# OCCIDENTAL IN A WEEK

 

by E. BIDDLE

 

A Beginner's Text Book of the International Language

 

Printed and Published by E. Biddle, 9, Durban Ave, Christleton, Chester for the 

 

Interlanguage Association of Great Britain, 40, St. Andrew St., LONDON. S. W. 8 

 

1933

 

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## FIRST DAY

 

PRONUNCIATION is simple. No silent letters.

 

1 — Vowels have the Continental values. A as in f**a**ther; E as in th**e**re; I as in mar**i**ne; O as in s**o**, f**o**r; U as in r**u**le; EU as U in f**u**r.

 

2 — Consonants as in English, except C before E, I or Y as TS; elsewhere as K. G before E, I or Y as **s** in plea**s**ure; elsewhere as in **g**un.

 

3 — Stress on the vowel before the last consonant, except that the endings -bil, -ic, -im, -ul and -men are unstressed. The addition of the plural sign -s does not affect the stress. The exceptions are marked with a printed accent.

 

EXERCISE IN PRONUNCIATION

 

li patre — lee pAh-treh

 

clar — klahrr

 

fortissim — for-tIss-im

 

rose — rO-zeh

 

Europa — u(r)-rO-pah

 

cité — tsee-tEh

 

national — nat-see-oh-nAhl.

 

témpore — tEm-po-reh

 

Occidental es li ideal solution

 

*okt-see-den-tAl ess lee ee-deh-Al so-loot-see-ohn*

 

del problema de un lingue inter-

 

*del prob-lAy-mah day oon lIn-gweh in-tare*

 

national nam it combina regularitá

 

*natseeohnAl nam it combEEnah reg-oo-laree-tAh*

 

e internationalitá.

 

*eh in-tare-natsee-o-nal-ee-tAh*

 

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## SECOND DAY

 

### GRAMMAR

 

1 — UN = a, an. LI = the.

 

2 — The Plural is formed by adding:

 

-S after a consonant; -ES after a vowel.

 

e.g. un die — a day; dies — days

 

vocabul — word; li vocabules — the words

 

3 — All verbs are regular. They do not vary for person or number. They consist of Stem + Ending. The Present Tense is the same as the stem, e.g. ama — love(s); vide — see(s); veni — come(s).

 

4 — 

 

|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |

| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |

| Yo   | Tu   | Il   | Illa | It   | Noi  | Vu   | Ili  |

| I    | Thou | He   | She  | It   | We   | You  | They |

 

5 — Questions are formed by putting ESQUE [is it that?] at the beginning of the phrase; e.g. yo vide — I see; esque yo vide? — do I see?

 

EXERCISE Occidental

 

Un patre. Li patre. Li patres. Un patre e un matre. Patres e matres. Li infante vide li patre. Li matre parla con li fratre. Yo vide li scola. Noi dormi in li dom. It jace sur li table. Noi trova li amicos. Vu lee un libre. Esque vu comprende Occidental? Esque illa scri un lettre? Esque[^1] li nocte es long? Esque il canta?

 

EXERCISE English

 

A father. The father. The fathers. A father and a mother. Fathers and mothers. The child sees the father. The mother speaks with the brother. I see the school. We sleep in the house. It is lying** on the table. We find the friends. You are reading** a book. Do you understand Occidental? Is she writing a letter? Is the night long? Is he singing?

 

** In Occ. *you read* and *you are reading* are both generally translated as *vu lee*. This applies to all such cases.

 

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## THIRD DAY

 

### GRAMMAR

 

6 ADJECTIVES may end -I for euphony or clearness. They are generally invariable, as in English.

 

7 Comparison of Adjectives

 

|                 |                     |

| --------------- | ------------------- |

| Plu bell quam   | more beautiful than |

| Minu rapid quam | less rapid than     |

| Tam long quam   | as long as          |

| Max nov         | most new (newest)   |

| Minst facil     | least easy          |

 

8 Possessive Pronouns

 

|      |      |               |      |      |       |

| ---- | ---- | ------------- | ---- | ---- | ----- |

| MI   | TUI  | SU            | NOR  | VOR  | LOR   |

| My   | Thy  | His, Her, Its | Our  | Your | Their |

 

9 Interrogative & Personal Pronouns

 

QUI — who. QUEM — whom. QUO — what. QUEL — which

 

10 The Past Tense is formed by adding -**T** to the Stem, e.g. yo vide — I see; yo videt — I saw.

 

11[^2] The Infinitive is the Stem + -**R**, e.g. veni-r — to come;  time-r — to fear.

 

12 The Future Tense is the auxiliary VA (shall, will) + the Infinitve, e.g. Il va amar — he will love 

 

13 The Negative Form of the verb is formed by placing NE (not) before the verb or auxiliary, e.g. vu ne vide — you do not see; ili ne va venir — they will not come.

 

EXERCISE Occidental

 

Li rubi libre es sur li table. Yo ne vide it. U it es? It es sub li jurnal. Yer mi amico venit e noi visitat li principal partes de nor cité. Bentost il va venir denov. Tande noi va posser visitar li muséo. Yo parla, il ne trova, esque vu comprendet? Qui va venir? Quo es sur li stul? Quem illa incontrat? Quel dom es max grand? Li nocte es nu plu long quam li die. Li árbor es minu alt quam li dom. Conducter, yo ne conducte, illa conductet, noi va conducter. Esque il ne conducte?

 

EXERCISE English

 

The red book is on the table. I do not see it. Where is it? It is under the newspaper. Yesterday *my friend came and we visited the main parts of our city. Then we will be able to visit the museum. I speak, he doesn't find, did you understand? Who will come? What is on the chair? Whom did she meet? Which house is the largest? The night is now as long as the day. The tree is less tall than the house. To drive, I don't drive, she drove, we will drive. Doesn't he drive?*

 

*[missing page 7, presumptive translation provided in italics above — Ed.]*

 

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## FOURTH DAY

 

### GRAMMAR

 

14 Adverbs are formed from adjectives by the addition of -men. (English -ly)

 

felici — happy; felicimen — happily,

 

15 The Objective Forms of the Personal Pronouns are:

 

|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |

| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |

| ME   | TE   | LE   | LA   | IT   | NOS  | VOS  | LES  |

| me   | thee | him  | her  | it   | us   | you  | them |

 

They are used as in English.

 

16 The Conditional is formed by VELL (should, would) + Infinitive, e.g. yo vell dir — I should say.

 

17 The Imperative is the Root.

 

da! give!; veni! come!

 

For politeness, PLES (please) + Infinitive may be used, e.g. Ples venir temporan — please come early.

 

EXERCISE Occidental

 

Felicimen, yo posset venir hodie. Yo joya vider vos. Mi amico venit con me, nam il volet vider li cité. Esque vu vide it? Mi sestra esset in li jardin; esque vu videt la? Yo vell esser tre content incontrar la. Li jurnales es ta; ples dar les a me. Comensa leer vor libre! Li mann quem vu videt es mi patre. Li stul quel es in ti ci chambre ne es tre grand. Li seniores qui es in li strad es mi amicos. Li libres queles yo misse vos es tre util. Qui vell creder it? Quo vell esser max util por vos?

 

EXERCISE English

 

Happily, I was able to come today. I am glad to see you. My friend came with me, for he wanted to see the city. Do you see it? My sister was in the garden; did you see her? I should be very pleased to meet her. The newspapers are there; please give them to me. Begin to read your book. The man whom you saw is my father. The chair which is in this room is not very big. The gentlemen who are in the street are my friends. The books which I am sending you are very useful. Who would believe it? What would be most useful to you?

 

Important — The Relative Pronouns, often omitted in English, must be inserted in every case in Occidental.

 

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[Page 11, and thus all of FIFTH DAY lesson, is missing. — Ed.]

 

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EXERCISE Occidental

 

Yo ha prendet li cos ex li scatul. Il ne esset tre content pri li lettre quel il hat recivet. Esque illi esset videt in li teatre? Yo ne ha incontrat les denov. Alqui ha prendet mi libre. Nequi ha esset ci. It va har esset finit temporan. Esque alquicos es in vor manu? No, yo have necos in mi manu. Li homes auxiliant in ti ci labor es poc.

 

EXERCISE English

 

I have taken the thing out of the box. He was not very content with the letter which he had received. Were they seen in the theatre? I have not met them again. Someone has taken my book. Nobody has been here. It will have been finished early. Is anything in your hand? No, I have nothing in my hand. The people helping in this work are few.

 

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## SIXTH DAY

 

*As we have covered the main points of grammar and cannot deal with derivation here, the last two lessons will consist of further exercises.*

 

Noi ha scrit quelc lettres. Qui ha prendet li incre? Esque vor patre ha dat mi libre al senior? Quo desira vor matre? Quant noi debe? Yo lee un jurnal frances. Il obliviat far to. Il ne fat tam mult labor hodie quam yer. Li person por quem il labora es ci. Forsan yo va reciver Cosmoglotta deman. Illi volet apprender Occidental, nam illi comprendet quam util ti ci lingue vell esser por lor viages in extrania. Ta es mi chapel; ples dar it a me.

 

We have written several letters. Who has taken the ink? Has your father given my book to the gentleman? How much do we owe? I am reading a French newspaper. He forgot to do that. He has not done so much work today as yesterday. The person for whom he works is here. Perhaps I shall receive Cosmoglotta tomorrow. They wanted to learn Occidental, for they understood how useful this language would be for their journeys abroad. There is my hat; please give it to me.

 

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## SEVENTH DAY

 

Li lingue international Occidental es li resulta de mult annus de studie. Mult projectes ha esset publicat, a poc ha havet adeptes — solmen Volapuk, tre artificial, quel morit pro su intern defectes; Esperanto, li max diffuset systema, tro artificial e inattractiv; Ido, "Reform-Esperanto", hodie es in dissolution; Latino sine Flexione, antiqui latin sin grammatica, absolutmen inapt por general usada; e Occidental, li quintessentie del cultural lingues de Europa, modern, flexibil, facil e bell, apt por omni civilisat besonas — li **Interlingue del Futur**!

 

[^1]: [Original has *espue*. — Ed.]

[^2]: [Original has 12. — Ed.]