Glosa
| Glosa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Ronald Clark and Wendy Ashby, based on the Interglossa of Lancelot Hogben |
| Date | 1972–1992 |
| Setting and usage | international auxiliary language |
| Purpose | |
| Sources | Interglossa |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Glosa is an international auxiliary language based on a previous draft auxiliary called Interglossa. As an isolating language, there are no inflections, so that words always remain in their dictionary form, no matter what function they have in the sentence. Consequently, grammatical functions, when not clear from the context, are taken over by a small number of operator words and by the use of word order (syntax).
Glosa is based on the draft auxiliary language Interglossa devised by the scientist Lancelot Hogben in the empty hours of fire-watching in Aberdeen during World War II. Interglossa was published in 1943 as a draft of an auxiliary.
Ron Clark came across the handbook of Interglossa: a draft of an auxiliary about 1960. Then he met Professor Hogben with the aim of developing the language. They worked to refine it, in order to make it more easily usable in all possible forms of communication. Wendy Ashby joined the project in 1972. When Hogben died in 1975, most changes had already been discussed. Hogben and Clark had agreed that the language should have a phonetic spelling (that is: each letter representing a single sound). This principle implied that the Greek CH, TH and PH now should be spelt K, T and F.
Finally a few further changes were introduced by Ron Clark and Wendy Ashby, who then gave the language the new name Glosa (from the Greek word for tongue, language [glossa being the English transliteration]), and thus founded a new auxiliary language.
Until about 1979, Ashby and Clark tested the use of Glosa using local volunteers in the town in which they were living. During this period, the vocabulary and some details of sentence formation were developed and revised. They had moved to another town by the time they had published the first Glosa dictionary.
From 1987, the charity-status organisation GEO (Glosa Education Organisation) has promoted the teaching of Glosa as a second language in schools worldwide.
GEO’s official website was set up by Paul O. Bartlett in 1996, and it is managed at present by Marcel Springer. It provides the Glosa Internet Dictionary (Glosa Inter-reti Diktionaria), as well as an introductory course, and other resources.
According to History behind Glosa, after Hogben’s death “a few further and trivial changes were introduced”. But there is no precise information about them. Concerning the turn to a phonetic spelling in Glosa, it is not clear whether Hogben would have agreed that the word Glosa is “fully phonetic” while Interglossa is not:
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