Glosa

SPOKEN BY

Glosa is spoken by those who wish to communicate through an auxiliary language.

DOCUMENTED BY

Interglossa was invented by a versatile scientist, Lancelot Hogben (1895–1975), who saw it as an auxiliary language (auxlang), one that would contribute to communication between speakers of different languages without requiring them to give up their native tongues. Ronald Clark and Wendy Ashby worked on Interglossa to make it easier to use. After Hogben died and could no longer approve their changes, Clark and Ashby broke off on their own with Glosa.

BEHIND THE WORDS

Glosa is an international auxiliary language. Ashby and Clark tested the language in the “laboratory” setting of their hometown until 1979, before going public.

DERIVATION OF THE LANGUAGE

Glosa is derived from Interglossa, another international language.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE

Words always retain their original form, no matter what role they play in a sentence (that is, Glosa is a noninflected language).

Grammatical function is determined by word order and by operator words, making it similar to Chinese and several other East Asian languages.

Complex words are created by putting together basic words.

Glosa uses a standard subject-verb-object structure.

Pronunciation is similar to Italian, with some German influences.

A TASTE OF THE LANGUAGE

aqa (noun)—water

avi (noun)—bird

blada (noun)—dagger

civita (noun)—city

domi (noun)—home

fero (verb)—to bring

fluvi (noun)—river

frigi-tem (noun)—winter

heli (noun)—summer

koragi (adjective)—brave

morta (noun)—death

piro (noun)—fire

piski (noun)—fish

poda (noun)—leg

rubi (adjective)—red

serpenti (noun)—serpent

vespera-vora (noun)—dinner

vora (verb)—to eat

zona (noun)—ring

SOME USEFUL PHRASES

Qo-mode nomina/nima vi? (What is your name?)

Qe vi dice Glosa? (Do you speak Glosa?)

A vi eu-sani. (Here’s to your health.)

Qo-mode iti vi? (How are you?)

NUMBERING SYSTEM

mo—one

bi—two

tri—three

tet—four

pen—five

six—six

set—seven

ok—eight

nona—nine

dek—ten

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Na parenta in Urani; na volu;

tu nima gene revero.

Tu krati veni; tu tende gene akti

epi Geo homo in Urani Place;

don a na nu-di na di-pane;

e Tu pardo na plu mali akti.

Metro na pardo mu; qui akti

mali de na.

E ne dirige na a plu moli ofere;

sed libe na ab mali.

Ka Tu tena u krati, u dina

e un eufamo pan tem.

Amen.

PHILOLOGICAL FACT

Lancelot Hogben, the original inventor of Glosa, was an Englishman and a secular humanist, as well as a member of both the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party. Concerning modern developments in language, he observed in his “Vocabulary of Science”: The world-wide vocabulary of Science is the nearest thing to the lexicon of a truly global Language that Mankind has yet achieved. It derives its words from two dead languages—Greek and Latin.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING THE LANGUAGE

Go to the Glosa web page (www.glosa.org/en) to learn about Glosa.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Review the works listed above, the resources listed in the bibliography, and the web page: Glosa (www.glosa.org).

SPEAKING OF LANGUAGES

There is no such thing as an ugly language. Today I hear every language as if it were the only one, and when I hear of one that is dying, it overwhelms me as though it were the death of the earth.

—Elias Canetti