World Words
Where Pandunia words come from?
Principles
Most Pandunia words are already international – at least in some part of the world! The three key criteria for selecting words for Pandunia are:
- Equality : Words are be borrowed equally from different regions of the world. In practice it means that Pandunia borrows words from the languages of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
- Prevalence : Widely spread words are favored. The more people know the word the better.
- Simplicity : Word forms with easy pronunciation are favored.
Cultures of the world
Hartmut Traunmuller divided the world into four major cultural spheres in his article A Universal Interlanguage: Some Basic Considerations. The languages within a certain cultural sphere share words (loan words and translated loan words) and cultural concepts.
- The Western (or the European) cultural sphere
- This sphere covers all of Europe, Americas, Australia and various smaller regions.
- Languages of the West have been influenced greatly by Greek and Latin and in modern times by French and English.
- The Afro-Asian (or the Islamic) cultural sphere
- This group includes languages of areas where Islam is the main religion.
- It spans from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the islands in the Pacific of Indonesia and the Philippines.
- The languages of this cultural sphere are influenced by Persian and especially Arabic, which is the language of Quran, the holy book of Islam.
- The South Asian (or the Indian) cultural sphere
- This sphere covers the very populous subcontinent of India, Indochina and more
- The classical language of this group are Sanskrit, Tamil and Pāli
- The Indian vocabulary has been spread by Hinduism and especially Buddhism in all directions in Asia and elsewhere.
- The East Asian (or the Chinese) cultural sphere
- This culturel sphere grew around ancient China, the Middle Kingdom
- All languages of East Asia are saturated by loan words from Chinese.
- The biggest modern Chinese language, Mandarin, competes for the title of the most spoken language in the world today.
The cultural spheres are roughly outlined in the picture below.
Languages of the world and world languages
It is estimated that over 6000 different languages are spoken in the world. Some languages are spoken by many while others are spoken by only a few. Native and non-native speakers of the five most widely spoken languages together add up to more than half of the total population of the world. It is impossible to include all languages into the construction of a world language because of their great number. The number of source languages should be manageable for one person to work with.
So, which languages should be taken in?
Power Language Index (PLI) provides an answer to this question. It is a tool for comparing efficacy of languages that has been created by Ph.D. Kai L. Chan. It compares languages on how well they provide to a speaker the following five opportunities:
- Geography: The ability to travel
- Economy: The ability to participate in economic activities
- Communication: The ability to participate in dialogue
- Knowledge and media: The ability to consume knowledge and media
- Diplomacy: The ability to engage in international relations
Chan builds a ranking of languages based on a combination of the above-listed opportunities. This ranking is used as a reference in Pandunia.
The main source languages for Pandunia
Most Pandunia words are borrowed from 21 widely spoken languages as listed in the table below. The languages are selected so that they represent different language families, different geographical regions and different cultures.
The following table is ordered by the rank in the Power Language Index. The numbers of speakers are from the Power Language Index and the Wikipedia.
| Language | Native speakers | Non-native speakers | PLI ranking | Cultural sphere | Language family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 446 million | 510 million | 1 | Western | Indo-European |
| Mandarin Chinese | 960 million | 178 million | 2 | East Asian | Sino-Tibetan |
| French | 80 million | 192 million | 3 | Western | Indo-European |
| Spanish | 470 million | 70 million | 4 | Western | Indo-European |
| Arabic | 295 million | 132 million | 5 | Afro-Asian | Afro-Asiatic |
| Russian | 150 million | 115 million | 6 | Western | Indo-European |
| German | 76 million | 59 million | 7 | Western | Indo-European |
| Hindi-Urdu | 442 million | 214 million | 8 | Indian & Afro-Asian | Indo-European |
| Japanese | 125 million | 1 million | 9 | East Asian | Japonic |
| Portuguese | 215 million | 32 million | 10 | Western | Indo-European |
| Cantonese | 80 million | ½ million | 11 | East Asian | Sino-Tibetan |
| Malay | 77 million | 204 million | 14 | Indian & Afro-Asian | Malayo-Polynesian |
| Korean | 80 million | 1 million | 16 | East Asian | Koreanic |
| Turkish | 82 million | 6 million | 18 | Afro-Asian | Turkic |
| Persian | 56 million | 21 million | 29 | Afro-Asian | Indo-European |
| Bengali | 210 million | 19 million | 30 | Indian & Afro-Asian | Indo-European |
| Swahili | 20 million | 80 million | 37 | Afro-Asian | Niger-Congo |
| Tamil | 78 million | 8 million | 38 | Indian | Dravidian |
| Vietnamese | 76 million | 1 million | 43 | East Asian | Austroasiatic |
| Hausa | 51 million | 26 million | 114 | Afro-Asian | Afro-Asiatic |
| Fula | 42 million | 10 million | 119 | Afro-Asian | Niger-Congo |
They represent also a good mix of cultures and regions of the world. The table below shows the number of countries by continent where the 21 source languages have an official or national status.
| Language | America | Europe | Africa | Asia | Oceania |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 14 | 3 | 23 | 5 | 14 |
| French | 2 | 5 | 21 | 1 | |
| Spanish | 18 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Portuguese | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| Russian | 2 | 3 | |||
| German | 6 | ||||
| Arabic | 11 | 12 | |||
| Swahili | 5 | ||||
| Fula | 3 | ||||
| Hausa | 2 | ||||
| Turkish | 1 | 1 | |||
| Persian | 3 | ||||
| Hindi-Urdu | 2 | ||||
| Bengali | 2 | ||||
| Tamil | 3 | ||||
| Malay | 4 | ||||
| Mandarin | 3 | ||||
| Cantonese | (1) | ||||
| Japanese | 1 | ||||
| Korean | 2 | ||||
| Vietnamese | 1 |
Word selection method
There are a lot of international words, because the languages influence each other all the time. Some words are international in the West, some in the East, and some are even global. Pandunia attempts to use as international, intercontinental and global words as possible.
Words that are specific to a certain culture shall be adopted from languages that best represent that culture.
Words for objects of nature (for example plants and animal species) shall be adopted from a language that is spoken in the area where that object is found.
So the first question is, does the word belong to a certain region or culture?
Yes. → Select the word from languages that are important in that region or culture.
No. → Use the following word selection method.
- Collect translations for a given word in the 20 languages that are listed in the previous chapter by using electronic or printed or electronic dictionaries, Wiktionary, reliable machine translation, or some other tool.
- Identify groups of similar words.
- Similar words can be historically related
- or they can sound alike by coincidence.
- Select the most international group of similar words.
- The more international, the better.
- The best words are cross-cultural.
- If there's no cross-cultural word, select the one that is known by the greatest number of 1st language speakers.
- Select a word form that represents the group well and also fits well into Pandunia.
- Strip off unnecessary prefixes and suffixes.
- Use the sounds, the spelling and the normal word structure of Pandunia.
- Make sure that the new word is not identical or too similar to any previously existing Pandunia word.
Normally a word appears in at least two of the source languages. In case there isn't a common word, partially similar words can be selected. Only in the last resort a word from only one language can be accepted.
Word statistics
Figure 1. This bar chart shows how the percentage of Pandunia's base words that are similar with the source languages.
Figure 2. This pie chart shows how big influence each source language has on Pandunia.
Figure 3. This network diagram shows how much Pandunia words the source languages have in common with each other.
Figure 3 is a network diagram of the 21 source languages of Pandunia. The circles symbolize source languages. The larger the diameter, the more words Pandunia has borrowed from that language. Lines between the circles indicate how many Pandunia words the languages connected by the line have in common. The thicker the line is, the more words the connected languages have in common with each other and Pandunia.
Examples
Selecting the word for 'language'
First possible candidates are searched from widely spoken languages. The search reveals that there are several words that are international.
- Arabic لغة /luɣa/ is also known in Swahili lugha. It is also known in Persian and Turkic languages but with the meaning "dictionary".
- Persian زبان /zæba:n/ has spread to Urdu and Punjabi among others.
- Latinate lingua is found in the Romance languages and it has spread to most European languages in words like linguistics and multilingual.
- Indo-Aryan भाषा /bʱaʂa/ is used in Hindi and Bangla and it has spread to several neighbouring languages including Telugu, Thai and Indonesian.
The most prevalent of these words is /bʱaʂa/. It is recognised nearly everywhere in India, Indochina and Malay archipelago, which are some of the most densely populated areas in the world.
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi | bʱaʂa | भाषा |
| Punjabi | bʱaʃa | ਭਾਸ਼ਾ |
| Gujarati | bʱaʃa | ભાષા |
| Marathi | bʱaɕa | भाषा |
| Bangla | bʱaʃa | ভাষা |
| Telugu | baʃa | భాష |
| Thai | pʰa:sa: | ภาษา |
| Indonesian | bahasa | bahasa |
| Javanese | basa | basa |
| Sundanese | basa | basa |
As you can see, the same word is written and pronounced differently in different languages. This is typical of international words. They get adapted in almost every language to their own spelling system. Likewise it is necessary to adapt this word to the spelling and pronunciation rules of Pandunia. So the Pandunia word for language becomes baxe.
Western words
Typically Western words have this structure: prefix + root + suffixes. Usually the root ends in a consonant.
For example in Spanish, the root cort- (short) can be combined with affixes to produce different kinds of words.
- Adjectives: corto (masc.), corta (fem.)
- Noun: cortedad
- Verb: acortar
Also English uses comparable affixes.
- Adjectives: short, shorter, shortest
- Nouns: shortness, shorty
- Verb: shorten
Pandunia borrows the roots of Western words. The goal is to select a form that sounds familiar to speakers of as many languages as possible.
| Pandunia word | English | Portuguese | Spanish | French | German | Russian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| korte | short | curto | corto | court | kurz | korotkiy |
| nove | new | novo | nuevo | nouveau | neu | novîy |
| marce | march | marcha | marcha | marche | Marsch | marš |
| poste | post (mail) | (postal) | posta | poste | Post | počta |
Sinitic words
Sinitic words are words from Middle Chinese that are used today in languages of East Asia, including Chinese languages, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. Sinitic words are single-syllable words or compounds of syllabic elements.
Middle Chinese had lexical tone. Today Chinese languages and Vietnamese have tones but they are not the same as in Middle Chinese. Japanese and Korean are not tonal languages so they have ignored the tones. Also Pandunia ignores the tones. (To ignore the tones is about the same as to ignore the stress accent or pitch accent of other source languages.)
Middle Chinese had unreleased stop consonants, which are usually written -p, -t and -k. Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean keep them mostly as they were. Mandarin has deleted them. Japanese has added a vowel to ease pronunciation. Pandunia keeps the final stops and adds a normal PoS suffix.
| 字 | Pandunia root | Cantonese | Mandarin | Japanese | Korean | Vietnamese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 水 | sui | sui | shuǐ | sui | su | thuỷ |
| 中 | jung | zung | zhōng | chū | jung | trung |
| 心 | xim | sam | xīn | shin | sim | tâm |
| 門 | mun | mun | mén | mon | mun | (môn) |
| 讀 | duge | duk | dú | doku | dok | đọc |
| 出 | cuti | cœt | chū | shutsu | chul | xuất |
Examples of global words
bir 'beer'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| German | bi:ɐ | Bier |
| English | biəɹ | beer |
| French | biɛʁ | bière |
| Italian | birra | birra |
| Turkish | bira | bira |
| Arabic | bi:ra | بيرَه |
| Amharic | bira | ቢራ |
| Rwanda | bjere | byere |
| Swahili | bia | bia |
| Hindi | bijər | बियर |
| Indonesian | bir | bir |
| Japanese | bi:ru | ビール |
| Wu | bi | 啤(酒) |
| Mandarin | pʰi | 啤(酒) |
cai 'tea'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | tʂʰa | 茶 |
| Japanese | tʃa | 茶 |
| Korean | tʃʰa | 차 |
| Vietnamese | tʂa | trà |
| Bangla | tʃa | চা |
| Hindi | tʃay | चाय |
| Russian | tʃay | чай |
| Turkish | tʃay | çay |
| Swahili | tʃai | chai |
| Arabic | ʃay | شاي |
| Portuguese | ʃa | chá |
moter 'motor, engine'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | motor | motor |
| English | moʊtəɹ | motor |
| French | motœʁ | moteur |
| Russian | motor | мотор |
| Turkish | motor | motor |
| Persian | motor | موتور |
| Arabic | mutu:r | موتور |
| Hindi | motər | मोटर |
| Japanese | mo:ta: | モーター |
| Mandarin | muotuo | 摩托 |
Examples of semiglobal words
bandera 'flag'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Portuguese | bɐndeiɾa | bandeira |
| Spanish | bandeɾa | bandera |
| English | bænəɹ | banner |
| French | baniɛʁ | bannière |
| Indonesian | bəndera | bendera |
| Amharic | bandera | ባንዴራ |
| Swahili | bandera | bandera |
| Kongo | bande:la | bandêla |
kamiza 'shirt'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | kamitʃa | camicia |
| Spanish | kamisa | camisa |
| Portuguese | kɐmiza | camisa |
| French | ʃəmiz | chemise |
| Arabic | qami:s | قميص |
| Amharic | ʃəmiz | ሸሚዝ |
| Urdu | qami:z | قمیض |
| Hindi | qami:z | क़मीज़ |
| Indonesian | kəmedʒa | kemeja |
| Filipino | kamisa | kamisa |
Examples of South Asian words
pal 'fruit'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi | phal | फल |
| Bangla | phal | ফল |
| Telugu | phalamu | |
| Tamil | palam | பழம் |
| Thai | phon(la) | ผน(ละ) |
Examples of East Asian words
lai 'come'
| Language | Spoken word | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | lai | 来 (lái) |
| Wu | lɛ | 来 |
| Cantonese | loi | 來 |
| Vietnamese | la:i | lại |
| Korean | lɛ | 래 |
| Japanese | rai | 來 |
Examples of words from Arabic
dua 'prayer'
| Language | Spoken form | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | duʿa: | دعاء |
| Persian | doʕa | دعاء |
| Turkish | dua | dua |
| Kazakh | duɣa | дұға |
| Indonesian | doa | doa |
| Hausa | adduʕa | addu'a |
| Yoruba | adura | àdúrà |
kitabe 'writing'
This word means book in many languages. The original Arabic word means all kinds of writing.
| Language | Spoken form | Written word |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | kita:b | كتاب |
| Persian | keta:b | کتاب |
| Urdu | kitab | کتاب |
| Hindi | kitab | किताब |
| Indonesian | kitab | kitab |
| Turkish | kitap | kitap |
| Oromo | kita:ba | kitaaba |
| Swahili | kitabu | kitabu |
Examples of scattered words
jen 'person, people'
The word jen is combined from several unrelated sources.
- East Asia
- Mandarin 人 /ʐən/ (person)
- Wu 人 /zəŋ/ (person)
- Japanese 人 /dʒin/ (person, in some compounds)
- the West
- French "gens" /ʒã/ (people)
- Portuguese "gente" /ʒenti/ (people)
- South Asia
- Hindi जन /dʒan/ (person, people)
- Bengali জন /dʒon/ (counter word for people)
- Thai ชน /t͡ɕʰon˧/ (person, people)
- Khmer ជន /cɔ:n/ (person, people)
kamar 'room, chamber'
- the West
- Italian "camera" (chamber)
- Portuguese "câmara" (chamber)
- Spanish "cámara" (chamber)
- German "Kammer" (chamber)
- South Asia
- Hindi कमरा /kəmra:/ (room)
- Urdu کمرا /kəmra:/ (room)
- Malay "kamar" (room)
kate 'to cut'
- the West
- English "cut" /kʌt/
- South Asia
- Hindi काटना /katna:/
- Bengali কাটা /kata/
- Africa
- Arabic قَطَعَ /qaṭa’a/
- Swahili "-kata"
- East Asia
- Wu Chinese 隔 /kɐʔ/
- Vietnamese "cắt" /kɐʔt/
amir 'order, command'
Originally an Arabic word, it has been borrowed to the West as "emir" (commander of an Islamic nation) and "admiral" (commander of the navy).
- Africa and Asia
- Arabic أَمْر /ʾamr/
- Persian امر /amr/
- Turkish "emir"
- Swahili "amri"
- Hausa "umarni"
- the West
- English "emir" and "admiral"
- French "amiral" (admiral)
- Russian "эмир" (emir)