Solresol language

Solresol is an artificial language, devised by a Frenchman, Jean François Sudre[?], beginning in 1817. Solresol enjoyed a brief spell of popularity, reaching its pinnacle with Boleslas Gajewski[?]'s 1902 publication of Grammaire du Solresol. It is based on musical notes, and can thus be whistled or played on a musical instrument as well as spoken.

Words are divided into categories of meaning, based on their first syllable, or note. Words beginning with 'sol' have meanings related to arts and sciences, or, if they begin with 'solsol', sickness and medicine (e.g., solresol, "language"; solsolredo, "migraine").

A unique feature of Solresol is how meanings are negated. For instance fala means good or tasty, while lafa means bad.

After its short time in the spotlight, it has faded into obscurity in the face of more successful languages such as Esperanto. Despite this, there is still a small community of Solresol enthusiasts[?] scattered across the world, better able to communicate with one another through the electronic medium of the Internet than they might have in days past.

External links

• Gajewski's Grammar of Solresol, a translation from the original French (http://www.ptialaska.net/~srice/solresol/sorsoeng.htm)