OGDEN's NEXT STEPS towards Full English
BASIC ENGLISH :
A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar (be4.html)
Finally, in addition to these various treatments of Basic as a system complete in itself for all classes of learners, there is the problem of providing the necessary links with Standard English for those who desire to supplement their knowledge by degrees. With this purpose in view, the next 150 words (making a total of 1,000), the subsequent 350, increased to 500 and thereafter to 1,000 or (incorporating the essentials of the verb- manipulation) to 2,000, as well as a series of special vocabularies, have all been selected on the same general rules as the Basic words themselves. At no point will the learner have anything to unlearn; and when the complete material is available for orthodox educational requirements it will be found that Basic itself constitutes a unique foundation for all further language study.
One special point deserved mention here. It is clear that the majority of the 850 words in the list are able for other uses than those which Basic, as a universal medium, permits; and at some stage in the acquisition of Standard English these further uses, giving attention to the words themselves as roots, will clearly find a place in the expanded system. At first, however, the nucleus has to be kept intact -- till the graded additions have given the necessary analogies for new derivatives and inflections. Confusion is otherwise inevitable; and, in particular, the addition of 50 built-in verbs at an appropriate stage (i.e., after a total of 1,500 has been passed) is essential to the desired transition.
For that reason the first supplement is of 150 names of animals, plants, and foods, which have no international distribution. (guess) This extension of the list of pictureables may then be followed by the 350 first-level addenda, and so on; at the same time the special vocabularies which have been prepared for the application of Basic to Trade and Economics, and for The Basic Bible, are available for gradual incorporation in the general list at the 2,000 level.
[And several Science subjects were created with the aid of their respective professional associations.]
BASIC ENGLISH: International Second Language
Section One, Part One , pp 39-46 (isl113.html)
Finally, in addition to these various treatments of Basic as a system complete in itself for all classes of learners, there is the problem of providing the necessary links with Standard English for those who desire to supplement their knowledge by degrees.35 With this purpose in view, the next 150 words (making a total of 1,000), the subsequent 350, increased to 500 and thereafter to 1,000 or (incorporating the essentials of the verb-manipulation) to 2,000, as well as a series of special vocabularies, have all been selected on the same principles as the Basic words themselves. At no point will the learner have anything to unlearn; and when the entire material is available for orthodox educational requirements it will be found that Basic itself constitutes a unique foundation for all further language study.
One special point deserves mention here. It is obvious that the majority of the 850 words in the list are capable of other uses than those which Basic, as a universal medium, permits; and at some stage in the acquisition of Standard English these further uses, treating the words themselves as roots, will clearly find a place in the expanded system. At first, however, the nucleus must be kept intact -- until the graded additions have provided the necessary analogies for new derivatives and inflections. Confusion is otherwise inevitable; and, in particular, the introduction of 50 characteristic (strong) verbs at an appropriate stage (preferably after a total of 1,500 has been passed) is essential to the desired transition.
The first supplement consists therefore of the 150 names of animals, plants, and foods, which have no international distribution. This extension of the list of pictureables may then be followed by the 350 first-level addenda, and so on; at the same time the special vocabularies which have been prepared for the application of Basic to trade and economics, and for The Basic Bible, are available for gradual incorporation in the general list at the 2,000 level.
BASIC ENGLISH: International Second Language
Section Two, Part One, ABC, p233 (isl213.html)
The learner who has got so far in the system and is able to make use of it for general purposes may at this point put the question "Of what use is Basic to me in my special field?" The answer is that by getting 150 more words into his head, making the number up to 1,000, he will have everything necessary for talking about a branch of science, or any other special field. 100 of these words are general science words (there may be other such general lists for other fields), of value in the discussion of any branch of knowledge which comes under the heading 'Science.' The other 50 are made up from the narrower field in which special interest is taken. An account of these lists is given on pages 391-93 of Section Three. Happily, much more is international for science than for general purposes, and it is hoped that, in the future, all true science words may become international by agreement, making Basic necessary only as the framework of discussion.
The Basic English Institute recommends learning the following affixes; several are simple extensions of Basic words already known and usable in compounds of words.
Prefix ;
in- -- meaning in, into, within, towards.
in- -- can also be used as a negative, but learning is optional because it is irregular.
non- -- is another optional negative to recognized, with the same meaning as not ___. ; slightly less emphatic than un-. The hyphen is included before proper nouns, capitalized words.
Suffixes :
-able (-ible) -- able to __ed
-ful -- full of , having the quality of ___.
-less -- without, not having ___. (Not only less, but none.)
-like -- like a ___. (Same meaning as in Basic English compound ___-like)
-th -- is used with numbers in mean which one in a series.
-y -- having the properties of, covered with, full of, having ___.
----
Ogden did not want to involve the learner with the variations of the use of in- as a negative where it becomes im- before b, m, or p ; il- before l ; and ir- before r. The more common, un- means opposite of which is satisfactory understood as a
negative, whereas in- and its variations only means not.
non- -- is another optional negative to recognize, with the same meaning as not ___. ; slightly less emphatic than un-. The hyphen is included before capitalized words and sometimes with other words.
Able is a Basic word usable in compounds. Ogden did not want to introduce this not regular suffix -able where it sometimes is only -ble and sometimes -ible. While -able is always usable, the learner has to be
able to see its differences when the older form is used by others.
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Last updated November 17, 2003
URL: http://ogden.basic-english.org/panopticon.html