Sir Thomas Urquhart was a Scottish translator and author. One of his more well-known works was Logopandecteision, a book published in 1653 espousing Urquhart's plans for a universal constructed language.
Logopandecteision
The book consists of several parts, running through a long series of articles. The first part begins with a discussion of attributes of language and problems regarding the natural languages of the world. After the seventieth article, Urquhart discusses the '66 unparalleled excellences' of the language, including absurdities such as that "[t]here is not a word utterable by the mouth of man, which in this language hath not a peculiar signification by it self". For this reason many believe Logopandecteision was not made to have been taken seriously, but rather was made as a parody or practical joke.
The unparalleled excellences also included the following features:
- Ten grammatical cases (excluding the nominative)
- Four numbers including the 'redual'
- Eleven genders
- Ten tenses (besides the present)
- Seven moods
- Four voices
- Twelve parts of speech
- At least ten synonyms for each word
- One-to-one translations from vernacular languages, syllable for syllable and with rhyme corresponding to the original
- Every number expressible by a single word
- The easiest language to learn, which could be done by a 10-year old boy in only three months
In the following parts, the author then goes into a series of polemics against those who, he claims, impeded him from producing his Universal Language, including his creditors and the Church of Scotland.
Thomas Urquhart was also an outspoken Royalist, and was imprisoned for having taken part in a Royalist uprising in Inverness. In fact, Logopandecteision was written by Urquhart while in prison, and was published shortly after he was pardoned by Cromwell in 1652.