Summary
Lingua sistemfrater (English: Language of Brotherhood), also referred to as Frater, is an a posteriori international auxiliary language created by Vietnamese translator Phạm Xuân Thái[1] in 1957 as Frater (Lingua sistemfrater): The simplest International Language Ever Constructed. The language uses a largely Greco-Latin lexicon,[2] and an Asian-influenced grammar.[3]
| Lingua sistemfrater | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Pham Xuan Thai |
| Date | 1957 |
| Setting and usage | International auxiliary language |
| Purpose | Constructed language
|
| Sources | A posteriori language with a predominantly Romance vocabulary and an Asian-based grammar |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Frater was one of the (comparatively rare)[4] international languages created in Asia,[5] and had a vocabulary of more than 6,000 words.[citation needed]
Phonology and Orthography edit
Frater used an orthography of eighteen letter from the Latin script: five vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and thirteen consonants: b, d, f, g, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, and t. These letters were enunciated as their pronunciations in the International Phonetic Alphabet, with the following exceptions:
- ⟨j⟩ is pronounced as [z];
- The letters ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ are pronounced as the diphthong "ei", and "ou" respectively..
The stress is placed on the last syllable of the word; there are no silent letters.[citation needed]
Grammar edit
Article edit
There is no indefinite article or definite article.
Personal Pronouns edit
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | second | third | first | second | third | |||
| English | I | you | he | she | it | we | you | they |
| Frater | mi | ni | ili | mis | nis | ilis | ||
Possessives are formed by adding the preposition ot before the pronoun. Unlike English that distinguishes three genders for the third-person singular pronoun, the pronoun was invariable.
Nouns edit
The noun in Frater is invariable. Plurals can be formed by adding -multi (many) to the end of the noun:
mensa (table) - mensamulti (tables)
Adjectives edit
The adjective in Frater is invariable and is always placed after the noun; except for cardinal numbers.
| Frater | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Comparative of superiority | plus | more than | |
| Comparative of inferiority | plusne | less than | |
| Comparative of equality | je | as...as | |
| Absolute superlative | tele | very | |
| Superlative of superiority | plasuni | the most | |
| Superlative of inferiority | plasunine | the least | |
Numbers edit
The cardinal numbers in Frater:
1 - uni 2 - bi 3 - tri 4 - kuadri 5 - kuinti 6 - ses 7 - sep 8 - okta 9 - nona 10 - deka
11 - dekauni 12 - dekabi 13 - dekatri
20 - bideka 24 - bidekakuadri
30 - trideka 40 - kuadrideka
85 - oktadekakuinti
100 - senti 367 - trisenti-sesdeka-sep 600 - sessenti
1000 - mil 1000000 - milion
Ordinal numbers are formed by placing the cardinal number after the noun.
Verbs edit
The verb in Frater is invariable in person and in number.
| Grammatical form | Frater | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | ide | to think | |
| Present | Mi ide | I think | |
| Past | Ni ide pas | You thought | |
| Future | Ili ide futur | He/she/it will think | |
| Imperative | Ide! | Think! | |
| Conditional | Mis ide probable | We would think | |
The passive voice is formed by adding the auxiliary verb es before the infinitive: Ilis es trauma (they are wounded).
Syntax edit
The syntax in Frater is: Subject - Verb - Object.
Questions are formed by placing the verb before the subject.
Interrogative words include: antropkia (who), kia (what), plaskia (where), temkia (when), prokia (why), kak (how), and multikia (how much; how many).
Example edit
The Lord's Prayer edit
For comparison the Lord's Prayer is provided in Frater, Glosa (a later auxiliary language with isolating grammar and Greco-Latin vocabulary), Latin and English.
| Frater
Pater mis in sel, |
Glosa
Na patri in urani: |
Latin (Roman Missal)[6]
Pater noster qui es in caelis |
English (1662 Anglican BCP)[7]
Our Father, which art in heaven, |
References edit
- ^ Kupsala, Risto. "Yleismaailmallinen kieli". www.kupsala.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ Barlett, Paul (30 March 1996). "Frater: an IAL from Vietnam". Conlang-L (Mailing list).
- ^ "Votre langue est-elle prête à faire la révolution ?". Stylist.fr (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ Yaguello, Marina (2006). Les langues imaginaires: mythes, utopies, fantasmes, chimères et fictions linguistiques. La couleur des idées. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. p. 119. ISBN 978-2-02-082364-7.
- ^ Lamotte, Virginie (23 April 2007). "Des langues construites... pour mieux communiquer". Nouvelle Europe (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ 2002 edition; 1962 edition, pp. 312−313
- ^ "The Order for Morning Prayer". The Church of England's website. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
Sources edit
- Thái, Phạm Xuân (1957). Frater (Lingua sistemfrater). The simplest International Language Ever Constructed. Saigon: TU-HAI.
External links edit
- "Frater.com". Official website (English, Esperanto, Interlingua)
- "Lingua Sistemfrater". Archived from the original on 28 February 2016.
- "Lingua Sistemfrater: The Simplest International Language Ever Constructed". (SCRIBD)