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Glite Dictionary
Lingvo Kosmopolita

Lingvo Kosmopolita

9.9
A made-up international language for people from different countries
  • proper noun
: Lingvo Kosmopolita
  • 'Lingvo Kosmopolita' was designed to facilitate international communication.

Examples

  • Few people today are familiar with the grammar of Lingvo Kosmopolita.

  • The linguist published several papers about the principles of Lingvo Kosmopolita.

  • Many people believe that Lingvo Kosmopolita could bridge language barriers.

  • Have you ever studied Lingvo Kosmopolita?

  • 'Lingvo Kosmopolita' was designed to facilitate international communication.

  • Few people today are familiar with the grammar of Lingvo Kosmopolita.

  • The linguist published several papers about the principles of Lingvo Kosmopolita.

Surface Forms

Lingvo Kosmopolita main

Morphology

Lingvo + Kosmopolita

The compound transparently combines roots that signal 'language' (lingvo) and 'cosmopolitan/worldwide' (kosmopolita), so a learner who knows those constituents would likely infer it denotes a world or international language. However, because it is a proper name for a specific constructed auxiliary language and the precise historical/authorial detail (invented by René de Saussure) cannot be derived from the parts, the expression is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Lingvo Kosmopolita comes from lingvo ('language') and kosmopolita ('citizen of the world'), so the name gives the image of a language for everyone. It was invented by René de Saussure in the early 1900s as a made-up 'international' language to help people from different countries talk to each other, and that is why today it means an artificial language meant for world communication.