The idea of a universal language is at least as old as the Biblical story of Babel. Babel's fall has the mythical point that there was once a time of a universal Adamic language (now often associated with the Kabbalah) — and then something happened, the confusion of tongues, analogous to the Fall of Man. In the Christian tradition there are various attitudes to regaining the supposed golden age, before Babel; these include optimism, pessimism, and recourse to parody and warnings on hubris, depending on the wished interpretation of the myth. The Bible (From Greek βιβλια—biblia, meaning books, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) is the sacred scripture of Christianity. ... For other uses, see Babel (disambiguation). ... The Adamic language is a term for the hypothetical proto-language believed spoken by Adam and Eve in paradise, either identical with the language used by God to address Adam, or invented by Adam as nomothete (name-giver, Genesis 2:19). ... Kabbalah (Hebrew: ‎, Tiberian: , Qabbālāh, Israeli: Kabala) literally means receiving, in the sense of a received tradition, and is sometimes transliterated as Cabala, Kabbala, Qabalah, or other permutations. ... The confusion of tongues (confusio linguarum) is the fragmentation of human languages after the collapse of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). ... In Abrahamic religion, The Fall of Man or The Story of the Fall, or simply The Fall, refers to humanitys fall from a state of innocent bliss to a state of sinful understanding. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... The Golden Age by Pietro da Cortona. ... Parody of Back to the Future In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Hubris or hybris (Greek ), according to its modern usage, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence, often resulting in fatal retribution. ... // For the Derek Sherinian album, see Mythology (Derek Sherinian album). ...

In other traditions, there is less interest in or a general deflection of the question. For example in Islam the Arabic language is the language of the Qur'an, and so universal for Muslims. The written classical Chinese language was and is still read widely but pronounced somewhat differently by readers in different areas of China, in Korea and Japan for centuries; it was a de facto universal literary language for a broad-based culture. In something of the same way Sanskrit in India was a literary language for many for whom it was not a mother tongue. Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The Qurān [1] (Arabic: ‎, literally the recitation; also called The Noble Qurān; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Korea (Korean: 한국 or ì¡°ì„ , see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is an old Indo-Aryan language from the Indian Subcontinent, the classical literary language of the Hindus of India[1], a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ...

Comparably, the Latin language (qua Medieval Latin) was in effect a universal language of literati in the Middle Ages, and the language of the Vulgate Bible, in the area of Catholicism which covered most of Western Europe and parts of Northern and Central Europe also. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Medieval Latin refers to the Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the liturgical language of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. ... An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, and speculate on a variety of different ideas. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. ... As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... World map showing the location of Europe. ...

Seventeenth century

Recognisable strands in the contemporary ideas on universal languages took form only in Early Modern Europe. A lingua franca or trade language was nothing very new; but an international auxiliary language was a natural wish in light of the gradual decline of Latin. Literature in vernacular languages became more prominent with the Renaissance. Over the course of the 18th century, learned works largely ceased to be written in Latin. According to Colton Booth (Origin and Authority in Seventeenth-Century England (1994) p.174) "The Renaissance had no single view of Adamic language and its relation to human understanding." The question was more exactly posed in the work of Francis Bacon. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western Europe and its first colonies, between the Middle Ages and modern society. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) is a language used (or to be used in the future) for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist but is best known for leading the scientific revolution with his new observation and experimentation theory which is the way science has been conducted ever since. ...

In the vast writings of Gottfried Leibniz can be found many elements relating to a possible universal language, specifically a constructed language, a concept that gradually came to replace that of a rationalised Latin as the natural basis for a projected universal language. Leibniz conceived of a characteristica universalis (also see mathesis universalis), an "algebra" capable of expressing all conceptual thought. This algebra would include rules for symbolic manipulation, what he called a calculus ratiocinator . His goal was to put reasoning on a firmer basis by reducing much of it to a matter of calculation that many could grasp. The characteristica would build on an alphabet of human thought. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... A constructed or artificial language — known colloquially as a conlang — is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary have been devised by an individual or small group, instead of having naturally evolved as part of a culture. ... Characteristica Universalis from Latin is commonly interpreted as Universal Character in English. ... Mathesis universalis (Greek mathesis - science, Latin universalis - universal) is a hypothetical universal science modelled on mathematics envisaged by Leibniz and Descartes. ... The Calculus Ratiocinator is a concept appearing in the writings of Gottfried Leibniz, usually paired with his characteristica universalis, which he mentioned much more frequently. ... Reasoning is the act of using reason to derive a conclusion from certain premises. ... The idea of an alphabet of human thought originates in the 17th century, when proposals were first made for a universal language. ...

Leibniz's work is bracketed by some earlier mathematical ideas of René Descartes, and the satirical attack of Voltaire on Panglossianism. Descartes's ambitions were far more modest than Leibniz's, and also far more successful, as shown by his wedding of algebra and geometry to yield what we now know as analytic geometry. Decades of research on symbolic artificial intelligence have not brought Leibniz's dream of a characteristica any closer to fruition. René Descartes (March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Renatus Cartesius (latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. ... François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical writings, and defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. ... Pangloss is a character in Voltaires novel Candide. ... Algebra is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation and quantity. ... Table of Geometry, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... Analytic geometry, also called coordinate geometry and earlier referred to as Cartesian geometry or analytical geometry, is the study of geometry using the principles of algebra. ...

Other seventeenth-century proposals for a 'philosophical' (i.e. universal) language include those by Francis Lodwick, Thomas Urquhart (possibly parodic), George Dalgarno (Ars signorum, 1661), and John Wilkins (An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, 1668). The classification scheme in Roget's Thesaurus ultimately derives from Wilkins's Essay. Francis Lodwick (or Lodowick) (1619–1694) was a pioneer of a priori languages. ... Thomas Urquhart in a 1641 engraving by George Glover Sir Thomas Urquhart (or Urchard, 1611 - c. ... George Dalgarno (1626-1687) was a Scottish intellectual interested in linguistic problems. ... 1661 (MDCLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Wilkins. ... The chief of the numerous works of John Wilkins was An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (London, 1668), in which he expounds a new universal language for the use of philosophers. ... 1668 (MDCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Peter Mark Roget (January 18, 1779–September 12, 1869) studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and became a distinguished physician and lexicographer. ... The word thesaurus is derived from 16th century New Latin, in turn from Latin thesaurus, from ancient Greek thesauros, store-house, treasury. Besides its meaning as a treasury or storehouse, it more commonly means a listing of words with similar, related, or opposite meanings (this new meaning of thesaurus dates...

Early modern ideas about philosophical language were motivated by various theological preoccupations, ones not necessarily associated with Pentecost (see below). Pentecost (symbolically related to the Jewish festival of Shavuot) is a feast on the Christian liturgical calendar that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, and the followers (men and women) of Jesus, fifty days (seven weeks) after Easter, and ten days after Ascension Thursday. ...

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, some rationalist natural philosophers sought to recover the Edenic language. There were two general approaches. In one, it was assumed that education inevitably took people away from the innate state of goodness they possessed, and therefore there was an attempt to see what language a human child brought up in utter silence would speak. This was assumed to be the Edenic tongue, or at least the lapsarian tongue. However, the more common and vigorously attempted project was to either discover the most ancient language (assuming that it would be nearest to Edenic) or to compare all languages and discover their common structures and thus to understand what language God had built into humans. There were, therefore, multiple attempts to relate esoteric languages to Hebrew (e.g. Basque, Erse, and Irish), as well as the beginnings of comparative linguistics. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Basque (native name: Euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France. ... The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) are one of two major divisions of modern-day Insular Celtic languages (the other being the Brythonic languages). ... Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time, by means of examining languages which are recognizably related through similarities such as vocabulary, word formation, and syntax, as well as the surviving records of ancient languages. ...

On the other hand, Voltaire's Candide took aim at Leibniz as Dr. Pangloss, with the choice of name clearly putting universal language in his sights, but satirising mainly the optimism of the projector as much as the project. The argument takes the universal language itself no more seriously than the ideas of the speculative scientists and virtuosi of Jonathan Swift's Laputa. For the like-minded of Voltaire's generation, universal language was tarred as fool's gold with the same brush as philology with little intellectual rigour, and universal mythography, as futile and arid directions. Candide andrew, ou lOptimisme, (Candide, or Optimism) (1759) is a picaresque novel by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. ... Pangloss is a character in Voltaires novel Candide. ... Optimists see the world as a positive place Optimism, the opposite of pessimism, exemplifies a lifeview where one looks upon the world as a positive place. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. ... Laputa is a fictional place from the book Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. ... The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is iron disulfide, FeS2. ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... For the medical term see rigor (medicine) Rigour (American English: rigor) has a number of meanings in relation to intellectual life and discourse. ... It has been suggested that Folkloristics be merged into this article or section. ...

Nineteenth Century

At the end of the nineteenth century there was a large expansion of constructed languages intended as genuine spoken language. See for example Volapük. The main practical consequence was the eventual growth of Esperanto. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Volapük edition of Wikipedia This article is about the international auxiliary language. ... Look up Esperanto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith (Bahá'u'lláh) called on the governments of the world to effect the establishment of an international auxiliary language. Since then, the international Bahá'í community has promoted this goal, particularly through the United Nations, as a means of facilitating "the transition to a global society". Reference: 'Making a commitment to a universal auxiliary language and a common script' in the 1995 statement by the Bahá'í International Community on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations: http://statements.bahai.org/95-1001.htm#III Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, governing body of the Baháís The Baháí Faith is a religion founded by Baháulláh in 19th century Persia. ... Shrine of Baháulláh Baháulláh (ba-haa-ol-laa Arabic: ‎ Glory of God) (1817 - 1892), born (Persian: ‎ ), was the founder and prophet of the Baháí Faith. ... Language Policy in the Baháí Faith focuses on a particular teaching; that the world should adopt an international auxiliary language, and everyone should have to learn only one or two languages. ...

Twentieth Century

Global media, the legacy of the British Empire, and the status of the United States as an economic superpower in the latter half of the twentieth century led to the informal adoption of English as the primary language of international business. The constructed language movement gradually shifted toward more a naturalistic approach, eventually producing the auxiliary language Interlingua. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... An American B-2 bomber in flight. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) is a language used (or to be used in the future) for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language. ... Interlingua is an international auxiliary language (IAL) published in 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). ...

Interlingua is understood at first sight or hearing by large speaking populations. As a result, it does not depend for its success on being learned by large numbers of people. In addition, a common use of Interlingua is to facilitate the learning of other, more traditional languages. Thus, the growth of Interlingua challenges ideas that have been seen as fundamental to the concept of a universal language: that its success depends on persuading everyone to learn it, on its becoming more popular than other candidates for universal language, or on perceived deficiencies in other languages.

Contemporary ideas

The ideas of complete conceptual classification by categories is still debated on various levels. The short story "Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Recognition" by Jorge Luis Borges is satirical, but has often been quoted (for example by Michel Foucault) against the whole idea. Some careless authors have taken Borges' teasing category list as a true report, which, if nothing else, shows that prejudices against the possibility of complete, encyclopedic categorisation are well entrenched. Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Recognition is a parody of classification schemes or taxonomy, in the form of an essay by Jorge Luis Borges on a fictitious Chinese encyclopedia 1. ... Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986), was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost Hispanic literary figures of the 20th century. ... Michel Foucault (IPA pronunciation: ; English-speakers pronunciation varies) (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher and historian. ...

A recent philosophical synthesis has also connected Leibniz's interest in environmental engineering with Systems Ecology. It has been proposed that a modern form of Leibniz's Characteristica Universalis is the Energy Systems Language of Systems Ecology, which has been used to develop ecological-economic systems overviews of landscapes, technologies, and Nations. One consequence of this seems to be that Leibniz's Enlightenment project is alive and being applied globally in the evaluation of ecological sustainability. Characteristica Universalis from Latin is commonly interpreted as Universal Character in English. ... The Energy Systems Language was developed by H.T.Odum and colleagues for depicting the flows of energy through ecological systems. ... eMergy evaluation is an accounting system that has been continuosly developed by Howard T. Odum and colleagues around the world since the 1960s, but only became known by this term in the 80s. ...

Pentecost

A Bible-centred discussion of the question would pick up on the glossolalia (speaking with tongues) of the New Testament Pentecost story, where in the Book of Acts [1]. This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library of Congress. ... Tongues redirects here. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... Pentecost (symbolically related to the Jewish festival of Shavuot) is a feast on the Christian liturgical calendar that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, and the followers (men and women) of Jesus, fifty days (seven weeks) after Easter, and ten days after Ascension Thursday. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ...

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house"..."And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire"..."they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues"..."devout men, out of every nation under heaven"..."the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?" - Acts 2:1-13

In the story, Saint Peter proceeds to explain this miracle as the fulfillment of the prophecy by Joel. A Christian interpretation views this event as the reconstitution of the division brought about at the Tower of Babel. The tower to reach heaven represents a Titan's (futile) quest, but the descent and acceptance of the Holy Spirit upon the men at the Pentecost represents that quest's fulfilment. The Holy Spirit, from the Christian viewpoint, while related to Gods will, is not Gods will personified. ... Saint Peter, also known as Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha — original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14) — was one of the Twelve Apostles whom Jesus chose as his original disciples. ... Joel (יוֹאֵל Yahweh is El, usually interpreted as meaning Yahweh is God or Jehovah is God, Standard Hebrew Yoʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Yôʾēl) is the name of several people in the Bible. ... The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré (1865): the artist has based his conception on the Minaret of Samarra According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. ... In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτάνες) were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. ... In various religions, most notably Trinitarian Christianity, the Holy Spirit (in Hebrew רוח הקודש Ruah haqodesh; also called the Holy Ghost) is the third consubstantial Person of the Holy Trinity. ...