View source for Basic English

{{short description|English-based controlled language}}
{{other uses|Simple English (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Basic English
| creator          = [[Charles Kay Ogden]]
| created          = 1925
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[English alphabet]])<br />[[Unified English Braille]]
| setting          = controlled natural language
| posteriori       = [[Modern English]]
| glotto           = 
| ietf             = en-basiceng
| familycolor      = 
}}

'''Basic English''' (a [[backronym]] for '''British American Scientific International and Commercial English''')<ref>{{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Charles Kay|title=Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar|year=1932|publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, Limited|page=21}}</ref> is a [[controlled language]] based on standard [[English language|English]], but with a greatly simplified [[vocabulary]] and [[grammar]]. It was created by the linguist and philosopher [[Charles Kay Ogden]] as an [[international auxiliary language]], and as an aid for teaching [[English as a second or foreign language|English as a second language]]. It was presented in Ogden's 1930<!-- Need to double check this date; online sources point to a number of editions --> book ''Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar''. 

The first work on Basic English was written by two Englishmen, [[Ivor Richards]] of Harvard University and [[Charles Kay Ogden]] of the University of Cambridge in England. The design of Basic English drew heavily on the semiotic theory put forward by Ogden and Richards in their 1923 book ''[[The Meaning of Meaning]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McElvenny |first=James |date=2015-10-22 |title=The application of C.K. Ogden's semiotics in Basic English |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/58704096/semioticsbasicenglish_rev.pdf |journal=Language Problems and Language Planning |language=en |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=187–204 |doi=10.1075/lplp.39.2.05mce |s2cid=148343056 |issn=0272-2690|url-access= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= | author-link=James McElvenny }}</ref>

Ogden's Basic, and the concept of a simplified English, gained its greatest publicity just after the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] victory in World War II as a means for world peace. He was convinced that the world needed to gradually eradicate [[Minority language|minority languages]] and use as much as possible only one: English, in either a simple or complete form.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Charles Kay|year=1934|title=The System of Basic English|publisher=Harcourt, Brace}}</ref> 

Although Basic English was not built into a program, similar simplifications have been devised for various international uses. Richards promoted its use in schools in China.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,886748,00.html |title=Education: Globalingo |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=31 December 1945 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114024145/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,886748,00.html |archive-date=14 November 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It has influenced the creation of [[Voice of America]]'s [[Learning English (version of English)|Learning English]] for news broadcasting, and [[Simplified Technical English]], another English-based controlled language designed to write technical manuals.

What survives of Ogden's Basic English is the basic 850-word list used as the beginner's vocabulary of the English language taught worldwide, especially in Asia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weiss |first=Edmond H. |year=2005 |title=The Elements of International English Style |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |pages=17–18|isbn=978-0-7656-1572-5}}</ref>

== Design principles ==
Ogden tried to simplify English while keeping it normal for native speakers, by specifying grammar restrictions and a [[controlled natural language|controlled small vocabulary]] which makes an extensive use of [[Paraphrase|paraphrasing]]. Most notably, Ogden allowed only 18 verbs, which he called "operators". His "General Introduction" says, "There are no 'verbs' in Basic English",{{Verify quote|date=April 2021}} with the underlying assumption that, as noun use in English is very straightforward but verb use/conjugation is not, the elimination of verbs would be a welcome simplification.<ref group=note>A good summary in Bill Templer: ''Towards a People's English: Back to BASIC in EIL'' [http://www.hltmag.co.uk/sep05/mart05.htm#C5 Humanising Language Teaching] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204112933/http://www.hltmag.co.uk/sep05/mart05.htm#C5 |date=December 4, 2008 }}.</ref>

{{blockquote|What the World needs most is about 1,000 more dead languages—and one more alive.|C. K. Ogden, ''The System of Basic English''}}

== Word lists ==
Ogden's word lists include only [[word roots]], which in practice are extended with the defined set of affixes and the full set of forms allowed for any available word (noun, pronoun, or the limited set of verbs).<ref group=note>See [http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordthere.html the list of words which are assumed and not counted] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227073445/http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordthere.html |date=2021-02-27 }} for details.</ref> The 850 core words of Basic English are found in Wiktionary's [[wikt:Appendix:Basic English word list|Basic English word list]]. This core is theoretically enough for everyday life. However, Ogden prescribed that any student should learn an additional 150-word list for everyday work in some particular field, by adding a list of 100 words particularly useful in a general field (e.g., science, verse, business), along with a 50-word list from a more specialised subset of that general field, to make a [[wikt:Appendix:1000 basic English words|basic 1000-word]] vocabulary for everyday work and life.

Moreover, Ogden assumed that any student should already be familiar with (and thus may only review) a core subset of around 200 "international" words.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordalpi.html| title = Ogden's "International Word" List—Alphabetic| access-date = 2008-11-26| archive-date = 2021-02-27| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210227100636/http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordalpi.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> Therefore, a first-level student should graduate with a core vocabulary of around 1200 words. A realistic general core vocabulary could contain around 2000 words (the core 850 words, plus 200 international words, and 1000 words for the general fields of trade, economics, and science). It is enough for a "standard" English level.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordalpn.html| title = Ogden's Basic English Next Steps| access-date = 2009-08-19| archive-date = 2020-11-13| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201113155415/http://ogden.basic-english.org/wordalpn.html| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://ogden.basic-english.org/word2000.html| title = Ogden's Basic English Combined Word Lists| access-date = 2008-11-27| archive-date = 2021-04-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210419041827/http://ogden.basic-english.org/word2000.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> This 2000 word vocabulary represents "what any learner should know". At this level students could start to move on their own.

Ogden's [[:simple:Wikipedia:Basic English combined wordlist|Basic English 2000 word list]] and Voice of America's [[:simple:Wikipedia:VOA Special English Word Book|Special English 1500 word list]] serve as dictionaries for the [[Simple English Wikipedia]].

== Rules ==
Basic English includes a simple grammar for modifying or combining its 850 words to talk about additional meanings ([[morphological derivation]] or [[inflection]]). The grammar is based on English, but simplified.<ref>{{cite web|date=January 1, 1996|title=Rules of Grammar|work=Ogden's Basic English|url=http://ogden.basic-english.org/rules.html|access-date=2018-11-01|archive-date=2016-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513094344/http://ogden.basic-english.org/rules.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* Plural nouns are formed by adding ''-s'' or related forms, as in ''drinks'', ''boxes'', or ''countries''.
* Nouns are formed with the endings ''-er'' (as in ''prisoner'') or ''-ing'' (''building'').
* Adjectives are formed with the endings ''-ing'' (''boiling'') or ''-ed'' (''mixed'').
* Adverbs can be formed by adding ''-ly'' (for example ''tightly'') to words that Basic English calls "qualities" (adjectives that describe objects).
* The words ''more'' and ''most'' are used for comparison (for example ''more complex''), but ''-er'' and ''-est'' may appear in common use (''cheaper'').
* Negatives can be formed with ''un-'' (''unwise'').
* The word ''do'' is used in questions, as it is in English (''Do you have some?'').
* Both pronouns and what Basic English calls "operators" (a set of ten [[verb]]s) use the different forms they have in English (for example ''I go to him'', ''He goes to me'').
* Compound words can be formed by combining two nouns (e.g. ''soapbox'') or a noun and a preposition, which Basic English calls "directives" (''sunup'').
* International words, words that are the same or similar in English and other European languages (e.g. ''radio''), use the English form. English forms are also used for numbers, dates, money, or measurements.
* Any technical terms or special vocabulary needed for a task should be written in [[Quotation mark|inverted commas]] and then be explained in the text using words from the Basic English vocabulary (for example ''the 'vocabulary' is the list of words'').

== Criticism ==
Like all [[international auxiliary language]]s (or IALs), Basic English may be criticised as inevitably based on personal preferences, and is thus, paradoxically, inherently divisive.<ref>{{cite web|first=Rick |last=Harrison |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716230133/http://www.rickharrison.com/language/farewell.html |url=http://www.rickharrison.com/language/farewell.html |title=Farewell to Auxiliary Languages |archivedate=16 July 2012 |date=24 February 1997}}</ref> Moreover, like all natural-language-based IALs, Basic is subject to criticism as unfairly biased towards the native speaker community.<ref group=note>For instance, a sample quotation from [http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0512A&L=AUXLANG&T=0&F=&S=&P=2560 the auxlang mailing list archives] and another from noted linguist [[Robert A. Hall, Jr.]]</ref>

As a teaching aid for [[English as a second or foreign language|English as a second language]], Basic English has been criticised for the choice of the core vocabulary and for its grammatical constraints.<ref group=note>For instance, by proponents of Essential World English. See [http://www.langmaker.com/outpost/eswldeng.htm a summary of EWE] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818175724/http://www.langmaker.com/outpost/eswldeng.htm |date=August 18, 2006 }} for instance and, again, the linguist [[Robert A. Hall, Jr.]]</ref>

In 1944, [[readability]] expert [[Rudolf Flesch]] published an article in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'', "How Basic is Basic English?" in which he said, "It's not basic, and it's not English." The essence of his complaint is that the vocabulary is too restricted, and, as a result, the text ends up being awkward and more difficult than necessary. He also argues that the words in the Basic vocabulary were arbitrarily selected, and notes that there had been no empirical studies showing that it made language simpler.<ref name="Flesch">{{cite magazine|last1=Flesch|first1=R. F.|title=How Basic is Basic English?|magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]]|date=March 1944|pages=339–343}}</ref>

In his 1948 paper "[[A Mathematical Theory of Communication]]", [[Claude Shannon]] contrasted the limited vocabulary of Basic English with [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'', a work noted for a wide vocabulary. Shannon notes that the lack of vocabulary in Basic English leads to a very high level of [[Redundancy (linguistics)|redundancy]], whereas Joyce's large vocabulary "is alleged to achieve a compression of semantic content".<ref>{{cite journal|year=1948|last1=Shannon |first1=Claude|title=A Mathematical Theory of Communication |journal=The Bell System Technical Journal |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=379–423; 623–656|doi=10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-002C-4314-2 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Literary references ==
In the novel ''[[The Shape of Things to Come]]'', published in 1933, [[H. G. Wells]] depicted Basic English as the [[lingua franca]] of a new elite that after a prolonged struggle succeeds in uniting the world and establishing a [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] [[world government]]. In the future world of Wells' vision, virtually all members of humanity know this language.

From 1942 to 1944, [[George Orwell]] was a proponent of Basic English, but in 1945, he became critical of [[universal language]]s. Basic English later inspired his use of [[Newspeak]] in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Illich |first=Ivan |author-link=Ivan Illich |author2=Barry Sanders |title=ABC: The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind |year=1988 |publisher=[[North Point Press]] |location=[[San Francisco]] |isbn=0-86547-291-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/abcalphabetizati00illi_0/page/109 109] |quote=The satirical force with which Orwell used Newspeak to serve as his portrait of one of those totalitarian ideas that he saw taking root in the minds of intellectuals everywhere can be understood only if we remember that he speaks with shame about a belief that he formerly held&nbsp;... From 1942 to 1944, working as a colleague of William Empson's, he produced a series of broadcasts to India written in Basic English, trying to use its programmed simplicity, as a ''Tribune'' article put it, 'as a sort of corrective to the oratory of statesmen and publicists.' Only during the last year of the war did he write 'Politics and the English Language,' insisting that the defense of English language has nothing to do with the setting up of a Standard English. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/abcalphabetizati00illi_0/page/109 }}</ref>

[[Evelyn Waugh]] criticized his own 1945 novel ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'', which he had previously called his magnum opus, in the preface of the 1959 reprint: "It [World War II] was a bleak period of present privation and threatening disaster—the period of [[soya beans]] and Basic English—and in consequence the book is infused with a kind of gluttony, for food and wine, for the splendours of the recent past, and for rhetorical and ornamental language that now, with a full stomach, I find distasteful."<ref>{{cite book | last=Waugh | first=Evelyn | title=Brideshead Revisited  | location=New York | publisher=Dell | orig-year=1946 | year=1959}}. Full [http://www.odysseyeditions.com/EBooks/Evelyn-Waugh/Brideshead-Revisited/Evelyn-Waughs-Author-commentary-for-Brideshead-Revisited preface text] available online.</ref>

In his story "[[Gulf (novella)|Gulf]]", science fiction writer [[Robert A. Heinlein]] used a [[constructed language]] called [[Speedtalk]], in which every Basic English word is replaced with a single [[phoneme]], as an appropriate means of communication for a race of genius supermen.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heinlein |first=Robert A. |chapter=Gulf |title=Assignment in Eternity |publisher=Signet Science Fiction (New American Library) |year=1953 |pages=52–53 |quotation=It was possible to establish a one-to-one relationship with Basic English so that ''one phonetic symbol'' was equivalent to an entire word.}}</ref>

==Samples==
The [[Lord's Prayer]] has been often used for an impressionistic language comparison:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="row" |  Basic English ([[Bible in Basic English|BBE]])<ref name="BBE">{{cite book |last1=Hooke |first1=S. H. |author1-link=S. H. Hooke |title=Bible in Basic English |date=1965 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://www.o-bible.com/cgibin/ob.cgi?version=bbe&book=mat&chapter=6 |access-date=22 April 2021 |language=en-basic |chapter=Matthew, 6}}</ref>
! scope="row" |  English ([[NRSV]])<ref name="NRSV">{{Bibleverse|Matthew|6:9-13|NRSV}}</ref>
|-
|
{{lang|en-basiceng|Our Father in heaven,<br />
may your name be kept holy.<br />
Let your kingdom come.<br />
Let your pleasure be done,<br />
as in heaven, so on earth.<br />
Give us this day bread for our needs.<br />
And make us free of our debts,<br />
as we have made free those who are in debt to us.<br />
And let us not be put to the test,<br />
but keep us safe from the Evil One.}}
|
Our Father in heaven,<br />hallowed be your name.<br />Your kingdom come.<br />Your will be done,<br />on earth as it is in heaven.<br />Give us this day our daily bread.<br />And forgive us our debts,<br />as we also have forgiven our debtors.<br />And do not bring us to the time of trial,<br />but rescue us from the evil one.
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Constructed languages|Language}}
{{columnslist|colwidth=20em|
* [[Academic word list]]
* [[Bible in Basic English]]
* [[Controlled vocabulary]]
* [[E-Prime]]
* [[Français fondamental|Français Fondamental]]
* [[:it:Vocabolario corrente#Vocabolario di base|Vocabolario di base]] (in Italian: ''Basic Italian'')
* [[Globish (Nerrière)|Globish]]
* [[New General Service List]]
* [[International English]]
* [[Plain English]]
* [[Plain language]]
* [[Readability]]
* [[Seaspeak]]
* [[Simplified Technical English|Simplified English]]
* [[Learning English (version of English)|Learning English]]
* [[Standard Marine Communication Phrases]]
* [[Swadesh list]]
}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* I. A. Richards & Christine Gibson, ''Learning Basic English: A Practical Handbook for English-Speaking People'', New York: W. W. Norton & Co. (1945)
* ''Basic English: A Protest'', Joseph Albert Lauwerys, F. J. Daniels, Robert A. Hall Jr., London: Basic English Foundation, 1966. An answer to Robert A. Hall, Jr.'s criticism.
* (eo) Vĕra Barandovská-Frank, (2020), Basic English, In: ''[http://interl.home.amu.edu.pl/interlingvistiko/Barandovska_Interlingvistiko_enkonduko.pdf Interlingvistiko'''.''' Enkonduko en la sciencon pri planlingvoj] (PDF)'', p.&nbsp;270-275, Poznań, Univ. Adam Mickiewicz, 333&nbsp;pp., ISBN 9788365483539

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=simple|Simple English}}
{{Wiktionary|Appendix:Basic English word list}}
* Charles Kay Ogden, ''[http://ogden.basic-english.org/be0.html Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312155619/http://ogden.basic-english.org/be0.html |date=2016-03-12 }}'', London: Paul Treber
* Charles Kay Ogden, ''[http://crockford.com/wrrrld/begr.html Basic English and Grammatical Reform]'', Cambridge: The Orthological Institute. (1937)e
* [http://ogden.basic-english.org/ Ogden.Basic-English.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120214743/http://ogden.basic-english.org/ |date=2012-11-20 }}, Ogden's books and word lists online and several discussions
* [http://www.basic-english.org/ Basic-English.org], Ongoing project to support and update Ogden's Basic (with downloads)
* [http://ogden.basic-english.org/bec0.html The Reference Shelf Vol. 17. No. 1], a discussion about Basic English, with supporters and critics
* Charles Kay Ogden, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170315175722/http://basicenglish.org/en/ Basic English Course] (1930)
* Augusto Ghio Del'Rio, [http://basicenglish.org/es Inglés Básico], 1954 translation of Ogden's Basic English Course for Spanish Speakers
* [http://www.online-utility.org/english/simple_basic_helper.jsp Simple English Helper Tool] — Detect words which are not in a given dictionary, Ogden's Basic English dictionary list included
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060818175724/http://www.langmaker.com/outpost/eswldeng.htm Essential World English] — some criticisms of Basic English and suggestions for overcoming its problems
* [https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=BEF Records of the Basic English Foundation] at [[University College London]]
* [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/a-z/ogden-library Ogden Library] at [[University College London]]
* [https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=MS+OGDEN Ogden Manuscript Collection] at [[University College London]]

{{Frequency list}}
{{English dialects by continent}}

[[Category:International auxiliary languages]]
[[Category:Technical communication]]
[[Category:English language]]
[[Category:Controlled English]]
[[Category:Constructed languages introduced in the 1930s]]
[[Category:1930 introductions]]