Timerio

Timerio
Project author	Tiemer
Year of publication	1921
Linguistic ; classification	Constructed language Planned language World auxiliary language; ; Timerio ;
particularities	Planned language based only on numbers.

Timerio is a number-based planned language that was presented to a select audience in 1921 by the Berlin architect Tiemer as a pure written language. In this language, each linguistic concept is assigned a number. This should help with a simple - also automated - translation between two languages. The idea of timerio is based on the decimal of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz on. The only requirement is the assumption that the same terms are known to all civilized peoples.

The Timerio is not a world auxiliary language in the narrower sense, like the Volapük or Esperanto , but rather it should represent a means of communication. In contrast to other languages, it does not have to be learned separately, as all terms can be looked up in a book or a database and speaking the Timerio is difficult anyway.

vocabulary

Tiemer assumed that every idea could be expressed with around 7000 characters, so the basic vocabulary of the Timerio included exactly this number of terms. However, there were considerations to expand the vocabulary for special topics, for example technology or pharmacy, with certain intentions. However, because of the sketchy description of the language, only a few specific examples of individual terms have survived. It can also be assumed that the meaning of individual numbers has not yet been determined.

number	meaning
1	I
2	You ¹
30th	write
80	Love, love
164	big
980	letter
1673	colour
6215	father

¹ Depending on the source, the number 17 is also given for the term you .

grammar

Tenses
${\ displaystyle 1 - {\ underline {30}}}$	I wrote
${\ displaystyle 1 - {\ overline {30}}}$	I'll write

declination
${\ displaystyle 6215}$	the father
${\ displaystyle 6215II}$	dad's
${\ displaystyle 6215III}$	the father

In order to represent a language sufficiently, the Timerio was also equipped with a grammar. To express the past, the number of activities is underlined, for example, a line is drawn above this number for the future tense. The majority is represented by a superscript two, so 980² means letters . An increase in adjectives is also possible: 164 means big , 164 * bigger and 164 *** the biggest .

The connective word and is represented by a plus, i.e. about 1 + 2 - me and you . To express a number in itself, it is put in brackets: (5) means five . To decline a noun or an adjective, the serial number of the case is appended to the corresponding expression as a Roman number. Furthermore, the grammar enables the derivation of word stems , for example 1673 means color,> 1673 means colored and 1673 <means to color.

Examples

Only a few examples from the Timerio have come down to us, but the best known has found wide distribution through the Internet: 1-80-17 means I love you . The rarer variant 1-80-2 has also been used so far.

Further examples are:

${\ displaystyle 1 - {\ overline {30}} - (3) -980 ^ {2}}$ - I will write three letters. - The father loved large, colored letters.
${\ displaystyle 6215 - {\ underline {80}} - 164-> 1673-980 ^ {2}}$

review

While the Timerio was recognized by many for its ability to translate quickly and easily, Wilhelm Oppermann described it as a gimmick in his work From the life of our mother tongue , since it can by no means really be spoken. Still others say that Timerio is an interesting idea, but a picture book would be easier.

literature

A world language of numbers . In: Albert Neuburger (Hrsg.): Elektrochemische Zeitschrift . Organ for the entire field of electrochemistry, electrometallurgy, for battery and accumulator construction, electroplating and electroplating. No. XXVII-9 . Brandenburgische Buchdruckerei & Verlagsanstalt, Berlin-Schöneberg March 1921 ( digitized [accessed on July 14, 2010]).

Individual evidence

^ OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online (Ed.): The Political quarterly . tape 14 . Basil Blackwell, 1943 ( digitized [accessed July 14, 2010]).
^ ^A ^b Bert Leston Taylor: Project Gutenberg's The So-called Human Race. Project Gutenberg, January 30, 2010, accessed on June 28, 2010 (English): "The inventor has found that 7,006 figures are enough to express any imaginable idea."
^ Mario Pei: One Language for the World . Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1958, ISBN 0-8196-0218-3 , pp. 145 f . ( Digitized version [accessed June 22, 2010]).
^ Wilhelm Oppermann: From the life of our mother tongue . An introduction to understanding the German language and German art. Friedrich Brandstetter, 1928 ( digitized version [accessed on July 14, 2010]).

[The_Political_quarterly-1] OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online (Ed.): The Political quarterly . tape 14 . Basil Blackwell, 1943 ( digitized [accessed July 14, 2010]).

[Human_Race-2] A ^b Bert Leston Taylor: Project Gutenberg's The So-called Human Race. Project Gutenberg, January 30, 2010, accessed on June 28, 2010 (English): "The inventor has found that 7,006 figures are enough to express any imaginable idea."

[One_Language-3] Mario Pei: One Language for the World . Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1958, ISBN 0-8196-0218-3 , pp. 145 f . ( Digitized version [accessed June 22, 2010]).

[Muttersprache-4] Wilhelm Oppermann: From the life of our mother tongue . An introduction to understanding the German language and German art. Friedrich Brandstetter, 1928 ( digitized version [accessed on July 14, 2010]).