the most literary sense in the least space and by the least effort possible. E. Its Grammar and Syntax are amongst the sim- plest of any language. Therefore the Old English has been adopted for the foundation of GAB. In building the Superstructure however all languages have been levied on whenever it appears that they are more apt for our purpose. These Points will more particularly show forth when we come to consider the Subject of each Section. 12 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE SEC. 1. PHONETICS AND PHONOGRAPHY. The Sounds of Speech are Vowels and Consonants. Vowels can be uttered alone. Consonants need the aid of a Vowel. The Characters representing these Sounds are Let- ters. The LETTERS adopted are those of the Roman Alphabet, for the reasons that: a. They are among the simplest in shape and most easily distinguished by the eye. b. They are used most generally by the most ad- vanced literary and commercial peoples and by scien- tists. A. VOWEL PHONETICS. Aw This Diagram shows the simple Vowel sounds* On the left leg are placed those sounded while the lips are in their normal position. Those on the right are sounded with the lips rounded into the shape of an O. At the apex is the primitive sound, the parent of all, the broad or open A. Again from the apex descends on each leg a gradua- tion from the open to the closed Vowels. STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 13 Each GAB vowel has a long and a short sound. Reasons : 'Almost double the number of Vowel sounds are obtained. By this it allows shorter words and for Talk the short vowels are more easily uttered. The English pronunciation of the vowel-letters I, "E, and A has been adopted in preference to the Latin, altho the latter is more generally used because it allows of the use of the short I, a very useful little sound. The Latin pronunciation of U is adopted. Other differences in pronunciation will be noted as we come to them. B. VOWEL PHONOGRAPHY. LIST OF "GAB" VOWEL LETTERS. (The sound in English is given after the Letter.) A ah A short in "at" AA "a" long in "ate" E short in "bet" EE long in "beet" I short in "it" Y "i" long in "eye" A "aw" in "law" O short in "hot" OO o" long in "dote" V "u" short in "look" W "u" long in "hoot" U the English "u" in "shut" EU the "u" in "acute" (some single character may be found for this). R the NEUTER Vowel, as "e" in "master." (Almost any vowel sound can be used for this, such as the sounds in the last syllables of "doctor," "na- ture," etc. The nearest approach is "ur. ") 14 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE OI in "boy" and OU in "thou" are the Diph- thongs. Two additional vowel letters are used. These are the inverted V for the broad A and the Greek Delta for the AW sound. Both of these are in the printer's galley, but not on the present typewriters: so for the present we use AH for A and AW for A when typing. To distinguish the long and the short vowels the Letter is doubled for the long sound, except in the case of the I where Y is used for the long sound, as the double I in handwriting is liable to get mixed with the U. In English two regular ways of indicating long and short vow r els are used; one by doubling the vowel letters for the long sound as in BET-BEET : the other by doubling the Consonant letters as in MILE-MILL. Doubling the vowel letters has been chosen as more applicable to all words. No new Types are required, but if found desirable new type can be so cast for the long vowels as to make the two letters in one. Double U we have already in the W. As there are no letters in English representing the Latin U (which is represented in English by OO) we have used the V and the W for that purpose: V for the short sound and W for the long. This is simply returning to the former custom, w r hich is still retained in the Welsh Language. C. CONSONANTAL PHONETICS AND PHONOGRAPHY. There are some Consonantal sounds which are not used or are difficult to pronounce by some peoples and races, such as the English " J" by the Scandinavians, STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 15 the aspirate "H" by some English, the "B" by the Chinese, the i ' TH ' ' and Gutteral sounds by many peo- ple. These sounds are sparsely used in GAB. The English consonantal pronunciation is used thru- out. The only changes are in the Phonography, where- in the English Alphabet needs clarifying. No Letter in GAB has more than one sound: all present useless letters are re-arranged or are re-used for the representation of double consonants. LIST OF CONSONANTAL LETTERS. With their names in English and placed in their natural order. B be P pe D de T te F ef V ve G ge C ke S se Z ze J je Y ye L el M em N en R air H aitch Q kwoo X eks REMARKS. There are no additional Letters; so the present gal- ley can be used in printing. All the present Letters are used; but the following are used or pronounced in a different way from the English : G is always hard. The S sound of ' < C " is dropt and "C" takes the place of ' * K. M Reason : It is a much easier letter to make and is much more artistic. V is used for a Consonant as well as for the short Vowel U as it was in olden times. Y is also used as a Consonant at the commencement of words. 10 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE R, as well as being made the sign for the Neuter Vowel, is also used as a Consonant. It is not pro- nounced with a rolling or burr sound and "L" or "W" is often substituted. Q and X are used for combinations of consonants as shown. For TH "F," "D," "Z," or "T" is generally substituted. SEC. 2 GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX. TALK is the Art of combining VOCABLES into words and Words into Sentences so that they may be used for the inter-communication of thoughts and ideas. From Icelandic Tala, to speak. To record these vocables so arranged we use the Art of WRITING and its substitutes, and the Art of ar- ranging LETTERS to form words is ORTHOGRAPHY or SPELLING. Simple WORDS or ROOTS are modified by the use of certain AFFIXES or Additions ; when added to the beginning of a Word called Prefixes, when added to the end of words called Suffixes. The Rules governing these are GRAMMAR. The Science of Language gives us the PARTS OF SPEECH and their Offices. They are: Verbs, Nouns and Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Prepositions. The Arrangement in a SENTENCE is : 123 SUBJECT PREDICATE OBJECT noun verb noun Arrangement of Sentence with Qualifiers and Modi- fiers is as follows: STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 17 (a) adjectives (b) noun or pronoun (c) preposi- tional adjective (d) adverb (e) verb (f) adjectives (g) noun or pronoun (h) prepositional adjectives. The Modifying and Qualifying words and phrases are Adjectives for nouns and Adverbs for verbs, adjec- tives, adverbs. EXAMPLE. (A) Intelligent (B) people (C) of all nationalities (D) very easily (E) learn (F) a simple and uniform (G) language (H) like Gab. Inflexions, conjugations and declensions are practi- cally abolished. The Grammar and Syntax are made as UNIFORM as possible consistent with Euphony; the Meaning being got at by the RELATIVE POSI- TION of Parts of Speech; both in their relation to one another and in a sentence. 1. VERBS. The Verb is the WORD proper of the Sentence, representing DOING and BEING. The 1st the Active voice; the 2nd the Passive. There is no difference in inflexion between the Active and Passive Verbs in Gab. From the VERB is derived a corresponding Noun, Adjective and Adverb; spelt the same or very simi- larly, e. g. : Tu LIV has LYF (the noun), LYV (the adjective), LYVLI (the adverb). Tenses and Moods are got from the Root by AUXILIARY WORDS and there is no Person, Num- ber nor Participles; excepting the Past Tense which is made from the verb by the suffixes d, ed, or t. Auxiliary Words are DID, WIL and CAN. 18 STAND ARD WORLD LANGUAGE TENSES : only Past, Present and Future. Tu LUV. Past Present Future Active Me luvd Me luv Me wil luv Passive Me b luvd Me b luv Me wil b luv The auxiliary "did" may be used for Past Tense for emphasis or convenience. MOOD Besides the Assertive Mood above given there is the POTENTIAL Mood, made by prefixing CAN. Tu CAN DU. Past Present Future Yu did can du Yu can du Yu wil can du Prefix UN for the opposite ; e. g., UNDU to reverse what has been done. UNLUV to hate. 2. NOUNS. Inflexions are as Follows : (a) NUMBER. Add suffix Z to singular. Exam- ples dog, dogz; fli, flyz; box, boxez. (b) GENDER. Generally no distinction is made for Gender, but when a distinction is required; suffix MAN, masc. MAM, fern, for Humans, for Animals prefix HE, masc., e. g., Goot, Hegoot. (c) CASE. Use preposition OF for possessive Case. Appropriate Prepositions to be used in other cases. . (d) VERBAL NOUNS. Adding IN to a Verb changes it into a Noun. Example: Mix Mixin. (e) Suffix R to represent the Occupation or Busi- ness of a person, e. g., from Count COUNTR, an Accountant. STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 19 3. PRONOUNS. PERSONAL PRONOUNS have Person only. Singular: ME, YU, IT. Plural: WE, YU, M. Possessive Case is same as the Nominative, e. g., Me bvc My book. CONNECTIVE or RELATIVE Pronouns: used as in English. TIT, TAT - This, That; WOT = what; W = who, which; QOD = that which. 4. ADJECTIVES. Generally the same Word as the corresponding Noun. Made known as an Adjective by being placed immedi- ately before the Noun it qualifies. COMPARISON is made by prefixing MO, MOOS. Example: Big, Mobig, Moosbig. Suffix ABL is used when a thing is able or ought to be DONE. Example: EETABL = eatable. Other affixes are named in the Vocabulary. 5. ADVERBS. Are sometimes made from Verbs by suffixing LI or I, as Sense or Euphony requires it, and are generally placed immediately in front of the Verbs they qualify. Adverbs are also to precede the Adjective, Adverb, and Prepositional Phrases they qualify. The intensitive is VELI. Example: Veli gvd man. 6. CONJUNCTIONS. Have no other office than to Connect other parts of Sentences and are used the same as in English. 20 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 7. PREPOSITIONS. A Preposition is placed before its Object; which is either a noun, pronoun or pronominal adjective. SEC. 3 ORTHOGRAPHY AND LEXICOGRAPHY. In GAB the spelling is absolutely PHONETIC; that is, it always follows the Sound of each Vocable. By adopting Phoneticism it is easily seen, by looking at nearly all words and sentences spelt phonetically and comparing them with those spelt in the usual form, the enormous saving in time, space and energy. In regard to Lexicography the majority of the Words in the Vocabulary are those of the English Tongue generally of Anglo-Saxon stock. Words from other tongues are used when they express the thought better or when a word in English has two or more meanings or when the English word is difficult of sounding or gruff. Colloquial words are those adopted, especially those used by wayfaring men. The shorter the word the better for action; so the words are mostly monosyllabic. It is premature at this time to make a complete Vocabulary. We shall therefore confine ourselves to enough to illustrate the principles underlying its for- mation and leave the making of a DEFINITIVE Dictionary until the time when a proper deliberation can be given to the matter and a consensus of all those interested can be obtained. Most of them being English words with English meanings written phonetically according to the GAB Alfabet, it is unnecessary to list them here, excepting a few to illustrate their appearance in GAB guise. STANDAED WORLD LANGUAGE 21 Other words are abbreviated from English words and others taken from different languages. Of these only those much used in Talking are given now; leav- ing the balance to be filled in afterwards for the reasons given above. THE GAB ALPHABET. AAAAABSDEEEFp*GH ah a ab aw be se de e ed ef ve ge uh YIJCLMNOOOPRZT i-ye it je ke el em en op o pe air ze te YU U V W Q X AI AU u ut oot oo kwu eks oy ow * The sign p is offered for the consonantal t( V. ' ' y however is used in the Vocabulary for the present. Altho this Alphabet is not exactly scientific it is a good and useful compromise. TABLE 1 ONE LETTER WORDS. A Scot. li A ' ' all, everything, Universe A Eng. "eh" interrogatory J she A awe, wonder C key, insight B to be, existence L element S Sea M them (col. "urn") D Scot, "de," to die N and (col. "un") E he O French, water F effort, power R air G Greek "Ge," the Earth Z the (ze) H aspiration, spirit, breath T tea I eye, to see W who Y ye, you X example 22 STANDAED WORLD LANGUAGE It will be noticed that the letter words stand for Elementals; such as at the commencement the Uni- verse which we first question and then wonder at : and so on thruout the whole list. TABLE 2. EXAMPLES OF ENGLISH WORDS SPELT PHONETICALLY. A F, half FVT, foot A M, arm FWL, fool AAJ, age FVL, full AT, aught, anything FYND, find BAAC, bake GES, guess BAG, balk G A DN, garden BI, buy HAT, heart BLANCET, blanket HA US, house BOOT, boat HAS, horse BVC, book HEVN, heaven B A I, boy HED, herd BUTE, butter INC, ink BWT, boot YS, ice SCI, sky JOLI, jolly SCWL, school J A I, joy SNO, snow CAM, calm ST A T, start CAAE, care STOON, stone COOM, comb D A C, dark CUM, come D A , door CULCHE, culture DI, dye CAU,cow EEZI, easy LAAS, lace EEVN, even LYC, like EB, ebb LYT, light FAAS, face MAAT, mate F AC, fork MATE, matter STAND AED WORLD LANGUAGE 23 MILC, milk MAN, morn MWV, move NAAVI, navy NYT, night NOOZ, nose NWN, noon NU, new OD, odd GOLD, old PAT, part PA, paw, hand PLA, play PAC, pack PVDN, pudding QEERY, query QIT, quit QYUT, quiet RO, row, a line R A U, row, a quarrel RYT, right RONG, wrong T A , tar TAABL, table TOOTL, total TYM, time T A UN, town TUF, tough UTR, utter WOCH, watch WRLD, world WWD, wood WYND, wind, to twist YOT, yacht TABLE 3. SPECIMENS OF WORDS TAKEN FROM OTHER LANGUAGES THAN ENGLISH AND THE REASONS THEREFOR. AC, Fr. arc, arch SABE, Sp. understand; used on both sides of the Pacific SAL, Sp. salt SMA, Scot, small STAA, Dan. stand: (n) establishment DENT, L. tooth: to accord with derivatives Dentist, etc. FAM, Fr. and L. hunger O-fam, water-hunger, thirst FAC, L. make, manufacture (n) Fact, Factr, Factri, etc. 24 STAND AED WOELD LANGUAGE FINEE, Fr. finish: does away with hissing sound "sfc" COL, Sp. cabbage: xliort whence ColiflAur LAE, Sp. to read no confusion with reed and red LOOCO, Sp. crazy PAN, Fr. bread: smoother PLAZA, Sp. an open place TABW, taboo, prohibit TABLE 4. SPECIMENS OF NEW WORDS, ABBREVIATED AND ALTERED ENGLISH WORDS, WORDS WITH EXTENDED APPLICA- TION, AND COLLOQUIAL AND SLANG WORDS- The changes in English words are generally in the direction of toning them down to make them more easily pronounced by other nations and to make a dis- tinction between words of different meanings but now spelt the same. Some words are accompanied by derivatives to show the methods used to make the same. A TZ, arts BIZ, business, busy BUST, explode, (a) busti, explosive BEUT, beautiful being BEEE, brother SELE, merchant sel, a sale SIS, sister SPAUZ, a married person SPUD, potato STUNG, deceived STUNT, exhibition SUF, suffice, enough SON, son SEN, daughter i STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 25 DA, dare (U. S. A. South) DA, day DAZ OV Z WEEC Munda, Teusda, Wenzda, Trzda, Fryda, Satrda, Sunda DIN, noise DINT, strike (n) power EETS, meals FEND, protect (n) friend FO, to antagonize, an enemy FINC, think, a thought FING, thing FIT, strong, capable UNFIT, tired FUL, (suffix) full of, e. g., givful = generous FOOC, folk, people GAL, girl GAB, garb, dress GET ME, comprehend my idea GIT, to make oneself scarce GIV, gift, givr, givee = receiver GY, josh, make fun of GO, (n) activity GOB, sailor HEFT, to weigh, hefty HEHE, laugh HYC, take a walking trip YGL, looking glass IUN, iron IN, suffix for noun of action or verbal noun, e. g., I, to see: YIN, a look CELR, cellar: to distinguish from Seller CID, to banter: (n) child CULT, religion CYC, cook; CYCN, kitchen 26 STAND AED WORLD LANGUAGE CRAB, scold: crabr: crabi LUG, drag, draw: LUGIJ luggage MA, mother MAT, mart, market, exchange MEM, to make note of; remember; NOMEM = forget MEEL, flour MEUZ, mews, stable MOOT, to move by machinery MUT, stupid NO, negative, e. g., NOMYLD, severe; NOWYD, nar- row; NOSABE, don't know PA, father PEP, pepper: (fig) vim PAT, carry: COMPAT, behave QEER, to knock out; (a) not normal QIT, to give up AR, to row, (n) an oar RVM, EETRVM, diningroom; TACRVM, parlor, etc.; SELRVM, store ; BIZRVM, office TAG, speak to; LOT AC, whisper; SMATAC, small talk; HYTAC, loud talk; PL A ANT AC, explana- tion; TUT AC, both talk-argue; A TAG, general conversation TWL, to use tools or machines; a machine: instru- ment; TWLR, a mechanic ; L AATHTWL, RIVET- TWL, etc. TUMI, stomach UNO, Uncle UN, (prefix) undo - reverse WA, road, street; A SWA, WAGNWA, FVTWA (trail), RAALWA, etc., WAGOER, a traveller WAAN, to diminish WAP, wrap STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE 27 WIT, to know, (n) wisdom YEP, yes A US, house, home; WAARAUS, warehouse; BIZ- AUS, office building; EETAUS, restaurant; GESTAUS, hotel; PL A A US, theatre. PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS. In re- gard to these, for the present the English ones are adopted; with some abbreviations and changes for the sake of euphony and distinction. For example: HYND, behind; VOR, before; YOND, beyond; CAUZ, because, etc. YOR is chosen to dis- tinguish it from FA, for. HYND A, tomorrow; VORDA, yesterday; OFT, often; NOTOFT, seldom. AFFIXES. The most used affixes and inflexions have been already mentioned or alluded to. Those indi- cating Abstractions, such as ' ( hood, ' ' ' i dom, " tf ism ' ' are not generally required in everyday talk. We conclude by giving a few specimens of shortcuts and idioms. CUTAUT, to remove; FESTGAB. after dinner talk; GETBI, to get over difficulty success- fully; GIME, give me; GO TU IT, pitch in. As an example of the appearance of GAB in print we give the following excerpt from the Bible. ' ' In z beginin beed z Wrd, n z Wrd beed with God, n z Wrd beed God. Afings b maad bi it; n with- Aut it nufing b maad tat b maad. In it b lyf ; n z lyf b z lyt ov Man. ' ' ' ' In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by it; and without it nothing was made that was made. In it was life; and the life was the light of Man. ' ' 28 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE CONCLUSION AH stated in the beginning the object of this treatise is to make a Tongue for the common use of all the peoples of the Globe. To attain that object we have laid down certain Principles and Ideas that must govern it and applied those principles to a Tongue appropriate to those Ideas, of which the chief is Simplicity, and have given a Description showing the Construction of such a tongue concluding with a synoptic Vocabulary illus- trating its use. To carry this work to fruition is no light task but nevertheless it can be done; for Humanity, with its 20th century experience and organization can surely do it if it wishes and sets its mind to it, helped out by the wonderful progress in the Mechanical Sciences conducive to swift locomotion and communication be- tween every part of this, our world ; such as the use of Electricity for the carrying of articulate sounds by the Telephone and Phonograph and their representatives by the wirely and wireless Telegraf bringing all the Peoples in touch with one another, annihilating dis- tances and thus doing away with dislikes and preju- dices due to isolation. These things are bringing before the whole human race the great benefit accruing from a common lan- guage and the danger resulting from the lack of it as when communicating between ships of different nation- alities at sea. The average educated person may object to the un- couthness and rudeness of GAB and probably consider it a going back to unculture; but he must remember that these qualities are only relative. There is intrin- STAND AED WORLD LANGUAGE 29 sieally no more rudeness, for example, in the Anglo- Saxon "stink" than in the Latin "effluvium." The Norman-French happened to impose their rule upon the Anglo-Saxons so the latter 's language was tabu in polite society and considered vulgar. Most of our American colloquialisms are, however, of that tongue and therefore it has been thought proper to use them freely. We must look at this thing from the standpoint of those who know not English (which are those for whom GAB is made) and we will understand that what may appear barbaric to us will not be noticed as out of the way by them. Also we must remember that GAB is not meant to exploit Ehetoric, Poesy, or Scientific dis- cussion; altho, by development along the proper lines, it could be made into a language fit for these things. We now leave this matter in the hands of our Eead- ers to continue and amend, and if they are in accord with its object to push it along so that it may be gotten before the Congress of the United States of the World for action when it meets; otherwise the flood of ignorance threatening to overwhelm the World may get such headway that it may become impossible to stem it, for: "While timorous Knowledge stands considering, Audacious Ignorance hath done the deed." Musop hi lus . 30 STANDARD WORLD LANGUAGE To achieve the ends put forward in this pamphlet it is necessary for those who agree with such ends to get together. A World Language Society has been formed and it is the intention to establish branches of that society in all the cities of the world. The object of the " WORLD LANGUAGE SOCIETY " is to receive ideas from all on the subject, so that the same may be co-ordinated and made into an acceptable result to present to the peoples of the World ; to bring the subject to the attention of all the Governments of the world so that mutual action may be taken by them, and to do everything to exploit these means. "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever- growing insistency." Copies of this work will be supplied to clubs at special rates. Correspondence on the subject is invited. Address to the Author, W. JONES CUTHBERTSON, Secretary of " WORLD LANGUAGE SOCIETY, ' ' 2265 Market Street, San Francisco. \. 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