Charles E. Sprague

“ The material and the form, or the dictionary and the grammar, call upon different mental faculties. One's stock of words is retained by exercise of the memory. Therefore the radicals or root-words were generally so chosen by him from existing languages, that the greatest number of persons might have the fewest unfamiliar words to memorize. Since English is spoken as a mother-tongue by more millions than any other language he took from it more root-words, with or without modification, than from any other, or about 40 per cent. ”

“ The hope has often been expressed that one of the great national languages may, by common consent, be selected as a "universal language" ; but there is not the slightest probability that this great advantage will be voluntarily given to one nation, or that any one of the great powers can ever impose its language on others. ”

“ Kerckhoffs aroused enthusiasm, not only in France, but in other countries where his works were circulated. Spain was the next, followed by Italy and Portugal. During 1885 and 1886 the countries of the north -- Sweden, Denmark and Russia -- also received the new language. Thus, the extension of Volapük has been geographical, and the English-speaking peoples are the last of the great European races to be affected by it. In each country, as a rule, its popularization has immediately followed the publication of a grammar peculiarly suited to its people. ”