Wikijunior:Languages/Ido

What writing system(s) does this language use?

Ido uses 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, just like in English, plus these three digraphs; the "ch" (Chin) and "sh" (Shin) and "qu" (Quinn) just like in English.

digraph — A digraph is a pair of characters to write one distinct sound (Like the "Ch" is "Chin" in English.).

What's very different from English, though, is that there are no silent letters (In the word "Aisle", "S" and "E" are silent). Also, most letters always sound the same (Not like the "A" in these English words "fat", fate, and father.

Yellow colours are Ido letters that do not correspond to the same English letter, and green colours are digraphs.

How many people speak this language?

Nobody knows for sure. Some estimates say only a little more than 100, while others say up to 1000. However many, probably most are not native speakers, if any are at all.

A speaker of Ido is called an Idist.

Where is this language spoken?

The flag of Ido (La flago di Ido)

Ido is mainly spoken in Europe, but it is likely that some people from around the world know it. However, most Idists learn Ido as a second language, so it is far from being the majority.

What is the history of this language?

The idea of a constructed language is certainly not new, as the first known constructed language, Lingua Ignota, in the 12th century by a church-dweller. But the idea was not popular until Volapük was created in 1879, which had a few thousand users. Seven years later, Esperanto emerged and it quickly rose in popularity, making Volapük's number of speakers small. A few other, unpopular, constructed languages arose, such as Latino Sine Flexione (In English, "Latin without inflection") and Idiom Neutral. During this time of new languages, Louis Couturat formed the Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language in 1901.

The delegation formally requested to the International Association of Academies in Vienna to select and promote an international language, yet the request was rejected in 1907. Later that year, the delegation met in Paris to discuss amongst themselves which language to ultimately use as the international language. The committee's final decision was that no language was acceptable, but Esperanto almost was, so development on Ido ("Ido" means offspring in Esperanto) was began.

The inventor of Esperanto, Ludwig Zamenhof, suggested in 1894 a "Reformed Esperanto"; several suggestions of which were taken by Ido; removal of accents, plural being made to an "-i" and more. Ido was finally created in 1907 following many of the suggestions of Reformed Esperanto, however, most of the Esperanto community did not want to conform to Ido. A schism was created. It is estimated that about 20% of the Esperanto leaders and 4% of ordinary Esperantists defected to Ido.

However, Ido was not popular for long, for three reasons:

• Louis Couturat died in an automobile in 1914.
• World War I mostly stopped the Ido Academy's activities from 1914-1920 (Even though the war only lasted 1914-1918).
• Otto Jespersen, one of the primary supporters of Ido, defected to his own language, Novial in 1928.

Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?

There are not many notable writers in Ido, but a few famous works of literature have been translated into Ido such as The Little Prince and others.

What are some basic words in this language that I can learn?