Irregularities and exceptions in Interlingua: Difference between revisions

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The term '''irregularities or exceptions in Interlingua''' refers to deviations from the logical rules in a few grammatical constructions in the [[international auxiliary language]] [[Interlingua]]. These oddities are a part of the standard grammar. These special cases have crept into the language as a result of the effort to keep it naturalistic. Most of these irregularities also exist in Interlingua's source languages; [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and to a lesser extent [[German language|German]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. This feature of the language makes Interlingua more familiar to the speakers of source languages. And at the same time, it makes the language more difficult for others.

The speakers of the source languages don'tdo not perceive all deviations as irregular. For instance, Interlingua has three different words for English ''"am" ('' (so''), ''"is''" (''es'') and ''"are''" (''son''). While most English speakers will not find any thing abnormal about it, speakers of a few other languages may find the use of three words to express the concept of 'simple present' as unnecessary.

Interlingua is notable in the sense that unlike most auxiliary languages, that seek to minimise or eliminate any irregular aspects, Interlingua takes a flexible approach. It is mandatory to use certain exceptions in Interlingua while others have been kept optional.

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===Pronunciation===

Interlingua doesn'tdoes not have a 'one letter one sound' orthography. As in English, several letters can be pronounced in different ways; depending on where they are in a word. For instance, the letter '''SC''' can be pronounced as either [s]/k/ (stato''canto'') or [z]/ts/ (Chinese''cento''). Here is a list of other mandatory exceptions in pronunciation:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Letter / Digraph

! Possible Pronunciations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.optus.net/~ado_hall/interlingua/gi/spelling/spelling_&_pronunciation.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040724184617/http://members.optus.net/~ado_hall/interlingua/gi/spelling/spelling_%26_pronunciation.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2004-07-24|author=Alexander Gode & Hugh Blair|publisher=|title=Grammar of Interlingua (Second Edition)|date=2011-10-23|access-date=2020-01-26}}</ref>

! Rules

! Examples

|-

| c

| [/k]/ <br> [/ts]/ (or [/s]/)

| [/k]/ when ''c'' is followed by ''a'', ''o'', ''u'' or any ''consonant'' <br> [/ts]/ (or /s/) when ''e'', ''i'' or ''y'' come after ''c''

| ''camera'', ''crear'' <br> ''acido'', ''Cinderella''

|-

| ch

| [/k]/ <br> [/tʃ]/ <br> [/ʃ]/

| like [/k]/ in words of Greek origin <br> [/tʃ]/ only in a few words (very rare) <br> [/ʃ]/ in several words that come from the French

| ''cholera'', ''chrome, echo'' <br> chic''Chile'', ''cochi'' <br> ''machine'', ''chef''

|-

| h

| [/h]/ <br> silent

| usually [h] <br> but silent after ''r'' and ''t''

| horlogio''horologio'' <br> ''rhetoria''

|-

| rh

| [/r]/

| always pronounced likeas [the "r]" in Spanish ''caro''

| rhetorica, rheumatic

|-

|-

| s

| [s] <br/> [z]

| [s] if followed by a consonant <br/> [z] between vowels

| son, spa <br/> accusative, abstruse

|-

| sh

| [/ʃ]/

| always pronounced likeas "sh" in [ʃ]English

| Shakespeare.

|-

| th

| [/t]/

| always pronounced like [/t]/

| ''theatro ''

|-

| ph

| [/f]/

| always pronounced like [/f]/

| ''photographia'', ''photosynthese''

|-

| t

| [/t] /<br> [/ts]/

| [pronounced as /t]/ except when it is followed by ''a'',an ''oi'', ''u''and ora anysecond ''consonant''vowel <br>in [ts]an whenunstressed ''e''syllable, ''i''in orwhich ''y''case comeit afteris ''t''realized as /ts/

| ''tourista ''<br> ''creation''

|-

| u

| [/u:] /<br> [/w]/

| [/u:]/ except when between two consonants or stressedunstressed before a vowel, <br>in [w]which whencase unstressedit andcan precedesbe arealized vowelas /w/

| ''luna'', ''plural'' <br> persuade''persuader'', ''superflue''

|-

| x

| [ks] <br> [z] <br> [gz]

| usually [ks] <br> like [z] when precedes a vowel <br> between two vowels

| affixo <br> xenon, xenophobia <br> exacto

|-

| y

| [/j] /<br> [/i:]/

| [/j]/ when unstressed before vowels <br> other like [/i:]/

| ''Yugoslavia'', ''yoga ''<br> ''tyranno'', ''typo''

|}

Besides, there are also unassimilated guestloan words that retain their original pronunciation and spelling;.

Diacritics thoughare permitted when they do not influence the diacriticspronunciation areof the word borrowed usuallyinto removedInterlingua. CommonsCommon examples of such words are ''radios Röntgen'' (X rays) and ''kümmel''.

===Contractions===

Just likeas in English, where ''I am'' is usually contracted to ''I'm'' and ''he is'' to ''he's'', such contractions are also found in Interlingua and these two are compulsory to observe:

{| class="wikitable"

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! Example

|-

| ''de'' (of) + ''le'' (the)

| ''del ''

| ''del matre'' (of the mother)

|-

| ''a'' (to) + ''le'' (the)

| ''al''

| ''al luna'' (to the moon)

|}

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| ends in a consonant other than ''c''

| ''-es''

| ''conversation'' - ''conversationes'' <br> ''pais'' - ''paises''

|-

| ends in ''c''

| ''-hes''

| ''roc'' - ''roches'' <br> ''choc'' - ''choches''

|-

| ends in a vowel

| ''-s''

| ''radio'' - ''radios'' <br> ''academia'' - ''academias''

|}

There are also irregular plurals that occur in ''guestloan words''. The common ones are ''tests'' (from 'test'), ''addenda'' (from 'addendum') and ''lieder'' (from 'lied').

===Numbers===

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|-

| 10

| ''unanta''

| ''dece''

|-

| 20

| ''duoanta''

| ''vinti''

|-

| 30

| ''tresanta''

| ''trenta''

|-

| 40

| ''quatranta''

| ''quaranta''

|-

| 13

| ''tresdece''

| ''tredece''

|-

| 14

| ''quatrodece''

| ''quattuordece''

|-

| 15

| ''cinquedece''

| ''quindece''

|-

| 16

| ''sexdece''

| ''sedece''

|}

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* Not all adverbs are derived from adjectives.

* If an adjective ends with -c, an adverb derived from it takes '''-amente''' (instead of ''-mente'').

* ''Sia'' is the imperative form of ''esser'' ('to be'): ''Sia contente!'' 'Be content!'

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====Optional short forms====

*"'''ha'''" for "''habe"'', 'has', 'have'

*"'''va'''" for "''vade"'', 'goes', 'go'

*"'''es'''" for "''esse"'', 'is', 'am', 'are'

====Alternative forms of ''esser''====

:''Note. These forms are rarely used.''

*"'''so'''", afor first-person''(io) singular present tensees''

*"'''son'''", afor plural''(nos/vos/illes/-as/-os) present tensees''

*"'''era'''" for "''esseva"''

*"'''sera'''" for "''essera"''

*"'''serea'''" for "''esserea"''

===Comparative and superlative adjectives===

*"'''(le)'' '''minor'''" instead of "''(le) plus parve"''

*"'''(le)'' '''major'''" instead of "''(le) plus magne"''

*"'''(le)'' '''melior'''" instead of "''(le) plus bon"''

*"'''(le)'' '''pejor'''" instead of "''(le) plus mal"''

*"'''minime'''" instead of "''le plus parve"'' or "''le minor"''

*"'''maxime'''" instead of "le plus magne" or "le major"

*"'''optime'''" instead of "''le plus bon"'' or "''le melior"''

*"'''pessime'''" instead of "''le plus mal"'' or "''le pejor"''

==References==

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==External links==

*[https://adoneilson.com/int/gi/ "a grammar of interlingua"] by Alexander Gode & Hugh Blair

*http://members.optus.net/~ado_hall/interlingua/gi/home/entry_page.html

*''[http://www.interlingua.com/en/gramword.htmgrammatica Grammatica de interlingua]''

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