Mario Pei: Wanted: A World Language

I have documented Mario Pei's contribution to interlinguistics (i.e. the field of study of the creation and adoption of a universal or international auxiliary language) in English and Esperanto.  Here is another noteworthy contribution to the popularization and advocacy of the idea:

Wanted: A World Language by Mario Pei

Pei's 1969 pamphlet is a condensed argument for the adoption of an international auxiliary language, outlining the history of the idea and the relevant projects, the various options and arguments pro and con, with an exposition of Esperanto, reading list, and directory.

Pei in his 1958 book One Language for the World treated this topic extensively and most comprehensively for the first time in English at least since A Planned Auxiliary Language by Henry Jacob (1947, following Jacob's 1946 On the Choice of a Common Language).

For more on this topic see my web pages:

• Esperanto & Interlinguistics Study Guide
• Philosophical and Universal Languages, 1600-1800, and Related Themes: Selected Bibliography

For an historical overview of the field with links to notable texts see:

International Auxiliary Languages

Note that my web page of Pei's pamphlet contains the corrected, current links to Pei's other works online.

One must not get the impression that Pei was a respected linguist. He was not. He was also a crank conservative, but at least not of the paranoid variety that rejected any manifestation of internationalism. This is probably a result of having to think in international terms in the fight against the Axis powers in World War II. Pei can at least be credited as a popularizer of languages, mutilingualism, and early 20th century linguistics, and as a leading popularizer and advocate of the quest for a universal language.

National Museum of Language Interview with R. Dumain

Now on the blog of the National Museum of Language:

Intellect as Equipment: Interview with Ralph Dumain,
July 28, 2016
(Interview has been edited and condensed.)

See my blog entry Presentation on Esperanto at the National Museum of Language for a description and video of the presentations James Ryan and I gave on Esperanto at the National Museum of Language in College Park, Maryland, on 10 May 2014, titled Esperanto: One of the World's Best Underutilized Ideas and Its Contributions to World Culture.

The unedited text of my interview along with my 2014 presentation can be found on my web site:

National Museum of Language: Interview & presentation on Esperanto by R. Dumain

Harmony of Babel

Harmony of Babel: profiles of famous polyglots of Europe
by Kató Lomb. translated from the Hungarian by Ádám Szegi, edited by Scott Alkir.
Berkeley; Kyoto: TESL-EJ Publications, 2013.

It should be no surprise that this is a Hungarian work. Hungary is not only linguistically isolated from Europe but for a large chunk of the 20th century it was the de facto cultural capital of the Esperanto movement.

Esperanto is mentioned by several interviewees. But see also especially the section "Does Latin have a present? Will Esperanto have a future?".

Contents: 

The Sun Is Shining 7

Polyglots: Old and New 11

Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti (1774 –1849) 19
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma (1784 –1842) 47
Rasmus Christian Rask (1787–1832) 51
Heinrich Schliemann (1822–1890) 52
Ármin Vámbéry (1832–1913) 57
Alexander Lenard (1910 –1972) 64

What Is the Good Language Learner Like? 69

An Imaginary Report on a Round Table of Polyglots 81

Introducing the participants 83
When can we say we know a language? 139
Which is the most important language skill:
     grammar, vocabulary, or good pronunciation? 148
What method did you use to learn languages? 153
Has it ever happened to you that you started
     learning a language, but could not cope with it? 162
What connection do you see between age and language learning?
Is your knowledge decreasing with age? 164
Does Latin have a present? Will Esperanto have a future? 169
Are there “easy” and “difficult,” “rich” and “poor,” “beautiful”
     and “less beautiful” languages? 179
What is multilingualism good for? 188

Why Is Language Instruction Ailing in Hungary? 197

Selected References 213

Srikanth Reddy's poem ‘Fundamentals of Esperanto’ unabridged

My previous post about Srikanth Reddy's poem included a link to the text and sound file of an extract from this poem. Here is a link to a sound file of the complete poem 'Fundamentals of Esperanto'.

For the most part I do not find this poem particularly poetic; it sounds like prose artificially divided into verses.

Note also Reddy's poem 'Corruption' with commentary by Andrew Wessels. Reddy's poem 'Corruption (II)' appears at Versoteque in streamed format, with an error: 'words' is rendered here as 'adverbs'. An excerpt from 'Corruption (II)' appears in The Conlanger's Library. Reddy recites both poems accompanying a post 'Found poetry' by Lydialyle Gibson.

All three poems were published in the volume Facts for Visitors (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004).

Probal Dasgupta's Esperanto translations of all three poems appear in the literary journal Beletra Almanako # 23, junio 2015.

Supre vi trovos retligojn (tekstojn kaj sonregistraĵojn) al la anglalingvaj originaloj de tri poemoj de Srikanth Reddy. Tradukoj de Probal Daŝgupto 'Elementoj de Esperanto', 'La koruptiĝo', kaj 'La koruptiĝo (II)' aperas en Beletra Almanako n-ro 23, junio 2015, p. 62-67, sub titolo 'Poemoj el ĝemela planedo pri Esperanto kaj pri la lingvaneco'.

Srikanth Reddy: ‘Fundamentals of Esperanto’ (poem)

Here is an amusing poem:

‘Fundamentals of Esperanto’ by Srikanth Reddy, PBS Art Beat, June 15, 2009

. . . with a sound file of the author reciting his poem.

Sciencfikcio en Esperanto (13): International Science Fiction (4)

International Science Fiction, no. 1, November 1967 (Galaxy Publishing Corporation): this is the first of the only two issues ever published. Here are the contents:

Cover art and interior illustrations by Jack Gaughan.
Editorial: "SF Film Festival" by Frederik Pohl.
U.S.S.R: "Wanderers and Travellers" by Arkady Strugatsky.
Special Feature: "Science Fiction Around the World".
Germany: "The Epsilon Problem" by Helmuth W. Mommers & Ernst Vleck.
France: "Uranus" by Michel Ehrwein.
Australia: "The Disposal Man" by Damien Broderick.
Italy: "Rainy Day Revolution No. 39" by Luigi Cozzi.
England: " Ecoysiac" by Robert Presslie.
U.S.S.R.: "Perpetual Motion" by Ily Varshavsky.
Netherlands: "They Still Jump" by J. L. Mahe.
Italy: "Witchcraft for Beginners: by F. C. Gozzini.
U.S.S.R.: " Homunculus" by Ilya Varshavsky.
Germany: "Monster" by Helmuth W. Mommers & Ernst Vleek.
England: "The Big Tin God" by Phillip E. High

Note the special feature:

From the Planet Earth:  "Science Fiction Around the World"
What's new in science fiction as reported by Our Men in Germany, Italy and the U.S.S.R.

This further breaks down into:

"Germany" by Walter Ernsting (19-21)
"The Soviet Union" by Julius Kagarlitsky, translated by Anne McCaffrey & Irina Poutiatine (21-26)
"Italy" by Luigi Cozzi (26-29)

Note also that the story from the Netherlands (91-100) is a translation from Esperanto by Clarkson Crane. The author is Jacques-Louis Mahé, more popularly known under his pen name "Lorjak."

More to come.

Sciencfikcio en Esperanto (12): International Science Fiction (3)

Mi enretigis la jenan novelon / I have digitized this story from International Science-Fiction, No. 2, June 1968:

“In 2112,” by J. U. Geisy & J. B. Smith, translated from Esperanto by Forrest J. Ackerman

Here is what Ackerman says at the end about its origin:

This antiquity, written in the year Tarzan was born in the pre-Gernsback prehistoric era of "different" stories and "offtrail" stories and "scientific romances," is from the early literature of Esperantujo (Homeland of Esperantists).

I would like to track down the Esperanto version of the story, if possible. / Mi volas trovi la esperantan originalon de ĉi tiu traduko.

Sciencfikcio en Esperanto (11): International Science Fiction (2)

There were only two issues of International Science Fiction published, in 1967 and 1968.  I will soon report on issue #1, but here are some key pages from issue #2:

International Science-Fiction, No. 2, June 1968: Cover, Contents, Editorial, Vietnam War Controversy

The countries & languages translated into English represented in this volume are: Netherlands, Austria, France, Poland, India, Chile, Italy, USSR, Esperanto.

The table of contents lacks a story printed in this issue, from Dutch: "Der Heisse Kosmonaut" by Gust Gils (pp. 41-42).

The Esperanto contribution is "In 2112" by J. U. Giesy & Junius B. Smith, translated by celebrated science fiction figure and Esperantist Forrest J Ackerman (pp. 93-97). There are two illustrations and a postscript by Ackermann, with a passage in Esperanto and an explanation of the origin of the story, which dates back to the early years of Esperanto, corresponding to the pre-Gernsback era of science fiction.

In his lead editorial, "The Balance of Ideas," Lester del Ray tackles the language barrier, particularly the unevenness in international communication, considering that English-speakers don't learn foreign languages, while the educated class elsewhere has learned English. English-speaking science fiction aficionados should be wary of provincialism. Pioneers of science fiction include not only Englishman H. G. Wells, Frenchman Jules Verne, but also Karel Čapek, who gave the world the "robot."

On my web page you can also find a graphic image of two rosters of science fiction authors lining up in opposing positions on the Vietnam War, which reached a critical point in 1968. The war hawks include John W. Campbell, Robert A. Heinlein, R. A. Lafferty, Larry Niven, Jack Vance, and other famous and not-so-famous authors. Opposing American participation in the Vietnam War are Ackerman, Isaac Asimov, Peter S. Beagle, Ray Bradbury, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Ray, Philip K. Dick, Thomas Disch, Harlan Ellison, Harry Harrison, Ursula K. LeGuin, Mack Reynolds, Gene Roddenberry, Joanna Russ, Robert Silverberg, and many others.

I should also note, in addition to the fiction, an article (not on my web page) by John R. Isaac, "Coming Age of Soviet Science Fiction" (pp. 35-41). The subject is Ivan Yefremov's Andromeda, which marks the emergence of Soviet science fiction as a serious genre. Isaac details this scenario of a future communist utopia, which is not crudely propagandistic, and could prove as appealing to us in the capitalist world as elsewhere.

International Language Review (1955-1968)

Jen la koncernaj retligoj:

International Language Review (issues listing + selected contents)

• “Signs and Symbols Could Have Saved the World” by Floyd Hardin
• Language and the Rhetorical Representation of Life by Floyd Hardin
• Circular: Letter to Floyd Hardin, October 3, 1958 from Mario Pei
• Quest for World Language Called Brawling Competition

50 numeroj de International Language Review estis eldonataj sub tiu titolo inter 1955 & 1968. Poste la redakcio, titolo, kaj karaktero de la revuo ŝanĝiĝis:

International Language Reporter, Vol. XV, 1^st Quarter 1969, No. 51. Continues International Language Review, incorporating Biophilist. Editor: John Ragsdale. Denver. Quarterly. Vols.15-16 (no. 51-58); 1st quarter 1969 - 4th quarter 1970.

Eco-Logos, vol. XVII, 1^st quarter 1971, no. 59. Continues International Language Reporter. Quarterly. Vols. 17-25 (no. 59-94); 1971-1979.

Mankas en mia kolekto n-roj 1, 3, 20, 22. Eventuale mi enretigos pluajn enhavaĵojn kiuj interesas min.

Estis/as multaj frenezuloj en la internacilingvaj movadoj. Ne ĉiuokaze temas pri iom da troa idealismo kaj utopiismo kaj manko de realismo, sed efektiva stulteco, ofte ligata al religia mesiismo. Floyd Hardin, redaktoro de la iama grava interlingvistika revuo International Language Review [Internacilingva Revuo], ŝajnas tia homo:

“Signs and Symbols Could Have Saved the World” [Signoj kaj simboloj povus esti savintaj la mondon]

Pluraj tiaj homoj aperis en tiu revuo, eĉ leteroj al usona prezidento Kennedy ligante universalan lingvon al disvastigo de kristana usona civilizacio. Do, frenezuloj.

Rimarku, ke mi aldonis kelkajn eksterajn retligojn al mia enhavopaĝo. Plejparte ili estas artikoloj el la revuo sub iu el ties tri titoloj; kelkaj ligoj devenas de retejo de Don Harlow.  La plej laste trovita ligas al artikolo en usona ĵurnalo en 1963:

Quest for World Language Called Brawling Competition (The Blade [Toledo, Ohio], Wednesday, August 14, 1963, p. 9) [Serĉo de mondlingvo nomita batalaĉa konkurso]

Krom la revuon mem oni disdonis la jenan folion:

Circular: Letter to Floyd Hardin, October 3, 1958 from Mario Pei

Oni rimarku, ke malgraŭ la rolo de Mario Pei en strebado al mondlingvo, kaj kvankam li estis filologo kaj profesoro, pri lingvoscienco li estis tute kaduka kaj absurde kontraŭscienca, vidpunkto dividita kun Floyd Hardin, redaktoro de la revuo.

Jarojn poste Pei verkis libron pri sia politika konservatismo, kiu montras lian socipolitikan nekompetentecon, eble antaŭan krom samtempan. Kutime en Usono reakciuloj paranoje oponas "unumondismo"n. Sed persone kaj lingve Pei travivis antaŭan epokon da ekstrema konflikto kaj amasekstermado, kaj la postmondmilita mondo alportis la danĝeron de atommilito; eble tial lin okupis strebado al internacia kunlaboro kaj universala lingvo.

Languages and the United Nations

SYMPOSIUM sponsored by the Universal Esperanto Association:

Languages and the United Nations
The Church Center, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
December 16, 2011, 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Last year's Zamenhof symposium is mentioned in this announcement. George Soros made a surprise appearance at the end, and of course captured the attention of the news media. He was preceded by several speakers, including myself, who constituted the formal program.