BASIC ENGLISH
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Mr. Cather says as a point against Basic English that " for international use we cannot accept anything but a Ain language. For example 01.1P which all international organiza- tions could adopt as their official language, in which The Speetator would appear as fully satisfying as at present, and in which the ordinary citizen in 'a foreign country could converse with the natives, socially and otherwise, as naturally on all subjects as he can in his own language at hoMe." Tliis is merely the ideal ; the question is what available roads go towards it. Basic would do very well as the official language of an organization, probably with an extra list of twenty-five nouns ;, it would seem quite " natural," e.g., for the notes of the week and the political articles of The Spectator. It would be clumsy, of course, for jokes, delicacies Of description, suggestions of milieu, things that you cannot do in a foreign language anyhow without learning it to a rare perfection or making pets of your mistakes. So the word " natural '•' begs a question : Basic gives a natural English for careful plain statement, but that is not alWays the natural way to talk.. Certainly if you want to talk English naturally in the sense " like a native " you must learn it, and Basic is a good first step. But the claim that Basic itself is a dignified and rational means of expression, quickly learned and at once widely understood, is not refuted by the phrase " we cannot accept it."—Yours, &c.,
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