Eurolengo is a
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...
invented by
Leslie Jones in 1972.
[Large, Andrew, ''The Artificial Language Movement'' Oxford and New York: Basil Blackwell in association with André Deutsch, 1985] It was constructed to be a
common European language and "a practical tool for business and tourism."
The vocabulary consists of words borrowed from English and Spanish
[Jones, Leslie, ''Eurolengo: The Language for Europe'' Newcastle upon Tyne: Oriel Press, 1972] and made to conform to a consistent phonetic and orthographic system. Critics find a
Spanglish
Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...
flavor to the language, and that "reading is only straightforward if the requisite languages (in this case English and Spanish) are already familiar."
Auxiliary languages in general, and regional ones such as Eurolengo in particular, have had little support from the international community;
Eurolengo has never had any speakers.
Linguistic features
According to its author, there are only three pages of grammar rules.
Alphabet
The Eurolengo alphabet is almost the same as the English alphabet, except there is no
C (its phonemes being taken over by either
S or
K),
but the
Ch digraph is treated as a letter.
a=ah, b= bay, ch = chay, d=day, e = eh, f=eff, g=gay, h=ash, i = ee, j = jay, k = kay, l = ell, m = em, n = en, o = oh, p = pay, q=kw, r=air, s = ess, t=tay, u = oo, v = vee, w=wee, x = eks, y = eye, z = zed
Verbs
According to its author all verbs are regular.
Nouns
Nouns in Eurolengo have no gender, but a suffix can be added to derive specifically feminine words from their masculine counterparts, such as in the case of making ''kusin'' into ''kusina'' to indicate a male cousin or a female cousin.
Example
''Eurolengo isto tres fasil. Le lengo habo un diksionarie de venti mil paroles. It isto kompletik fonetik and le difisile sonds in le lengos de West Europe isto elimanado.''
References
External links
Sample Conjugations of Eurolengo Verbs
{{Constructed languages
Zonal constructed languages
Constructed languages introduced in the 1970s