Babm

Babm (pronounced [bɔˈɑːbɔmu]) is an international auxiliary language created by the Japanese philosopher Rikichi Okamoto [ja] (Fisk Okmot), also known as Fuishiki Okamoto. Okamoto first introduced the language in his 1962 publication The Simplest Universal Auxiliary Language Babm.^[1] The language did not achieve widespread adoption, even within the constructed language community, and currently has no known speakers.^[2] The language uses the Latin script as a syllabary, and possesses no articles or auxiliary verbs. Each letter marks an entire syllable rather than a single phoneme. Babm adheres to a sound-based rule set, which Okamoto delineates in his book. He explains, "Nouns are coined from three consonants and one vowel, verbs from one or two vowels between two consonants at the beginning and at the end. Adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, numerals, and propositions have respectively their own peculiar form."^[3]

Babm shares with certain 17th-century constructed languages a primary emphasis on taxonomy, aiming to establish a universally consistent nomenclature for scientific concepts, including chemical compounds.^[4] This scientific focus distinguishes Babm from languages like Esperanto, which prioritize socio-political objectives. Nevertheless, Okamoto's 1962 treatise includes substantial discourse on world peace. The author aspired for his "simple" language to achieve universal utility and adoption.