The co-authors of this chapter discuss universal languages created from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Broadly defined, universal language schemes are artificially constructed languages used as auxiliary codes to facilitate communication, but they vary in the motivations for their creation and internal design. Usually, they are constructed to overcome language barriers, improve upon the irregularities of natural languages, and aim at easy learnability. Concerning their internal aspects, three types are distinguished: ‘universal characters’ (no use of sounds); simplified forms of existing languages; newly constructed languages (‘a priori ‘or ‘a posteriori’). With the decline of Latin, in the seventeenth century universal languages were popular and widely discussed in intellectual circles. They were ‘universal characters,' ‘real characters’ (the created words represented properties of things), ‘philosophical’ (Dalgarno, Wilkins) or aimed at guiding logical thinking (Leibniz). In late eighteenth century, philosophers/ideologues took interest in universal languages and ‘pasigraphies’ were invented. In thenineteenth century, universal languages developed in two directions: formal languages constructed by logicians, differing in structure from natural languages (Frege); international auxiliary languages — Volapuk, Esperanto — which, due to increasing internationalism, were successful. The idea of creating a universal language was supported by some prominent linguists.

Chapter 6 situates Charles Wilkins’ approach to his translation of the Bhagavad-Gītā in the long history of British interpretations of Hinduism charted throughout this book. It argues that his ‘philosophical’ interpretation of the Hindoo religion was orientated to the same Enlightenment culture of religious debate that shaped the earlier work of Holwell and Dow, while at the same time contributing to the politics of his patron, Governor General Warren Hastings.