After its creation in 1907-08, Ido went through a period of substantial change before a period of stability was announced in 1914. This meant that by 1922, when the comprehensive dictionaries by Dyer were published, the language was in a fairly complete and perfect state. Nevertheless, there have been a few changes since 1922, in particular since the Complete Manual (see main page) was written, which it is important for the learner to be aware of. For this reason I have listed them with explanations on this page. Because the changes are few, the Complete Manual is still completely valid, though it is of course essential that the learner bears the changes listed here in mind whilst using it. Last modified 6-Nov-97.
patro. In the original formulation, patr/o meant "parent",
with patr/ul/o for "father" and patr/in/o for "mother";
ge-patr/i was used for "parents" (when both sexes together was
meant). The 1922 dictionaries also give matr/o for "mother".
Since then, genitori has replaced ge-patri, and patro
and matro are used for "father" and "mother" resp. It should be
noted that patro, matro and viro, muliero are thus the only
four root words in Ido which have specifically masculine or feminine
significations.
-ab-. At first, this suffix was used to form perfect tenses of the past (-abis), future (-abos) and conditional (-abus). At first it was decided not to also allow the formation of a present perfect tense in -abas. The question has since been rethought, however, and this form is now admitted (eg. me vidabas = I have seen). It should be noted, however, that the simple past in -is still suffices in most situations, and it is advisable to use -abas only sparingly, and when a genuinely greater precision in meaning can be achieved than with -is.
Apart from these changes, there are a few words which have been changed or for which alternatives have been provided (see Nova vorti en Ido). Among the most useful new words are amba = both, certena = certain (nb. not as in "sure", cp. certa), and hodie = today (better than ca-die).
The learner should be particularly aware of words which have actually
replaced the original forms. These are:
arkivolt/o has replaced arkivult/o (E archivolt).
artileri/o has replaced artilri/o (E artillery).
auspici/o has replaced auspic/o (E auspice(s)).
delici/o has replaced delic/o (E delight), derivative
delici/oz/a.
dubit/ar has replaced dub/ar (E to doubt).
emplastr/o has replaced plastr/o (E plaster).
genitor/i has replaced ge-patr/i (E parents).
haltik/o has replaced haltic/o (E springtail
(insect)).
miliet/o has replaced milyet/o (E millet).
sekretariat/o has replaced sekretarier/o (E secretariat).
spadic/o has replaced spadik/o (E spadix).
© James Chandler 1997.
30-Aug-97