Standard Average European

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Standard Average European (SAE) is a concept introduced by Benjamin Whorf to distinguish Indo-European and especially Western Indo-European languages from languages of other grammatical types. According to Whorf, people whose languages have very different systems of grammar perceive reality in different ways and conceive of it in different forms. Thus, language wields a profound influence on human thought. This is known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.

Studies of grammatical systems appear to support the existence of large language groups or sprachbunds. The more central members of the SAE sprachbund are Romance, Western Germanic, Baltic and Slavic. The North Germanic and other Eastern European languages tend to be more peripheral members.

Alexander Gode, who was instrumental in the development of Interlingua, characterized this language as Standard Average European.[1][2] The Romance, Germanic, and Slavic control languages of Interlingua are reflective of the language groups typically associated with the SAE sprachbund. Piron described the vocabulary of Esperanto as being largely Romance and especially French, but with Germanic and Slavic elements. [3]. However, Piron did not describe Esperanto as being Standard Average European.