LOGIC AND INTEKNATIONAL LANGUAGE 45 



parol-ant-a = speaking, whence, by simple change of the 

 final letter, dorm-ant-o = sleeper, parol-ant-o = speaker. 

 One will perceive thereby the difference between direct 

 derivation, which is effected by means of the grammatical 

 inflections, and indirect derivation, which is effected by means 

 of the addition of affixes. There is nothing arbitrary about 

 this distinction, for it rests on the logical principles 

 enunciated above, which determine the theoretical and 

 practical value of the international language. 



From these principles follow at once the rules of direct 

 derivation. If one starts from a verbal stem, what must be 

 the sense of the substantive directly derived from it ? This 

 sense can be none other than the state or action expressed 

 by the verb : dormar = to sleep, dormo = sleep ; parolar = 

 to speak, parolo = a word ; frapar = to strike, frapo = a 

 blow. In these derived words we perceive the sense of the 

 verb stem, and the proof of that is that in our natural 

 languages we often employ the infinitive for this purpose : 

 le manger, le boire, le dormir, le rire ; das rennen (in English 

 the verbal in -ing is employed with the sense of the 

 infinitive). Indeed, one might completely identify the verbal 

 substantive with the infinitive. 



If one starts from a substantival stem, what must be the 

 relation between the adjective and substantive derived from 

 it ? They must necessarily have the same sense, whichever of 

 the two one considers the primary word : ifavara = avaricious, 

 avaro = an avaricious person ; if blinda = blind, blindo = a 

 blind person. This rule is all the more necessary in practice 

 as there are a crowd of substantival stems concerning which 

 one could not say whether they produce at first a substantive 

 or an adjective : vidva = widowed, vidvo = widower ; nobela 

 = noble, nobelo = nobleman ; santa = holy, santo = a saint. 

 This is particularly true of the names of followers of this 

 or that doctrine : katoliko, katolika ; skeptiko, skeptika, etc. 

 No one would think of using any suffix to derive one of these 



