Interlinguistics
The interlinguistics is a branch of linguistics and communication between speakers of different languages, ways deals with aspects of their improvement and with international planned languages .
An Interlinguistics Fund is administered by the Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems (CED ) and funded by the Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF).
Designations
The term interlinguistics first appeared as a French variant interlinguistique in 1911 in a journal edited by Jules Meysmans . The term referred to international planned languages . These are deliberately created languages that are generally intended to facilitate communication between people who speak differently.
Of the numerous planned language projects - and new ones are constantly emerging - only a few have played a role in practice or still play it today. The most successful planned language is Esperanto (1887, by Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof ). A certain spread, albeit temporary, were mainly Yiddish (1879, Johann Martin Schleyer ), Latino sine flexione (1903, Giuseppe Peano ), Ido (1907, Louis Couturat ), Occidental Interlingue (1922, Edgar de Wahl ) and Interlingua (1951, IALA and Alexander Gode ). The Bliss symbols (1949, Charles K. Bliss ) should also be mentioned here, which gained importance in a field other than the one originally intended, namely as an aid for people who are unable to speak or have only very limited speech due to motor or cognitive disabilities .
Subject of interlinguistics
The word interlinguistics , formed from Latin elements, invites two areas of knowledge because of its morpheme structure:
- / interlingua / + / istik /: Science of the interlinguae , i.e. of the languages that facilitate communication between people who speak differently.
- (/ inter / / linguae /) + istik: science of what happens between languages.
The languages that are primarily used for communication between people who speak different languages include not only the constructed, planned languages , but also the spontaneously created pidgin languages . In the following table only one representative is named for each type.
Types of interlinguae
| Just spoken | Spoken and written | Just written | Sign language | Multimedia language | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Created spontaneously | Russenorsk u. a. | Tok Pisin et al. a. | Chinese characters | Sign Language of the Plains Indians , International Sign | |
| Constructed | Damin (not interracial ) | Esperanto , Interlingua, etc. a. | Bliss symbols and a. Pasigraphies | Gestuno (for pigeon) | Solresol |
In constructed languages one often differentiates between a priori and a posteriori . The a posteriori are based on one or mostly several source languages, while the a priori, for example the philosophical languages of the 17th century, Solresol and the logical languages of the 20th century such as Loglan and Lojban are not obvious. Spontaneous interlinguae are consistently a posteriori or iconic (with depicting or imitative signs).
Limited definitions
Some authors interpret interlinguistics in a restricted way, whereby the spontaneously arising interlinguae are often not taken into account. There are essentially three groups of definitions. Then there would be interlinguistics
- the science of international auxiliary languages (either both ethnic languages and planned languages in their function as linguae francae , or limited to planned languages),
- the science of international linguistic communication, its conditions and means,
- contrastive linguistics , linguistics of multilingualism.
According to some authors, interlinguistics deals with ethnic languages and planned languages in their role as world auxiliary languages (world communication languages), for example Jules Meysmans and later Hermann Ölberg, Marcel Monnerot-Dumaine, Alexandr Duličenko, Sergej Kuznecov and other well-known interlinguists. The most widespread, however, is the opinion that interlinguistics deals exclusively with planned languages. A distinction can be made between two variants, namely a constructive and a descriptive planned language study:
- Constructive planned language studies goes back to the Anglicist and interlinguist Otto Jespersen . He was of the opinion that the criteria and basis for the construction of an ideal planned language could be found by comparing languages. According to this view, research with the aim of optimizing communication between people who speak different languages is a central concern of interlinguistics, whereby the intended area of use of a corresponding planned language (for example globally or within a multilingual country) plays an essential role. For Valter Tauli , interlinguistics is part of language planning . The principles that he lays down for the language planning of national languages are also applicable, albeit in a radical way, to planned languages. It is noticeable that these principles have correspondences in Grice 's conversational maxims . The conversation maxims describe the appropriate design of contributions to the conversation, and in order to function well, a language must be such that it enables a well-structured conversation.
- Descriptive planned language studies see less the construction of new planned languages than the research of existing ones, their comparison and their criticism as the main concern of interlinguistics. For Alicja Sakaguchi , interlinguistics is exclusively planned language studies. It differentiates between “general” and “special” interlinguistics and defines it as follows: “The aim of general interlinguism is to research possible structures and services of planned languages and their relationships to natural languages and to other semiotic systems. It is mainly based on theory. The special interlinguistics other hand, deals with the description of individual planned languages and the possibly existing in these languages literature. It is predominantly empirical, descriptive ”.
Still other authors are of the opinion that interlinguistics must research not only the means but also the international communication processes, their conditions and effects with all their aspects. Artur Bormann postulates a new, independent, interdisciplinary science. He demands that interlinguistic research should include political, economic and other aspects, and consequently the entire communication process, in its consideration. For him, "[...] interlinguistics [...] is the branch of science that researches the general political, cultural, sociological and linguistic questions of a common language to be used equally by all people in international relations, the international language [...]" ]. ”Bormann thinks of a science of the future that is not a branch of linguistics, but should represent something new. When he writes "the international language", he primarily means a planned language.
Another group of interlinguists, including Detlev Blanke , also emphasizes the interdisciplinary aspect of interlinguistic research, but sees this science as a discipline of linguistics. He conceived the broadest definition: "Interlinguistics is an interdisciplinary linguistic discipline that researches international linguistic communication with all its political, economic, linguistic, information-theoretical and other aspects."
The international communication processes, their conditions and means are influenced to a great extent by numerous factors and cannot be examined satisfactorily without an interdisciplinary perspective. So, among other things, it must be clarified how effective international communication through ethnic languages was or is in the role of a lingua franca , what political, economic, cultural-political, psychological, legal, technological, information-political and other effects such communication had or has, what alternatives other means of communication such as planned languages.
The planned languages and / or ethnic languages in their function as means of communication are not the sole subject of research, but international communication in its entirety, with all its aspects. For historical reasons and as a modern alternative, the planned language problem is a main area from this point of view.
Classifications within interlinguistics
General interlinguistics examines the framework conditions for international linguistic communication with all of the above-mentioned aspects. Special interlinguistics is (only) planned language studies with all its theoretical foundations, for example research into construction criteria, structural principles, typologies, functions, practice and communication performance of international planned languages and, if available, their language communities.
Pure interlinguistics is limited to theoretical aspects. Applied interlinguistics applies interlinguistic knowledge in other areas of science (for example, it examines the role of planned languages as preparation for learning foreign languages, planned language as an intermediate machine language for automatic translation and the like).
Contrastive linguistics, linguistics of multilingualism, language contact research
Against the prevailing traditions of the interlinguistic term, research on language contacts and interference problems were assigned to interlinguistics in the 1960s . The Romance scholar Mario Wandruszka had the greatest influence in this regard and, disregarding the content traditionally associated with interlinguistics, used this term for his purposes. For him, interlinguistics is "[...] the linguistics of multilingualism, language mix and mixed languages, translation and translation comparison, the conversation between the languages within us ".
literature
- (en) Gobbo, Federico, 2020, Introduction to Interlinguistics. Munich: GRIN Publishing
- Detlev Blanke , Sabine Fiedler (ed.): Interlinguistic contributions. On the nature and function of international planned languages . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-631-55024-3 .
- Tazio Carlevaro, Günther Lobin (Ed.): Introduction to Interlinguistics / Enkonduko en la interlingvistikon . Alsbach 1979 (= denationalized science 2), ISBN 3-88064-073-4 .
- Reinhard Hauptenthal (Ed.): Planned languages. An introduction to interlinguistics. Scientific Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1976, ISBN 3-534-05462-8 .
- Alicja Sakaguchi: Interlinguistics. Subject, goals, tasks, methods. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998.
- Klaus Schubert (Ed.): Interlinguistics. Aspects of the Science of Planned Languages. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1989.
- Mario Wandruszka : Interlinguistics: Outlines of a New Linguistics . Piper Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-492-00314-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 9. Interlinguistics Fund , p. 16, in: Interlinguistische Informations, GIL, No. 92 (3/2014).
- ↑ a b Věra Barandovská-Frank : Some historical concepts , in: Interlinguistische Informations, Supplement 21, November 2014, GIL, ISSN 1432-3567
- ↑ Jules Meysmans was a Belgian Esperantist , but was better known for his shorthand technique .
- ↑ Jules Meysmans (1911–1912): Une science nouvelle. In: Lingua Internationale (Brussels). 1, No. 8, 14-16.
- ↑ Charles K. Bliss: International semantography: a non-alphabetical symbol writing readable in all languages Institute of Semantography, Sidney 1949.
- ^ William Tomkins: Universal Indian Sign Language of the Plains Indians of North America , San Diego, California, 1927.
- ↑ Otto Jespersen (1930-1931): A new science: interlinguistics . In: Psyche, 1157–1167, here p. 1.
- ^ Valter Tauli: Introduction to a theory of language planning . Almquist & Wiksells, Uppsala 1968, p. 167.
- ↑ Hartmut Traunmüller: Conversational Maxims and Principles of Language Planning PERILUS XII , pp 25-47, Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, 1991.
- ↑ Alicja Sakaguchi: Interlinguistics. Subject, goals, tasks, methods . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998, p. 413, Herv. i. Orig.
- ^ Artur Bormann (1958): Basics of Interlinguistics . In: Sprachforum 3, Nr. 1, 14-25, here p. 25.
- ^ Mario Wandruszka: Interlinguistics. Outlines of a New Linguistics . Piper, Munich 1971, p. 10. Herv. in orig.