Wilkins’ Philosophical Language
From Langmaker
| Conlang | Philosophical Language |
| Author | John Wilkins |
| Year Began | 1668 |
| Language Type | philosophical language |
| Lexicon Size | 4000 |
| Etymologies | No |
| Grammar | Yes |
| Sample Texts | Yes |
| Primer | No |
This philosophical language was designed by the English cleric John Wilkins, and described in his 1668 work An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language. The “Real Character” was a neography for English, while his “Philosophical Language” was an a priori language designed to express a categorization of the world.
Wilkins’ language
The largest part of the book is devoted to the classification scheme— expressed (somewhat to the disappointment of the conlanger) in numeric form, not using the constructed words. Starting at page 415, however, Wilkins explains how to create words for each category.
A node in the category is named by a four-letter CVCV word; the consonants are drawn in order from the sequence B D G P T C Z S N; the vowels from the sequence α a e i o γ. (Wilkins surveys many languages to determine which sounds are most used.)
The classification has three levels: Genus, Difference, Species. There are 40 Genuses, each identified by a two-character CV root. There are eight superclasses: Transcendental, Herbs (that is, plants), Animals, Parts, Quantity, Quality, Action, Relation. Some of these correspond to an initial (e.g. Z = animals, T = qualities), but some do not (Parts gets just Pα and Pa; Relations extend from Co to Sy).
Some examples:
- Zi refers to “beasts” (mammals); Zit to “rapacious beasts of the dog kind”, and Zitα to dogs.
- De refers to elements; Deb is fire, Debα is flame.
- Ti is “sensible quality” (what we would call perceptions); Tid is colors; Tide is green.
A word may be further modified by affixes and sound changes:
- For instance, Dα is God, and idα is the opposite of God— not the devil, but an idol.
- An adjective is formed by changing the first consonant— e.g. canine should be Zhitα.
- Adverbs are formed from monosyllables by diphthongizing the vowel: Dαι ‘divinely’.
- Abstract nominalizations are formed from monosyllables by adding -r: Dαr ‘divinity’.
The language does not just consist of the classification; there are rules for pronouns, prepositions, and verbal inflections. Wilkins offers translations of the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed.
On the author
The Philosophical Language is similar to that of Dalgarno’s Ars Signorum, and indeed Wilkins and Dalgarno worked together for some time, but could not agree on the depth of the classification: Dalgarno wanted a limited number of radicals, while Wilkins preferred a more encyclopedic approach.
Wilkins was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell, who named him master of Trinity College in Cambridge; when Cromwell was deposed he lost this position, but took a succession of clerical assignments, ending up as bishop of Chester. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Society.
Jorge Luis Borges devoted an essay to Wilkins, gently mocking the idea of categorizing the universe, but offering a charming description of the author:
- “He abounded in happy curiosities: theology, cryptography, music, the fabrication of transparent beehives, the course of an invisible planet, the possibility of a trip to the moon, the possibility and principles of a world language.”
External links
| Site | Broken Link | Author | Site Languages |
| http://reliant.teknowledge.com/Wilkins/ | No | John Wilkins | English (A scan of the entire work!) |
| http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/wilkins.html | No | Jorge Luis Borges | English, Spanish (Borges’ essay) |
| http://www.illc.uva.nl/Publications/Dissertations/DS-1999-03.abstract.txt | No | Jaap Maat | English |
