IDO FOR ALL
English course for learning Ido
N. ApGawain, P.D. Hugon, J.L. Moore, L. de Beaufront, S.L. Rice, J. Muelver and G. Cappelluti
January 2011, Oxford, United Kingdom
Ido (pronounced "ee-doh") is a constructed language created with the goal of becoming a universal second language for speakers of different linguistic backgrounds as a language easier to learn than ethnic languages. Unlike English, which is a natural and frequently irregular language, Ido was specifically designed for grammatical, orthographic and lexicographical regularity and to favor no one who might otherwise be advantaged in a situation due to native fluency in a widespread language. In this sense, Ido is classified as a consciously created international auxiliary language. At present, Ido is one of the three auxiliary languages with a large body of literature and a relatively large speaker base, along with Esperanto and Interlingua.
Ido is largely based on Esperanto and first appeared in 1907 as a result of a desire to reform perceived flaws in Esperanto that some of its supporters believed to be a hindrance in its propagation as an easy-to-learn second language. The name of the language traces its origin to the Esperanto/Ido word "ido", meaning "offspring", since the language was a "descendant" of Esperanto.
Ido uses the 26 Latin letters of the English alphabet, with no diacritics. It resembles the Romance languages in appearance and sometimes is mistaken for Italian or Spanish at first glance. Its vocabulary is based on those of the major European languages and therefore indirectly on Latin. A number of prefixes and suffixes alter the meaning of words and then give the possibility to create obvious neologisms. Ido is largely intelligible to those who have studied Esperanto, though there are certain differences in word formation, grammar and grammatical-function words that make it more than a simple reform project.
Books in and about Ido have been published in many countries but yet few people know about it. The purpose of this document is to show the great simplicity and practicality of this auxiliary language. Since Ido is much easier than any of the national languages spoken in Europe, much less time and effort is needed if two people both learn Ido than if either learns the other's mother tongue.
If at the end of this course you feel that you have "fallen in love" with this awesome international language, then please talk about Ido to as many friends as you can and distribute this document widely.
The Alphabet
Ido uses all the 26 letters found in the English alphabet. There are no silent letters. Every letter in a word must be pronounced. Each letter has its own particular sound value which distinguishes it from all others. There are no double letters, except where both are to be pronounced separately.
Consonants
Most consonants have exactly the same pronunciation as in English:
b, d, f, к, 1, m, n, p, t, v, w, z, qu, sh.
The other consonants are revised in Ido as follows:
с - as "ts" in bits (Ido "ca" is pronounced "tsa"), never as in the English "k" or "s" sounds used for "c".
g - always as the hard "g" in get, never as the soft "g" in "gin".
h - always sounded, honoro [ho-NOR-o] - never silent as it is sometimes in English:honor [ON-er].
j - voiced "s" as in French, i.e. like the "s" in pleasure.
r - rolled (tongue-flick) if possible, but in any case always pronounced, even in such words as portar [porr-TARR].
s - as "s" in (English) "soft", never a voiced "z" sound as in (English) "fuse" [fyooz].
x - as English "x" [ks, gz], except that the Ido "x" never has the "z" sound found in English "xylophone", but retains the "ks" or "gz" sound even at the beginning of words: xilofono [ksi-lo-FO-no].
у - this is a consonant as in "yellow", and is never a vowel.
ch - as "ch" in "chat", never as the "ch" in "machine".
Vowels
Vowels have approximately the following sounds (but see notes below):
a - as "a" in father.
e - as "e" in then, or pet.
i - as "i" in machine, an "ee" sound.
о - as "o" in glory, an "oh" sound.
u - as "u" in rude, an "oo" sound.
Important Notes
There is room for a little variation in the length of the vowel sound, but it should not be too long or too short.
"a". Avoid making the "ah" sound too long, so that it becomes "aah" or even worse "aahr".
Never pronounce "e" as in English "meter". Avoid adding a "y" or "ee" sound to the Ido "e" so that it sounds like the "ay" in English "way".
Avoid too much of an "eey" sound to the Ido "i". Never pronounce "i" as in the English word "white", so be careful how you say such Ido words as "mikra" [MEE-kra].
Avoid adding an "oo" or "w" sound to the Ido "o", as is the case with English "no" which rhymes with "know".
Never pronounce "u" as in the English words "use" or "universal", i.e. a "yoo" sound instead of"oo". So be careful with words like "uzata" and "universala".
Always say each vowel clearly. Never give a vowel the obscure "uh" sound that is found in many English words, e.g. the "a" in "across", the "e" in "begin", or the "o" and "u" in "button".
Diphthongs
A diphthong is a vowel sound resulting from two vowel sounds combining. In Ido there are two simple diphthongs:
au- a(ah) + u(oo) giving the "ow" sound found in English "now". It is never pronounced as English "au" in "Paul".
eu- e(eh) + u(oo). This is an "eh-oo" sound which does not exist in standard English. "eu" is never a "yoo" sound as in English "neutral".
Note
"u" before a vowel will tend to become like "w", e.g. linguo [LIN-gwo].
"i" before a vowel will tend to bceome like "y", e.g. pekunio [pe-KU-nyo].
All other vowels should be said separately: "ai" is "a-i" [ah-ee"] and "ae" is "a-e" [ah-eh], etc, not the blended, sliding English sounds of combined vowels.
Accentuation (Stress)
All English words have at least one syllable which is stressed more than the others: BUTter, inTELLigent, ELephant, beGIN. In English there is no obvious rule about where the stress occurs in a word. It could be in any syllable.
In Ido there is a simple rule with only one exception: The stress always falls on the second-last syllable.: HUN-do, KA-to, LINguo, faMIlio [fa-MEE-lyo], akaDEmio [a-ka-DEH-myo].
Here's the exception: verb infinitives (recognizable by -ar, -ir, -or endings) have the stress on the last syllable for clarity in speech: pozar [po-ZAR], drinkar [drin-KAR], drinkor [drin-KOR], drinkir [drin- KIR], donar [do-NAR], donor [do-NOR], donir [do-NIR].
Examples
Amar' [amAR], kredir' [krediIR], finoor', [finOR] ama'ta [amATa], kreo'ta [kreOta], fino'ta [fiNOta] espere'ble [espeREble], facin'da [facINda] jo'yo [JOyo], boa'o [boAo], muze'o [muZEo] hero'o [heROo], di'o [DIo], du [DU]
fo'lio [FO-lyo], li'lio [LI-lyo], men'tio [MEN-tyo], Ita'lia [i-TA-lya] a'quo [A-qwo], lin'guo [LIN-gwo] por'tuo [PORR-two], re'vuo [RE-vwo]
Pronunciation Exercise
Ka vu ja ler'nas la no'va lin'guo internacio'na?
ka vu ja LERR-nas la NO-va LIN-gwo in-terr-na-ci-O-na
kah voo zhah lairnahs lah nohvah leengwoh eentairnahtsiohnah
Me komen'cis studiar' olu an'te kel'kadi'i, me ko-MEN-cis stu-DYARR O-lu AN-te KEL-kaDI-i meh kohmentsees stoodeeahr oh-loo ahnteh kelkah dee-ee
e me tro'vas ke olu es'as ve're tre faci'la.
e me TRO-vas ke O-lu ES-as VE-re tre fa-CI-la