Editing Interlingua (section)

===Development of a new language===
Originally, the association had not intended to create its own language. Its goal was to identify which auxiliary language already available was best suited for international communication, and how to promote it more effectively. However, after ten years of research, many members of IALA concluded that none of the existing [[interlanguage]]s were up to the task. By 1937, the members had made the decision to create a new language, to the surprise of the world's interlanguage community.{{sfn|Gopsill|Sexton|2006b}}

To that point, much of the debate had been equivocal on the decision to use naturalistic (e.g., [[Latino sine flexione|Peano's Interlingua]], [[Novial]] and [[Interlingue|Occidental]]) or systematic (e.g., [[Esperanto]] and [[Ido (language)|Ido]]) words. During the war years, proponents of a naturalistic interlanguage won out. The first support was Thorndike's paper; the second was a concession by proponents of the systematic languages that thousands of words were already present in many, or even a majority, of the European languages. Their argument was that systematic derivation of words was a [[Procrustes|Procrustean bed]], forcing the learner to unlearn and re-memorize a new derivation scheme when a usable vocabulary was already available.  IALA from that point assumed the position that a naturalistic language would be best.{{sfn|Gopsill|1990}}

IALA's research activities were based in [[Liverpool]], before relocating to [[New York City|New York]] due to the outbreak of [[World War II]], where [[E. Clark Stillman]] established a new research staff.{{sfn|Bray|1971|loc=Foreword}} Stillman, with the assistance of [[Alexander Gode]], constructed the methodology for selecting Interlingua vocabulary based on a comparison of control languages.{{sfn|Gopsill|1990}}

In 1943 Stillman left for war work and Gode became Acting Director of Research.{{sfn|Bray|1971|loc=Foreword}} IALA began to develop models of the proposed language, the first of which were presented in Morris's ''General Report'' in 1945.{{sfn|Gopsill|Sexton|2006b}}