From ROBERT CRAIG
From time to time, you publish letters from the advocates of various
constructed languages, most recently Glosa and Esperanto (Letters, 7 May
and 11 June). It is difficult to see what the supporters of such curiosities
can hope to achieve.
There is a language, which, for want of a suitable name, we call English.
(Neo-English is a more accurate term, since English, that is, the language
of the Anglo-Saxons, is only one element in its composition.) This language
draws on Norse, French, Latin, Greek, original English and many others.
It incorporates all the major tongues of the EU (original English having
been akin to German and Dutch).
Neo-English is spoken by 400 million people worldwide and is the chief
language of business, science and diplomacy. It may have some oddities
such as spelling, but they could be reformed away. If anyone is looking
for an international world language, surely, Neo-English, which exists and
is used daily by 400 million people, is the best bet. (New Scientist must
believe so, because it is written in Neo-English.) For diplomatic reasons,
its chances might be improved if it were known, colloquially, by a more
appropriate name than ‘English’.
Robert Craig Weston-Super-Mare, Avon
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