LOGIC AND INTEKNATIONAL LANGUAGE 47 



form the verb pacar, and if so what will he its meaning ? 

 This verh can only signify one thing, to be in the state oj 

 peace, and not to pacify or make peace, for in that case paco 

 would mean pacification or conclusion of peace, and not the 

 state of peace. Similarly, if one can and must convert an 

 adjective into a noun by the simple substitution of -o for -a, 

 the adjective immediately derived from a substantive can 

 only mean " what is " If homo = a man (a human being), 

 homa can only mean human in the sense of which is a man 

 (human being) ; homa ento = a human being. But if one 

 wishes to obtain an adjective signifying " which belongs 

 to ," " which relates to ," " which depends on ," it is 

 necessary to employ a suffix (-al) : homala manuo = a human 

 hand. One might equally well say manuo di homo the 

 hand of a man (human being). But just as the preposition 

 di is indispensable for indicating the relationship between 

 two ideas which are not simply juxtaposed, but depend on 

 each other, so, if we wish to express one of the ideas in 

 adjectival form, we require a suffix which also expresses 

 this relation or dependence. Besides, a suffix of this nature 

 exists under different forms in all our languages : G. isch ; 

 E. -ic, -al, -ical; F. -ique, -al, -el; I. -ico ; S. -ico. The 

 choice of -al rather than -ik was determined by reasons of 

 euphony and also internationality, the derivative adjectives 

 employed in science (the most international of all) ending 

 often in -al : mental, vocal, spatial ; rationnel, universel, 

 fonctionnel, etc. 



In this connection we shall make a general remark. The 

 international language borrows its stems from the European 

 languages according to the principle of maximum inter- 

 nationality, i.e., adopts for each idea the most international 

 stem, namely, that which is familiar to the greatest number 

 of men. But it cannot, and must not, borrow their deriva- 

 tives from living languages without losing all its theoretical 

 and practical advantages, because the natural derivatives 



