The Opelousas courier., 1888-06-23
a Universal Language.

Times emocrat.
There is no doubt that the question
of a universal language is attracting
great attention at present. The need
of one is greater than ever before, yet
we are apparently drifting further
away. There was a time when Greek
was a universal language in the civil
lized world, then followed Latin-per-
haps as universal as aver human
tongue has been-and finally came
French, which for a time at least, was
the language Of the upper classes. To-
day English approximates closest to
universally, It is the most spoken of
all civilized tongues, and is largely
used in commerce, but although nor
common in Europe than formerly, it is
making but little Roadway except by
the increase of the English speaking
races.
Thus, while the world is approaching
uniformity in other matters, while it
has adopted, with rare exceptions, a
universal scale of weights, measures
and distances, a universal postal SER
vice, and all civilized nations are com
ing nearer to each othef, they are get
ting further away in the matter of Ian
guage, each insisting that it's own
should be accepted as the standard.
Volapuk and the other manufactured
languages are the natural consequence
of an attempt to supply wfnt the world
to-day recognizes as q defig lency. They
present some advantages, yet they are
necessarily unsuccessful. 1t is almost
SnmnrmoyhIr y NA0v.nnkn " wHAry Ia nasa ~rn
It lacks the starting point, it lacks a
population that speak it; and it can at
most hope to become a written Ian
guage, and never a spoken one. IF we
could hit upon a language already
spoken that could be generally used,
the task of securing a universal tongue
wonld be a comparatively easy one.
Arabic has been proposed, because it is
musical, has q large vocabulary and is
kindred to most European tongues.
Sanscrit has also been suggested, but
to this the objection has been urged
that it is, to all intents and purposes,
a dead language.
The New York Herald has, in this
connection, a suggestion which we
think an admirable one, as follows:
Tic we want universal language, to
be TO the nations what the Mandarin
dialect is to the diversified provinces
of China, we could take the ancient
Greek Oh the Modern Spanish. Laying
aside the ~prejndiees arising from affec-
ton and association, there is no Ian
guage so logical, SO beautiful, and at
the same time SO mathematical in the
simplicity of its laws, as the Spanish.
1t has q wider range, when we take in
the American provinces from the Rio
Grande to Cape Horn, than would be
supposed. IL has left an ineffaceable
impress upon the United States from
Florida to Oregon. For every form of
speech-eioqnence, devotion, poetry or
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES has no superior
among living tongues, while in many
respects it has excellences which no
!. living tongue can rival.
Every word the Herald saws IA trua
and if the world is willing to cast aside
racial prejndices it will find in Span.
ish the universal language it has 40
long sought. First, as the Herald saws.
it is q tongue we'll fitted to eioauence.
poetry, conversation or commerce. II
is close TO the Latin, and therefore
easily learned by those who know
Latin it's pronunciation is easy, So
norous and pleasing. Ii is almost ma.
t~henatical in it's simplicity, is the only
phonetic language spoken-the phone-
nc system having been introduced into
~ ON two centuries ago-is of all
tongues the most easily learned, and is
alFeady spoken by more people than
/ any osher civilized language, except
Ing English and Russian and perhaps
German. If the Englishman, German
p krenchman will but drop nreiudi-
cess they will find In Spanish ! ready
made Volapuk, Infinitely superior AZ &
spoken language in every respect ia
Schleyerla Linguistic invention.