EEO SC 
ON AN INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY LANGUAGE. 399 
In submitting that the adoption of Latin is impracticable, the Committee is not 
unmindful of its greatness, of its high value as a means of culture, and of its utility 
as a mental discipline ; but these considerations appear to be relatively unimportant 
from the standpoint of the I.A.L. problem, which is to provide a language as free as 
possible from difficulties of accidence and syntax, and one which will be readily 
understood and used by an immense number of individuals who are not scholars. 
B.—ENGLISH. 
The principal arguments in favour of the adoption of English are ;—(1) It is 
already widely used and is expanding naturally ; (2) its grammar is relatively simple 
and its vocabulary rich. Per contra, (a) its adoption would confer great political 
and certain other advantages on the English-speaking peoples and would arouse the 
jealousy of other nations; (6) both spelling and pronunciation are difficult; and 
(¢) absence of inflexions, hyphens, etc. gives rise to ambiguity. 
Although accurate and complete data are not available, there seems to be no doubt 
that the English language, including * pidgin’ English, is not only more widely spoken 
than any other national European tongue, but that its use is extending both rapidly 
and naturally. These considerations constitute a very strong argument in favour 
of its adoption—by general consent rather than by laisser faire, since the rate of 
progress by the latter method would be all too slow and subject to fluctuations in 
the political fortunes of the English-speaking nations. Early in its deliberations 
the Committee came to the conclusion that it would be undesirable for it, as a com- 
mittee of Englishmen, to pronounce in favour of the English language, and accordingly 
it sought the opinions of foreigners (v.7.). The conclusion was, however, reached 
(with one dissentient—Professor Ripman) that objection (a) (v.s.) was sufficient in 
itself to preclude the recommendation of English or of any existing national language. 
Every such language is bound up with the outlook, world-place, and racial tempera- 
ment of its people. The great international languages of the past, Greek, Latin, 
Arabic, French (in the East), and English at the present day have all borne the marks 
of imperial prestige which prevented them from being welcomed by alien races. To 
spread a national language by international effort would be, in effect, to extend the 
power of that nation or race, however impartial might be the intentions of the 
promoters. 
It is scarcely necessary to state that, should English become the I.A.L., either b 
general consent or by natural means, the members of this Committee would one and all 
rejoice, but from a wide view of the possibilities and from the results of specific 
inquiries addressed to foreign Chambers of Commerce, it does not appear in the least 
degree probable that any such agreement would be reached. If English were 
adopted it would devolve upon the English-speaking peoples to introduce into their 
language certain reforms in spelling which would make it easier for international use. 
This would be a minor handicap compared with that of having to learn a new language. 
Although, by reason of its simpler grammar, a ‘ working knowledge’ of English 
is more easily acquired than one of Latin for use as a second language, neither can 
compare with Esperanto or Ido in this respect. The difficulties of English have 
been well stated in the section on the claims of Latin (page 398), but in actual practice, 
in the affairs of commerce and every-day life, they are not experienced to any incon- 
venient extent. As in the case of Latin, French, and some other languages, the fact 
that English is the key to a fine and vast literature appears to be of secondary 
importance from the point of view of an international auxiliary language. 
C.—ESPERANTO AND IDO. 
The outstanding advantage of these invented languages is their great simplicity ; 
they are constructed on well thought-out scientific principles and are, therefore, 
adaptable to many diverse requirements. Further, they are neutral, and have 
already made considerable progress (especially Esperanto). Per contra, they excite 
antagonism in certain quarters because they are frankly artificial; the opposition 
between them tends to be destructive of both; and neither is used to an extent 
comparable with that of any existing great national language. : 
The great facility with which these languages are acquired is obvious to all who 
have studied them or who have had the opportunity to make first-hand observations. 
This facility is due primarily to the extreme simplicity of the grammar and the in- 
