Tutonish

A page from Alteutonik, (a union tongue for all teutons) - (weltsprache) by Elias Molee

Tutonish (also called Teutonish, Teutonik, Allteutonish, Altutonish, Alteutonik, Nu Teutonish, Niu Teutonish, or Neuteutonish) is a constructed language created by Elias Molee. He worked on it for several years before publishing it for the first time in 1901. He reformed it twice, first in 1906 and under the name N(i)u teutonish and then in 1915 under the name Alteutonik. It is known to be the first Pan-Germanic language.

In 1901 it first was proposed as an "Anglo-German unifying language", for English and Germanic languages speaking areas, not as an international language in the full sense of the word. Furthermore, Molee's work is only intended to be a zonal constructed language amongst English, Dutch, Scandinavian and German native speakers.

In creating it, Molee was clearly influenced by Giuseppe Peano but chose to create a language for people based on Germanic roots instead of Romance ones. However, he created an "inter-Romance" version of his language to be used among Romance-speaking people as well.

The Four Fundamental Principles (Alteutonik, 1915)

Molee's points to several principles his work is based on.

First principle

The ease of the suggestive action is as strong in proportion to the number of times the words and ideas have been associated in consciousness. (Herbert Spencer); All teutonic children have heard a homogeneous words arm and bone; hence armbone would be more suggestive than the latin heterogeneours humerus.

2nd principle

The more mental energy required to master the words, the less mental energy is left for the ideas contained.

3rd principle

Language should proceed from the known to the unknown.

4th principle

Language should proceed from the simple to the complex.

Inside his works Molee often reclaims that zonal constructed language strictly should be "selvklar" (self-explanatory) and homogeneous.

Characteristics

Tutonish had a simple phonetic pronunciation, a simple grammar based on the English grammar ("Fifteen rules") and a simple orthography, without majuscule. The "Germanic" version's vocabulary was built on roots taken from English, Dutch, German and Scandinavian languages, while the "Romance" version's vocabulary was mostly built on Latin and Romance languages.

Copyleft

Alteutonik, 1915, page 38, mentioned copyleft "kein ferfasero rekt"; "nur to erwana e ferfasr" (only author needs to be mentioned).

Criticism

Louis Couturat and Léopold Leau wrote, in their Histoire de la langue universelle, not very enthusiastically about Tutonish. That verifies Tutonish has to be categorized Zonal constructed language.

Without criticizing the project of Monsieur Molee, he must permit as to note that he is inspired by motives absolutely opposite to human and civilization scopes of international language and to neutrality postulated in it.

Examples

The Germanic version (Tutonish 1901, N(i)u Teutonish 1906, Alteutonik 1915 ?) of the Lord's Prayer

vio fadr hu bi in himl; holirn be dauo nam; dauo reich kom; dauo vil be dun an erd, als it bi in himl; giv vi dis dag vio dagli bred; en fergiv vi vio shulds, als vi fergiv vio shulders; en lied vi nit inzu fersieku but frie vi fon ievl. let so bi.

The Romance version of the Lord's Prayer

Nuo padr, ki bi in siel, sanktirn bi tuo nom, tuo regnu ven, tuo vol bi fasn sur ter kom in siel; don nu hoy nuo diali pan; et pardon nu nuo debits, kom nu pardon nuo debitors; et induk nu non in tentu ma delivr nu de mal.

Numbers from one to ten (according Alteutonik, 1915)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ein tvo tri fir fem seks syv ot ni ti
The origins of Tutonish - e urspringe ov teutonik

elias molee, e ferfasr ov teutonik isn (war) gebärn 3a einam (januari) 1845 ov eltera, wer komen fon norvegia to 1 platz 30 kilometra fon e stad ov milwaukee ... ale nakbara havn file kinda, wer kanen nur spreka sine eigena teutonike moderspraka.

Elias Molee, the author of tutonish, was born on January 3, 1845 to parents who emigrated from Norway, in a place 30 kilometers from Milwaukee ... in the entire neighborhood there was a lot of other children who only spoke their own Germanic mother tongues.

Some sentences
dau shal not baer falsh vitnesu gegn dauo nabor. "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
ein union spiek, makn up ov deuch, english, skandinavish and hollandi, for to agenfererein al tutonish folka into ein spiek mitin feivti jiera.

See also

Bibliography

External links

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