Basic English (International Second Language)

Basic English (International Second Language) - Conlang Profile

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Language Name	Basic English
Language Author	C. K. Ogden
Year Began	1930
Site	Basic English - site 1 Basic English - site 2
Broken Link	No
Site Language	English
Site Author	C. K. Ogden
Language Type	international auxiliary language
Editorial	Basic English (Basic is an acronym for "British American Scientific International Commercial") was designed as a subset of English. Any Basic English text is also a valid English text, but Basic English has just 850 core words (not counting inflectional forms); extensions to the lexicon are permitted for specific subject domains. The Bible and other texts have been translated into Basic English. For a time, Ogden hoped Basic English would be used for teaching English as a second language, but because Basic English permits the full complexity of English grammar, this was not practical.
Uniqueness	850 English words for everyday usage.
Language Sources	Subset of Standard English. Acknowledges international words. Special vocabularies for specific applications such as Science, Commerce.
Design Principles	Eliminate redundancy. Reduce verbs to 16. Complete compatibility with Standard English. Easy to learn. Complete language. Growth path to full English with no unlearning.
Interest Of Others	1. International Second Language 2. Introduction to English (ELS)
Dictionary	Yes
Etymologies	Yes
Grammar	Yes
Sample Texts	Yes
Unique Script	No
Primer	Yes
Babel Text	Yes
Lexicon Size	850
Submitted By	NA
Date Edited	Sunday, April 25, 2004
Date To Headline	Thursday, April 29, 2004