pandunia

Where Pandunia words come from?

Principles

Most Pandunia words are already international – at least in some part of the world! The three key criteria for selecting words for Pandunia are:

Imitative words

Many frequent Pandunia words are onomatopoetic i.e. imitative of a sound that the referred thing makes. For example, the Pandunia word for ‘cat’ is mau because cats cry meow ~ miaow. Pandunia is not alone in this. There are many languages, where the normal word for ‘cat’ sounds similar, for example Mandarin 猫 (māo), Cantonese 貓 (maau), Vietnamese mèo and Thai แมว (mɛɛu). In some languages, similar-sounding words, like Swahili nyau and Japanese にゃんこ (nyan-ko), are considered affectionate, playful or childish, but it’s not a bad thing. They only reinforce the internationality of the chosen word.

There are imitative words in all languages and in all levels of language. It is arbitrary and language-specific, which imitative words are considered childish and which ones are considered ordinary words that also adults can use even in serious contexts. There are many ordinary imitative words in English, like cuckoo, baby, click, knock, crash, yawn, hiccup and howl. Some of them are so ordinary that one might not even remember that they are imitative! There are also imitative words that are considered childish. On the other hand, childish usually means the same as easy to understand, which is a good thing in the international language.

In Pandunia, we have decided that all imitative words are ordinary words.

mau ‘cat’

Words for ‘cat’ are different in unrelated languages, but the cry of a cat is almost universally miau. In Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese the word for ‘cat’ imitates the cry of a cat, and they sound similar to the Pandunia word mau.

Language Content word Imitation of sound
English cat miaow ~ meow
German Katze miau
French chat miaou
Spanish gato miau
Portuguese gato miau
Russian кошка (koška) мяу (myau)
Persian گربه (gorbe) میو (miyu)
Hindi बिल्ली (billī) म्याऊँ (myāū̃)
Bengali বিড়াল (biṛal) ম্যাঁও (mễō)
Tamil பூனை (pūṉai) மியாவ் (miyāv)
Malay kucing meong
Turkish kedi miyav
Arabic قِطّ (qiṭṭ) مواء (muwāʔ)
Hausa kyânwā  
Fula ullundu  
Swahili paka, nyau nyau
Mandarin 猫 (māo) 喵 (miāo)
Cantonese 貓 (maau¹) 喵 (miu¹)
Vietnamese mèo ngao, meo
Korean 고양이 (goyang’i) 야옹 (yaong)
Japanese 猫 (neko) にゃん (nyan)

gau ‘dog’

Words for ‘dog’ are completely different in unrelated languages. Imitations of loud barking of a dog typically fit the pattern _au (wau, bau, gau, hau, etc.).

Language Content word Imitation of sound
English dog bow-wow
German Hund wau wau
French chien ouah ouah
Spanish perro, can guau guau
Portuguese cão au au
Russian собака (sobaka) гав-гав (gav-gav)
Persian سَگ (sag) واق واق (vāq vāq)
Hindi कुत्ता (kuttā) भो भो (bho bho)
Bengali কুকুর (kukur) ভউ ভউ (bha’u bha’u)
Tamil நாய் (nāy) பாவ் பாவ் (pav pav)
Malay anjing auk auk
Turkish köpek hav hav
Arabic كلب (kalb) (haw haw)
Hausa kàrē hau hau
Fula rawaandu  
Swahili mbwa mbwa mbwa
Mandarin 狗 (gǒu) 汪汪 (wāng wāng)
Cantonese 狗 (gau²) 㕵㕵 (wou wou)
Vietnamese chó, cẩu gâu gâu
Korean 개 (gae) 멍멍 (meong meong)
Japanese 犬 (inu) ワンワン (wanwan), アウアウ (au au)

Cantonese gau, Mandarin gǒu, Vietnamese cẩu and Portuguese cão sound similar to the sound of barking in some languages. Therefore the Pandunia word for dog is gau.

haha ‘laugh, laughter’

Nouns and verbs for laughing are different but imitations of the sound of laughter are the same across languages.

Language Content word Imitation of sound
English laugh haha
German Lachen haha
French rire haha
Spanish risa jaja
Portuguese riso haha
Russian смех (smex) ха-ха (ha-ha)
Persian خنده (xande) ها ها (hâ hâ)
Hindi हँसी (hãsī) हाहाहा (hahaha)
Bengali হাসি (haśi) হাঃ হাঃ (ha ha)
Malay ketawa hahaha
Turkish kahkaha haha
Arabic ضحك (ḍaḥk) هَهَهَ (hahaha)
Hausa dariya  
Fula jaleede  
Swahili -cheka kwa kwa kwa
Mandarin 笑 (xiào) 哈哈 (hāhā)
Cantonese 笑 (siu³) 哈哈 (haahaa)
Vietnamese tiếng cười ha ha
Korean 웃음 (useum) 하하 (haha)
Japanese 笑い (warai) あはは (ahaha)

yam ‘eating’

Nouns and verbs for eating are different across languages, but imitations of the sound of eating typically fit the pattern _am. That is the sound that is heard when one opens the mouth wide and then closes it to eat something.

Language Content word Imitation of sound
English eat yum yum
German essen hamm hamm
French manger miam miam
Spanish comer ñam ñam
Portuguese comer nham nham
Russian есть (yest’) ням-ням (nyam-nyam)
Persian خوردن (xordan)  
Hindi खाना (khānā) मम् मम् (mam mam)
Bengali খাওয়া (khawa) গব গব (gob gob)
Tamil சாப்பிடு (cāppiṭu)  
Malay makan nyam nyam
Turkish yemek nam nam
Arabic أكل (ʔakala)  
Hausa ci  
Fula nyamde  
Swahili -la  
Mandarin 吃 (chī), 食 (shí) 喃喃 (nán nán)
Cantonese 食 (sik) 喃喃 (naam naam)
Vietnamese ăn nhăm nhăm
Korean 먹다 (meokda) 얌얌 (yam yam)
Japanese 食べる (taberu) モグモグ (mogu mogu)

Cultural and cross-cultural words

Cultures of the world

Hartmut Traunmuller divided the world into four major cultural spheres in his article A Universal Interlanguage: Some Basic Considerations. The languages within a certain cultural sphere share words (loan words and translated loan words) and cultural concepts.

  1. The Euro-American cultural sphere
    • This sphere covers all of Europe, Americas, Australia and various smaller regions.
    • Languages of the West have been influenced greatly by Greek and Latin and in modern times by French and English.
  2. The Afro-Asian (or the Islamic) cultural sphere
    • This group includes languages of areas where Islam is the main religion.
    • It spans from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Pacific islands of Indonesia and the Philippines.
    • The languages of this cultural sphere are influenced by Persian and especially Arabic, which is the language of Quran, the holy book of Islam.
  3. The South Asian (or the Indian) cultural sphere
    • This sphere covers the very populous subcontinent of India, Indochina and more
    • The classical language of this group are Sanskrit, Tamil and Pāli
    • The Indian vocabulary has been spread by Hinduism and especially Buddhism in all directions in Asia and elsewhere.
  4. The East Asian (or the Chinese) cultural sphere
    • This culturel sphere grew around ancient China, the Middle Kingdom
    • All languages of East Asia are saturated by loan words from Chinese.
    • The biggest modern Chinese language, Mandarin, competes for the title of the most spoken language in the world today.

The cultural spheres are roughly outlined in the picture below.

Languages of the world and world languages

It is estimated that over 6000 different languages are spoken in the world. Some languages are spoken by many while others are spoken by only a few. Native and non-native speakers of the five most widely spoken languages together add up to more than half of the total population of the world. It is impossible to include all languages into the construction of a world language because of their great number. The number of source languages should be manageable for one person to work with.

So, which languages should be taken in?

Power Language Index (PLI) provides an answer to this question. It is a tool for comparing efficacy of languages that has been created by Ph.D. Kai L. Chan. It compares languages on how well they provide to a speaker the following five opportunities:

  1. Geography: The ability to travel
  2. Economy: The ability to participate in economic activities
  3. Communication: The ability to participate in dialogue
  4. Knowledge and media: The ability to consume knowledge and media
  5. Diplomacy: The ability to engage in international relations

Chan builds a ranking of languages based on a combination of the above-listed opportunities. This ranking is used as a reference in Pandunia.

The main source languages for Pandunia

Most Pandunia words are borrowed from 21 widely spoken languages as listed in the table below. The languages are selected so that they represent different language families, different geographical regions and different cultures.

The following table is ordered by the rank in the Power Language Index. The numbers of speakers are from the Power Language Index and the Wikipedia.

Language Native speakers Non-native speakers PLI ranking Cultural sphere Language family
English 446 million 510 million 1 Euro-American Indo-European
Mandarin Chinese 960 million 178 million 2 East Asian Sino-Tibetan
French 80 million 192 million 3 Euro-American Indo-European
Spanish 470 million 70 million 4 Euro-American Indo-European
Arabic 295 million 132 million 5 Afro-Asian Afro-Asiatic
Russian 150 million 115 million 6 Euro-American Indo-European
German 76 million 59 million 7 Euro-American Indo-European
Hindi-Urdu 442 million 214 million 8 Indian & Afro-Asian Indo-European
Japanese 125 million 1 million 9 East Asian Japonic
Portuguese 215 million 32 million 10 Euro-American Indo-European
Cantonese 80 million ½ million 11 East Asian Sino-Tibetan
Malay 77 million 204 million 14 Indian & Afro-Asian Malayo-Polynesian
Korean 80 million 1 million 16 East Asian Koreanic
Turkish 82 million 6 million 18 Afro-Asian Turkic
Persian 56 million 21 million 29 Afro-Asian Indo-European
Bengali 210 million 19 million 30 Indian & Afro-Asian Indo-European
Swahili 20 million 80 million 37 Afro-Asian Niger-Congo
Tamil 78 million 8 million 38 Indian Dravidian
Vietnamese 76 million 1 million 43 East Asian Austroasiatic
Hausa 51 million 26 million 114 Afro-Asian Afro-Asiatic
Fula 42 million 10 million 119 Afro-Asian Niger-Congo

They represent also a good mix of cultures and regions of the world. The table below shows the number of countries by continent where the 21 source languages have an official or national status.

Language America Europe Africa Asia Oceania
English 14 3 23 5 14
French 2 5 21   1
Spanish 18 1 1    
Portuguese 1 1 6 1  
Russian   2   3  
German   6      
Arabic     11 12  
Swahili     5    
Fula     3    
Hausa     2    
Turkish   1   1  
Persian       3  
Hindi-Urdu       2  
Bengali       2  
Tamil       3  
Malay       4  
Mandarin       3  
Cantonese       2*  
Japanese       1  
Korean       2  
Vietnamese       1  

* Cantonese is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau, which are not countries but special administrative districts.

Word selection method

There are a lot of international words, because languages influence each other all the time. Some words are international in the West, some in the East, and some are even global. Pandunia attempts to use as international, intercontinental and global words as possible.

Words that are specific to a certain culture shall be adopted from languages that best represent that culture.

Words for objects of nature (for example plants and animal species) shall be adopted from a language that is spoken in the area where that object is found.

So the first question is, does the word belong to a certain region or culture?

Yes. → Select the word from languages that are important in that region or culture.
No. → Use the following word selection method.

  1. Collect translations for a given word in the 21 languages that were listed in the previous chapter by using electronic or printed or electronic dictionaries, Wiktionary, reliable machine translation, or some other tool.
  2. Identify groups of similar words.
    • Similar words can be historically related
    • or they can sound alike by coincidence.
  3. Select the most international group of similar words.
    • The more international, the better.
    • The best words are cross-cultural.
    • If there’s no cross-cultural word, select the one that is known by the greatest number of 1st language speakers.
  4. Select a word form that represents the group well and also fits well into Pandunia.

Normally a word appears in at least two of the source languages. In case there isn’t a common word, partially similar words can be selected. Only in the last resort a word from only one language can be accepted.

Word statistics


Figure 1. This bar chart shows how the percentage of Pandunia’s base words that are similar with the source languages.


Figure 2. This pie chart shows how big influence each source language has on Pandunia.


Figure 3. This network diagram shows how much Pandunia words the source languages have in common with each other.

Figure 3 is a network diagram of the 21 source languages of Pandunia. The circles symbolize source languages. The larger the diameter, the more words Pandunia has borrowed from that language. Lines between the circles indicate how many Pandunia words the languages connected by the line have in common. The thicker the line is, the more words the connected languages have in common with each other and Pandunia.

Examples

Selecting the word for ‘language’

First possible candidates are searched from widely spoken languages. The search reveals that there are several words that are international.

The most prevalent of these words is /bʱaʂa/. It is recognised nearly everywhere in India, Indochina and the Malay archipelago, which are some of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Language Spoken word Written word
Hindi bʱa:ʂa: भाषा
Punjabi bʱa:ʃa: ਭਾਸ਼ਾ
Gujarati bʱa:ʃa: ભાષા
Marathi bʱa:ɕa: भाषा
Bangla bʱaʃa ভাষা
Telugu ba:ʃa భాష
Tamil ba:ɕai பாசை
Thai pʰa:sa: ภาษา
Indonesian bahasa bahasa
Javanese basa basa
Sundanese basa basa

As you can see, the same word is written and pronounced differently in different languages. This is typical of international words. They get adapted in almost every language to their own spelling system. Likewise it is necessary to adapt this word to the spelling and pronunciation rules of Pandunia. Only the root of the word is borrowed to Pandunia. The root is bhāṣ-, as we can see from derived words like Hindi द्विभाषी /dvibhāṣī/ and Bangla দ্বিভাষিক /dibhaśik/. Both of them mean ‘bilingual’.

So the Pandunia root for ‘language’ becomes bash, and it serves as the root for many derived words, including dubashik (du-bash-ik) ‘bilingual’ and polibashik (poli-bash-ik) ‘multilingual, polyglot’.

Examples of global words

bir ‘beer’

cha ‘tea’

motor ‘motor, engine’

sherte ‘shirt’

Examples of scattered words

amir ‘order, command’

Originally an Arabic word, it has been borrowed to the European languages as emir ‘commander of an Islamic nation- and as admiral ‘commander of a navy’.

bandera ‘flag’

kamar ‘room, chamber’

Examples of unrelated but similar words

jen ‘person, people’

The word jen is combined from several unrelated sources.

kat ‘to cut’

sui ‘water’

Examples of Afro-Asian words

dua ‘prayer’

kitab ‘writing’

This word means ‘book’ in many languages. The original Arabic word means ‘writing’ in general.

Examples of East Asian words

Sinitic words are words from Middle Chinese that are used today in languages of East Asia, including Chinese languages, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. Sinitic words are single-syllable words or compounds of syllabic elements.

Middle Chinese had lexical tone. Today Chinese languages and Vietnamese have tones but they are not the same as in Middle Chinese. Japanese and Korean are not tonal languages so they have ignored the tones. Also Pandunia ignores the tones. (To ignore the tones is about the same as to ignore the stress accent or pitch accent in words from other source languages.)

Middle Chinese had unreleased stop consonants, which are usually written in the Latin alphabet as -p, -t and -k. Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean keep them mostly as they were. Mandarin has deleted them. Japanese has added a vowel to ease pronunciation. Pandunia keeps the final stops and adds an optional schwa sound.

Ideogram Pandunia Literal meaning Mandarin Cantonese Vietnamese Korean Japanese Loanword in English
道 dao ‘way’ dào dou đạo do dō tao ~ dao
術 sut ‘skill, art’ shù seot thuật sul jitsu -
武 vu ‘martial, military’ wǔshù mou võ mu bu -
武道 vudao ‘martial way’ wǔdào mou dou võ đạo mudo budō budo
武術 vusut ‘martial art’ wǔshù mou seot võ thuật musul bujutsu bujitsu, wushu
柔 jiu ‘soft, yielding’ róu yau nhu yu jū -
柔道 jiudao ‘soft way’ róudào yau dou nhu đạo yudo jūdō judo
柔術 jiusut ‘soft skill’ róushù yau seot nhu thuật yusul jūjutsu jujitsu, jiujitsu
剣 gem ‘sword’ jian gim kiếm geom ken -
剣道 gemdao ‘way of the sword’ jiandào gim dou kiếm đạo geomdo kendō kendo, gumdo
剣術 gemsut ‘swordmanship’ jiànshù gim seot kiếm thuật geomsul kenjutsu kenjutsu
弓 gung ‘bow (and arrow)’ gōng gung cung gung kyū -
弓道 gungdao ‘way of the bow’ gōngdào gung dou cung đạo gungdo kyūdō kyudo
弓術 gungsut ‘archery’ (jiànshù) (zin seot) (bắn cung) gungsul kyūjutsu -
拳 kuen ‘fist; box’ quán kyun quyền gwon ken -
跆拳道 taikuendao ‘kick-box way’ táiquándào toi kyun dou đài quyền đạo taegwondo tekondō taekwondo
拳術 kuensut ‘boxing’ (quánjī) (kyun gik) quyền thuật (gwontu) (kento) -
武士 vushi ‘warrior’ wǔshì mou si võ sĩ musa bushi bushi
武士道 vushidao ‘way of the warrior’ wǔshìdào mou si dou võ sĩ đạo musado bushidō bushido
太 tai ‘extreme’ tài taai thái tae tai -
極 gik ‘pole’ jí gik cực geuk kyoku -
太極 taigik ‘absolute’ tàijí taai gik thái cực taegeuk taikyoku tai chi ~ taiji
太極拳 taigikkuen ‘absolute boxing’ tàijíquán taai gik kyun thái cực quyền taegeukgwon taikyokuken tai chi
陰 yim ‘dark, negative’ yáng yoeng dương yang yō yang
陽 yang ‘bright, positive’ yīn yam âm eum in yin
陰極 yim gik ‘cathode’ yīnjí yam gik âm cực eumgeuk inkyoku -
陽極 yang gik ‘anode’ yángjí yoeng gik dương cực yanggeuk yōkyoku -
太陽 taiyang ‘extreme brightness’ tàiyáng taai yoeng thái dương taeyang taiyō -

Examples of Euro-American words

Typically Euro-American words have the following structure: prefix + root + suffixes. In most cases the root ends in a consonant.

For example in Spanish, the root cort- (short) can be combined with affixes to produce different kinds of words.

Also English uses comparable affixes.

Pandunia borrows only the bare roots of Western words. The purpose is to select a form that sounds familiar to speakers of as many languages as possible.

korte ‘short’

nov ‘new’

marche ‘walk’

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