Irregularities and exceptions in Interlingua: Difference between revisions

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{{Unreferenced|date=December 2006}}

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 to keep it naturalistic. Most of these irregularities also exist in Interlingua's source languages such as; [[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't perceive all deviations as irregular. For instance, Interlingua has two different words for English ''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 two words to express the concept of 'simple present' as unnecessary.

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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.

==Mandatory exceptionsExceptions==

==Required==

===Pronunciation===

==Mandatory exceptions==

===Pronunciation===

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|-

! Letter / Digraph

! Possible pronunciationsPronunciations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.optus.net/~ado_hall/interlingua/gi/spelling/spelling_&_pronunciation.html|author=Alexander Gode & Hugh Blair|publisher=|title=Grammar of Interlingua (Second Edition)|language=english|date=2011-10-23}}</ref>

! Rules

! Examples

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|-

| 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

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===Contractions===

*The sequence "de le" is replaced by "'''del'''".

Just like 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:

*The sequence "a le" is replaced by "'''al'''".

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Words

! Contraction

! Example

|-

| de (of) + le (the)

| del

| del matre (of the mother)

|-

| a (to) + le (the)

| al

| al luna (to the moon)

|}

===Plurals===

*If a noun ends with a consonant, it takes a plural in '''-es''' (instead of -s).

Plurals can be formed in three different ways depending on the ending of a noun.

*If a noun ends with ''c'', it adds '''-h-''' and takes a plural in '''-es'''.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Ending

! Add

! Example

|-

| 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 pronouns that occur in ''guest words''. The common ones are ''tests'' (from 'test'), ''addenda'' (from 'addendum') and ''lieder'' (from 'lied').

===Parts of speech===

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==References==

<references/>

{{reflist}}

==External links==