Mario Andrew Pei (February 16, 1901March 2, 1978) was an Italian-born American

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

and polyglot who wrote a number of popular books known for their accessibility to readers without a professional background in linguistics. His book ''The Story of Language'' (1949) was acclaimed for its presentation of technical linguistics concepts in ways that were entertaining and accessible to a general audience. Pei was a supporter of uniting humans under one language, and in 1958 published a book entitled ''One Language For the World and How to Achieve It'' and sent a copy to the leader of every nation in existence at the time. The book argued that the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

should select one language—regardless of whether it was an existing natural language like

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

or a

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communic ...

—and require it to be taught as a second language to every schoolchild in the world.

Life and career

Pei was born in

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and emigrated to the United States with his mother in order to join his father in April 1908. By the time that he was out of high school, he spoke not only

and his native

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

but also

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and had studied

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

as well. Over the years, he became fluent in several other languages (including Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and German) capable of speaking some thirty others, having become acquainted with the structure of at least one hundred of the world's languages. In 1923, he began his career teaching languages at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, and in 1928 he published his translation of Vittorio Ermete de Fiori's ''Mussolini: The Man of Destiny''. Pei received a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1937, focusing on

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and othe ...

, and

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

. That year, he joined the Department of Romance Languages at Columbia University, becoming a full professor in 1952. In 1941, he published his first language book, ''The Italian Language''. His facility with languages was in demand in World War II, and Pei served as a language consultant with two agencies of the

Department of War War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence {{u ...

. In this role, he wrote language textbooks, developed language courses, and wrote language guidebooks. While working as a professor of Romance

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

at Columbia University, Pei wrote over 50 books, including the best-sellers ''The Story of Language'' (1949) and ''The Story of English'' (1952). His other books included ''Languages for War and Peace'' (1943; later retitled ''The World's Chief Languages''), ''A Dictionary of Linguistics'' (written with Frank Gaynor, 1954), ''All About Language'' (1954), ''Invitation to Linguistics: A Basic Introduction to the Science of Language'' (1965), and '' Weasel Words: Saying What You Don't Mean'' (1978). Pei wrote ''The America We Lost: The Concerns of a Conservative'' (1968), a book advocating

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...

and constitutional literalism. In the book, Pei denounces the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

as well as

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

and other forms of

collectivism Collectivism may refer to: * Bureaucratic collectivism, a theory of class society whichto describe the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin * Collectivist anarchism, a socialist doctrine in which the workers own and manage the production * Collectivis ...

. Pei was also an

internationalist Internationalist may refer to: * Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders * Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations * Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...

and advocated the introduction of

into school curricula across the world to supplement local languages. He died on March 2, 1978. Arrangements were made with George Van Tassel's Community Funeral Home in Bloomfield, N.J., and burial at St. Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx followed.

Pei and Esperanto

Pei was fond of

, an

international auxiliary language An international auxiliary language (sometimes acronymized as IAL or contracted as auxlang) is a language meant for communication between people from all different nations, who do not share a common first language. An auxiliary language is primaril ...

. He wrote his positive views on it in his book called ''One Language for the World''. He also wrote a 21-page pamphlet entirely on world language and Esperanto called ''Wanted: a World Language''.

Quotes

Value of neologisms

Noting that

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

s are of immense value to the continued existence of a living language, as most words are developed as neologisms from root words, Pei stated in ''The Story of Language'':

Creative innovation and slang

Works

Language

*''Languages for War and Peace'' (later retitled ''The World's Chief Languages''), 1949, Vanni/George Allen & Unwin *''One Language for the World'', 1958, Biblio-Moser, *''Wanted: a World Language, New York: 1969, Public Affairs Committee *''French Precursors of the Chanson de Roland'', 1949, AMS Press *''Story of Language'', 1949, Lippincott, *''All About Language'', 1950, Lippincott *''Liberal arts dictionary in English, French, German ndSpanish'', 1952, Philosophical Library *''Liberal Arts Dictionary'' (with Frank Gaynor), 1952, Philosophical Library *''A Dictionary Of Linguistics'' (with Frank Gaynor), 1954, Philosophical Library *''Language For Everybody;: What It Is And How To Master It'', 1956, New American Library *''Getting Along in Italian'', 1958, Bantam *''Getting Along in Russian'', 1959, Harper *''Getting Along in French'' (with John Fisher), 1961, Bantam *''109 Most Useful Foreign Phrases for the Traveler'', 1962, Curtis *''Voices of Man: The Meaning and Function of Language'', 1962, Harper & Row *''The Story of English: A Modern Approach'', 1962, Premier *''Invitation to Linguistics: A Basic Introduction to the Science of Language'', 1965, Doubleday, *''Glossary of Linguistic Terminology'', 1966, Columbia University Press, *''Studies In Romance Philology And Literature'', 1966, Garnett Publishing *''Words in Sheep's Clothing'', 1969 *''Talking Your Way Around the World'', 1971, Harper-Collins, *''Getting along in Spanish'', 1972, Bantam *''Weasel Words'', 1972, Harper & Row *''How To Learn Languages And What Languages To Learn'', 1973, Harper & Row, *''Families of Words'', 1974, St Martins Press, 0312280351 *''Dictionary Of Foreign Terms'', 1975, Delacorte Press, *''What's In A Word? Language: yesterday, today, and tomorrow'', 1975, Universal *''The Story of Latin and the Romance Languages'', 1976, Harper-Collins, *''New Italian Self-Taught'', 1982, Harpercollins,

Discography

*''Medieval Romance Poetry'', 1961 (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

) *''One Language for the World'', 1961 (Folkways) *''Getting Along in Russian, Vol. 1'', 1962 (Folkways) *''Getting Along in Russian, Vol. 2'', 1962 (Folkways) *''Getting Along in French, Vol. 1'', 1962 (Folkways) *''Readings in Church Latin – Caesar and Cicero: Read by Dr. Mario A. Pei'', 1962 (Folkways) *''Readings in Church Latin – Virgil and Horace: Read by Dr. Mario A. Pei'', 1962 (Folkways) *''Getting Along in English, Vol. 1'', 1964 (Folkways)

Other

*''The American road to peace: a constitution for the world'', 1945, S.F. Vanni *Introduction to

Ada Boni Ada Boni (; 1881–1973) was an Italian chef, magazine editor, food writer and book author. Her most famous book, '' Il talismano della felicità'' (''The Talisman of Happiness'' in English), published in 1928, is considered one of the classic Ital ...

, '' Talisman Italian Cookbook''. 1950. Crown Publishers *''Swords of Anjou'', 1953, John Day Company. Pei's first and only novel, praised in HISPANICA 953as "an admirable combination of absorbing narrative and sound scholarship ..." *''THE CONSUMER'S MANIFESTO: A Bill Of Rights to Protect the Consumer in the Wars Between Capital and Labor'', 1960, Crown Publishers *''Our National Heritage'', 1965, Houghton Mifflin *''America We Lost: The Concerns of a Conservative'', 1968, World Publishing *''Tales of the natural and supernatural,'', 1971, Devin-Adair

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pei, Mario 1901 births 1978 deaths Linguists from the United States Linguists from Italy Italian emigrants to the United States American Esperantists Xavier High School (New York City) alumni 20th-century linguists