Glosa
Encyclopedia
Glosa is an international auxiliary language
based on a previous draft auxiliary called Interglossa
. As an isolating language
, there are no inflection
s, so that words always remain in their dictionary form, no matter what function they have in the sentence. Consequently, grammatical functions, when not clear from the context, are taken over by a small number of operator words and by the use of word order (syntax
).
Hogben, Lancelot (1943). Interglossa. A draft of an auxiliary for a democratic world order, being an attempt to apply semantic principles to language design. https://sites.google.com/site/interglossa1943/contents Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng. / New York: Penguin Books. OCLC 1265553. devised by the scientist Lancelot Hogben
in the empty hours of fire-watching in Aberdeen
during World War II
. Interglossa was published in 1943 as a draft of an auxiliary.
Ron Clark came across the handbook of Interglossa: a draft of an auxiliary about 1960. Then he met Professor Hogben with the aim of developing the language. They worked to refine it, in order to make it more easily usable in all possible forms of communication. Wendy Ashby joined the project in 1972. When Hogben died in 1975, most changes had already been discussed. Hogben and Clark had agreed that the language should have a phonetic spelling (that is: each letter representing a single sound). This principle implied that the Greek CH, TH and PH now should be spelt K, T and F.
Finally a few further changes were introduced by Ron Clark and Wendy Ashby, who then gave the language the new name Glosa (the Greek for tongue, language), and thus founded a new auxiliary.
Until about 1979, Ashby and Clark tested the use of Glosa using local volunteers in the town in which they were living. During this period, the vocabulary and some details of sentence formation were developed and revised. They had moved to another town by the time they had published the first Glosa dictionary.
From 1987, the charity-status organisation GEO (Glosa Education Organisation) has promoted the teaching of Glosa as a second language in schools worldwide.
GEO’s official website was set up by Paul O. Bartlett in 1996, and it is managed at present by Marcel Springer. It provides the Glosa Internet Dictionary (Glosa Inter-reti Diktionaria), as well as an introductory course, and other resources.
Glosa is usually compared to two natural languages which are analytical in different degrees, Chinese and English.
While aspects of Hogben’s Interglossa were explicitly inspired by the auxiliary Basic English
, Glosa tends to work like normal English. Interglossa works with a small number of essential light verbs (up to 20), which Hogben calls “verboids” or “verbal operators”, like the 18 verb operators of Basic English
. In Glosa words from this special class can be elided if the context is clear. So the question again is whether this change is the result of the earlier Clark-Hogben discussions or of the later Clark-Ashby tests.
, noun
, adjective
or preposition. Grammatical functions
are taken over by a limited number of operator words and by the word order (syntax). Subject-Verb-Object order is the standard word order, and "adjectives" usually precede "nouns", and the "verbs" follow the tense particles and the "adverbs".
Glosa is written with the Latin alphabet
without special characters, there are no double vowels or consonants and pronunciation rules are simple and regular.
Most words in Glosa are taken from Latin and Greek
roots.
There are no diphthong
s in Glosa. Where two or more vowels occur together they are pronounced separately.
Vocal inflection in Glosa is generally comparable to that of English- there usually is a rising inflection before a comma, semicolon, or terminal if interrogative (that is, if it is a question, the voice tends to "go upward" towards the end). A falling inflection is to occur before a full stop.
In order to form a composite word in Glosa, one just combines existing words. For example:
Meals can also be formed by noun-compounding:
Phrases, the basic unit of recognizable meaning in Glosa, follow a "Subject+Verb+(Object)" order and noun phrases are "Substantive Final", which means that they start with the least important word, and are followed by additional words combining progressively to extend the meaning of the substantive, which comes last.
Indefinite words remain as they are (ad, de, si, kata).
Any time Greek CH, Y, TH and PH occur they become K, I, T and F respectively in Glosa.
To create "opposites", one just places "no-" as a prefix to the adjective. This usage is not similar to that of the prefix "mal-" in Esperanto which gives the word the exact opposite meaning. So the Glosa usage below means "not beautiful". It is the equivalent of some of the uses on in- or un- in English
in Glosa and other languages:
International auxiliary language
An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
based on a previous draft auxiliary called Interglossa
Interglossa
The auxiliary language Interglossa was devised by the scientist Lancelot Hogben during World War II. It appears to be a straightforward attempt to put the international lexicon of science and technology, mainly of Greek and Latin origin, into a language with a purely isolating grammar. Interglossa...
. As an isolating language
Isolating language
An isolating language is a type of language with a low morpheme-per-word ratio — in the extreme case of an isolating language words are composed of a single morpheme...
, there are no inflection
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
s, so that words always remain in their dictionary form, no matter what function they have in the sentence. Consequently, grammatical functions, when not clear from the context, are taken over by a small number of operator words and by the use of word order (syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
).
History
Glosa is based on the draft auxiliary language InterglossaInterglossa
The auxiliary language Interglossa was devised by the scientist Lancelot Hogben during World War II. It appears to be a straightforward attempt to put the international lexicon of science and technology, mainly of Greek and Latin origin, into a language with a purely isolating grammar. Interglossa...
Hogben, Lancelot (1943). Interglossa. A draft of an auxiliary for a democratic world order, being an attempt to apply semantic principles to language design. https://sites.google.com/site/interglossa1943/contents Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Eng. / New York: Penguin Books. OCLC 1265553. devised by the scientist Lancelot Hogben
Lancelot Hogben
Lancelot Thomas Hogben FRS was a versatile British experimental zoologist and medical statistician. He is best known for developing Xenopus laevis as a model organism for biological research in his early career, attacking the eugenics movement in the middle of his career, and popularising books on...
in the empty hours of fire-watching in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Interglossa was published in 1943 as a draft of an auxiliary.
Ron Clark came across the handbook of Interglossa: a draft of an auxiliary about 1960. Then he met Professor Hogben with the aim of developing the language. They worked to refine it, in order to make it more easily usable in all possible forms of communication. Wendy Ashby joined the project in 1972. When Hogben died in 1975, most changes had already been discussed. Hogben and Clark had agreed that the language should have a phonetic spelling (that is: each letter representing a single sound). This principle implied that the Greek CH, TH and PH now should be spelt K, T and F.
Finally a few further changes were introduced by Ron Clark and Wendy Ashby, who then gave the language the new name Glosa (the Greek for tongue, language), and thus founded a new auxiliary.
Until about 1979, Ashby and Clark tested the use of Glosa using local volunteers in the town in which they were living. During this period, the vocabulary and some details of sentence formation were developed and revised. They had moved to another town by the time they had published the first Glosa dictionary.
From 1987, the charity-status organisation GEO (Glosa Education Organisation) has promoted the teaching of Glosa as a second language in schools worldwide.
GEO’s official website was set up by Paul O. Bartlett in 1996, and it is managed at present by Marcel Springer. It provides the Glosa Internet Dictionary (Glosa Inter-reti Diktionaria), as well as an introductory course, and other resources.
Unclear history
According to History behind Glosa, after Hogben’s decease “a few further and trivial changes were introduced”. But there is no precise information about them. Concerning the turn to a phonetic spelling in Glosa, it is not clear whether Hogben would have agreed that the word Glosa is “fully phonetic” while Interglossa is not:Glosa is usually compared to two natural languages which are analytical in different degrees, Chinese and English.
While aspects of Hogben’s Interglossa were explicitly inspired by the auxiliary Basic English
Basic English
Basic English, also known as Simple English, is an English-based controlled language created by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a Second Language...
, Glosa tends to work like normal English. Interglossa works with a small number of essential light verbs (up to 20), which Hogben calls “verboids” or “verbal operators”, like the 18 verb operators of Basic English
Basic English
Basic English, also known as Simple English, is an English-based controlled language created by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a Second Language...
. In Glosa words from this special class can be elided if the context is clear. So the question again is whether this change is the result of the earlier Clark-Hogben discussions or of the later Clark-Ashby tests.
Overview
In Glosa, words always retain their original form, regardless of their function in a sentence. Thus, the same word can function as a verbVerb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
, noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
, adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
or preposition. Grammatical functions
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
are taken over by a limited number of operator words and by the word order (syntax). Subject-Verb-Object order is the standard word order, and "adjectives" usually precede "nouns", and the "verbs" follow the tense particles and the "adverbs".
Glosa is written with the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
without special characters, there are no double vowels or consonants and pronunciation rules are simple and regular.
Most words in Glosa are taken from Latin and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
roots.
Alphabet and phonology
| Consonants | Vowels | Digraphs and Consonant Combinations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
spelling | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
spelling | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
spelling | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
spelling |
| /p/ | p | /b/ | b | /a/ or /æ/ | a | /ks/ | x 2 |
| /t/ | t | /d/ | d | /i/ or /ɪ/ | i | /kw/ | q 3 |
| /ɡ/ | g | /k/ | k | /u/ or /ʌ/ | u | /ʃ/ | sc |
| /m/ | m | /n/ 1 | n | /e/ or /ɛ/ | e | /tʃ/ | c |
| /f/ | f | /v/ | v | /ɔ/ or /o/ | o | ||
| /s/ | s | /z/ | z | /i/ or /ɪ/ | y | ||
| /h/ | h | /j/ | j | ||||
| /r/ | r | /l/ | l | ||||
| /w/ | w |
- 1The practice of pronouncing n before a velar sound (g or k) as /ŋ/ is generally non-preferred and controversial but is used commonly in order to simplify pronunciation.
- 218 Steps to Fluency in Euro-Glosa notes that x may be pronounced /z/ at the start of a word but this is non-preferred.
- 318 Steps to Fluency in Euro-Glosa indicates q (rather than qu) for the spelling of the kw sound combination.
- In the vowel-IPA section above, the first pronunciation is the preferred one.
There are no diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s in Glosa. Where two or more vowels occur together they are pronounced separately.
- Section Note: Some foreign names may include non-Glosa letters in order to retain original spelling, observe: Spanish = Español
- Section Note: Unlike several other auxiliary languages, Glosa uses the letters q and x. C makes the 'ch' sound in "church". Glosa lacks a character representing the phone [ʒ]. It also lacks a single letter/symbol for the 'sh' sound in "short", unlike EsperantoEsperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
. Glosa represents this sound by the letter combination sc. Like Esperanto, German, and Russian, J makes the y sound found in "yell" or "yak" in Glosa. G and S are always "hard" (goat and, respectively, hiss/snake). In Glosa, "R" should be trilled or "tapped" (the tongue lightly taps the pallate of one's mouth), never uvularized.
Accent & Verbal Inflection
The stress/accent should be placed on the ultimate vowel unless the word ends in a vowel. If this is the case the stress should be placed on the last vowel before the last consonant.Vocal inflection in Glosa is generally comparable to that of English- there usually is a rising inflection before a comma, semicolon, or terminal if interrogative (that is, if it is a question, the voice tends to "go upward" towards the end). A falling inflection is to occur before a full stop.
Punctuation
- Full-stops end sentences. They can be the normal full stop (.), the interrogative point (??or is a letter derived from the Latin alphabet. Both glyphs of the majuscule and minuscule forms of this letter are based on the rotated form of a minuscule e; a similar letter with identical minuscule is used in the Pan-Nigerian Alphabet and some alphabets based on the African reference...
), exclamational marker (!), and, theoretically, the interrobangInterrobangThe interrobang, interabang , , is a nonstandard punctuation mark used in various written languages and intended to combine the functions of the question mark and the exclamation mark or exclamation point . The glyph is a superimposition of these two marks...
. - Semi-colon separates clauses, principal and subordinate.
- Colon precedes items of a catalogue. If three or more items occur in a row, they should be separated with a comma and, prior to the final item, the word "e" or "plus" (and, plus).
- Fe stude: biologi, kemi, e/plus Français.
- Comma separates items from each other.
Personal Pronouns
| English | Glosa |
|---|---|
| I; me | mi |
| You (singular) | tu |
| You (plural) | vi |
| He; him | an |
| She; her | fe |
| It | id |
| He/She/One | pe |
| We; us | na |
| They; them | mu |
| oneself (reflexive) | se |
| each other(reciprocal) | alelo |
| oneself (emphatic) | auto |
Grammar and Word Formation
Glosa contains two major groups of words:- Primitives: the small number of basic function words present in most languages - these allow us to describe the relationships between the major concepts we convey. These are basically prepositions and conjunctions, such as: de [of], e [and], pre [before], supra [above], sub [under; below; lower; beneath; lesser; somewhat].
- Substantives: the list of words representing the more complex things, actions and descriptions (sometimes usable for all three) present in a language, such as: via [road], kurso [run], hedo [happy], vide [see], celera [swift], tako [fast; quick; swift; brisk; hasty; prompt; hurry; nimble; rapid; rapidity; rate; speed; haste; sprint; quick; speedy; velocity]; oku [eye]. Please note that many of these words have multiple meanings, based on how they are used in a sentence (verb, adjective, etc.)- exempli gratia: "oku" can mean "eye", "optical", "to notice with the eyes", "see (look)", "perceive (with the eyes)", or "to peep".
In order to form a composite word in Glosa, one just combines existing words. For example:
- pe - person who does/person (short form of persona)
- an - male (from andros)
- fe - female (from femina)
- do - building where (from domo meaning house)
- lo - location, place of (from loko)
- Therefore a student is stude-pe (one who studies), a male student is stude-an, a female student is stude-fe and a building where students study(school, college, etc.) is a stude-do. Likewise a hospital is pato-do (from the word pathology but meaning sickness), literally meaning a house/building for the sick.
- tegu - cover; ceiling; (to)shutter; deck; lid (cover); eclipse; (to) shelter; casing
- oku-tegu - eyelid
- agri - field, countryside
- agri-lo - farm
- a-nu - until now
Meals can also be formed by noun-compounding:
- evening = vespera
- to eat, to devour = vora
- dinner, supper = vespera-vora
Phrases, the basic unit of recognizable meaning in Glosa, follow a "Subject+Verb+(Object)" order and noun phrases are "Substantive Final", which means that they start with the least important word, and are followed by additional words combining progressively to extend the meaning of the substantive, which comes last.
Word Derivation http://www.glosa.org/gid/gwds.htm
Generally, the following derivation rules apply when creating new words for Glosa. Some basic words (often that act as specificational prefixes) are shortened (such as "an", "fe", or "pe").Indefinite words remain as they are (ad, de, si, kata).
| Derivational Rules (from Latin origin) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Latin Ending | Glosa Ending | Example |
| -a, -ae (from genitive) | -a | silva (forest) |
| -us, -us | -u | manu (hand) |
| -is, -is | -i | turi (tower, turret) |
| adjectives: -us/-a/-um | -o | karo (dear) |
| verbs: -ere | -e | face (to make, build, commit) |
| verbs: -are | -a | lauda (to praise, esteem, applause) |
| verbs: -ire | -i | veni (to arrive) |
- Latin o-declination-words become the nominative plural. Therefore:
- -us, -i ending are adapted to -i ending (rami, soni, tubi)
- -er, -ri become -ri (libri)
- -um, -i are -a ending in Glosa (exempla)
- Words built from the perfect-tense-radix become -i (cepti, fluxi, komposi)
- Latin -io, -ionis are not changed to the ablative-ending (-ione) but keep the nominatives -io (natio, okasio, petitio, religio, tensio).
- The same occurs when deriving from Greek (however, Greek lacks an ablative so the dative is used instead):
- -os, -u become -o (fobo, orto).
- Occasionally the Greek aorist-root is taken instead of present-tense-root (gene).
- Greek verbs become -o (1st person singular) such as: skizo.
- Species names keep nominative (equs, ursus).
Any time Greek CH, Y, TH and PH occur they become K, I, T and F respectively in Glosa.
Verbs
Most words can act as verbs, depending on their places in the sentence (usually in the medial position).| Example of Verb Tenses | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tense | Prior Word1 | Glosa Text | English Translation |
| Infinitive | de/te(nde) | de lekto | To read |
| Simple Past | pa | Mi pa lekto u bibli. | I (did) read the book. |
| Imperfect | pa du | Mi pa du lekto u bibli. | I was reading the book. |
| Past Participle | ge- | U ge-lekto bibli | The read book / The book that has been read |
| Simple Present | (nu) | Mi (nu) lekto u bibli. | I (do) read the book / I am reading the book. |
| Continuous Present | du | Mi du lekto u bibli. | I am reading the book. |
| Present Perfect | nu pa | Mi nu pa lekto u bibli. | I have (just) read the book. |
| Future-in-Present | nu fu | Mi nu fu lekto u bibli. | I am just about to read the book / I am just going to read the book. |
| Simple Future | fu | Mi fu lekto u bibli. | I shall/will read the book. |
| Future Perfect | fu pa | Mi fu pa lekto u bibli. | I shall/will have read the book (by tomorrow). |
| Conditional | sio | Mi sio lekto u bibli... | I would read the book... |
| Imperative | -! | Lekto! | Read! |
| Negative | ne | Mi ne lekto u bibli. | I do not read the book/I am not reading the book. |
| Interrogative | qe | Qe mi lekto u bibli? | Am I reading the book? / Do I read the book? |
| Passive | gene | U bibli gene lekto ex mi. | The book is/gets read by me. |
| Gerund | - | (U) lekto (de bibli). | (The) reading (of the book...) |
- 1What is meant by "Prior Word" is the word used immediately prior to the verb of the sentence or clause in order to demonstrate or affect its tense. For example:
- To show that a verb is in the past tense, add "pa" before the verb.
- To indicate the future tense, add "fu" before the verb.
- To indicate the conditional, add "sio" before the verb.
Adjectives
Adjectives, like the rest of the language, are not inflected. They do not change to fit the tense, number, gender, formality, or etc. of the nouns that they modify. They generally precede the word that they modify. Sometimes an adjective's place determines its meaning:- Mi fu lektu mo bibli = I will read one book
- Mi fu lektu bibli mo = I will read the first book
To create "opposites", one just places "no-" as a prefix to the adjective. This usage is not similar to that of the prefix "mal-" in Esperanto which gives the word the exact opposite meaning. So the Glosa usage below means "not beautiful". It is the equivalent of some of the uses on in- or un- in English
- kali = beautiful
- no-kali = ugly
- termo = hot, heat
- meso-termo = warm
- no-termo = cold
Adverbs
- po-kron = late
- pre-kron = early
- pa-di = yesterday
- nu-di = today
- fu-di = tomorrow
- imedia = immediately
Conjunctions
- akorda-co = accordingly
- alo = or
- alo...alo = either...or
- alora = in that case...
- anti-co = however
- e = and
- fini-co = finally
- hetero-co = otherwise
- jam = already
- kaso = case...
- ko-co = also
- klu = even...
- ni....ni = neither...nor
- pene = almost
- po-co = after that
- posi = perhaps
- plus-co = moreover
- qasi = as if...
- sed = but
- si ne... = unless
- vice = instead of...
Question and Answer Words
A word used to ask or answer a question of who, where, what, when, why, how or how much. These words form a set in a semi-systematic manner with a particle of the compound indicating abstract quantity (what person or thing, what place, what time, for what reason, in what manner, what is the amount) and the prefix/other particle indicating the specific function of the word (exactly which, all, some, negating, etc.). There are other ways to say the following correlatives, the table just shows the most basic and systematic of these:| Question Interrogative word In linguistics, an interrogative word is a function word used for the item interrupted in an information statement. Interrogative words are sometimes called wh-words because most of English interrogative words start with wh-... (What) |
Indication Demonstrative In linguistics, demonstratives are deictic words that indicate which entities a speaker refers to and distinguishes those entities from others... (This, that) |
Indefinite (Some) |
Very Indefinite (Any [whatever]) |
Universal (Each) |
Universal (Every) |
Negative (No) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| qo– | ci, la; | uno– | ali– | singu– | panto– | nuli– | ||
| Thing | –ra | qo-ra? (what thing?) |
u-ci, u-la (this thing, that thing) |
uno-ra (something) |
ali-ra (anything) |
singu-ra (each thing) |
panto-ra (everything) |
nuli-ra (nothing) |
| Individual | –pe | qo-pe? (who?) |
u-ci, u-la (this one; that one) |
uno-pe (someone) |
ali-pe (anyone) |
singu-pe (each one) |
panto-pe (everyone; all) |
nuli-pe (no one) |
| Individual | qo? (what[horse]? which [horse]?) |
u-ci, u-la (this [horse]; that [horse]) |
uno (some [horse]) |
ali (any [horse]) |
singu (each [horse]) |
panto (every [horse]) |
nuli, zero (no [horse]) |
|
| Place | –lo | qo-lo? (where) |
ci, la (there; here) |
uno-lo (somewhere) |
ali-lo (anywhere) |
singu-lo (each place) |
panto-lo (everywhere) |
nuli-lo (nowhere) |
| Manner | –mode | qo-mode?, komo? (how, in what way) |
ci-mode, la-mode (thus; in this way, in that way) |
uno-mode (somehow) |
ali-mode (in any way) |
singu-mode (in each way) |
panto-mode (in every way) |
nuli-mode (in no way, no-how) |
| Cause | –ka | qo-ka? (why; for what cause) |
ci-ka, la-ka (for this cause, for that cause) |
uno-ka (for some cause) |
ali-ka (for any cause) |
singu-ka (for each cause) |
panto-ka (for all causes) |
nuli-ka (for no cause) |
| Intention | –te | qo-te? (why; with what intention) |
ci-te, la-te (with this intention, with that intention) |
uno-te (with some intention) |
ali-te (with any intention) |
panto-te (with each intention) |
panto-te (with all intentions) |
nuli-te (with no intention) |
| Time | –kron | qo-kron? (when) |
nu, la-kron (now, then) |
uno-kron (sometime) |
ali-kron (anytime whatever) |
singu-kron (whenever) |
panto-kron (always) |
nuli-kron (never) |
| Amount | –numera | qo-numera?, qanto? (how many) |
ci-numera, la-numera (this many, that many) |
uno-numera (some number) |
ali-numera (any number) |
singu-numera (each number) |
panto-numera (every number) |
nuli-numera (none) |
| Amount | –metri | qo-metri?, qanto? (how much) |
uno-metri (this much, that much) |
uno-metri (some) |
ali-metri (any) |
singu-metri (each) |
panto-metri (all) |
nuli-metri (none) |
| Quality | –speci | qo-speci?, qali? (what kind of? what sort of?) |
ci-speci, la-speci (this kind, that kind) |
uno-speci (some kind) |
ali-speci (any kind) |
singu-speci (each kind) |
panto-speci (all kinds) |
nuli-speci (no kind) |
- What is the time? = Qo horo?
- Which (of) = de qi
- To indicate that a statement is really an interrogative, one places "qe" at the beginning of the sentence.
Sample and Useful Words
- Hello, greetings, saltutations = Saluta! Ave!
- Welcome = Bene-veni
- Please! = Place!
- Sorry! = Pardo! Penite!
- What is your name? = Tu habe qo nomina/nima? (literally: You have what name?)
- My name is... = Mi nomina/nima es...
- Where am I = Qo-lo es mi?
- How much? = Qanto?
- Do you speak Glosa = Qe tu dice Glosa?
- I don't understand you = Mi ne logi/kompreni tu.
- Thank you = Gratia
- You're welcome = Es nuli. (literally: It's nothing)
- Here's to your health = A tu eu-sani.
- Bless you!/Gesundheit! = (Eu-)sani (a tu)!
- It is a nice day = Es u bene di.
- I love you = Mi amo tu.
- Goodbye = Vale.
- What is that? = Qo-ra es u-la?
- That is...? = U-la es...?
- How are you? = Komo tu?
- Good morning! = Boni matina/mana!
- Good evening! = Boni po-meso-di! Boni di! (literally: Good after mid-day, Good day)
- Good night! = Boni noktu!
- Good night, sweet dreams = Boni somni! Plu boni sonia!
- I can't find an error = Mi ne pote detekti u defekti.
- Well = Bene
- Be well = Vale
- Good/well = Boni/bene/eu
- Well (healthy) = Sani
- Ki = movement, to go, to move
- A cat, the cat = U feli(s)
- Cats = Plu feli(s)
- Dog = Kanis
- Pig = Sui
- Bovine (cow/bull) = Bovi (fe-bovi, an-bovi)
- Horse = Equs
- Frog = Rana
- Bird = Avi
- Bee = Apis
- Spider = Aranea
- Fish = Piski
- A/an/the (singular) = U (before all consonants but h); un (before vowels and h)
- The/some (plural) = Plu
Prepositions
| Prepositions: Glosa-English Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Glosa Word | English Word | English Example Words |
| Ab | Away from | Abduct |
| Ad | To / Towards | Advance |
| Ana | Up | Anabolic |
| Anti | Against | Antibiotic |
| De | Of / About / Pertaining to | Describe |
| Dextro | (On the) Right | Ambidextrous |
| Dia | Through | Diagonal |
| Epi | On | Epicentre |
| Ex | Out (of) / by (agent) | Exterior |
| Infra | Below / Under /Lesser | Infrared / Inferior |
| Intra | Inside | Intracloud |
| Kata | Down | Catastrophe |
| Ko | With | Coöperate |
| Kontra | Counter / Opposite | Counter / Contrast |
| Laevo | Left | Levorotation |
| Meso | Middle | Mesopotamia |
| Minus | Without / Lacking | Minus |
| Margina | Edge / Side | Margin |
| Meso | Middle | Mesopotamia |
| Para | Beside | Parallel |
| Per | By (instrumental) | Per |
| Peri | Around | Pericarp |
| Po | After | Post (scriptum) |
| Pre | Before | Previous |
| Pro | For | Pro (or con) |
| Proxi | Near | Proximity |
| Supra | Over / Above | Supranational |
| Te | In order to... | Tendency |
| Tem | For a period of time | Temporary |
| Tele | Far | Telephone |
| To(po) | At place | Topology |
| Trans | Across | Transition |
| Ultra | Beyond | Ultrasophisticated |
| Vice | instead of | Vice-president |
Numbers
The following table uses a period (.) is used to group numbers in threes.| Arabic Numeral | English Name | Glosa Name | Exact Glosa-English Translation |
| 0 | zero | nuli/ze(ro) | null; nullify; nothing; abolish; cancel; eliminate; naught; nil; no; repeal; zero |
| 1 | one | mo(no) | one; single |
| 2 | two | bi | two; double |
| 3 | three | tri | three; triple |
| 4 | four | tet(ra) | four |
| 5 | five | pen(ta) | five |
| 6 | six | six(a) | six |
| 7 | seven | septi/seti | seven |
| 8 | eight | ok(to) | eight |
| 9 | nine | nona | nine |
| 10 | ten | deka | ten |
| 11 | eleven | mo-mo http://www.glosa.org/gid/coglen.htm | one-one |
| 12 | twelve | mo-bi http://www.glosa.org/gid/coglen.htm | one-two |
| 20 | twenty | bi-ze | two-zero |
| 22 | twenty-two | bi-bi | two-two |
| 100 | one hundred | hekto (mo-ze-ze) | (one) hundred (one-zero-zero) |
| 101 | one hundred and one | mo-ze-mo | one-zero-one |
| 1.000 | one thousand | (mo-)kilo | (one) thousand |
| 1.000.000 | one million | (mo-)miliona | (one) million |
- Note: Some use "centi" the older form of "hekto" for "hundred". "Centi" is now used as "hundredth" in accordance with the ISO standard usage.
Example Text
- Glosa text (From: Prof. Hogben's Language Planning.http://www.kafejo.com/rgaskell/paraleli.htm)
- A prima vista posi id feno u no-spe ergo de face u verba-lista; qi fu sati panto nece volu de interkomunika; sed inklude ne ma de, posi, u kilo basi verba. U nova-papira uti minimo 20,000 verba; e in English mero de mikro English - French lexiko proxi 10,000 gene lista. Pe ne nece studi id mega tem te detekti u mega mero de lista es ne-nece.
- U logika ge-face verba-lista sio apo multi sinonima alo proxi-sinonima, de qi Anglo-Amerika lingua es ple. Ex. little-small, big-large, begin-commence. Id ne nece tolera funktio imbrika homo band - ribbon - strip. Plus, id sio evita excesi specializa per face mo verba akti qod in Plu Palaeo Lingua gene face per tri alo ma. Exempla, u France demo nima un extra tegu de homi soma la peau, u-la de cepa la pelure; e u-la de botuli la cotte. Anti na es mei precise de France demo, na auto supra-kargo u lexiko per ko-responde seri skin - rind - jacket - peel. Kron na vide u difere inter thread - twine - cord - string - rope - tow na solo kumu nima epi nima pro qo es, a fini u metri-difere.
- English Translation:
- At first sight it may seem a hopeless task to construct a vocabulary that would cover all the essential words of intercommunication, yet contain not more than, say, a thousand basic words. A newspaper uses at least 20,000, and in the English section of a small English-French pocket dictionary some 10,000 are listed. It requires no lengthy scrutiny to discover that a large portion of the material is not essential.
- A rationally constructed word-list would discard many synonyms or near-synonyms, of which the Anglo-American language is full. For example, little - small, big - large, begin - commence. It need not tolerate functional overlap as with band - ribbon - strip. Also, it would avoid over-specialization by making one word do what in natural languages is often done by three or more. For example, the French call the outer cover of the human body la peau, that of the onion la pelure, and that of the sausage la cotte. Though less precise than the French, we ourselves overburden the dictionary with the corresponding series skin - rind - jacket - peel. When we distinguish between thread - twine - cord - string - rope - tow we are merely heaping name upon name for what is ultimately a difference in size.
Language Sample for Comparison
The following is the Lord's PrayerLord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
in Glosa and other languages:
| Glosa version: | Esperanto Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887... version: |
Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... version: |
Latin Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and... version: |
English (ELLC English Language Liturgical Consultation The English Language Liturgical Consultation is a group of national associations of ecumenical liturgists in the English-speaking world. Their work has been concerned with developing and promoting common liturgical texts in English and sharing a common lectionary wherever possible... - 1988) |
Na parenta in urani: na volu; tu nomina gene honora, tu krati veni e tu tende gene akti epi geo homo in urani. Place don a na nu-di na di-pani e tu pardo na plu mali akti; metri na pardo mu; qi akti mali a na. E ne direkti na a u proba; sed libe na ab mali. Ka tu tena u krati, u dina e un eufamo pan tem. Amen. |
Patro nia, kiu estas en la ĉielo, Via nomo estu sanktigita. Venu Via regno, plenumiĝu Via volo, kiel en la ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero. Nian panon ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ. Kaj pardonu al ni niajn ŝuldojn, kiel ankaŭ ni pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj. Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malbono. Amen. |
Pater noster, qui es in caelis: sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Amen. |
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen. |
- notice that in Glosa the word "sky" is derived from Greek (Ουρανός (God of the sky) -> Urani (sky)) while Esperanto uses a Latin derived word (caelum-caeli)