Interlingua
international auxiliary language created by IALA
Interlingua (, Interlingua: [inteɾˈliŋɡwa]) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It is a constructed language of the "naturalistic" variety, whose vocabulary, grammar, and other characteristics are derived from natural languages. Interlingua proponents maintain that (written) Interlingua is comprehensible to the over 900 million native speakers of Romance languages, though it is actively spoken by only a few hundred.
Interlingua was developed to combine a simple, mostly regular grammar with a vocabulary common to a wide range of western European languages, making it easy to learn for those whose native languages were sources of Interlingua's vocabulary and grammar.
The name Interlingua comes from the Latin words inter, meaning 'between', and lingua, meaning 'tongue' or 'language'. These morphemes are the same in Interlingua; thus, Interlingua means 'between language'.
Overview
Interlingua focuses on common vocabulary shared by Western European languages, which are often descended from or heavily influenced by Latin (such as the Romance languages) and Greek. Interlingua organizers have four "primary control languages" where, by default, a word (or variant thereof) is expected to appear in at least three of them to qualify for inclusion in Interlingua: English; French; Italian; and a combination of Spanish and Portuguese, which are treated as a single "mega-language" for Interlingua purposes. Additionally, German and Russian have been dubbed "secondary control languages". While the result is often akin to Neo-Latin as the most frequent source of commonality, Interlingua words can have origins in any language, as long as they have drifted into the primary control languages as loanwords.
“Interlingua” enters the record as international auxiliary language created by IALA. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Interlingua, international and auxiliary can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Interlingua” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Interlingua, international and auxiliary provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q35934. The first chronological checks are 1937 and 1951.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Interlingua”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Interlingua primary sources, Interlingua archive and Interlingua research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Interlingua”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Interlingua” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.