Basic English
| BASIC English | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles Kay Ogden |
| Date | 1925 |
| Setting and usage | controlled natural language |
| Purpose | constructed language
|
| Latin | |
| Sources | Modern English |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| IETF | en-basiceng |
BASIC English (British Academic Scientific International Commercial)[1] is a controlled language used to explain complex thoughts. It has 850 words chosen by Charles Kay Ogden. Some articles in the Simple English Wikipedia use only BASIC English.
In 1937, Ogden hired Otto Neurath and Marie Neurath to make International Picture Language as one of eight books in BASIC English.[2]
Rules of word use
[change | change source]The word use of BASIC English is simpler and more regular than the word use of normal English. In normal English, words often have a number of different meanings. To make BASIC English easier, not all the meanings of a word are used.
BASIC English uses Ogden's rules of grammar. Ogden's rules of grammar let people use the 850 words to talk about things and events simply.[3]
- -s / -es / -ies change singular nouns into plural nouns.
- -ing / -ed change verbs into adjectives.
- -ing / -er change verbs into nouns.
- -ly changes adjectives into adverbs.
- -er / -est or more / most describe amounts.
- un- changes adjectives into their opposites.
- The opposite word order with do makes questions.
- 'Operators' (verbs) and pronouns change as in normal English.
- Make combined words (compounds) from two nouns ("football") or a noun and a direction ("sundown").
- Measures, numbers, money, days, months, years, clock time, and international words are in English forms. Example for Date/Time: 20 May 1972 at 21:00
- Use the words of an industry or science. For example, in this grammar, some special words are for teaching languages, and not part of BASIC English: plural, conjugation, noun, adjective, adverb, qualifier, operator, pronoun, and directive.
Related pages
[change | change source]- BASIC English alphabetical wordlist
- BASIC English ordered wordlist
- BASIC English picture wordlist – 200 Picturable words
- BASIC English international wordlist
- BASIC English compound wordlist
- BASIC English combined wordlist
- Related resources
- Plain English Campaign
- International auxiliary language
- Simplified English
- Français fondamental
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Ogden, Charles Kay (1932). Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, Limited. p. 21.
- ↑ Ogden, Charles. "BASIC Texts". Archived from the original on 2005-03-09. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ↑ "Ogden's BASIC English, Rules of Grammar". 1 January 1996. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- Ogden C.K. 1940. General BASIC English dictionary. London: Evans Brothers. ISBN 0874713625
- Simple English dictionary
Other websites
[change | change source]- Ogden's BASIC English Archived 2012-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
- BASIC English Utility
- Automatic online simplifying and summarizing tool. - Detect language and convert to BASIC English or summarize many documents into standard or BASIC English, reading material and BASIC English course included.