Glosa

Glosa is an isolating international auxiliary language (sometimes called an auxlang or an "IAL"), meaning that there are no inflections.

Professor Lancelot Hogben devised Interglossa (notice the double s in "Interglossa") while fire-watching on the roof of Aberdeen University during a war.[1] He was inspired to remove all inflections from Interglossa by the publication of Latino Sine Flexione by Peano in 1905 but thought that the list of vocabulary was too extensive to be of much use as an IAL. For this reason he made Interglossa's vocabulary much more basic. A draft of Interglosa was originally published by Hogben (by the publishing company Pelican Books in London) in 1943 as "Interglossa: A draft of an auxiliary for a democratic world order, being an attempt to apply semantic principles to language design". In this book Hogben listed 880 classical words and roots that he believed would easily suffice in basic conversation.

After receiving permission, Ronald Clark (who discovered Interglossa in one of the rare Pelican-published books) and Wendy Ashby worked to refine Interglossa in order to make it more easily usable in all possible forms of communication (id est: spoken, written, etc.). In 1972, Clark the first paper on Glosa was officially published- marking the beginning of it's "true" existance. In this publication, Glosa, based on Interglossa, was intended to be used as a means of communication of and between the global scientific community. In 1975, Hogben died. After this point Clark and Ashby decided to rename the language (because any changes that they made could not be approved by Hogben) to Glosa and make the spelling phonetic (including making double vowels and consonants rarely occur).

Until about 1979, Ashby and Clark tested conceptual deliniations of the language using local volunteers to test it in the town inwhich they were living. During this period, vocabulary items and the details of sentence formation were developed and revised. They had moved to a new town by the time they had published the first Glosa dictionary.

In Glosa, words remain always in their original form, no matter what function they actually have in the sentence. The same word can function as a verb, noun, adjective or preposition within reason. Grammatical functions are taken over by some operator words and the word order (syntax). Subject-Verb-Object order is standard, and generally, "adjectives" precede "nouns", and the "verbs" follows the tense particles and the "adverbs". Glosa is written with the Latin alphabet without special characters, there are no double vowels or consonants.

In order to ease recognition and use, the words of Glosa are taken from Latin and Greek, and are related to many languages including east-Asiatic languages like Chinese (the closest natural language where grammatically multi-functional words are present), Creole languages from Africa, pidgin languages and to an extent English.

It has now been identified as "a language suitable for adoption as the International Auxiliary Language (IAL) alternatively, the World's Common Second Language". [2]

Alphabet and phonology

Unlike several other auxiliary languages, Glosa uses the letters q, x and a c that makes the 'ch' sound in "church". It lacks a [ʒ] character. It also lacks a single letter/symbol for the 'sh' sound in "short". J makes the y sound found in "yell" or "yak". G and S are always "hard" (goat and, respecively, hiss/snake). Glosa contains three basic digraphs: /ks/ x, /kw/ q(u), and /ʃ/ sc.

Consonants				Vowels		Digraphs
IPA	spelling	IPA	spelling	IPA	spelling	IPA	spelling
/p/	p	/b/	b	/a/ or /æ/	a	/ks/	x 1
/t/	t	/d/	d	/i/ or /ɪ/	i	/kw/	q(u)
/g/	g	/k/	k	/u/ or /ʌ̟/	u	/ʃ/	sc
/m/	m	/n/	n	/e/ or /ɛ/	e	/ŋ/	n + velar 2
/f/	f	/v/	v	/ɔ/ or /o/	o
/s/	s	/z/	z	/aɪ/	y
/h/	h	/j/	j
/r/	r	/l/	l
/tʃ/	c	/w/	w

¹Though not technically a digraph in Glosa, phonetically "x" is one.

²This practice is generally unprefered but is used in order to simplify pronounciation and writng/typing/spelling ease.

Several diphthongs can occur in Glosa, depending on pronounciation:

Diphthoŋs
IPA	spelling
/ɔɪ/	oj/oi/oe
/aʊ/	au/aw
/aɪ/	aj/ai/y
/eɪ/	ej/ei/e
/j/ + vowel	i + vowel
/w/ + vowel	u + vowel

Accent

The stress/accent should be placed on the ultimate vowel unless if the word ends in a vowel. If this is the case the stress should be placed on the last vowel before the last consonant.

Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

English	Glosa
I	mi
You (singular)	tu
you (plural)	vi
He	an
She	fe
It	id
He/She/It	anfeid/ge(r)
We	na
One	pe
oneself (reflexive)	se

Grammar and word formation

Glosa contains two major groups of words:

Primitives: the small number of basic function words present in most languages - these allow us to describe the relationships between the major concepts we convey. These are basically prepositions and conjunctions, such as: de [of], e [and], pre [before], supra [above], sub [under; below; lower; beneath; lesser; somewhat].

Substantives: the list of words representing the more complex things, actions and descriptions (sometimes usable for all three) present in a language, such as: via [road], kurso [run], hedo [happy], vide [see], celera [swift], tako [fast; quick; swift; brisk; hasty; prompt; hurry; nimble; rapid; rapidity; rate; speed; haste; sprint; quick; speedy; velocity]; oku [eye]. Please note that many of these words have multiple meanings, based on how they are used in a sentence (verb, adjective, etc.)- exempli gratia: "oku" can mean "eye", "optical", "to notice with the eyes", "see (look)", "perceive (with the eyes)", or "to peep".

In order to form a composite word in Glosa, one just combines existing words. For example:

pe - person who does/person (short form of persona)

an - male (from andros)

fe - female

do - place of/place (from domo meaning house)

lo - loction, place of

• Therefore a student is stude-pe (one who studies), a male student is stude-an, a female student is stude-fe and a place of students (school, library, etc.) is a stude-do. Likewise a hospital is pato-do (from the word pathology but meaning sickness), literally meaning a house/place of disease.

tegu - cover; ceiling; (to)shutter; deck; lid (cover); eclipse; (to) shelter; casing

oku-tegu - eyelid

agri - field, countryside

agri-lo - farm

a-celera - accelerate (to [move, change] to[ward] swiftness)

Meals can also be formed by noun-compounding:

evening = vespera

to eat, to devour = vora

dinner, supper = vespera-vora

Phrases, the basic unit of recognizable meaning in Glosa, follow a "Subject+Verb+(Object)" order but are also "Substantive Final", which means that they start with the least important word, and are followed by additional words combining progressively to extend the meaning of the substantive, which comes last.

Word Derivation [3]

Generally, the following derivation rules apply when forming new words in Glosa. Some basic words (often that act as specificational prefixes) are shortened (such as "an", "fe", or "pe").

Indefinite words remain as they are (ad, de, si, kata).

Derivational Rules (from Latin origin)
Latin Ending	Glosa Ending	Example
-a, -ae (from ablativus)	-a	silva (forest)
-us, -us	-u	manu (hand)
-is, -is	-i	turi (tower, turret)
adjectives: -us/-a/-um	-o	karo (dear)
verbs: -ere	-e	face (to make, build, commit)
verbs: -are	-a	lauda (to praise, esteem, applause)
verbs: -ire	-i	veni (to arrive)

• Latin o-declination-words become the nominativus plural. Therefore:

-us, -i ending are adapted to -i ending (rami, soni, tubi)

-er, -ri become -ri (libri)

-um, -i are -a ending in Glosa (exempla)

• Words built from the perfect-tense-radix become -i (cepti, fluxi, komposi)

• Latin -io, -ionis are not changed to the ablativus-ending (-ione) but keep the nominatives -io (natio, okasio, petitio, religio, tensio).

• The same occurs when deriving from Greek (however, Greek lacks an ablativus so the dativus is used instead):

-os, -u become -o (fobo, orto).

• Occasionally the Greek aorist-root is taken instead of present-tense-root (gene).

• Greek verbs become -o (1st person singular) such as: skizo.

• Species names keep nominativus (equs, ursus).

Any time Greek CH, Y, TH and PH occur they become K, I, T and F respectively in Glosa.

Verbs

Most words can act as verbs, depending on their places in the sentence.

To show that a verb is in the past tense, add "pa" before the verb.

To indicate the future tense, add "fu" before the verb.

Example of Verb Tenses
Tense	Glosa Text	English Translation
Simple Past	Mi pa lektu u biblo.	I (did) read the book
Simple Present	Mi lekto u bibli.	I (do) read the book.
Simple Future	Mi fu lekto u bibli.	I shall/will read the book.

Correlatives

A correlative is a word used to ask or answer a question of who, where, what, when, why, how or how much. Correlatives in Glosa are set in a semi-systematic manner with a particle of the compund indicating abstract quantity (what person or thing, what place, what time, for what reason, in what manner, what is the amount) and the prefix/other particle indicating the specific function of the word (exactly which, all, some, negating, etc.). There are other ways to say the following correlatives, the table just shows the most basic and systematic of these:

Table of Correlatives		Question (What)	Indication (This, that)	Indefinite (Some)	Universal (Each, every)	Negative (No)
		qo–	uno–	ali–	panto–	nuli–
Thing	–ra	qo-ra/qod (what)	uno-ra (this, that)	ali-ra (something)	panto-ra (everything)	nuli-ra (nothing)
Individual	–pe	qo-pe (who, which one; which [horse])	uno-pe (that one; that [horse])	ali-pe (someone; some [horse])	panto-pe (everyone; each [horse], all [horses])	nuli-pe (no one; no [horse])
Place	–lo	qo-lo/ubi (where)	uno-lo (there)	ali-lo (somewhere)	panto-lo (everywhere)	nuli-lo (nowhere)
Manner	–mode	qo-mode (how, as)	uno-mode (thus, as)	ali-mode (somehow)	panto-mode (in every way)	nuli-mode (no-how, in no way)
Reason	(pro) –ka	qo-ka (why)	uno-ka (therefore, that reason)	ali-ka (for some reason)	panto-ka (for all reasons)	nuni-ka (for no reason)
Time	–kron/tem	qo-kron/qo-tem (when)	uno-kron (then)	ali-kron (sometime, whenever)	panto-kron (always)	nuli-kron (never)
Amount	–qanto	(qo-)qanto (how much)	uno-qanto (that much)	ali-qanto (some, a bit)	panto-qanto (all of it)	nuli-qanto (none)
Quality	–qali	(qo-)qali (how much)	uno-qali (that good)	ali-qali (some quality)	panto-qali (all qualities)	nuli-qali (no good)

What is the time? = Qo horo? Which (of) = de qi

• To indicate that a statement is really an interrogative, one places "qe" at the beginning of the sentence.

Sample and Useful Words

Hello! = Ave!

Hello, greetings, saltutations = Saluta

welcome = Bene-veni

Place! = Please!

Sorry! = Pardo! Penite!

What is your name? = Qo-mode nomina/nima vi? (literally: How are you named?)

My name is... = Mi nomina/nima es...

Where am I = Qo-lo es mi?

How much? = Qanta?

Do you speak Glosa = (Qe) Dice vi Glosa? / Qe vi dice Glosa?

I don't understand you = Mi ne logi/kompreni vi.

Thank you = Gratia

You're welcome = De nuli. (literally: Of nothing)

Here's to your health = A vi eu-sani.

Bless you!/Gesundheit! = Eu-sani (de vi)!

It is a nice day = Es u bene di.

I love you = Mi amo vi.

Goodbye = Vale.

What is that? = Qo(-id) es u-la?

That is... = U-la es...?

How are you? = Qo-mode iti vi? (literally: In what way are you going?)

Good morning! = Boni matina!

Good evening! = Boni po meso-di! (literally: Good after mid-day)

Good night! = Boni noktu!

Good night, sweet dreams = Boni kli/Boni (plu) sonia.

Ne pote detekti u defekti. = I can't find an error.

well/be well = Vale

good/well = Boni/bene/eu

well (healthy) = Sani

A cat, the cat = U feli

Cats = Plu feli

A/an/the (generally) = U (before all consonants but h); un (before vowels and h)

The (only used when precise specification is necessary) = Les

Numbers

The following table uses a period (.) to represent groups of three zeros (0).

Numerals

Arabic Numeral	English Name	Glosa Name	Exact Glosa-English Translation
0	zero	nuli/ze/zero	null; nullify; nothing; abolish; cancel; eliminate; naught; nil; no; repeal; zero
1	one	mo	one; single
2	two	bi	two; double
3	three	tri	three; triple
4	four	tet(ra)	four
5	five	pen(ta)	five
6	six	six(a)	six
7	seven	se(p)t(i)	seven
8	eight	ok(to)	eight
9	nine	nona	nine
10	ten	dek(a)	ten
11	eleven	mo-mo	one-one
12	twelve	mo-bi	one-two
20	twenty	bi-dek(a)	two-ten(s)
22	twenty-two	bi-dek(a)-bi	two-ten(s)-two
100	one hundred	(mo-)centi	(one) hundred
101	one hundred and one	(mo-)centi-mo	(one) hundred-one
1.000	one thousand	(mo-)kilo	(one) thousand
1.000.000	one million	(mo-)miliona	(one) million

• Note: Some use "hekto" for "hundred" instead of "centi". "Centi" is then used as "hundredth".
• Note: Some use "bi-ze" for 20 and, likewise, "pen-ze" for 50. Also, some use "dek(a)-mo", "dek(a)-bi", etc. for 11, 12, etc.

Example Text

• Glosa text (From: Prof. Hogben's Language Planning.[4])

"A prima vista posi id feno u no-spe ergo de face u verba-lista; qi fu sati panto nece volu de interkomunika; sed inklude ne ma de, posi, u kilo basi verba. U nova-papira uti minimo 20,000 verba; e in English mero de mikro English - French lexiko proxi 10,000 gene lista. Pe ne nece studi id mega tem te detekti u mega mero de lista es ne-nece.

U logika ge-face verba-lista sio apo multi sinonima alo proxi-sinonima, de qi Anglo-Amerika lingua es ple. Ex. little-small, big-large, begin-commence. Id ne nece tolera funktio imbrika homo band - ribbon - strip. Plus, id sio evita excesi specializa per face mo verba akti qod in Plu Palaeo Lingua gene face per tri alo ma. Exempla, u France demo nima un extra tegu de homi soma la peau, u-la de cepa la pelure; e u-la de botuli la cotte. Anti na es mei precise de France demo, na auto supra-kargo u lexiko per ko-responde seri skin - rind - jacket - peel. Kron na vide u difere inter thread - twine - cord - string - rope - tow na solo kumu nima epi nima pro qo es, a fini u metri-difere."

• English Translation:

"At first sight it may seem a hopeless task to construct a vocabulary that would cover all the essential words of intercommunication, yet contain not more than, say, a thousand basic words.

A modern newspaper assumes acquaintance with perhaps 20,000, and in the English section of a very humble English - French pocket dictionary some 10,000 are listed. It requires no lengthy scrutiny to discover that a large portion of the material is not essential."

Language sample for comparison

The following is the Lord's Prayer in Glosa and other languages:

Glosa version:	Esperanto version:	Ido version:	Latin version:	English (ELLC - 1988)
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.	Patro nia, kiu estas en la ĉielo, Via nomo estu sanktigita. Venu Via regno, plenumiĝu Via volo, kiel en la ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero. Nian panon ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ. Kaj pardonu al ni niajn ŝuldojn, kiel ankaŭ ni pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj. Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malbono. Amen.	Patro nia, qua esas en la cielo, tua nomo santigesez; tua regno advenez; tua volo facesez quale en la cielo tale anke sur la tero. Donez a ni cadie l'omnidiala pano, e pardonez a ni nia ofensi, quale anke ni pardonas a nia ofensanti, e ne duktez ni aden la tento, ma liberigez ni del malajo. Amen.	Pater noster, qui es in caelis: sanctificetur Nomen Tuum; adveniat Regnum Tuum; fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a Malo. Amen.	Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.

notice that in Glosa the word "sky" is derived from Greek (Uranus (God of the sky) -> Urani (sky)) while th'other language samples used a more Latin derived word (caelo/caelis)

External links

• Glosa, an International Auxiliary Language