UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. The term international lan guage is generally used to denote a second, or auxiliary, language for international use. The concept has been a constant one, as we are reminded by the story of the curse of Babel; but the ancient and modern solutions have a crucial point of differentiation. For merly the universal language was the language of the conqueror, and that concept has been urged in modern times in support of French, as the traditional language of diplomacy, and of English, as that of commerce. The modern world, however, tends to favor the adoption of some new linguistic medium, because it has been found that such a medium is easy to use and because it is inoffensive to national pride.
Greek, Latin and Arabic have had, at various times, the status of international languages. French occupied a similar position, particularly in the 18th and early 19th centuries, in diplomacy, social life and literature ; it is still the usual international lan guage of Europe and the Levant. English, however, has come to share the prestige of French in diplomacy, while in the Orient the normal international language is English, often in the debased forms known as Pidgin (q.v.), or "business" English. Italian was used as the basis for a similar international commercial lan guage in the Mediterranean countries during the Crusades, and has persisted in common use under the designation lingua franca. The international language of high local prestige has been a constant phenomenon along linguistic frontiers : the Chinook of the Columbia river valley and the "pidgin" Malay of Polynesia are examples in point.
Of some 200 schemes for the creation of a suitable language on scientific principles the vast majority are projects only. They may be roughly divided into (a) a priori (philosophical, arbitrary) and (b) a posteriori (based on one or more existing languages).
Most early schemes were of the a priori type alluded to by Roget in his Thesaurus. Solresol, based on the seven notes of the scale (1817), Lingualumina (1875), Blaia Zimondal (1884), Cabe aban (1887), Zahlensprache (19oI) are more recent examples. Such schemes are based on a classification of ideas translated into words bearing no relation to any other language. Obviously they depend on the caprice of the inventor; though usable as codes, they impose a great strain on the memory. One such scheme still
advocated is Ro, invented in 1904 by the Rev. P. Foster. It has some vocabularies, a monthly sheet Roia, and as literature the first chapter of St. John.
It is, however, now generally agreed that the international lan guage must be a posteriori. It should be international, easy for all, neutral, euphonious, phonetic, flexible, unambiguous, logical, regu lar, adaptable, and must be tested by long-continued practical use on a large scale.