Detlev Blanke
German Society for Interlinguistics (Gesellschaft für Interlinguistik e.V.), Germany
1 Introduction
The term ’interlinguistics’ first appeared in its French variant as ‘interlinguistique’ in 1911 in a journal edited by Jules Meysmans (Meysmans 1911/12). The notion is closely related to international planned languages (also called international auxiliary languages, international artificial languages, universal languages). These are languages consciously created for (at least in most cases) the facilitation of international communication.
The term ‘planned language’ was introduced by Eugen Wüster [in its German original Plansprache]. It is increasingly gaining ground in publications on interlinguistics, with equivalents in ethnic languages, such as planned language (English), langue planifiée (French), planovyj jazyk (Russian), lingua pianificata (Italian), plansprog (Danish), teanga phleanáilte (Irish), plantaal (Dutch), plánový jazyk (Czech) (cf. Blanke 1997).
Among the large number of planned language projects – and new systems are still emerging – only a few played or play a role. The most successful planned language is Esperanto (Ludwig Lejzer Zamenhof, 1887). Some projects found certain applications, although only during a limited period of time, such as Volapük (Johann Martin Schleyer, 1879), Latino sine flexione (Giuseppe Peano, 1903), Ido (Louis Couturat, 1907), Occidental-Interlingue (Edgar de Wahl, 1922), and Interlingua (IALA/Gode, 1951).
The term ‘interlinguistics’ (Interlinguistik [German], interlinguistique [French], interlingvistika [Russian], interlinguistica [Italian]) is also related to the term interlingua (Latin), which means basically ‘means of communication between people of different languages’. Therefore, ‘interlinguistics’, due to its morphemic structure, can be understood as a term referring to two fields of knowledge:
/interlingua/ + /istics/: the science of interlinguae, i.e. the study of languages as means of international communication.
(/inter/ /linguae/)+istics: the study of what happens between languages.
2 The object of interlinguistics
Basically, there are three groups of definitions. According to these, interlinguistics is
the study of international auxiliary languages (either both ethnic languages and planned languages functioning as lingua francas or restricted to planned languages)
the study of international linguistic communication, its conditions and means
contrastive linguistics, linguistics of multilingualism.
2.1 Study of international auxiliary languages
The discussion focuses on the means of international communication.
2.1.1 Ethnic languages and planned languages as international auxiliary languages
A number of authors state that ‘interlinguistics’ is concerned with ethnic languages and planned languages in their role as international auxiliary languages (vehicular or common language). Among those are Jules Meysmans and later Hermann Ölberg, Marcel Monnerot-Dumaine, Alexandr Duličenko, Sergej Kuznecov and other well-known interlinguists.
2.1.2 The study of planned language
The most wide-spread opinion is the view that ‘interlinguistics’ deals exclusively with planned languages. There are two variants of this view, which I call the constructive and the descriptive study of planned languages:
2.1.2.1 The constructive study of planned languages
The constructive study of planned language goes back to the Anglicist and interlinguist Otto Jespersen. In his opinion, the criteria and basic ideas for the construction of an ideal planned language can be found by means of a comparative analysis of languages.
“A new science is developing, Interlinguistics – that branch of the science of language – which deals with the structure and basic ideas of all languages with a view to the establishing of a norm for interlanguages, i.e. auxiliary languages destined for oral and written use between people who cannot make themselves understood by means of their mother tongues. Interlinguists contend, and to my mind, rightly, that there is here a field that can be treated according to scientific methods and which it is of the utmost importance to civilized mankind to see thus treated, in order to obtain a satisfactory solution of a really harrasing problem” (Jespersens 1930-31: 1).
According to Valter Tauli, interlinguistics is a part of language planning:
“Interlinguistics can be defined as the science of IL planning, or more precisely, the branch of TLP which investigates the principles, methods and tactics of IL planning” (Tauli 1968: 167).
2.1.2.2 The descriptive study of planned languages
The descriptive study of planned languages is less interested in the construction of new planned languages than in the investigation of existing systems. It considers the comparison and criticism of planned languages to be the main aim of interlinguistics.
Alicja Sakaguchi sees interlinguistics exclusively as the science of planned languages and divides it into “general” and “specific” interlinguistics:
General interlinguistics has the aim of investigating possible structures and achievements of planned languages as well as their relationship with natural languages and with other semiotic systems. It is mainly theoretically orientated. Specific interlinguistics, on the other hand, deals with the description of individual planned languages and the literature that may exist in these languages. It is mainly empirically orientated, descriptive. (Sakaguchi 1998: 413; original emphasis D.B.)
2.2 The study of international communication
Whereas the representatives of the approach described in 2.1 place the means of international communication, especially, but not only, planned languages, in the centre of interlinguistic research, other authors assume that the task of interlinguistics is also to investigate all aspects of international communication processes, their conditions and effects.
2.2.1 A new scientific discipline
In 2.1 interlinguistics was considered to be a branch of language science. Artur Bormann, however, postulates a new interdisciplinary science in its own right. He claims that interlinguistic research should include political, economic and other aspects, i.e. the entire process of communication. As he sees it,
[…] interlinguistics […] is the branch of science that examines the general-political, cultural, sociological and linguistic questions of a common language that is to be used by all people equally in international relations, of the international language […] (A. Bormann 1958: 25)
A. Bormann has a future science in mind which is not a branch of linguistics but is to represent something new. When he speaks about “the international language” (“die internationale Sprache”), he means, above all, a planned language.
2.2.2 An interdisciplinary branch of linguistics
Another group of interlinguists, including the present author, stress the interdisciplinary character of interlinguistic research, but consider this science to be a branch of linguistics.
International communication processes, their conditions and means are greatly influenced by many factors and cannot be investigated satisfactorily without an interdisciplinary perspective. If science is not meant to be an end in itself, one of its tasks should be to put practical issues on the agenda for investigation. Among the matters requiring examination, therefore, are how effective is or has been international communication by means of ethnic languages functioning as lingua francas; what are or were the political, economic, cultural-political, psychological, legal, technological, informational-political and other effects this type of communication; what alternatives can be provided by other means of communication, for example, planned languages; what demands for international communication arise from social developments and how can these be investigated and coped with. In this context, it is not only planned languages or/and ethnic languages functioning as means of international communication that are the object of research, but international communication as a whole, encompassing all its aspects. In this respect and as a modern alternative, and for historical reasons, planned languages are the core field of study.
In a nutshell, from my point of view it might be said that interlinguistics is the interdisciplinary branch of linguistics that investigates all means and aspects of international language communication. This includes the function, structure, development and use of ethnic and planned languages as means of communication. In this way, interlinguistics can contribute to the optimisation of international communication. With regard to this, interlinguistics might be again subdivided into general and specific interlinguistics as well as into pure and applied interlinguistics.
Accordingly, general interlinguistics investigates the basic conditions of international language communication including all the aspects mentioned above.
Special interlinguistics is then confined to the study of planned languages and their theoretical principles, for example, the investigation into criteria, principles of construction, typologies, functions, and practical communicative capabilities of international planned languages, and their language communities, if the latter exist.
Pure interlinguistics, in this respect, is restricted to theoretical aspects.
Applied interlinguistics applies interlinguistic knowledge to other scientific fields (e.g. the preparatory role of planned languages for foreign language learning; planned languages as intermediate languages in machine translation etc.).
It is clear that interlinguists are not able to deal with all these aspects to the same extent. Therefore, interlinguistics in such a comprehensive sense is still at the beginning of its development and will have to undergo a number of changes.
2.3 Contrastive linguistics, linguistics of multilingualism, study of languages in contact
Contrary to well-established traditions concerning the term interlinguistics, research on language contact and problems of language interference was carried out under the headline ‘interlinguistics’ in the 1960s.
Most influential in this respect was an expert on Romance languages, Mario Wandruszka, who used the term ‘interlinguistics’ while disregarding its traditional content. He understood ‘interlinguistics’ as
[…] the linguistics of multilingualism, of language mixture and mixed languages, of translation and translation comparison, the ‘talk between the languages in us’. (Wandruszka 1971: 10; original emphasis, D.B.)
Under the latter definition, interlinguistics can mean a lot, but not what interlinguists since Meysmans and Jesperson have understood by the term. It is true that interlinguistic research should include investigations in the fields of contrastive linguistics, language contact, comparative translation studies and other disciplines, but these cannot constitute the object of interlinguistics.
Concise Bibliography
Blanke, Detlev (1997): The Term ‘Planned Language’. In: Tonkin, Humphrey (1997, ed.): Esperanto, Interlinguistics, and Planned Languages. Lanham-New York-Oxford: University Press of America/Rotterdam-Hartford: Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems. pp. 1-20.
Blanke, Detlev (2003): Interlinguistics and Esperanto studies. Paths to the scholarly literature. In: Language Problems & Language Planning 27 (2003) 2, pp. 155-192.
Blanke, Detlev (2006): Interlinguistische Beiträge. Zum Wesen und zur Funktion internationaler Plansprachen. Edited by Sabine Fiedler. Frankfurt/ Main: Peter Lang.
Bormann, Artur (1958): Grundzüge der Interlinguistik. In: Sprachforum, 3, Nr. 1, pp. 14-25.
Dulichenko, Aleksandr. D. (1990): Mezhdunarodnye vspomogatel’nye jazyki. Tallinn: Valgus.
Jespersen, Otto (1930-31): A new science: interlinguistics. In: Psyche 11,
pp. 57-67.
Meysmans, Jules (1911-12): Une science nouvelle. In: Lingua Internationale (Bruxelles). 1, Nr. 8, pp. 14-16.
Sakaguchi, Alicja (1998): Interlinguistik. Gegenstand, Ziele, Aufgaben, Methoden. Frankurt/Main: Peter Lang.
Schubert, Klaus (ed.)(1989): Interlinguistics. Aspects of the Science of Planned Languages. Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Tauli, Valter (1968): Introduction to a theory of language planning. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksells.
Wandruszka, Mario (1971): Interlinguistik. Umrisse einer neuen Sprachwissenschaft. München: Piper.
In order to avoid overloading this text with bibliographical notes, I refer to Blanke (2003; 2006), Sakaguchi (1998) and Schubert (1989) and the extensive special literature cited there. Furthermore, cf. www.esperantic.org, www.interlinguistik-gil.de, www.plansprachen.ch. I thank Sabine Fiedler for translating this text into English and Seán O’Riain for checking the style .
The most reliable survey of planned language systems until now (including 917 systems until 1973) is a chronologically arranged and commented list by Duličenko (1990). A large number of further projects can be found on the Internet: http://www.rickharrison.com/language/index.html; http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5037/index.html, http://www.langmaker.com/db/Langmaker:Conlangs.
IL = International Language, TLP = Theory of Language Planning.
