Lingua Philosophica: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Dalgarno Ars Signorum.jpg|thumbnail|225px|Title page of ''Dalgarno's Ars Signorum'' (1661).]]

'''''Lingua philosophica''''' ("the philosophical language") is a very early constructed language invented by George Dalgarno (c. 1626-1687), a Scottish schoolteacher, published by him in his ''Ars Signorum'' ("Art of Signs"), a lengthy essay published in 1661 which both attempted to set out the philosophical basis of language, as Dalgarno perceived it, and to sketch (in some detail) a constructed language that would, ideally, represent each idea by a word, related ideas by related words, and be sufficiently rational to train its learners' minds in philosophical rigor.

Whether or not Dalgarno succeeded at this task, his ''Lingua Philosophica'' is one of the earliest fully functional constructed languages, and most likely the earliest in Europe. ~~It consists of:~~

Whether or not Dalgarno succeeded at this task, his ''Lingua Philosophica'' is one of the earliest fully functional constructed languages, and most likely the earliest in Europe.

~~:A lengthy list of roots corresponding to what Dalgarno believed to be basic linguistic concepts or ideas.~~

== Corpus ==

~~:A much briefer grammatical apparatus (chiefly verbal and adjectival inflexional suffixes) which could be used with these roots.~~

It consists of:

~~:A "Lexicon" of 1370 Latin words glossed in Lingua Philosophica, often by compounding existing roots~~

~~:A set~~ of ~~writings, primarily translations, in Lingua Philosophica. These include~~:

* A lengthy list of roots corresponding to what Dalgarno believed to be basic linguistic concepts or ideas.

* A much briefer grammatical apparatus (chiefly verbal and adjectival inflexional suffixes) which could be used with these roots.

* A "Lexicon" of 1370 Latin words glossed in Lingua Philosophica, often by compounding existing roots

* A set of writings, primarily translations, in Lingua Philosophica. These include:

#A foreword addressed to King Charles II.

#The Lord's Prayer in Lingua Philosophica.

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Line 17:

#Translations of the first five Psalms.

#Translations of two short Fables of Æsop.

These texts are broadly consistent with each other and with the lexicon, but there are some differences and inconsistencies, likely due to their being composed at different stages of invention or revision of the language and not later edited to be more consistent with each other.

There are also several example sentences given in the main body of the ''Ars Signorum.''

==Sounds==

[[File:Ars signorum sample.jpg|thumbnail|225px|Dedication from George Dalgarno's ''Ars signorum'', written in his proposal for a universal language. An English gloss has been added.]]

===Vowels===

i, e, η, a, o, υ, u

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{|class="wikitable"

|-

| ||Labials||Coronals~~||Palatas~~||Velars

| ||Labials||Coronals||Velars

|-

|Voiceless stops|| p || t || || k

|Voiceless stops|| p || t || k

|-

|Voiced stops|| b || d || || g

|Voiced stops|| b || d || g

|-

|Nasals|| m || n || || ŋ<ref>Represented by the letter ''f.'' It is unclear whether it was actually intended to be pronounced [f]; it was, however, intended to fill the slot of a velar nasal.</ref>

|Nasals|| m || n || ŋ<ref>Represented by the letter ''f.'' It is unclear whether it was actually intended to be pronounced [f]; it was, however, intended to fill the slot of a velar nasal.</ref>

|-

|Voiceless fricatives|| f<ref>See ŋ above</ref> || s ~~|| ʃ~~ ||

|Voiceless fricatives|| f<ref>See ŋ above</ref> || s ||

|-

|Voiced fricatives || v || || ||

|Voiced fricatives || v || ||

|-

|Approximants || || l, r || ||

|Approximants || || l, r ||

|}

Notes:

The sound [ʃ] is also found; however, this is not truly a phoneme, but represents underlying /sr/.

==Phonology==

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: -a perfect

: -o imperative

[[Category:Languages]]

[[Category:Philosophical languages]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Dalgarno Ars Signorum.jpg|thumbnail|225px|Title page of ''Dalgarno's Ars Signorum'' (1661).]]
 '''''Lingua philosophica''''' ("the philosophical language") is a very early constructed language invented by George Dalgarno (c. 1626-1687), a Scottish schoolteacher, published by him in his ''Ars Signorum'' ("Art of Signs"), a lengthy essay published in 1661 which both attempted to set out the philosophical basis of language, as Dalgarno perceived it, and to sketch (in some detail) a constructed language that would, ideally, represent each idea by a word, related ideas by related words, and be sufficiently rational to train its learners' minds in philosophical rigor.
-Whether or not Dalgarno succeeded at this task, his ''Lingua Philosophica'' is one of the earliest fully functional constructed languages, and most likely the earliest in Europe. It consists of:
+Whether or not Dalgarno succeeded at this task, his ''Lingua Philosophica'' is one of the earliest fully functional constructed languages, and most likely the earliest in Europe.
-:A lengthy list of roots corresponding to what Dalgarno believed to be basic linguistic concepts or ideas.
+== Corpus ==
-:A much briefer grammatical apparatus (chiefly verbal and adjectival inflexional suffixes) which could be used with these roots.
+It consists of:
-:A "Lexicon" of 1370 Latin words glossed in Lingua Philosophica, often by compounding existing roots
-:A set of writings, primarily translations, in Lingua Philosophica. These include:
+* A lengthy list of roots corresponding to what Dalgarno believed to be basic linguistic concepts or ideas.
+* A much briefer grammatical apparatus (chiefly verbal and adjectival inflexional suffixes) which could be used with these roots.
+* A "Lexicon" of 1370 Latin words glossed in Lingua Philosophica, often by compounding existing roots
+* A set of writings, primarily translations, in Lingua Philosophica. These include:
 #A foreword addressed to King Charles II.
 #The Lord's Prayer in Lingua Philosophica.
@@ Line 13: / Line 17: @@
 #Translations of the first five Psalms.
 #Translations of two short Fables of Æsop.
+These texts are broadly consistent with each other and with the lexicon, but there are some differences and inconsistencies, likely due to their being composed at different stages of invention or revision of the language and not later edited to be more consistent with each other.
 There are also several example sentences given in the main body of the ''Ars Signorum.''
 ==Sounds==
+[[File:Ars signorum sample.jpg|thumbnail|225px|Dedication from George Dalgarno's ''Ars signorum'', written in his proposal for a universal language. An English gloss has been added.]]
 ===Vowels===
 i, e, η, a, o, υ, u
@@ Line 28: / Line 35: @@
 {|class="wikitable"
 |-
-| ||Labials||Coronals||Palatas||Velars
+| ||Labials||Coronals||Velars
 |-
-|Voiceless stops|| p || t || || k
+|Voiceless stops|| p || t || k
 |-
-|Voiced stops|| b || d || || g
+|Voiced stops|| b || d || g
 |-
-|Nasals|| m || n || || ŋ<ref>Represented by the letter ''f.'' It is unclear whether it was actually intended to be pronounced [f]; it was, however, intended to fill the slot of a velar nasal.</ref>
+|Nasals|| m || n || ŋ<ref>Represented by the letter ''f.'' It is unclear whether it was actually intended to be pronounced [f]; it was, however, intended to fill the slot of a velar nasal.</ref>
 |-
-|Voiceless fricatives|| f<ref>See ŋ above</ref> || s || ʃ ||
+|Voiceless fricatives|| f<ref>See ŋ above</ref> || s ||
 |-
-|Voiced fricatives || v || || ||
+|Voiced fricatives || v || ||
 |-
-|Approximants || || l, r || ||
+|Approximants || || l, r ||
 |}
+Notes:
+<references />
+The sound [ʃ] is also found; however, this is not truly a phoneme, but represents underlying /sr/.
 ==Phonology==
@@ Line 95: / Line 107: @@
 : -a perfect
 : -o imperative
+[[Category:Languages]]
+[[Category:Languages]]
+[[Category:Philosophical languages]]