Verboids

 Introduction

VERBOIDS are the true verbs in Glosa. While it is possible to use any Glosa word as a verb, verboids should be considered the PREFERRED verbs. (Of course, any verboid can be used as a noun as well.) Since verboids are limited in number, this helps to keep Glosa simple and easy to understand. Glosa does not have endings to identify verbs, so limiting the verbs makes it easy to spot them. 

On reading the book INTERGLOSSA, I have the impression that the author, Prof.Hogben, was inspired to create verboids from the English word GET. GET is a small word that means so many things and is easy to use, yet it cannot mean simply anything; there is a limit to its meaning - that is, the word has a very broad meaning, and can be used in place of several other words, such as "receive," "gain," and "become."

These verbs are designed to be easy to use and to help keep you from always going back to the dictionary to look up words when you really do not need a word with a precise meaning. Using verboids can speed up your translating.

Because verboids are easy to find, Hogben often omitted U(N) after them. A noun is very likely to come after verboids. This is not a rule - it is best to say that the use of U(N)/PLU after a verboid is optional. U(N)/PLU can still be used to show number (singular or plural). (Hogben dropped U(N) after verboids, never PLU. He did the same after prepositions, since they are always followed by nouns as well.)

Using verboids can actually make your translating more accurate. I'll talk about this later.

Personally, I enjoy Glosa's broad-meaning words. They seem to broaden the mind as well. Having words that do not contain all the unnecessary details also seems less stressful. Glosa's vocabulary can improve your scientific/technical vocabulary as well. 

The sooner we can all throw the dictionary away, the sooner we will all have an international language.

 The mathematical verboids: ES, GENE, LOSE

ES ( = )

GENE ( + )

LOSE ( - )

 ES ( = )

The basic meaning of ES (formerly EQE in Interglossa) is "equals" (=). It does not always correspond to the English verb BE. 

UN ANDRO ES UN ERGO-PE. 

= The man is a laborer.

In the above sentence, the man really is - EQUALS - a laborer.

Other meanings for ES can be: 

be, exist, be located/situated/found at.

PLU DRAKO ES! 

= Dragons do exist!

U CIVITA MOSKVA ES LO U NATIO ROSSIJA. 

= The city of Moscow is found in the nation of Russia.

*UN ANDRO ES TERMO. 

= The man is heat. 

*(Not "The man is hot.")

Because ES means "equals," you are technically saying in the last sentence "The man EQUALS hot. "The man is hot" is better expressed in Glosa as:

UN ANDRO ESTE TERMO. 

= The man FEELS heat

or

UN ANDRO HABE TERMO. 

= The man HAS (some) heat.

On the other hand, saying something like "The man is heat" would be extremely strange, and so most people will still understand it as "The man is hot." But I do like the mathematical logic of ES meaning ( = ).

 GENE ( + )

GENE can be used whenever something is ADDED to the subject of the verb. GENE can, therefore, mean:

add to yourself, get, acquire, receive, take, gain, win, conquer, grow, increase, eat, drink, become.

If you say simply, "UN INFANTI GENE," it can mean many different things. To avoid confusion, please try and place another word after GENE for accuracy of meaning. (In math also "plus" or "minus" should be followed by something.)

UN INFANTI GENE MA MEGA. 

= The child is getting bigger. 

("The child + more big.")

For more information on being accurate with GENE, see "Increased Accuracy with Verboids" below.

 LOSE ( - )

LOSE (formerly PERDE in Interglossa) can be used whenever something is SUBTRACTED from the subject of the verb. LOSE can, therefore, mean:

take from yourself, lose, take a loss, forfeit, be defeated, decrease, shrink, vomit.

U NATIO FU LOSE can mean "The country will lose the war, its territory, shrink." So it is better to use something after LOSE.

U NATIO FU LOSE U MERO TERA. 

= The country will lose a part of its territory (land). 

"The country will MINUS a part of its territory."

 Verboids of location

KINE

MOTI

APO

TENA

TRAKTO

BALI

 KINE

KINE (short form KI; compare English CINEMA, "a place for MOTION pictures") is used when something or someone moves by their own power (intransitive) to another place. It can, therefore, mean:

go, walk, step, run, hurry, lag behind, fly, swim, dive, gallop, trot, rise, ascend/descend, approach, follow.

Of course, saying, "The ship SAILED to the city," is a little more accurate in meaning than saying, "The ship WENT to the city" - the first sentence describes the means of propulsion better. But often times the means is not an important point, so the second sentence is often adequate. Does it really matter whether the ship floated, was rowed, had a steam or Diesel engine, so long as it got to the city? Often times the circumstances actually state the means; for example, if a ship is "going" in the late 19th century, it likely is going by means of a steam engine.

 MOTI

MOTI means you MAKE the object move to another place.

TETRA ANDRO PA MOTI U PIANO. 

= Four men moved the piano.

So MOTI can, therefore, mean:

move, carry, push, pull, raise/lower.

Combining the meanings "push" and "pull" may seem confusing to English speakers. Glosa is often made more accurate with prepositions (words that tell the place of something).

U GINA MOTI U KAPSU AB SE. 

= The woman is pushing (moving it away from her) the package.

U GINA MOTI U KAPSU A SE. 

= The woman is pulling (moving it towards her) the package.

 APO

APO refers to the REMOVAL from a place. It can, therefore, also mean:

remove, take away, eliminate, get rid of.

U FELI PA APO U MUS. 

= The cat removed ("took care of") the mouse.

 TENA

TENA refers to PREVENTING something from moving - it is kept in the same place. It can, therefore, mean:

retain, hold, keep, delay (someone), arrest, preserve, hug (embrace).

U DUCE-PE TENA VORA-MA AB PANTO POVE HOMI. 

= The leader is withholding food from poor people.

 TRAKTO and BALI

TRAKTO (the more modern form TIRA may be used) and BALI suggest that some additional means or difficulty must be added to cause a change in place. TRAKTO suggests that something internal is causing the motion. BALI refers to a cause of the motion separate from the thing that is moving. 

TRAKTO can, therefore, mean:

pull, tow, drag, draw, transport.

U TRAKTO-VAGONA TRAKTO PLU VAGONA. 

= A tow truck tows cars.

The above sentence implies that special tools must be used to do the work, or that this is something more difficult than normal transportation. But the truck itself is causing the change in place, so BALI would be incorrect here.

BALI can, therefore, mean:

send, transmit, throw, transport, eject, commission.

UN INFANTI BALI U BOLA. 

= The child throws the ball.

The above sentence implies that the ball is changing places not by its own power, but by the power of the now unattached child. The ball is traveling through a means, the air.

U BURO-PE PA BALI U GRAMA.

This sentence can mean "The office worker sent the letter, mailed or emailed the letter, faxed the letter, transmitted the letter." The office worker is the source of locomotion; that is, the letter did not move itself. Obviously, the worker himself did not carry the letter to its destination but used some means to get it there. Referring to the letter ONLY, however, it is still possible to say, "U GRAMA KINE." 

 Verboids of humanity

These verboids refer to the senses and impulses of people and other living things. They are:

AUDI

VIDE

ESTE

DICE

HABE

DONA

DETEKTI

 AUDI, VIDE

AUDI (previously AKUSTI in Interglossa) refers to the use of the auditory sense. It can, therefore, mean:

hear, listen to, overhear, notice (by hearing).

VIDE likewise refers to the use of optical sense. It can, therefore, mean:

see, look at, view, regard, notice (by sight).

WARNING! The word SEE in English often means "understand."

MI ESTE (U LOGI); TU ES UN ODIO HOMI. 

= I SEE (really "understand") that you are a hateful person. 

(Literally, "I sense (the understanding)(; = that) you are a hateful person."

 ESTE

ESTE refers to that human quality to sense or understand things that go beyond the clearer physical senses, such as sight and hearing. It can mean "feel" both by physical sense, such as touching, or by imagination. It can, therefore, mean:

feel, touch, sense, have an opinion about, have a feeling, think/suppose, imagine, understand. (See the example with ESTE above.)

U GINA ESTE A PLU VAGONA.

= The woman likes ("feels toward") cars.

U GINA ESTE ANTI PLU VAGONA.

= The woman dislikes ("feels against") cars.

 DICE

DICE refers to that special human trait of communication by any means. It can, therefore, mean:

say, tell, talk, write, communicate, signal.

U BIBLI DICE; ID PA ES U NIVI-HOMI. 

= The book SAYS (it is not necessary to state that it was by means of writing or print) that it was the (abominable) snow-man.

 HABE, DONA

HABE refers to the human idea of possession. Unlike TENA, which simply refers to location, HABE shows an emotional attachment. HABE can, therefore, mean:

have, possess, own

It is important to note here that the preposition DE does not necessarily refer to possession. DE simply means that it has something to do with the word(s) following it.

CI ES U BIBLI DE MARIA.

= Here is Maria's book. 

OR Here is a book about Maria.

Possession is best EXPLAINED by HABE:

CI ES U BIBLI; MARIA HABE (QI). 

= Here is the book (; = that) Maria owns.

DONA also adds an emotional component to the word MOTI. MOTI simply refers to change of location, but DONA shows an added human will or desire. DONA can, therefore, mean:

give, donate, hand to, will something to someone.

 DETEKTI

Humans love to discover things and satisfy curiousity. Unlike ES, which simply shows a location, DETEKTI adds an element of surprise or recognition. It can, therefore, mean:

find, notice, detect, discover, invent.

DETEKTI-PE can mean an explorer, a detective, an investigator, or an inventor.

 The verboids STI and STO

STI (compare English "stimulate") refers to what puts something in motion. It refers especially to the beginning of a process. It means:

turn on, stimulate, cause, begin, start, initialize, motivate, prod, make someone do something.

PLU ATENDE-PE STI PLU SPORTA-KARTA. 

= The people waiting started a game of cards.

UN IMPERI-PE PA STI; PLU CIVI DONA MA POLI FISKA PAGA. 

= The commander made the citizens pay more taxes. 

(More literally, "The commander caused (that) the citizens give more tax payments.")

STO (not originally an Interglossa word but added later) in contrast to STI refers to the ending of a process.

U STI-LIBE PE STO; PLU CIVI DONA PAN FISKA PAGA. 

= The hero ("turn-on-freedom person") stopped the people from paying taxes.

 The verboids FACE, AKTI, REAKTI

 FACE

FACE difers from AKTI in that it refers to the actual production of a certain thing. It can, therefore, mean:

make, create, build, construct, assemble something.

 AKTI

AKTI refers more to activity than production like FACE does. Unlike the English words ACT and REACT, AKTI and REAKTI are very different words in Glosa.

AKTI is a catch-all verb in Glosa. The closest English word to it in meaning I can think of is PERFORM. It refers to activity often in an enclosed space, and not so much to movement from one location to another. The most basic meanings are:

perform, do, act.

It can mean the most basic thing that any thing does:

U VENTI AKTI. 

= The wind BLOWS.

UN HELI AKTI. 

= The sun SHINES (gives light and heat).

U MOTI-ME AKTI. 

= The motor is RUNNING.

PLU DRAMA-PE AKTI. 

= The actors are PERFORMING (acting).

PLU UNDA AKTI. 

= The waves are ROLLING ("waving").

And if you used AKTI in the translation of these sentences, you just saved yourself the trouble of looking up BLOW, SHINE, RUN, PERFORM, and ROLL in the dictionary!

  I have to say: Cover up the English sentences above and try to translate the Glosa sentences yourself. Don't you come up with the same English translations? What a truly easy language Hogben designed! Are you not starting to like verboids?

 REAKTI

REAKTI means much the same thing as the English word REACT, but it has a "good" connotation to it. Compare:

UN ARME-PE PA REAKTI UN IMPERI. 

= The soldier obeyed (reacted in a good way to) the order.

UN ARME-PE NE PA REAKTI UN IMPERI. 

= The soldier did not obey (did not react to) the order.

The word can, therefore, mean:

react to, respond to, obey/follow, adhere to, give in to, learn.

And NE REAKTI can mean:

not react to, not respond to, disobey, deny, refuse, ignore, turn your back to.

 Increased Accuracy with Verboids

I have sometimes found that using verboids - these very broad-meaning words - improves the accuracy of translation. Consider the English sentence:

A child is drinking.

This could be translated into Glosa as:

UN INFANTI BIBE.

And this could mean the same thing as the English. It could possibly mean "a child's (or 'pediatric') drink." Without the verboid, it is more difficult to determine which word is the verb. Now here is another translation:

UN INFANTI AKTI BIBE.

This more solidly represents the original English sentence. Literally the meaning is "A child performs drinking." It sounds awkward in English, but someone accustomed to Glosa is more likely to recognize AKTI as the verb - the doing - and BIBE as the object - what the child is doing.

Our initial English sentence can also be translated:

UN INFANTI GENE.

The child is adding a liquid to itself, so this is a possible translation. Of course, it can also mean "A child is eating, growing, getting rich." This translation is so inaccurate to the original English meaning that it is impractical.

In the first Glosa translations, we added the word BIBE to make the translation more accurate. Let's add some other words:

UN INFANTI GENE BIBE.

UN INFANTI GENE AQA.

UN INFANTI GENE EX BOTILIA.

The first sentence expresses the idea of the original English sentence - and nothing more. 

The second sentence by adding a word is more accurate than the English; it adds the information about what is being drunk. No, it does not actually say what the child is doing with the water. Maybe he/she is putting it in a bath tub.

Since liquids are most likely to be kept in bottles, adding EX BOTILIA to the third sentence implies that the child is drinking liquid, but it also identifies the source of the liquid. In this way, the third sentence might be considered the most accurate translation of all.

And, of course, you can put all the elements together for an extremely accurate translation:

UN INFANTI GENE AQA PER BIBE EX U BOTILIA.

(Literally, "A child is getting water by drinking out of a bottle.")

 * * *

If you like Glosa, please help - not by thinking the solution is in grammar - but by translating into Glosa, and by keeping it simple. I hope this explanation of verboids will make it quick and easy for you.