Everything about Ro Language totally explained
Ro is an
a priori constructed language created by
Rev. Edward Powell Foster beginning in
1904. In Ro, words are constructed using a
category system. For example, the word for red is "bofoc", and yellow is "bofof". All words starting with "bofo-" signify colors. Foster didn't simply try to design a better language in general, but to optimize his language for one design criterion: recognizability of unknown words. Foster wrote about Ro:
» Ro didn't begin with attempting to rival or supplant any other language whatever, either natural or artificial, nor was it suggested by any of them.
Unexpectedly came the thought: "How strange it's that there's nothing in the appearance of a written or printed word that gives the slightest hint of its meaning. Why should a word not be a picture? A new word, never seen before would then, like a painting seen for the first time, convey at least some of the meaning to the eye."
After working on the language for about two years, Foster published the first booklet about Ro in 1906. The publication of Ro periodicals was supported by several American sponsors, especially from the
Marietta area, including
Melvil Dewey, inventor of the
Dewey Decimal Classification, another attempt to categorize human knowledge, Vice President
Charles G. Dawes,
George White, who mentioned Ro in the
Congressional Record, and
Mrs Dave H Morris of
IALA. Several more books about Ro by Foster and his wife appeared over the years, as late as 1932.
A common criticism of Ro is that it can be difficult to hear the difference between two words; usually one consonant makes the word different in meaning, but still similar enough that the intended meaning often can't be guessed from context. This characteristic is common among
philosophical languages, which are characterized by vocabulary developed taxonomically, independently of natural languages.
A posteriori languages, such as
Esperanto and particularly
Interlingua, are more popular than the a priori type, perhaps partly because their familiar vocabulary makes them easy to learn and recognize. Conversely, a priori languages are seen as being more neutral.
Solresol was an earlier classificatory language that by using a smaller symbol set achieved easier discernition. There have been a few more recent attempts to design a language along similar lines, such as
Ygyde, but most subsequent constructed language makers have avoided this taxonomic or hierarchic design for the reasons mentioned above.
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