伊开勒(S.Claud Yic Kell)致孙中山函 (1912年1月9日)

(原文)

Myddylton House,Saffron Walden,January 9th, 1912

Dear Sir,

I am just completing a universal language consisting of less than 20 affixes to express modification of Idea (e.g.gender, number, word), less than 100 prefixes to express Relation of idea (e.g.subject, direct object, cause)and less than 4,000 words to express the ideas themselves.

Would you to care to let me submit it to some of your friends in London with a view to its possible adoption as a common language for your Chinese Republic.

I enclose some fun books as if other books from which you will see that I was not ungrateful for my books.

 Believe me & faithful yours,

(Sd)S.Claud Yic Kell

(译文)

密迪尔顿之家,萨弗伦沃顿,1912年1月9日

尊敬的先生:

我刚刚完成了一种通用语言,它用不到20个词缀表达意义的变化(如性别、数字、单词),不到100个前缀来表达意义的关系(如主语、直接宾语、原因),不到4000个单词来表达意义本身。

请允许我把它交给您在伦敦的一些朋友,以期它能成为中华民国的通用语言。

我附上了一些有趣的书,就像其他的书一样,你会发现我的书并不令人生厌。

伊开勒 谨呈