FAQ

• What is Solresol?
• Why should I learn Solresol?
• Who are you?
• Why did you build this website?
• This website's design sucks!
• How may I use the content on this website?

What is Solresol?

Solresol is a constructed (consciously built, rather than naturally evolved) a priori (not based on a previous language) language. It is based on the solfège scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si), with each note being a syllable upon which words of 1-5 syllables are built. It was created by François Sudre in 1827, and Sudre published a major book about it, Langue musicale universelle, in 1866. Solresol reached a peak in popularity with the 1902 publication of the Grammaire du Solresol by Boleslas Gajewski. Since then, it has declined in popularity due to the creation of dozens of other constructed languages. For more information, please check out the Resources page.

Why should I learn Solresol?

Solresol is unique in the sense that it harnesses the power of an already universal language - music. It is also unique in the sense that it has many forms of communication - full solfège syllables, abbreviated solfège syllables, Arabic numerals, colors, glyphs, music notes on a staff, and even points on a human hand. Solresol is truly universal because it has at least one form that can be understood and communicated by anyone with any handicap. In fact, Solresol was developed and successfully used with teaching disabled children in mind. Finally, the organization of Solresol vocabulary makes sense. Words beginning with a particular syllable belong to a certain category of words. The opposite of a word is formed by reversing the order of its syllables. Learn Solresol! What other language can you speak, write, communicate through colors, communicate through touch, sing, AND perform on a musical instrument?

Who are you?

Hi there! My name's Dan Parson, and I'm from Illinois in the USA. I'm a web developer, software technician, and trumpet player. I also do some general computer stuff and piano. I remember some Spanish from my high school classes, and of course I'm learning Solresol!

Why did you build this website?

Primarily, I built this website to house my Solresol translator, but then I built on it due to my own interests and those of the Misolrela Google group. Currently, it's quite difficult to find comprehensive and useful documents about Solresol. In fact, only with the invention of the Internet have the original Solresol books been saved from possible loss. There have been a few significant archives of Solresol material on the Internet in the past, but those have become either abandoned or out-of-date. Anyway, I was tired of having so many tabs open and pages bookmarked, and not knowing what pages were duplicates or offered no insight, so I thought about making a webpage to link to various Solresol resources. However, I felt an organized list of resources such as the one I was making should be shared with others, and so the idea for this website was born. I wish for this website to serve as a comprehensive, up-to-date, and permanent resource, so we can be certain of the preservation of Solresol documents, and have a resource for future speakers to use.

This website's design sucks!

First of all, that wasn't a question. Second, I first built this site in a couple of days, what do you expect? As a fellow archiver of Solresol information said on his website, I'm more interested in the quality of the content here, not the design. I'll certainly make sure the design doesn't jeopardize the accessibility of the information, but don't expect a flashy design.

How may I use the content on this website?

Short answer: The design of this website is copyright Dan Parson. Any content that I created can be shared, as long as you credit me, don't make money off it, and share it under the license stated below. Any content not created by me is copyright its author, unless otherwise stated.

Legal answer: The design of this website is trade dress of Dan Parson, and may not be copied without permission. Except where otherwise noted in reference to specific content, all textual, graphical, auditory, and audio-visual content not part of this website's design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are the copyright owner of content on this website and you want your content removed, please contact me.