Wede (IPA: [ˈveːdə] ), Weltdeutsch (IPA: [ˈvɛltdɔʏtʃ] ), Weltpitshn (IPA: [ˈvɛltpɪtʃn̩]), and Oiropa'pitshn were a series of languages created by Bavarian politician and teacher Adalbert Baumann to create a zonal auxiliary language based on the German language. The first of the languages, Wede (short for Welt-dialekt, World dialect), was published in 1915, with Weltdeutsch, Weltpitshn, and Oiropa'pitshn being published in 1916, 1925, and 1928 respectively. The languages were a posteriori, largely based on the German language – they primarily differed in grammatical and orthographic simplifications. Baumann's languages received a largely negative reception, being mocked by members of the Esperanto and Ido communities; none were implemented in any official manner. The primary purpose of these languages was to provide a simplified version of German to be easily learnt by foreigners, particularly in the Baltic states and the German colonial empire. Baumann saw previous international auxiliary languages as unsuitable for international communication, in particular criticising their orthographies and source languages. The languages were published via two books and several articles in newspapers.
Creator
Adalbert Baumann was a German gymnasium teacher, politician, and historian. A supporter of Bavarian separatism, he founded the Democratic Socialist Citizen's Party of Munich (German: Demokratisch-sozialistische Bürgerpartei München) in mid-November 1918. Baumann promoted the creation of a union state between Austria and Bavaria, on the basis that a peace treaty for a victorious Germany after the First World War would better benefit Bavaria in such a country. Baumann was a member of the Munich branch of the USPD, but quit in mid-1920.
Joining the Nazi Party, Baumann was a proponent for the formation of a German language office; in 1933, he sent a letter to Joseph Goebbels with a plea to establish one, which was denied, and he would later be expelled from the Party in 1937. Contrasting with his German nationalism, Baumann also supported the formation of a European Economic Union of 26 countries; in March 1935, Baumann wrote a letter addressed to the governments of Europe demanding an artificial lingua franca be installed to aid "the economically consolidated Europe". In Baumann's view, the language should be German:Als solche Hilfssprache kann keine von allen Völkern erst neu zu erlernende Kunstsprache wie das sprachlich und praktisch unsinnige Esperanto in Frage kommen, sondern nur eine vereinfachte, weitestgehende Ableitung von der in Europa verbreitetsten Sprache, das ist die deutsche! English translation: An artificial language such as the linguistically and practically nonsensical Esperanto, which is to be relearned by all peoples, cannot be taken into consideration as such an auxiliary language; only a simplified, extensive derivation of the most widely spoken language in Europe [can], that being German!
History
Wede
In September 1915, Baumann published Wede: the language of understanding for the Central Powers and their Friends, the new World Language (Wede: die Verständigungssprache der Zentralmächte und ihrer Freunde, die neue Welthilfssprache), wherein he outlined his thoughts regarding international auxiliary languages and presented Wede. The name is an abbreviation for "Weltdialekt" (World Dialect), which Baumann shortened in "the American way". Baumann believed that the Romance languages (among which he counted English, due to the influence of French on English) had been the dominant world languages throughout the Middle Ages up to the time of writing, partly perpetuated through the use of Latin in the Christian Church and also through the suppression of Germany by France in events such as the Thirty Years' War. Baumann also saw the use of Spanish in the Americas as an example of how Roman influence (as he termed it, Romanismus) still continued to impact the world and Germany. Baumann was a critic of previous international languages; Volapük for its excess verb forms (especially its use of an Aorist aspect), excessive minimal pairs, and excessive use of umlauts. Baumann especially took issue with Esperanto, criticising the circumflexes used in its orthography, supposed monotony, instability, and dearth of speakers. Baumann found the correlative system of the language unacceptable, due to the similarity of the individual correlatives making distinguishing between them in fast speech difficult. In Baumann's view, a significant reason for the failure of previous language projects was that they were based on the Romance languages, and especially on the dead language of Latin.
Wede was a language created for chauvinistic, nationalist, and imperialist purposes: ... daß Deutschland nach dem unbefangenen Urteile aller Völker das meiste moralische Recht hat, der Welt eine aus seinem Schoße geborene Hilfssprache zu geben, eine Weltsprache ins Germanischem, nicht in romanischem Geiste. English translation: ... that Germany, according to the unbiased judgement of all peoples, has the most moral right to give the world an auxiliary language born from its womb, a world language in the Germanic, not in the Romanic spirit. In this, Baumann was not the first – according to German interlinguist Detlev Blanke, Elias Molee's Tutonish was also created for chauvinistic purposes; Sven Werkmeister argues that Wede was a form of linguistic purism, as part of its function was to prevent uncontrolled language change and influence from foreign languages. The language received a negative reception, with Soviet Esperantist Ernest Drezen describing it as "incomprehensible" and remarking that "for the Germans it is nothing but a caricature reminiscent of their own mother tongue" in his Historio de la Mondolingvo (History of the international language).
Weltdeutsch
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
