Basic English
BASIC English (Business Academic Scientific International Commercial) is a controlled language used to explain complex thoughts. It has 850 words chosen by Charles Kay Ogden. Some articles in the Simple English Wikipedia (this website) use only BASIC English.
| BASIC English | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles Kay Ogden |
| Date | 1925 |
| Setting and usage | controlled natural language |
| Purpose | constructed language
|
| Writing system | Latin |
| Sources | Modern English |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
In 1937, Ogden hired Otto Neurath and Marie Neurath to make International Picture Language as one of a group of eight books in BASIC English.[1]
Rules of word use
The word use of BASIC English is simpler and more regular than the word use of normal English. In normal English, words often have a number of different meanings. To make BASIC English easier, not all the meanings of a word are used.
BASIC English uses Ogden's rules of grammar. Ogden's rules of grammar let people use the 850 words to talk about things and events simply.[2]
- -s / -es / -ies change singular nouns into plural nouns.
- -ing / -ed change verbs into adjectives.
- -ing / -er change verbs into nouns.
- -ly changes adjectives into adverbs.
- -er / -est or more / most describe amounts.
- un- changes adjectives into their opposites.
- The opposite word order with do makes questions.
- 'Operators' (verbs) and pronouns change as in normal English.
- Make combined words (compounds) from two nouns ("football") or a noun and a direction ("sundown").
- Measures, numbers, money, days, months, years, clock time, and international words are in English forms. Example for Date/Time: 20 May 1972 at 21:00
- Use the words of an industry or science. For example, in this grammar, some special words are for teaching languages, and not part of BASIC English: plural, conjugation, noun, adjective, adverb, qualifier, operator, pronoun, and directive.
Related pages
- BASIC English alphabetical wordlist
- BASIC English ordered wordlist
- BASIC English picture wordlist – 200 Picturable words
- BASIC English international wordlist
- BASIC English compound wordlist
- BASIC English combined wordlist
- Related resources
- Plain English Campaign
- International auxiliary language
- Simplified English
- Français fondamental
References
- ↑ Ogden, Charles. "BASIC Texts". Archived from the original on 2005-03-09. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
- ↑ "Ogden's BASIC English, Rules of Grammar". 1 January 1996. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- Ogden C.K. 1940. General BASIC English dictionary. London: Evans Brothers. ISBN 0874713625
- Simple English dictionary
Other websites
- Ogden's BASIC English Archived 2012-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
- BASIC English Utility
- Automatic online simplifying and summarizing tool. - Detect language and convert to BASIC English or summarize many documents into standard or BASIC English, reading material and BASIC English course included.