Re: [glosalist] The international language Ido

At 09:25 AM 6/6/03 -0000, Roberto grafo:

The international language Ido - a general description

It would be very useful if we could talk with people in other countries, or correspond with them, as we can with people in our own country. However, the language barrier often makes this difficult if not impossible.

• Hello in English to all on this List. Were I to wrote in Glosa, woould Roberto read and understand it?

I think we all know the general theory that adoption of an IAL would bring humanity into one community. Though, I still don’t know if global power brokers would like this; and I suspect not.

Have spent (wasted?) many years discussing Comparative Interlanguage on various Lists - particularly Conlang - and conclude that the proponents of the various possible interlanguages can never reach agreement among themselves on the process by which a Lingua Munda is chosen .. or created .. I continue to promote the language that my personal psychology suggests to be the most suitable of those now on offer.

I would promote a play-off between the most likely interlanguages, but only if it was based on proper educational research principles, and only if it involved a test instrument that objectively measured the achievement of learners’ communication over a fixed period of time. Sorry Roberto, I am all argued out. At 66, if I am to do any good for human global communication, it will be through the promotion of Glosa - not through a detailed comparison of the various contenders.

My objective is to give my energies to making Glosa ready for such an educational research project .. not to dissipate them in further endless discussion that leads to no conclusion, and which cannot result in a new super-language through a melding of the best qualities of all of the interlanguages.

So, basically, Roberto, though it can be said that …

Ido carries forward where Esperanto left off … what has any of that to do with this very Glosalist?

Those who have experienced Ido know how good it is being able to concentrate on what you want to say and not having to think, at the same time, about how you have to say it.

• And, while this is probably so for someone who has developed fluency in Ido, it will probably be so, also - if not moreso - for somebody who develops fluency in Glosa. Be it known that this Glosalist is set up expressly for the purpose of raising Glosa to the level of a completed language, with standard text books of its own and communities of speakers of its own. Owing to history, the older Espernto and Ido have a head start: Glosa needs to work faster, not slower, to make up for this historical time differential; and thus, there really is no time available for Comparative Interlinguistics on this List. Were Glosalistas to be lured away to Ido, it should have happened by now. I would like to say that I urge people who are looking into Glosa to apply themselves .. on this Mail List .. directly to the question of completing Glosa as an international offering. For those energetic souls wishing to compare and contrast Glosa with other interlanguages, I would urge you to do so on other Mailing Lists. Of course, like all languages, Glosa is not perfect; so, for the express purpose of improving it, lessons can be learnt from the experience of other, mainly earlier, interlanguages, and such discussion can be useful. However, with the Hogben, Clark/Ashby and Glosalist developments, the basic criteria of the language are near completion, if not already there. Thus, I envisage little benefit from comparative methods, and major breakthroughs from the setting up of a total language experience. This suggests the urgency of establishing a speaking/writing community and the creation of dictionaries, early reader books, and a range of instructional material.

With apologies again for writing, here, in English.  However, while conceptual communication, like the above, is possible in Glosa now, it would take a while to write, and only a few would persevere to read it.

So, na sio uti na tem ko ma avantage per grafo e lekto uti Glosa.

• To continue with Roberto’s post:- Read Roberto’s sentences, and imagine the word “Glosa” going in where he has written Ido. If we create this projection .. and set about realising it, then Roberto’s contribution, here, will not have been wasted:- %

  So much for the theory, but how does it work in practice? International gatherings of people who speak Ido have taken place in a number of countries and have demonstrated that the idea really works in practice.

  There are many publications in or about Ido, including vocabularies and grammar books for speakers of a variety of languages from Swedish to Japanese. There is even a surprising amount of poetry in Ido, including a wonderful ‘heroical-comical’ story in verse (Andreas Juste’s La Serchado). There is a new world waiting to be discovered by anyone who makes the small effort required to understand this remarkable language.

• However, while I know that using Glosa must be fun, I have given up the idea of disadvantaging the language by relegating it to “hobby” status:-

  Using the language is a hobby in itself of course, as well as a way of contributing to better understanding in the world. Maybe so, but I suggest that there really ought be a greater sense of urgence about the project. Having Glosa as a hobby is quite a legitimate idea, but if all on the List adopt this approach, the Clark dream will continue to remain unfulfilled.

Saluta,

Robin Gaskell To help with usage, I use:- GLOSA 6000 - 6000 Greek and Latin Words and Roots, 1992, Glosa Download (144pp) Glosa Internet Dictionary (GID): English - Glosa, 2000, Glosalist [now updated on Marcel’s website] Greek dictionary Latin Dictionary & common sense, inherent language ability, and the idea of Chomsky’s “Universal Language”