6o4 



I tie Keview of Heviews, 



December I, 1906. 



lisli long open " o." But it seems to us rather an 

 unfirtuuate example, as the consonant " r "' lilends 

 ivith Towels almost as another vowel would, and it 

 is difficult to analyse exactly what part of the sound 

 is ! ally due to the "o" and what to the "r" fol- 

 lowing. 



"Along'' is well rendered by " laiilonge." 

 N )te re the accented letters. — AVe have nut up to 

 t'-e present been able to obtain a supply of type to 



enalile us to correctly print these '' sursignitoj." At 

 the same time we are conscious of a strong and 

 growing dislike among Esperantistg to the ugly repre- 

 sentation of the accent by a following " h. ' We 

 shall, therefore, in fut\ire simply omit the sign over 

 the letters, leaving it to the context to decide as to 

 whether " ci '' or " chi." etc.. is intended, except 

 in cases of real anibignity, when an '■ h " will be 

 inserted. 



An international language is now so generally ecognised as a necessity that it is vei-y rarely needful 

 to defend the idea itself ; but English-speaking people so frequently declare that all the world realises that 

 Ensjlish must be the needed medium, that it has occured to me "that our readers would like to see m 

 juxtaposition the ideas of French and English on this point. The argument for English is taken from 

 3[unsey's Magazine, and is by Brander Matthews, he well-known American Vitterafeur ; that for French 

 from Concordia^ written by M. de la Grasserie, not presumably as his own conviction, but as the 

 opinion he is accustomed to hear expressed. Oddlv enough, both writers consider it as an established 

 fact that this world-tongue must replace the mother-tongues of the various peojjles and be universal; m 

 this coinciding with some of the objectors to Esperanto, who consider that it is so easy to acquire that 

 people will prefer it to their own language: surely an absurd idea, for while the world remains, from a 

 geographical point of view, as it is at present constituted, the people of differing nations will remain 

 different and retain their own tongue, for a language is a part of and characteristic of a nationality. 



Mr. Matthews, after telling of the need of a lan- 

 guage familiar to all men, and expressing his opinion 

 that " nothing can be more certain than that the 

 majority of mankind can never be made to learn an 

 artificial language," continues: 



" French held the foremost place until the sunset 

 of Waterloo : and then its chance of establishing it- 

 self finally as a world-language departed for ever. . . 

 History shows us that it is not by reason of its own 

 excellence that a language spreads abroad and is 

 spoken by increasing millions ... it must be 

 the native speech of a masterful race, reaching out to 

 the corners of the earth. ... If there is to be 

 a world-language in the future, it will be English. 

 That much is certain. ... If not English, then 

 there will not be a world-language. ... If our 

 own speech is to become the world-language of the 

 future, this will not be due to its own merits, but to 

 the vitality and to the energy of the peoples that 

 speak it. Yet as a matter of fact. English is, on the 

 whole, better fitted for this honour tlian any of tlie 

 rivil tongues. It is a language of surpassing rich- 

 ness, it has a marvellous power of absorbing needed 

 words from every other language, dead or alive. It 

 has the gift of refreshing itself, of keeping itself 

 ever fit for all the varied uses of a race at once in- 

 tensely practical and fundamentally imaginative. 

 Above all. it is the more advanced language in its 

 structure, is far nearer the goal of simplicity than 

 any of its rivals, and thrrefnre is faxy to Imrn by 

 lar. hy u'nrd of mouth. On the Continent of Europe 

 English seems to be slowly taking the place of French 

 as that second language without which a man can- 

 not consider himself educated. It is our spelling 

 which is the chief obstacle to the adoption of 

 English." 



Here are two opposite opinions, to which may be added the fact that the most cultivated French 

 people say that the spcUing of English is its good quality, because it is international, but the pronuncia- 

 li III must be radically reformed. One must also rememtjer that EsperautisKs claim every good quality 

 of both languages, including style, simplicity, and power of absorbing all needed new words, whilst its 

 use would not hurt the nrmour-proprc of any country whatsoever. 



I have vainly sought for any German expression of opinion that their language will become the 

 world-tongue. Tliey were disappointed over Volapuk, and think, apparently, that a common inter- 

 national tongue is "impracticable because of that disappointment, and because to a German. English or 

 French as a world-tongue is unthinkable. Meanwhile new groups are being rapidly added to the Ger- 

 man Esperanto Association, and Frankfort petitions that the Congress of 1007 may be held there. 



M. de la Grasserie thinks that an artificial lan- 

 guage must be perfect and entirely logical, the faith- 

 ful mirror of thought and things, but as thought and 

 things change it would have to be modified, would 

 soon lose its perfection, and, besides, it would not be 

 human ; the language must be national. Xot English, 

 for though a sublime jargon, with a simple grammar, 

 its pronunciation and extraordinary irregularities in 

 the position of its accents make it the despair of 

 straiiqcrs because it exacts sucli long practicr before it 

 can be nequired. French is, on account of its litera- 

 ture, the queen of the world — it has its faults — but 

 its liiilliant qualities compensate, qualitv of language, 

 quality of expression, and style. Article: subject: 

 complements direct, indirect, and circumstantial : in 

 an order always the same, fixed and of astonishing 

 clearness. It is analytic to excess, and thus in the 

 full line of progress its qualities suffice to assure to 

 French the first place. Its title to this besides is his- 

 torical : in England for centuries French was the sole 

 language of the governing classes. Everywhere the 

 language of Courts, it has always been understood 

 as and will long remain the language of diplomacy. 

 French, therefore, may well become the language not 

 only international . . . but universal, that is to 

 say. substituting all others. This is not an Utopia, 

 though the idea may be premature. But there re- 

 mains a grave objection ; national pride. Will a 

 German ever resign himself to abandon his own 

 tongue, and in future speak French only? Would it 

 not seem to him to be abandoning his nationality it- 

 self? . . . Perhaps the future will answer. We 

 believe French will imjiose itself, when the choice 

 comes to be made. 



Text books for tills g eat but easy language can be obta ined at our office. Equitable Buildiiig-. Melbourne. See 

 uilvertlsement on page 2.) 



