We have already spoken of the world-wide use of the writing machine. This is not a mere figure of speech; it is a literal statement of fact. There is no article of commerce in the world more universal in its distribution. Everywhere on earth today, where man is found with the ability to read and write, there will be found the omnipresent typewriter.
It is hard for the imagination to visualize this universal fact. A map of the world does not help much. Perhaps a photograph gallery of all the types of people of all the nations that follow typing as a profession would convey a better idea. But fortunately a still better method of visualization is at our command. Some years ago a linguistic genius conceived the idea of collecting typewritten translations of the motto “To save time is to lengthen life,” in all the languages of the world. The collection, which had grown when published to eighty-four languages, is here presented. Truly a remarkable evidence of the way in which a writing machine produced in the village of Ilion has conquered the world.
Some may ask, “what language is Quoc-Ngu?” Quoc-Ngu is a Romanized version of a Chinese dialect, spoken in Anam, a division of French Indo-China. If the language is as strange as its name it must be a “tongue twister,” and our typewritten sample shows that it is as strange—just about. Nevertheless a considerable number of typewriters are used today for writing Quoc-Ngu.
The purely Celtic languages form an interesting group. They are represented by five examples, Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton and Manx. The typewritten sample shows the Romanized writing of the Irish or Erse language. Typewriters have also been sold to write Erse in the original character, the type having been specially cut for the purpose.
Six of the Philippine languages are represented, Tagalog, Pampango, Ilocano, Visayan, Bicol and Pangasinan. Here, indeed, is striking evidence of the heterogeneous population of these new American possessions. Equally notable is the South African group in which five languages are represented, Sizulu, Sesotho, Sixosa, Setshangaan and Taal. Of these the first four are native Kafir dialects. Hollandsch or Dutch was in the old days of the Transvaal Republic the official language. Taal is the every-day language of the South African Dutchman, and is a conglomeration, principally of Hollandsch, with some English. English-speaking people who have never been in South Africa may be curious to know what mixed Dutch and English sounds like. The typewritten sample, however, can only show how it looks.
“TO SAVE TIME IS TO LENGTHEN LIFE”
Typewritten in 84 Languages
| English— | To save time is to lengthen life. | |
| French— | Gagner du temps, c’est prolonger la vie. | |
| Portuguese— | Economisar tempo é alargar a vida. | |
| Hungarian— | Takarékoskodj az idövel, meghosszabitod az életed. | |
| Polish— | Kto czas oszczędza—przedłuża sobie życie. | |
| Basque— | Demboraren irabaztia, biciaren luçatzia da. | |
| Catalan— | Economizar tèmps es allargar la vida. | |
| Provençal— | Temps gagna fa longo vido. | |
| Breton— | Hastenn ar vuez ho c’honi amzer. | |
| Irish— | Is Ionann Am-Coigilt agus Seagal-buanad. | |
| Gaelic— | Faid saoghail is seadh do re chuir a b-feidhm. | |
| Welsh— | Mae arbed amser yn estyn oes. | |
| Manx— | Dy hauail traa te jannoo bea ny sleurey. | |
| Flemish— | Tijd besparen is leven verlengen. | |
| Frisian— | Tüd besparje is libjen verlenge. | |
| Icelandic— | Að spara tíma er að lengja lifið. | |
| Bohemian— | Úspora času jest prodlouženim života. | |
| Roumanian— | A economisi timp este a prelungi viaţa. | |
| Slovenian— | Varčevanje s časom, je daljšanje življenja. | |
| Slovak— | Ušporuvat čas je prodluhit života. | |
| Esthonian— | Jôudsam tôô on elu pidkendus. | |
| Lettish— | Laiku taupot—pagarina dzivibu. | |
| Lithuanian— | Użčēdyjimas laiko ilgina amżį. | |
| Croatian— | Tko vrijeme štedi, taj produžuje život. | |
| Spaniolish— | Economia di tiempu, alarga la vida. | |
| Servian— | Тко вријеме штеди, тај продужује живот. | |
| Ruthenian— | Цѣнити часъ, то довше жите. | |
| Bulgarian— | Спест ваниеяврђме е увеличавание живота. | |
| German— | Zeit sparen heisst das Leben verlängern. | |
| Italian— | Risparmiando tempo prolungate la vita. | |
| Latin— | Parcere tempori vitam longiorem facit. | |
| Swedish— | Att vinna tid är att förlänga lifvet. | |
| Danish— | At spare Tid er at forlænge Livet. | |
| Norwegian— | At spare tid er at forlænge livet. | |
| Finnish— | Aikaa voittaessa, elämä pidentyy. | |
| Maltese— | Min jahdem fis, itaughal haghtu. | |
| Albanian— | Kur ngi bier mot ron shum. | |
| Romanch— | Spargner temp ais prolunger la vita. | |
| Ido— | Sparar tempo esas longigar la vivo. | |
| Greek (Ancient)— | Φείδεσθαι χρόνου ἐστὶ βίον μηκύνειν. | |
| Greek (Modern)— | Ἡ οἰκονομία τοῦ χρόνου εἶναι παράτασις τῆς ζωῆς. | |
| Esperanto— | Ŝpari tempon estas plilongigi la vivon. | |
| Sioux— | Wicoran yuptecana kin he wiconi yuhanske. | |
| Winnebago— | Wō shkännä lä kä lä kĭ cĭ gĭ shĭ, wankshik hō ĭ nä nĭ gĭ sā lĕtch nä nä. | |
| Aztec— | Aquin àmo quixpoloa in cahuitl quihuellaquilia inemiliz. | |
| Maya— | Ká taquick tiempo cu chokuactal á kimil. | |
| Ilocano— | Ti pinagtiped iti añget paatidduguen ni biag. | |
| Visayan— | Magdaginot sa adlao, kay mao ang hataas ñga kinabuhi. | |
| Bicol— | Pag-imotan ang panahon pagpa-láwig nin buhay. | |
| Pampango— | Ing pamagarimuhan king panaun makakaba king bie. | |
| Pangasinan— | Say panagteper ed maong sa panahon so macasuldon ed pan bilay. | |
| Tagalog— | Ang pag-aarimuhán sa panahón ay nakapagpapahaba ñg buhay. | |
| Sizulu— | Lowo o gcina isikati sake u yena o nesikati eside ukusandisa emhlabeni. | |
| Sesotho— | Ea sa senyeng linako tsa hae ke eena ea phelang halelele lefatseng. | |
| Sixosa— | Ongaciti ixesha lake nguyena o nexesha elide ukulandisa emhlabeni. | |
| Setshangaan— | A lavisaka shikati utomi wa yena u tayengeteleka muhlabeni. | |
| Russian— | Сберегая время удлиняемь жизнь. | |
| Spanish— | Economizar tiempo es alargar la vida. | |
| Dutch— | Tyd uitwinnen is zyn leven verlengen. | |
| Taal— | Tijd te spaar maakt gebruik langer. | |
| Quoc-Ngu— | Lợi ngày giờ, bằng sống lâu năm. | |
| Hawaiian— | Malama pono anamika manawa, He mea ia e hooloihi aku ai ike ola. | |
| Maori— | E poto taima e ora roa. | |
| Romanized-Malay— | Me-niampumakan waktu itu me-nambahi panjang umor. | |
| Eskimo— | Uvdlunik aŭngnertusârinek inûtnertunarpok. | |
| Hova— | Tsy mandany andro foana no manalava ny aina. |  |
| Arabic— | حفظ الوقت اطالة الحياة | |
| Urdu— | ھى وقت كا بچانا بڑھانا حيات كا | |
| Malay— | مپمر ناكن وقذو ايت منمباهى فنجڠ عمر | |
| Persian— | وقت رامحافظت نمايى عمرت درازباشد | |
| Sart— | وقتنكزتى گمتسانكر عمرنكر ازايجاق | |
| Tartar— | هركاه وقتى ملا جظه ايليهسن عمرون اوزون اولار | |
| Turkish— | وقتقازانمق عمرى اوزاتمقدر | |
| Sanskrit— | कालक्षेपवर्जनमायुष्पतरणम् | |
| Hindi— | वरख्त बचानेके मायने यह हय के जिंदगी बटाना। | |
| Marawari— | स्मये का पचाना वुमर का षटानाहै | |
| Magadhi— | काल का बचाना है आयु का बटाना। | |
| Marathi— | वेळ वांचविणें म्हणजे आयुष्प वाटविणें आहे | |
| Hebrew— | חשכּון הקצר הוא ארוכת החיים. | |
| Yiddish— | צייט שפארען הייסט דאס לעבּען פערלענגערן. | |
| Armenian— | Պա պանե ւ ով ծամանակը եըկաըացնում ես կեանքը: | |
| Karen— |  | |
| Burmese— | ။ အချိ ခ်ုမကု ခ်ုစေ အသက်တာ ရှည် လေ ။ | Japanese (Katakana) |
The languages of the American Indian are represented by only three examples, Sioux, Winnebago and Aztec. “To save time is to lengthen life” takes nineteen words to say in Winnebago. Evidently the moral of this motto was never applied very seriously by the Winnebago Indians. If it took them as long as that to say everything, it is perhaps no wonder that the Winnebagos are nearly all dead.
Many other languages in this extensive list are worth lingering over, but we must pass on to the most interesting feature of the collection, namely those languages that are written in non-Roman characters. In the languages we have thus far considered, the mechanical problem, from the typewriter standpoint, was an easy one. Where special accents are required, they are easily supplied by the simple expedient of using “dead,” i.e., non-spacing keys. The adaptation of the typewriter, however, to write the non-Roman languages was in some instances a very difficult mechanical problem. There are twenty-four languages in this list, written in no less than eight different characters, Russian, Hebrew, Greek, Armenian, Burmese, Hindi, Arabic and Japanese (Katakana).