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Esperanto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Esperanto
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Esperanto(/sprnto/
or/r/[4][5][espe
ranto] listen)isa
constructedinternational
auxiliarylanguage.Itisthe
mostwidelyspoken
constructedlanguagein
theworld.[6]Itsname
derivesfromDoktoro
Esperanto("Esperanto"
translatesas"onewho
hopes"),thepseudonym
underwhichphysicianL.
L.Zamenhofpublishedthe
firstbookdetailing
Esperanto,theUnuaLibro,
on26July1887.
Zamenhof'sgoalwasto
createaneasytolearn,
politicallyneutral
languagethatwould
transcendnationalityand
fosterpeaceand
international
understandingbetween
peoplewithdifferent
languages.
Upto2,000,000people
worldwide,tovarying
degrees,speakEsperanto,
includingperhaps2,000
nativespeakerswho
learnedEsperantofrom
birth.TheWorld
EsperantoAssociationhas
membersin120[7]
countries.Itsusageis
highestinEurope,East
Asia,andSouth
America.[8]lernu!,the
mostpopularonline
learningplatformfor
Esperanto,reported
150,000registeredusersin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

Esperanto
Esperanto

TheEsperantoflag
Pronunciation [esperanto]
Createdby

L.L.Zamenhof

Date

1887

Settingand
usage

Internationalauxiliarylanguage

Users

Native:Around1,000familiesinvolvingaround2,000
children(2004)[1]
L2users:estimatesashighas2milliontotal(1999)[2]

Purpose

constructedlanguage
Internationalauxiliarylanguage
Esperanto

Earlyforms

ProtoEsperanto
Esperanto

Dialects

IdoandotherEsperantidos

Writing
system

Latinscript(Esperantoalphabet)
EsperantoBraille

Signedforms

Signuno

Sources

VocabularyfromRomanceandGermaniclanguages,grammar
fromSlaviclanguages
Officialstatus

Regulatedby

AkademiodeEsperanto
Languagecodes

ISO6391

eo

ISO6392

epo

ISO6393

epo

Linguistlist

epo (http://multitree.org/codes/epo)

Glottolog
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espe1235
2013,andseesbetween
150,000and200,000
(http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/espe1235)[3]
visitorseachmonth.[9]
Linguasphere 51-AAB-da
Withabout227,000
articles,Esperanto
Wikipediaisthe31stlargestWikipediaasmeasuredbythenumberofarticles,[10]andthelargest
Wikipediainaconstructedlanguage.[11]On22February2012,GoogleTranslateaddedEsperantoasits
64thlanguage.[12]On28May2015,thelanguagelearningplatformDuolingolaunchedanEsperanto
courseforEnglishspeakers.Asof20February2016,over300,000usershadsignedup.[13][14]

ThefirstWorldCongressofEsperantowasorganizedinFrancein1905.Sincethen,congresseshave
beenheldinvariouscountrieseveryyear,withtheexceptionsofyearsduringtheworldwars.Although
nocountryhasadoptedEsperantoofficially,EsperantowasrecommendedbytheFrenchAcademyof
Sciencesin1921andrecognizedbyUNESCOin1954,whichrecommendedin1985thatinternational
nongovernmentalorganizationsuseEsperanto.Esperantowasthe32ndlanguageacceptedasadhering
tothe"CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages"in2007.[15]
EsperantoiscurrentlythelanguageofinstructionoftheInternationalAcademyofSciencesinSan
Marino.[16]
EsperantoisseenbymanyofitsspeakersasanalternativeoradditiontothegrowinguseofEnglish
throughouttheworld,offeringalanguagethatiseasiertolearnthanEnglish.[17]

Contents
1 History
1.1 Creation
1.2 Earlyproposals
1.3 Totalitarianresponses
1.4 IncreasinguseofEsperanto
2 Officialuse
3 Linguisticproperties
3.1 Classification
3.2 Phonology
3.2.1 Consonants
3.2.2 Vowels
3.3 Alphabet
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3.3.1 Writingdiacritics
3.4 Grammar
3.5 Vocabulary
3.6 Simplephrases
3.7 Sampletext
4 Education
4.1 Thirdlanguageacquisition
5 Community
5.1 Geographyanddemography
5.1.1 Numberofspeakers
5.1.2 Nativespeakers
5.1.3 EsperantospeakingusersofFacebook
5.2 Culture
5.3 NotedauthorsinEsperanto
5.4 Popularculture
5.5 Science
5.6 Commerceandtrade
5.7 Goalsofthemovement
5.8 Symbolsandflags
5.9 Politics
5.10 Religion
5.10.1 Oomoto
5.10.2 Bah'Faith
5.10.3 Spiritism
5.10.4 Bibletranslations
5.10.5 Christianity
5.10.6 Islam
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6 Criticism
7 Modifications
8 Eponymousentities
9 Seealso
10 References
11 Furtherreading
12 Externallinks

History
Creation
Esperantowascreatedinthelate1870sandearly1880sbyL.L.
Zamenhof,aPolishJewishophthalmologistfromBiaystok,thenpartof
theRussianEmpire.AccordingtoZamenhof,hecreatedthelanguageto
fosterharmonybetweenpeoplefromdifferentcountries.Hisfeelingsand
thesituationinBiaystokmaybegleanedfromanextractfromhisletter
toNikolaiBorovko:[18]

ThefirstEsperantobookby
L.L.Zamenhof.

"TheplacewhereIwasbornandspentmychildhoodgave
directiontoallmyfuturestruggles.InBiaystokthe
inhabitantsweredividedintofourdistinctelements:
Russians,Poles,GermansandJewseachofthesespoke
theirownlanguageandlookedonalltheothersasenemies.
Insuchatownasensitivenaturefeelsmoreacutelythan
elsewherethemiserycausedbylanguagedivisionandsees
ateverystepthatthediversityoflanguagesisthefirst,orat
leastthemostinfluential,basisfortheseparationofthe
humanfamilyintogroupsofenemies.Iwasbroughtupas
anidealistIwastaughtthatallpeoplewerebrothers,while
outsideinthestreetateverystepIfeltthattherewereno
people,onlyRussians,Poles,Germans,Jewsandsoon.This
wasalwaysagreattormenttomyinfantmind,although
manypeoplemaysmileatsuchan'anguishfortheworld'in
achild.SinceatthattimeIthoughtthat'grownups'were
omnipotent,soIoftensaidtomyselfthatwhenIgrewupI
wouldcertainlydestroythisevil."
L.L.Zamenhof,inalettertoNikolaiBorovko,ca.
1895

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Aftersometenyearsofdevelopment,whichZamenhofspenttranslatingliteratureintoEsperantoaswell
aswritingoriginalproseandverse,thefirstbookofEsperantogrammarwaspublishedinWarsawonthe
26thofJuly1887.Thenumberofspeakersgrewrapidlyoverthenextfewdecades,atfirstprimarilyin
theRussianEmpireandCentralEurope,theninotherpartsofEurope,theAmericas,China,andJapan.
Intheearlyyears,speakersofEsperantokeptincontactprimarilythroughcorrespondenceand
periodicals,butin1905thefirstworldcongressofEsperantospeakerswasheldinBoulognesurMer,
France.Sincethenworldcongresseshavebeenheldindifferentcountrieseveryyear,exceptduringthe
twoWorldWars.SincetheSecondWorldWar,theyhavebeenattendedbyanaverageofmorethan
2,000peopleandupto6,000people.
Zamenhof'snameforthelanguagewassimplyInternaciaLingvo("InternationalLanguage").[19]

Earlyproposals
TheautonomousterritoryofNeutralMoresnet,between
whatistodayBelgiumandGermany,hadasizable
proportionofEsperantospeakersamongitssmalland
multiethnicpopulation.Therewasaproposaltomake
Esperantoitsofficiallanguage.
However,neitherBelgiumnorPrussia(nowwithin
Germany)hadeversurrendereditsoriginalclaimtoit.
Around1900,Germanyinparticularwastakingamore
aggressivestancetowardstheterritoryandwasaccusedof
sabotageandofobstructingtheadministrativeprocessin
ordertoforcetheissue.ItwastheFirstWorldWar,
MapofEsperantogroupsinEuropein
however,thatwasthecatalystthatbroughtabouttheendof
1905.
neutrality.On4August1914,GermanyinvadedBelgium,
leavingMoresnetatfirst"anoasisinadesertof
destruction".[20]In1915,theterritorywasannexedbytheKingdomofPrussia,withoutinternational
recognition.
AftertheGreatWar,therewasaproposalfortheLeagueofNationstoacceptEsperantoastheir
workinglanguage,followingareportbyNitobeInaz,anofficialdelegateofLeagueofNationsduring
the13thWorldCongressofEsperantoinPrague.Tendelegatesacceptedtheproposalwithonlyone
voiceagainst,theFrenchdelegate,GabrielHanotaux.HanotauxdidnotlikehowtheFrenchlanguage
waslosingitspositionastheinternationallanguageandsawEsperantoasathreat,effectivelywielding
hisvetopowertoblockthedecision.However,twoyearslater,theLeaguerecommendedthatits
memberstatesincludeEsperantointheireducationalcurricula.Forthisreason,manypeopleseethe
1920sastheheydayoftheEsperantomovement.Anarchismasapoliticalmovementwasvery
supportiveduringthistimeofanationalismaswellasoftheEsperantolanguage.[21]

Totalitarianresponses
Esperantoattractedthesuspicionofmanytotalitarianstates.Thesituationwasespeciallypronouncedin
NaziGermany,FrancoistSpainupuntilthe1950s,andintheSovietUnionfrom1937to1956.
InNaziGermany,therewasamotivationtopersecuteEsperantobecauseZamenhofwasJewish,anddue
totheinternationalistnatureofEsperanto,whichwasperceivedas"Bolshevist".Inhiswork,Mein
Kampf,AdolfHitlerspecificallymentionedEsperantoasanexampleofalanguagethatcouldbeusedby
aninternationalJewishconspiracyoncetheyachievedworlddomination.[22]Esperantistswerekilled
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duringtheHolocaust,withZamenhof'sfamilyinparticular
singledoutforbeingkilled.[23]Theeffortsofaminorityof
EsperantiststoexpelJewishcolleaguesandalignthemselves
withtheReichwerefutileandEsperantowaslegallyforbiddenin
1935.EsperantistsinGermanconcentrationcampstaughtthe
languagetofellowprisoners,tellingguardstheywereteaching
Italian,thelanguageofoneofGermany'sAxisallies.[24]
InImperialJapan,theleftwingoftheJapaneseEsperanto
movementwaspersecuted,butitsleaderswerecarefulenough
nottogivetheimpressiontothegovernmentthattheEsperantists
weresocialistrevolutionaries,whichprovedasuccessful
strategy.[25]

7thEsperantocongress,Antwerp
August1911.

AftertheOctoberRevolutionof1917,Esperantowasgivenameasureofgovernmentsupportbythe
newworkers'statesintheformerRussianEmpireandlaterbytheSovietUniongovernment,withthe
SovietEsperantoAssociationbeingestablishedasanofficiallyrecognizedorganization.[26]Inhis
biographyonJosephStalin,LeonTrotskymentionsthatStalinhadstudiedEsperanto.[27]However,in
1937,attheheightoftheGreatPurge,StalincompletelyreversedtheSovietgovernment'spolicieson
Esperanto,denouncingitas"thelanguageofspies"andhadEsperantistsexiledorexecuted.Theuseof
EsperantowasthenbannedintheSovietUnionuntil1956.[26]
FascistItalyallowedtheuseofEsperanto,findingitsphonologysimilartothatofItalianandpublishing
sometouristmaterialinthelanguage.
DuringandaftertheSpanishCivilWar,FrancoistSpainpersecutedanarchists,socialistsandCatalan
nationalistsformanyyears,amongwhomtheuseofEsperantowasextensive,[28]butinthe1950sthe
Esperantomovementwastoleratedagain.

IncreasinguseofEsperanto
ThereareseveralnumbersindicatinganincreasinguseofEsperantoduringthelastdecades.
TheHungariancensuscalculated942Esperantospeakersin1941,2,083in1990,4,575in2001[30]and
8,397in2011.[31]For985oftheseEsperantowasafamilyornativelanguage.
Inthe1960stheJarlibro(yearbook)oftheUniversalEsperantoAssociationlisted58(1961),67(1962)
and83(1965)namesofnativespeakersofEsperanto.[32]Asof1996,therewereapproximately350
attestedcasesoffamilieswithnativeEsperantospeakers.[33]
TherearenowEsperantoassociationsinsometwentyAfricancountries[34]nearlyallofthemwere
foundedafter1960.ThenumberofAfricanaddressesinthePasportaServohospitalityservicewent
from18in1988/89to59in2005.[35]
TherewerefournewmusicalbumsinEsperantointhesixties,17intheseventies,58intheeighties,75
intheninetiesandoveronehundredinthefirstdecadeofthenewmillennium.[36]Therearenowmore
than3000songsinEsperanto.[37]

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Thenumberof
participantsin
Esperantomeetings
ofoneweekor
longerinGermany
wentfromaround
100intheearly
seventiestoaround
800in2008.[38]
EsperantomeetingsinGermany(andone
meetinginPoland,AS),numberof
participants19572007

TheEsperanto
Wikipediahasover
226,000articlesasof
March2016,and
about1,000newarticlesarecreatedeverymonth.Thesenumbers
aresimilartotheBasqueWikipedia(242,000articles)andthe
DanishlanguageWikipedia(215,000).[39]Beforethefoundation
oftheEsperantoWikipediain2001,therewasno
generalknowledgeencyclopediainEsperantotheEnciklopedio
deEsperanto(documentingtheEsperantomovement)was
publishedin1934andonlyreprinted,butneveredited.

NumberofEsperantospeakersin
Hungary(green)useinfamilyandas
anativelanguage(2001/11light
green).Knowledgeofforeign
languages(x1000blue).Thenumber
ofinhabitantswentfrom8.7million
(1930)over10.7(1980)to9.9million
(2011)[29]

Between1906and1971therewereabout28dissertationsabout
Esperantoandinterlinguisticsaboutoneintwoorthreeyears.
Thisnumberincreasedsignificantly:Between1975and1987therewereabout95dissertationsan
averageofsevenperyearafter1975.[40]

Officialuse
Esperantohasnotbeenasecondaryofficiallanguageofany
recognizedcountry.However,therewereplansatthebeginning
ofthe20thcenturytoestablishNeutralMoresnetastheworld's
firstEsperantostate.Inaddition,theselfproclaimedartificial
islandmicronationofRoseIslandusedEsperantoasitsofficial
languagein1968.
TheChinesegovernmenthasusedEsperantosince2001fordaily
newsonchina.org.cn.ChinaalsousesEsperantoinChinaRadio
InternationalandfortheinternetmagazineElPopolainio.[41]
TheVaticanRadiohasanEsperantoversionofitswebsite.[42]
TheUSArmyhaspublishedmilitaryphrasebooksin
Esperanto,[43]tobeusedfromthe1950sthroughthe1970sin
wargamesbymockenemyforces.

LocationofMoresnet.

Esperantoistheworkinglanguageofseveralnonprofit
internationalorganizationssuchastheSennaciecaAsocioTutmonda,aleftwingculturalassociation,or
Education@Internet,whichhasdevelopedfromanEsperantoorganizationmostothersarespecifically
Esperantoorganizations.Thelargestofthese,theWorldEsperantoAssociation,hasanofficial
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consultativerelationshipwiththeUnitedNationsandUNESCO,whichrecognizedEsperantoasa
mediumforinternationalunderstandingin1954.[44]Esperantoisalsothefirstlanguageofteachingand
administrationofoneuniversity,theInternationalAcademyofSciencesSanMarino.[16]
Inthesummerof1924,theAmericanRadioRelayLeagueadoptedEsperantoasitsofficialinternational
auxiliarylanguage,andhopedthatthelanguagewouldbeusedbyradioamateursininternational
communications,butitsactualuseforradiocommunicationswasnegligible.
AllthepersonaldocumentsissuedbytheWorldServiceAuthority,includingtheWorldPassport,are
writteninEsperanto,togetherwithEnglish,French,Spanish,Russian,Arabic,andChinese.[45]

Linguisticproperties
Classification
Asaconstructedlanguage,mostscholarswouldsayEsperantoisnotgenealogicallyrelatedtoany
naturallanguage.Thephonology,grammar,vocabulary,andsemanticsarebasedontheIndoEuropean
languagesspokeninEurope.ThesoundinventoryisessentiallySlavic,asismuchofthesemantics,
whereasthevocabularyderivesprimarilyfromtheRomancelanguages,withalessercontributionfrom
GermaniclanguagesandminorcontributionsfromSlaviclanguagesandGreek.Pragmaticsandother
aspectsofthelanguagenotspecifiedbyZamenhof'soriginaldocumentswereinfluencedbythenative
languagesofearlyauthors,primarilyRussian,Polish,German,andFrench.However,PaulWexler
proposesthatEsperantoisrelexifiedYiddish,whichinturnheclaimsisarelexifiedSlaviclanguage.[46]
Esperantohasbeendescribedas"alanguagelexicallypredominantlyRomanic,morphologically
intensivelyagglutinative,andtoacertaindegreeisolatingincharacter".[47]Typologically,Esperantohas
prepositionsandapragmaticwordorderthatbydefaultissubjectverbobject.Adjectivescanbefreely
placedbeforeorafterthenounstheymodify,thoughplacingthembeforethenounismorecommon.
Newwordsareformedthroughextensiveprefixingandsuffixing.

Phonology
Esperantohas23consonants,fivevowels,andtwosemivowelsthatcombinewiththevowelstoformsix

diphthongs.(Theconsonant/j/andsemivowel/i/arebothwrittenj,andtheuncommonconsonant/dz/is
[48]
writtenwiththedigraphdz, whichistheonlyconsonantthatdoesn'thaveitsownletter.)Toneisnot
usedtodistinguishmeaningsofwords.StressisalwaysonthesecondlastvowelinfullyEsperanto
wordsunlessafinalvoweloiselided,whichoccursmostlyinpoetry.Forexample,familio"family"is
[fa.mi.li.o],withthestressonthesecondi,butwhenthewordisusedwithoutthefinalo(famili),the
stressremainsonthesecondi:[fa.mi.li].
Consonants
The23consonantsare:

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Bilabial
Nasal

Labio
Post
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
dental
alveolar

Stop

n
d

t
s d
z t
d

Affricate

Fricative

Trill

Approximant

Thesound/r/isusuallytrilled[r],butmaybetapped[].The/v/isnormallypronouncedlikeEnglishv,
butmaybepronounced[](betweenEnglishvandw)or[w],dependingonthelanguagebackgroundof
thespeaker.Asemivowel/u
/normallyoccursonlyindiphthongsafterthevowels/a/and/e/,notasa
consonant/w/.Common,ifdebated,assimilationincludesthepronunciationofnkas[k]andkzas[z].
Alargenumberofconsonantclusterscanoccur,uptothreeininitialposition(asinstranga,"strange")
andfourinmedialposition(asininstrui,"teach").Finalclustersareuncommonexceptinforeignnames,
poeticelisionoffinalo,andaveryfewbasicwordssuchascent"hundred"andpost"after".
Vowels
EsperantohasthefivevowelsfoundinsuchlanguagesasSpanish,Swahili,ModernHebrew,and
ModernGreek.
Front Back
Close

Mid

Open

Therearealsotwosemivowels,/i/and/u
/,whichcombinewiththemonophthongstoformsixfalling
diphthongs:aj,ej,oj,uj,a,ande.
Sincethereareonlyfivevowels,agooddealofvariationinpronunciationistolerated.Forinstance,e
commonlyrangesfrom[e](French)to[](French).Thesedetailsoftendependonthespeaker's
nativelanguage.Aglottalstopmayoccurbetweenadjacentvowelsinsomepeople'sspeech,especially
whenthetwovowelsarethesame,asinheroo"hero"([he.ro.o]or[he.ro.o])andpraavo"great
grandfather"([pra.a.vo]or[pra.a.vo]).

Alphabet
TheEsperantoalphabetisbasedontheLatinscript,usingaonesoundoneletterprinciple,exceptfor
[d
z].Itincludessixletterswithdiacritics:,,,,(withcircumflex),and(withbreve).Thealphabet
doesnotincludethelettersq,w,x,ory,whichareonlyusedwhenwritingunassimilatedforeignterms
orpropernames.
The28letteralphabetis:

abcdefghijklmnoprstuvz
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AllunaccentedlettersarepronouncedapproximatelyasintheIPA,withtheexceptionofc.Esperantoj
andcareusedinawayfamiliartospeakersofmanyEuropeanlanguages,butwhichislargely
unfamiliartoEnglishspeakers:jhasaysound,asinyellowandboy,andchasatssound,asinhitsor
thezzinpizza.[49]TheaccentedlettersareabitlikehdigraphsinEnglish:ispronouncedlikeEnglish
ch,andlikesh.isthegingem,azhsound,asinfusionorFrenchJacques,andtherareislikethe
GermanBach,olderScottishEnglishloch,orhowScousepeoplesometimespronouncethe'k'inbook
and'ck'inchicken.
Letter

Pronunciation

t
s t
d
x

(indiphthongs)

Writingdiacritics
UntilthewidespreadadoptionofUnicode,theletterswithdiacritics(foundinthe"LatinExtendedA"
sectionoftheUnicodeStandard)causedproblemswithprintingandcomputing.Thiswasparticularly
trueofthefiveletterswithcircumflexes,astheydonotoccurinanyotherlanguage.Theseproblems
haveabated,andarenownormallyseenonlywithcomputingapplicationsthatarelimitedtoASCII
characters(typicallyinternetchatsystemsanddatabases).
Therearetwoprincipalworkaroundstothisproblem,whichsubstitutedigraphsfortheaccentedletters.
Zamenhof,theinventorofEsperanto,createdan"hconvention",whichreplaces,,,,,andwith
ch,gh,hh,jh,sh,andu,respectively.Ifusedinadatabase,aprograminprinciplecouldnotdetermine
whethertorender,forexample,chascfollowedbyhoras,andwouldfailtorender,forexample,the
wordsenchavaproperly.Amorerecent"xconvention"hasgainedgroundsincetheadventof
computing.Thissystemreplaceseachdiacriticwithanx(notpartoftheEsperantoalphabet)afterthe
letter,producingthesixdigraphscx,gx,hx,jx,sx,andux.
TherearecomputerkeyboardlayoutsthatsupporttheEsperantoalphabet,andsomesystemsuse
softwarethatautomaticallyreplacesxorhconventiondigraphswiththecorrespondingdiacriticletters
(EKforMicrosoftWindows[50]andEsperantaKlavaroforWindowsPhone[51]areexamples).Another
exampleistheEsperantoWikipedia,whichacceptsthexconventionforinput:whenacontributortypes
cxwheneditinganarticle,itwillappearasthecorrectinthearticletext.(Theinputpanealsoaccepts
whenthepageissaved,itwillbechangedtocx,sothatthexconventionappliesuniformlyinthe
wikitext.)

Grammar
Esperantowordsarederivedbystringingtogetherprefixes,roots,andsuffixes.Thisprocessisregular,
sothatpeoplecancreatenewwordsastheyspeakandbeunderstood.Compoundwordsareformedwith
amodifierfirst,headfinalorder,asinEnglish(compare"birdsong"and"songbird,"andlikewise,
birdokantoandkantobirdo).
Thedifferentpartsofspeecharemarkedbytheirownsuffixes:allcommonnounsendino,all
adjectivesina,allderivedadverbsine,andallverbsinoneofsixtenseandmoodsuffixes,suchasthe
presenttenseas.Nounsandadjectiveshavetwocases:nominativeforgrammaticalsubjectsandin
general,andaccusativefordirectobjectsand(afterapreposition)toindicatedirectionofmovement.

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Singularnounsusedasgrammaticalsubjectsendino,pluralsubjectnounsinoj(pronouncedlike
English"oy").Singulardirectobjectformsendinon,andpluraldirectobjectswiththecombination
ojn(rhymeswith"coin"):oindicatesthatthewordisanoun,jindicatestheplural,andnindicates
theaccusative(directobject)case.Adjectivesagreewiththeirnounstheirendingsaresingularsubject
a(rhymeswith"ha!"),pluralsubjectaj(pronounced"eye"),singularobjectan,andpluralobjectajn
(rhymeswith"fine").
Noun

Subject Object Adjective Subject Object

Singular o
Plural oj

on
ojn

Singular a
Plural

aj

an
ajn

Thesuffixn,besidesindicatingthedirectobject,isusedtoindicatemovementandafewotherthingsas
well.
Thesixverbinflectionsconsistofthreetensesandthreemoods.Theyarepresenttenseas,futuretense
os,pasttenseis,infinitivemoodi,conditionalmoodusandjussivemoodu(usedforwishesand
commands).Verbsarenotmarkedforpersonornumber.Thus,kantimeans"tosing",mikantasmeans
"Ising",vikantasmeans"yousing",andilikantasmeans"theysing".
VerbalTense

Suffix

VerbalMood

Suffix

Present

as(kantas)

Infinitive

i(kanti)

Past

is(kantis)

Jussive

u(kantu)

Future

os(kantos)

Conditional us(kantus)

Wordorderiscomparativelyfree.Adjectivesmayprecedeorfollownounssubjects,verbsandobjects
mayoccurinanyorder.However,thearticlela"the",demonstrativessuchastiu"that"andprepositions
(suchase"at")mustcomebeforetheirrelatednouns.Similarly,thenegativene"not"andconjunctions
suchaskaj"and"andke"that"mustprecedethephraseorclausethattheyintroduce.Incopular(A=B)
clauses,wordorderisjustasimportantasinEnglish:"peopleareanimals"isdistinguishedfrom
"animalsarepeople".

Vocabulary
ThecorevocabularyofEsperantowasdefinedbyLingvointernacia,publishedbyZamenhofin1887.
Thisbooklisted900rootsthesecouldbeexpandedintotensofthousandsofwordsusingprefixes,
suffixes,andcompounding.In1894,ZamenhofpublishedthefirstEsperantodictionary,Universala
Vortaro,whichhadalargersetofroots.Therulesofthelanguageallowedspeakerstoborrownewroots
asneededitwasrecommended,however,thatspeakersusemostinternationalformsandthenderive
relatedmeaningsfromthese.
Sincethen,manywordshavebeenborrowed,primarily(butnotsolely)fromtheEuropeanlanguages.
Notallproposedborrowingsbecomewidespread,butmanydo,especiallytechnicalandscientificterms.
Termsforeverydayuse,ontheotherhand,aremorelikelytobederivedfromexistingrootskomputilo
"computer",forinstance,isformedfromtheverbkomputi"compute"andthesuffixilo"tool".Words
arealsocalquedthatis,wordsacquirenewmeaningsbasedonusageinotherlanguages.Forexample,
thewordmuso"mouse"hasacquiredthemeaningofacomputermousefromitsusageinEnglish.
Esperantospeakersoftendebateaboutwhetheraparticularborrowingisjustifiedorwhethermeaning
canbeexpressedbyderivingfromorextendingthemeaningofexistingwords.
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SomecompoundsandformedwordsinEsperantoarenotentirelystraightforwardforexample,eldoni,
literally"giveout",means"publish",parallelingtheusageofcertainEuropeanlanguages(suchas
German).Inaddition,thesuffixumhasnodefinedmeaningwordsusingthesuffixmustbelearned
separately(suchasdekstren"totheright"anddekstrumen"clockwise").
TherearenotmanyidiomaticorslangwordsinEsperanto,astheseformsofspeechtendtomake
internationalcommunicationdifficultworkingagainstEsperanto'smaingoal.

Simplephrases
BelowarelistedsomeusefulEsperantowordsandphrasesalongwithIPAtranscriptions:

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English

Esperanto

IPA

Hello

Saluton

[sa.lu.ton]

Yes

Jes

[jes]

No

Ne

[ne]

Goodmorning

Bonanmatenon

[bo.nanma.te.non]

Goodevening

Bonanvesperon

[bo.nanves.pe.ron]

Goodnight

Bonannokton

[bo.nannok.ton]

Goodbye

is(la)revido

[dis(la)re.vi.do]

Whatisyourname?

Kioestasvianomo?

[ki.oes.tasvi.ano.mo]

MynameisMarc.

MianomoestasMarko

[mi.ano.moes.tasmar.ko]

Howareyou?

Kielvifartas?

[ki.elvifar.tas]

Iamwell.

Mifartasbone

[mifar.tasbo.ne]

DoyouspeakEsperanto?

uviparolasEsperante?

[tuvipa.ro.lases.pe.ran.te]

Idon'tunderstandyou

Minekomprenasvin

[minekom.pre.nasvin]

Allright

Bone

[bo.ne]

Okay

uste

[dus.te]

Thankyou

Dankon

[dan.kon]

You'rewelcome

Nedankinde

[ne.dan.kin.de]

Please

Bonvolu

[bon.vo.lu]

Forgiveme/Excuseme

Pardonumin

[par.do.numin]

Blessyou!

Sanon!

[sa.non]

Congratulations

Gratulon

[ra.tu.lon]

Iloveyou

Miamasvin

[mia.masvin]

Onebeer,please

Unubieron,mipetas

[u.nubi.e.ron,mipe.tas]

Whereisthetoilet?

Kieestaslanecesejo?

[ki.ees.taslane.tse.se.jo]

Whatisthat?

Kioestastio?

[ki.oes.tasti.o]

Thatisadog

Tioestashundo

[ti.oes.tashun.do]

Wewilllove!

Niamos!

[nia.mos]

Peace!

Pacon!

[pa.tson]

Iamabeginnerin
Esperanto.

Miestaskomencantode
Esperanto

[mies.tasko.men.tsan.todees.pe.
ran.to]

Sampletext
Thefollowingshortextractgivesanideaofthe
characterofEsperanto.[52](Pronunciationiscovered
abovetheEsperantoletterjispronouncedlike
Englishy.)

Listentothisexcerpt
0:00

MENU

Problemsplayingthisfile?Seemediahelp.

Esperanto:
Enmultajlokojdeinioestistemplojdeladrakoreo.Dumtrosekecoonipreisenlatemploj,
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Enmultajlokojdeinioestistemplojdeladrakoreo.Dumtrosekecoonipreisenlatemploj,
keladrakoreodonupluvonallahomamondo.Tiamdrakoestissimbolodelasupernatura
estao.Kajpliposte,ifariisprapatrodelaplejaltajregantojkajsimbolislaabsolutan
atoritatondefedaimperiestro.Laimperiestropretendis,keliestasfilodeladrako.iujliaj
vivbezonaojportislanomondrakokajestisornamitajperdiversajdrakofiguroj.Nunieeninio
videblasdrakoornamentaoj,kajcirkulaslegendojpridrakoj.
Englishtranslation:
InmanyplacesinChina,thereweretemplesofthedragonking.Duringtimesofdrought,people
wouldprayinthetemplesthatthedragonkingwouldgiveraintothehumanworld.Atthattime
thedragonwasasymbolofthesupernaturalcreature.Lateron,itbecametheancestorofthe
highestrulersandsymbolisedtheabsoluteauthorityofafeudalemperor.Theemperorclaimedto
bethesonofthedragon.Allofhispersonalpossessionscarriedthename"dragon"andwere
decoratedwithvariousdragonfigures.NowdragondecorationscanbeseeneverywhereinChina
andlegendsaboutdragonscirculate.

Education
ThemajorityofEsperantospeakerslearnthelanguagethroughselfdirectedstudy,onlinetutorials,and
correspondencecoursestaughtbyvolunteers.Morerecently,freeteachingwebsites,likelernu!,have
becomepopular.
Esperantoinstructionisoccasionallyavailableatschools,includingfourprimaryschoolsinapilot
projectunderthesupervisionoftheUniversityofManchester,andbyonecountat69universities.[53]
However,outsideChinaandHungary,thesemostlyinvolveinformalarrangementsratherthandedicated
departmentsorstatesponsorship.EtvsLorndUniversityinBudapesthadadepartmentof
InterlinguisticsandEsperantofrom1966to2004,afterwhichtimeinstructionmovedtovocational
collegestherearestateexaminationsforEsperantoinstructors.[54][55]Additionally,AdamMickiewicz
UniversityinPolandoffersadiplomainInterlinguistics.[56]TheSenateofBrazilpassedabillin2009
thatwouldmakeEsperantoanoptionalpartofthecurriculuminpublicschools,althoughmandatoryif
thereisdemandforit.Asof2015thebillisstillunderconsiderationbytheChamberof
Deputies.[57][58][59]
VariouseducatorshaveestimatedthatEsperantocanbelearnedinanywherefromonequartertoone
twentieththeamountoftimerequiredforotherlanguages.[60]ClaudePiron,apsychologistformerlyat
theUniversityofGenevaandChineseEnglishRussianSpanishtranslatorfortheUnitedNations,
arguedthatEsperantoisfarmoreintuitivethanmanyethniclanguages."Esperantoreliesentirelyon
innatereflexes[and]differsfromallotherlanguagesinthatyoucanalwaystrustyournaturaltendency
togeneralizepatterns....Thesameneuropsychologicallaw[calledby]JeanPiagetgeneralizing
assimilationappliestowordformationaswellastogrammar."[61]
TheInstituteofCyberneticPedagogyatPaderborn(Germany)hascomparedthelengthofstudytimeit
takesnativelyFrenchspeakinghighschoolstudentstoobtaincomparable'standard'levelsinEsperanto,
English,German,andItalian.[62]Theresultswere:
2000hoursstudyingGerman=1500hoursstudyingEnglish=1000hoursstudyingItalian(orany
otherRomancelanguage)=150hoursstudyingEsperanto.

Thirdlanguageacquisition
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FourprimaryschoolsinBritain,withsome230pupils,arecurrentlyfollowingacoursein"propaedeutic
Esperanto"thatis,instructioninEsperantotoraiselanguageawarenessandacceleratesubsequent
learningofforeignlanguagesunderthesupervisionoftheUniversityofManchester.Astheyputit,
Manyschoolsusedtoteachchildrentherecorder,nottoproduceanationofrecorderplayers,but
asapreparationforlearningotherinstruments.[Weteach]Esperanto,nottoproduceanationof
Esperantospeakers,butasapreparationforlearningotherlanguages.[63]
StudieshavebeenconductedinNewZealand,[64]UnitedStates,[65][66][67]Germany,[68]Italy[69]and
Australia.[70]TheresultsofthesestudieswerefavorableanddemonstratedthatstudyingEsperanto
beforeanotherforeignlanguageexpeditestheacquisitionoftheother,natural,language.Thisappearsto
bebecauselearningsubsequentforeignlanguagesiseasierthanlearningone'sfirstforeignlanguage,
whereastheuseofagrammaticallysimpleandculturallyflexibleauxiliarylanguagelikeEsperanto
lessensthefirstlanguagelearninghurdle.Inonestudy,[71]agroupofEuropeansecondaryschool
studentsstudiedEsperantoforoneyear,thenFrenchforthreeyears,andendedupwithasignificantly
bettercommandofFrenchthanacontrolgroup,whostudiedFrenchforallfouryears. Similarresults
havebeenfoundforothercombinationsofnativeandsecondlanguages,aswellasforarrangementsin
whichthecourseofstudywasreducedtotwoyears,ofwhichsixmonthsisspentlearningEsperanto.

Community
Geographyanddemography
Esperantoisbyfarthemostwidelyspoken
constructedlanguageintheworld.[72]Speakersare
mostnumerousinEuropeandEastAsia,especially
inurbanareas,wheretheyoftenformEsperanto
clubs.[73]Esperantoisparticularlyprevalentinthe
northernandcentralcountriesofEuropeinChina,
Korea,Japan,andIranwithinAsia[25]inBrazil,
Argentina,andMexicointheAmericas[2]andin
TogoinAfrica.[74]
Numberofspeakers

LocationmapofhostsoftheEsperantocommunity
hospitalityservicePasportaServo(akinto
CouchSurfing),by2015.

AnestimateofthenumberofEsperantospeakers
wasmadebySidneyS.Culbert,aretiredpsychologyprofessorattheUniversityofWashingtonanda
longtimeEsperantist,whotrackeddownandtestedEsperantospeakersinsampleareasindozensof
countriesoveraperiodoftwentyyears.Culbertconcludedthatbetweenoneandtwomillionpeople
speakEsperantoatForeignServiceLevel3,"professionallyproficient"(abletocommunicate
moderatelycomplexideaswithouthesitation,andtofollowspeeches,radiobroadcasts,etc.).[75]
Culbert'sestimatewasnotmadeforEsperantoalone,butformedpartofhislistingofestimatesforall
languagesofmorethanonemillionspeakers,publishedannuallyintheWorldAlmanacandBookof
Facts.Culbert'smostdetailedaccountofhismethodologyisfoundina1989lettertoDavidWolff.[76]
SinceCulbertneverpublisheddetailedintermediateresultsforparticularcountriesandregions,itis
difficulttoindependentlygaugetheaccuracyofhisresults.

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IntheAlmanac,hisestimatesfornumbersoflanguagespeakerswereroundedtothenearestmillion,
thusthenumberforEsperantospeakersisshownastwomillion.Thislatterfigureappearsin
Ethnologue.Assumingthatthisfigureisaccurate,thatmeansthatabout0.03%oftheworld'spopulation
speakthelanguage.AlthoughitisnotZamenhof'sgoalofauniversallanguage,itstillrepresentsalevel
ofpopularityunmatchedbyanyotherconstructedlanguage.
MarcusSikosek(nowZikovanDijk)haschallengedthisfigureof1.6millionasexaggerated.He
estimatedthatevenifEsperantospeakerswereevenlydistributed,assumingonemillionEsperanto
speakersworldwidewouldleadonetoexpectabout180inthecityofCologne.VanDijkfindsonly30
fluentspeakersinthatcity,andsimilarlysmallerthanexpectedfiguresinseveralotherplacesthoughtto
havealargerthanaverageconcentrationofEsperantospeakers.Healsonotesthatthereareatotalof
about20,000membersofthevariousEsperantoorganizations(otherestimatesarehigher).Thoughthere
areundoubtedlymanyEsperantospeakerswhoarenotmembersofanyEsperantoorganization,he
thinksitunlikelythattherearefiftytimesmorespeakersthanorganizationmembers.[73]
FinnishlinguistJoukoLindstedt,anexpertonnativebornEsperantospeakers,presentedthefollowing
scheme[77]toshowtheoverallproportionsoflanguagecapabilitieswithintheEsperantocommunity:
1,000haveEsperantoastheirnativelanguage.
10,000speakitfluently.
100,000canuseitactively.
1,000,000understandalargeamountpassively.
10,000,000havestudiedittosomeextentatsometime.
IntheabsenceofDr.Culbert'sdetailedsamplingdata,oranyothercensusdata,itisimpossibletostate
thenumberofspeakerswithcertainty.AccordingtothewebsiteoftheWorldEsperantoAssociation:
Numbersoftextbookssoldandmembershipoflocalsocietiesput"thenumberofpeoplewith
someknowledgeofthelanguageinthehundredsofthousandsandpossiblymillions".[44]
In2009LuWunschRolshovenused2001yearcensusdata[78]fromHungary[79]andLithuaniaasabase
foranestimate,resultinginapproximately160,000to300,000tospeakthelanguageactivelyorfluently
throughouttheworld,withabout80,000to150,000ofthesebeingintheEuropeanUnion.[80]
Nativespeakers
NativeEsperantospeakers,denaskuloj,havelearnedthelanguagefrombirthfromEsperantospeaking
parents.[81]ThisusuallyhappenswhenEsperantoisthechieforonlycommonlanguageinan
internationalfamily,butsometimesoccursinafamilyofdevotedEsperantists.[82]The15theditionof
Ethnologuecitedestimatesthattherewere200to2,000nativespeakersin1996,[83]butthesefigures
wereremovedfromthe16thand17theditions.[84]
EsperantospeakingusersofFacebook
Facebookhasabout350,000userswhoindicatedEsperantoasoneoftheirlanguages.[85]

Culture

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Esperantistscanaccessaninternationalculture,includinga
largebodyoforiginalaswellastranslatedliterature.There
aremorethan25,000Esperantobooks,bothoriginalsand
translations,aswellasseveralregularlydistributed
Esperantomagazines.In2013amuseumaboutEsperanto
openedinChina.[86]Esperantistsusethelanguageforfree
accommodationswithEsperantistsin92countriesusingthe
PasportaServoortodeveloppenpalsthroughEsperanto
KorespondaServo.[87]
Everyyear,EsperantistsmeetfortheWorldCongressof
Esperanto(UniversalaKongresodeEsperanto).[88][89]

EsperantobooksattheWorldEsperanto
Congress,Rotterdam2008.

Historically,muchEsperantomusic,suchasKajTielPlu,hasbeeninvariousfolktraditions.[90]Thereis
alsoavarietyofclassicalandsemiclassicalchoralmusic,bothoriginalandtranslated,aswellaslarge
ensemblemusicthatincludesvoicessingingEsperantotexts.LouHarrison,whoincorporatedstylesand
instrumentsfrommanyworldculturesinhismusic,usedEsperantotitlesand/ortextsinseveralofhis
works,mostnotablyLaKoroSutro(1973).DavidGainesusedEsperantopoemsaswellasanexcerpt
fromaspeechbyDr.ZamenhofforhisSymphonyNo.1(Esperanto)formezzosopranoandorchestra
(199498).HewroteoriginalEsperantotextforhisPovasplorimineplu(ICanCryNoLonger)for
unaccompaniedSATBchoir(1994).
Therearealsosharedtraditions,suchasZamenhofDay,andsharedbehaviourpatterns.Esperantists
speakprimarilyinEsperantoatinternationalEsperantomeetings.
DetractorsofEsperantooccasionallycriticizeitas"havingnoculture".Proponents,suchasProf.
HumphreyTonkinoftheUniversityofHartford,observethatEsperantois"culturallyneutralbydesign,
asitwasintendedtobeafacilitatorbetweencultures,nottobethecarrierofanyonenationalculture".
ThelateScottishEsperantoauthorWilliamAuldwroteextensivelyonthesubject,arguingthat
Esperantois"theexpressionofacommonhumanculture,unencumberedbynationalfrontiers.Thusitis
consideredacultureonitsown."[91]

NotedauthorsinEsperanto
SomeauthorsofworksinEsperantoare:
MuztarAbbasi(TranslatedtheQuranintoEsperanto)
WilliamAuld
JulioBaghy
KazimierzBein(Kabe)
MarjorieBoulton
JorgeCamacho
FernandodeDiego(mainlytranslations)
VasiliEroshenko
JeanForge
AntoniGrabowski
KalmanKalocsay
NikolaiNekrasov
NemereIstvn("Nemere"issurname)

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ClaudePiron
EdmondPrivat
FredericPujuliValls
BaldurRagnarsson
RetoRossetti
RaymondSchwartz
TiborSekelj
TivadarSoros
VladimirVarankin
GastonWaringhien
L.L.Zamenhof
DennisWillardtZewillis
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Popularculture
Esperantohasbeenusedinanumberoffilmsandnovels.Typically,thisisdoneeithertoaddtheexotic
flavourofaforeignlanguagewithoutrepresentinganyparticularethnicity,ortoavoidgoingtothe
troubleofinventinganewlanguage.TheCharlieChaplinfilmTheGreatDictator(1940)showed
JewishghettoshopsignsinEsperanto.Twofulllengthfeaturefilmshavebeenproducedwithdialogue
entirelyinEsperanto:Angoroj,in1964,andIncubus,a1965Bmoviehorrorfilm.Alanguageschool
teachingEsperantoisfeaturedinGrahamGreene'snovelTheConfidentialAgent,whichwasmadeintoa
filmstarringCharlesBoyerandLaurenBacall(1945).Otheramateurproductionshavebeenmade,such
asadramatizationofthenovelGerdaMalaperis(GerdaHasDisappeared).InStamboulTrain,Greene
usedEsperantoasthelanguageonsignsatthemaintrainstationinBudapest.Anumberofmainstream
filmsinnationallanguageshaveusedEsperantoinsomeway.
EsperantoisusedastheuniversallanguageinthefarfutureofHarryHarrison'sStainlessSteelRatand
Deathworldstories.PoulAnderson'sstory"HighTreason"takesplaceinafuturewhereEarthbecame
unitedpoliticallybutwasstilldividedintomanylanguagesandcultures,andEsperantobecamethe
languageofitsspacearmedforces,fightingwarswithvariousextraterrestrialraces.
TheopeningsongtothepopularvideogameFinalFantasyXI,"Memorodelatono",waswrittenin
Esperanto.Itwasthefirstgameintheseriesthatwasplayedonline,andwouldhaveplayersfromboth
JapanandNorthAmerica(officialEuropeansupportwasaddedaftertheNorthAmericanlaunch)
playingtogetheronthesameservers,usinganautotranslatetooltocommunicate.Thecomposer,
NobuoUematsu,feltthatEsperantowasagoodlanguagetosymbolizeworldwideunity.
Inthegeekfictionnovel"OfftoBetheWizard",Esperantoisprogrammedasthelanguagethattriggers
allofthewizard'sspells.Philip,Martin'steacher,explainsthatthisisbecause"noonereallyspeaks
Esperantoandit'seasytolearn".
EsperantoisalsofoundinthecomicbookseriesSagaasthelanguageBlue,spokenbytheinhabitantsof
Wreath.Itisrenderedinbluecoloredtext.BlueisgenerallyonlyspokenbyinhabitantsofWreath,
whilemostotherculturesuseauniversallanguagethatappearstobesimplynamed"Language."Some
Wreathinhabitantsusetranslatorringstocommunicatewiththosewhodon'tspeakBlue.Magicseems
tobeactivatedviathelinguisticmediumofblue.
InthetelevisionshowRedDwarf,thebulkofwhichtakesplacemorethanthreemillionyearsinthe
future,crewmanArnoldRimmerconstantlyspendshistimetryingtolearnEsperantoandfailing,even
comparedtohisbunkmateDaveListerwhoonlymaintainsacasualinterest.Additionallymanyofthe
signsaroundtheshipRedDwarfarewritteninbothEnglishandEsperanto.ThenovelInfinityWelcomes
CarefulDriversstatesthat,althoughnotrequired,itiswidelyexpectedthatofficersintheSpaceCorps
befluentinthelanguage,henceRimmer'sinterest.

Science
In1921theFrenchAcademyofSciencesrecommendedusingEsperantoforinternationalscientific
communication.[92]Afewscientistsandmathematicians,suchasMauriceFrchet(mathematics),John
C.Wells(linguistics),HelmarFrank(pedagogyandcybernetics),andNobellaureateReinhardSelten
(economics)havepublishedpartoftheirworkinEsperanto.FrankandSeltenwereamongthefounders
oftheInternationalAcademyofSciencesinSanMarino,sometimescalledthe"EsperantoUniversity",
whereEsperantoistheprimarylanguageofteachingandadministration.[93][94]
AmessageinEsperantowasrecordedandincludedinVoyager1'sGoldenRecord.
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Commerceandtrade
Esperantobusinessgroupshavebeenactiveformanyyears.The
FrenchChamberofCommercedidresearchinthe1920sand
reportedinTheNewYorkTimesin1921thatEsperantoseemed
tobethebestbusinesslanguage.[95]

Goalsofthemovement
HungarianastronautBertalanFarkas,
thefirstEsperantistinspace.

Zamenhof'sintentionwastocreateaneasytolearnlanguageto
fosterinternationalunderstanding.Itwastoserveasan
internationalauxiliarylanguage,thatis,asauniversalsecond
language,nottoreplaceethniclanguages.ThisgoalwaswidelysharedamongEsperantospeakersinthe
earlydecadesofthemovement.Later,Esperantospeakersbegantoseethelanguageandtheculturethat
hadgrownuparounditasendsinthemselves,evenifEsperantoisneveradoptedbytheUnitedNations
orotherinternationalorganizations.[92]
EsperantospeakerswhowanttoseeEsperantoadoptedofficiallyoronalargescaleworldwideare
commonlycalledfinvenkistoj,fromfinavenko,meaning"finalvictory",[96]Thosewhofocusonthe
intrinsicvalueofthelanguagearecommonlycalledramistoj,fromRauma,Finland,wherea
declarationontheneartermunlikelihoodofthe"finavenko"andthevalueofEsperantoculturewas
madeattheInternationalYouthCongressin1980.[97]
ThePragueManifesto(1996)presentstheviewsofthemainstreamoftheEsperantomovementandof
itsmainorganisation,theWorldEsperantoAssociation(UEA).

Symbolsandflags
Theearliestflag,andtheonemostcommonlyusedtoday,featuresagreen
fivepointedstaragainstawhitecanton,uponafieldofgreen.Itwas
proposedtoZamenhofbyIrishmanRichardGeoghegan,authorofthefirst
EsperantotextbookforEnglishspeakers,in1887.Theflagwasapprovedin
1905bydelegatestothefirstconferenceofEsperantistsatBoulognesur
Mer.Aversionwithan"E"superimposedoverthegreenstarissometimes
seen.OthervariantsincludethatforChristianEsperantists,withawhite
Christiancrosssuperimposeduponthegreenstar,andthatforLeftists,with
thecolorofthefieldchangedfromgreentored.[98]
In1987,asecondflagdesignwaschoseninacontestorganizedbythe
UEAcelebratingthefirstcentennialofthelanguage.Itfeaturedawhite
backgroundwithtwostylisedcurved"E"sfacingeachother.Dubbedthe
"jubileasimbolo"(jubileesymbol),[99]itattractedcriticismfromsome
Esperantists,whodubbeditthe"melono"(melon)becauseofthedesign's
ellipticalshape.Itisstillinuse,thoughtoalesserdegreethanthe
traditionalsymbol,knownasthe"verdastelo"(greenstar).[100]

Esperantosymbols

Theverdastelo

Thejubileasimbolo

Politics

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Esperantohasbeenplacedinmanyproposedpoliticalsituations.Themostpopularoftheseisthe
EuropeDemocracyEsperanto,whichaimstoestablishEsperantoastheofficiallanguageofthe
EuropeanUnion.Grin'sReport,publishedin2005byFranoisGrinfoundthattheuseofEnglishasthe
linguafrancawithintheEuropeanUnioncostsbillionsannuallyandsignificantlybenefitsEnglish
speakingcountriesfinancially.ThereportconsideredascenariowhereEsperantowouldbethelingua
francaandfoundthatitwouldhavemanyadvantages,particularlyeconomicallyspeaking,aswellas
ideologically.

Religion
Esperantohasservedanimportantroleinseveralreligions,suchasOomotofromJapanandtheBah'
FaithfromIran,andhasbeenencouragedbyothers,likesomeSpiritistmovements.
Oomoto
TheOomotoreligionencouragestheuseofEsperantoamongitsfollowersandincludesZamenhofas
oneofitsdeifiedspirits.[101]
Bah'Faith
TheBah'Faithencouragestheuseofanauxiliaryinternationallanguage.TheBaha'i'sbelievethatit
willnotbethelanguageofthefuture,althoughithasgreatpotentialinthisrole,asithasnotbeen
chosenbythepeople.[102]L.L.Zamenhof'sdaughterLidjabecameaBah',[103]andvariousvolumesof
theBah'literaturesandotherBaha'ibookshavebeentranslatedintoEsperanto.In1973,theBah'
EsperantoLeagueforactiveBah'supportersofEsperantowasfounded.
Spiritism
In1908,spiritistCamiloChaigneauwroteanarticlenamed"SpiritismandEsperanto"intheperiodicLa
Vied'OutreTomberecommendingtheuseofEsperantoina"centralmagazine"forallspiritistsand
esperantists.Esperantothenbecameactivelypromotedbyspiritists,atleastinBrazil,initiallybyIsmael
GomesBragaandFrantiekLorenzthelatterisknowninBrazilasFranciscoValdomiroLorenz,and
wasapioneerofbothspiritistandEsperantistmovementsinthiscountry.[104]
TheBrazilianSpiritistFederationpublishesEsperantocoursebooks,translationsofSpiritism'sbasic
books,andencouragesSpiritiststobecomeEsperantists.[105]
Bibletranslations
ThefirsttranslationoftheBibleintoEsperantowasatranslationoftheTanakhorOldTestamentdone
byL.L.Zamenhof.Thetranslationwasreviewedandcomparedwithotherlanguages'translationsbya
groupofBritishclergyandscholarsbeforeitspublicationattheBritishandForeignBibleSocietyin
1910.In1926thiswaspublishedalongwithaNewTestamenttranslation,inaneditioncommonly
calledthe"LondonaBiblio".Inthe1960s,theInternaciaAsociodeBibliistojkajOrientalistojtriedto
organizeanew,ecumenicalEsperantoBibleversion.[106]Sincethen,theDutchRemonstrantpastor
GerritBervelinghastranslatedtheDeuterocanonicalorapocryphalbooksinadditiontonewtranslations
oftheGospels,someoftheNewTestamentepistles,andsomebooksoftheTanakhorOldTestament.
Thesehavebeenpublishedinvariousseparatebooklets,orserializedinDiaRegno,butthe
DeuterocanonicalbookshaveappearedinrecenteditionsoftheLondonaBiblio.
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Christianity
ChristianEsperantoorganizationsincludetwothatwere
formedearlyinthehistoryofEsperanto:
1910TheInternationalUnionofCatholic
Esperantists.TwoRomanCatholicpopes,JohnPaulII
andBenedictXVI,haveregularlyusedEsperantoin
theirmultilingualurbietorbiblessingsatEasterand
ChristmaseachyearsinceEaster1994.
1911TheInternationalChristianEsperantists
League.
IndividualchurchesusingEsperantoinclude:

MassinEsperantoduringthe95thWorld
CongressofEsperantoinHavana.

TheQuakerEsperantoSociety,withactivitiesas
describedinanissueof"TheFriend"[107]
1910FirstChristadelphianpublicationsinEsperanto.[108][109]
ThereareinstancesofChristianapologistsandteacherswhouseEsperantoasamedium.Nigerian
pastorBayoAfolaranmi's"Spiritanutrao(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritanutrajxo/)"
(spiritualfood)Yahoomailinglist,forexample,hashostedweeklymessagessince2003.[110]
ChickPublications,publisherofProtestantfundamentalistthemedevangelistictracts,haspublisheda
numberofcomicbookstyletractsbyJackT.ChicktranslatedintoEsperanto,including"ThisWasYour
Life!"("JenViaTutaVivo!")[111]
Islam
AyatollahKhomeiniofIrancalledonMuslimstolearnEsperantoandpraiseditsuseasamediumfor
betterunderstandingamongpeoplesofdifferentreligiousbackgrounds.Afterhesuggestedthat
EsperantoreplaceEnglishasaninternationallinguafranca,itbegantobeusedintheseminariesof
Qom.AnEsperantotranslationoftheQur'anwaspublishedbythestateshortlythereafter.[112][113]In
1981,itsusagebecamelesspopularwhenitbecameapparentthatfollowersoftheBah'Faithwere
interestedinit.[112]However,duringtherecentdecades,speciallyaftertheestablishmentofthe
Sabzandishan(GreenThinkers)Institutein1996,thefirstofficialEsperantoinstituteinIranever,and
publicationofits56pageorgan,calledPayameSabzandishan(MessageofGreenThinkers),aseasonal
(quarterly)magazineinEsperantoandPersianfromtheautumnof2002tillnow,andrecognitionofthe
IranianEsperantoAssociationbytheUniversalEsperantoAssociation(whichenjoysofficialrelations
withUNandUNESCO)asitsIranianofficialbranchin2005,anewerastartedinIranforspreadingof
EsperantoMovementasvastlyaspossible.Duringthisnewera,i.a.therehavebeenspeeches,lectures,
seminarsandcoursesindifferentculturalcenters,universitiesandschoolspublicationoforiginaland
translatedbooksandarticlesonEsperantoandspeciallyitsneutrality(politically,religiously,nationally,
racially,etc.)bydiversepublishersandinvariedPersiannewspapersandmagazines...E.g.inthe
PersiantranslationofWilliamAuld'sbook,calledThePhenomenonEsperanto,14annexeswereadded
toshowmorethehistoryandneutralityofEsperantolanguage:asexample,inthefirstannex,calledThe
ViewsofWorldCelebritiesonEsperanto,thePersianreaderscanreadthepositiveviewsandopinions
of15acclaimedandfamousleadersandwritersonEsperantofromdifferentcountries,religions,
politicalbackgrounds,languagesandraces,likeMahatmaGandhi,LeoTolstoy,RomainRolland,
UmbertoEco,RudolfDiesel,RabindranathTagore,HelenKeller,LuXun,J.R.R.Tolkien,...(William
AuldwasnominatedfortheNobelPrizeinLiteraturein1999,2004,and2006makinghimthefirst
persontobenominatedforworksinEsperanto.)
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Criticism
Esperantowasconceivedasalanguageofinternationalcommunication,morepreciselyasauniversal
secondlanguage.[114]Sincepublication,therehasbeendebateoverwhetheritispossibleforEsperanto
toattainthisposition,andwhetheritwouldbeanimprovementforinternationalcommunicationwereit
todosoEsperantoproponentshavealsobeencriticizedfordivertingpublicfundstoencourageitsstudy
overmoreusefullivingworldlanguages.[115]
SinceEsperantoisaplannedlanguage,therehavebeenmanycriticismsofminorpoints.[116]An
exampleisZamenhof'schoiceofthewordedzooversomethinglikespozofor"husband,spouse",[117]or
hischoiceoftheClassicGreekandOldLatinsingularandpluralendingso,oj,a,ajovertheir
Medievalcontractionso,i,a,e.(BoththesechangeswereadoptedbytheIdoreform,thoughIdo
dispensedwithadjectivalagreementaltogether.)Somemorecommonexamplesofgeneralcriticism
includethefollowing:
Esperantohasnotyetachievedthehopesofitsfoundertobecomeauniversalsecondlanguage.
Welloveracenturysinceitspublication,theEsperantospeakingcommunityremains
comparativelytinywithrespecttotheworldpopulation.InthecaseoftheUnitedKingdom,for
instance,Esperantoisrarelytaughtinschools,becauseitisregardedbythegovernmentasnot
meetingtheneedsofthenationalcurriculum.[118]
ThevocabularyandgrammararebasedonmajorEuropeanlanguages,andarenotuniversal.Both
thegrammarandthe'international'vocabularyaredifficultformanyAsians,amongothers,and
giveanadvantagetospeakersofEuropeanlanguages.[119]
Thevocabulary,diacriticletters,[117]andgrammararetoodissimilarfromthemajorEuropean
languages,andthereforeEsperantoisnotaseasyasitcouldbeforspeakersofthoselanguagesto
learn,eventhoughitismucheasiertolearnthananyotherEuropeanlanguage.[120][121]Attempts
toaddressthe"notEuropeanenough"criticismincludetheyoungerplannedlanguagesIdoand
Interlingua.[122]
EitherthatEsperantohasnonativeculture,[123]orthatEsperantocultureisEurocentric.Although
ithasalargeinternationalliterature,Esperantodoesnotencapsulateaspecificculture.Its
vocabularyandsemanticsarederivedfromEuropeanlanguages.Bothinfusethelanguagewitha
Europeanworldview.[124]
Thevocabularyistoolarge.Ratherthanderivingnewwordsfromexistingroots,largenumbersof
newrootsareadoptedintothelanguagewiththeintentofbeinginternationallyaccommodating
wheninrealitythelanguageonlycaterstoEuropeanlanguages.Thismakesthelanguagemore
difficultfornonEuropeansthanitneedstobe.[119]Asimilarargumentismadebymany
Esperantospeakers,notagainstthelanguageitselfbutagainstthewayitis(intheirview)misused
bymany(mostlyEuropean)speakerstheyarguethatcompoundsorderivationsshouldbeused
wheneverpossible,andnewrootwordsborrowedonlywhenabsolutelynecessary.[125][126]
Esperantoasymmetryingenderformationmakesitsexist.[123]Mostkintermsandtitlesare
masculinebydefaultandonlyfemininewhensospecified.Therehavebeenmanyattemptsto
addressthisissue,ofwhichoneofthebetterknownisiism[127](usedbytheEsperantistwriter
JorgeCamacho),[128]fromwhichRiismderived.
Esperantois,looks,and/orsoundsartificial.Thiscriticismisoftenduetotheletterswith
circumflexdiacritics,whichsomefindoddorcumbersome,alongwiththeirbeinginvented
specificallyforEsperantoratherthanborrowedfromexistinglanguagesaswellasbeingarguably
unnecessary,asforexamplewiththeuseofinsteadofw.[123]Othersclaimthatanartificial
languagewillnecessarilybedeficient,duetoitsverynature,[129]althoughtheHungarian
AcademyofScienceshasfoundthatEsperantofulfillsalltherequirementsofaliving
language.[130]InCultureandValue,LudwigWittgensteinsaid:
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Esperanto.Thefeelingofdisgustwegetifweutteraninventedwordwithinvented
derivativesyllables.Thewordiscold,lackinginassociations,andyetitplaysat
being'language'.Asystemofpurelywrittensignswouldnotdisgustussomuch.[131]

Modifications
ThoughEsperantoitselfhaschangedlittlesincethepublicationoftheFundamentodeEsperanto
(FoundationofEsperanto),anumberofreformprojectshavebeenproposedovertheyears,startingwith
Zamenhof'sproposalsin1894andIdoin1907.Severallaterconstructedlanguages,suchasUniversal,
werebasedonEsperanto.
Inmoderntimes,attemptshavebeenmadetoeliminateperceivedsexisminthelanguage,suchasRiism.

Eponymousentities
TherearesomegeographicalandastronomicalfeaturesnamedafterEsperanto,orafteritscreatorL.L.
Zamenhof.TheseincludeEsperantoIslandinZedIslandsoffLivingstonIsland,[132]andtheasteroids
1421Esperantoand1462ZamenhofdiscoveredbyFinnishastronomerandEsperantistYrjVisl.

Seealso
DistributedLanguageTranslation
Duolingo
Colorargument
ComparisonbetweenEsperantoandIdo
ComparisonbetweenEsperantoandInterlingua
ComparisonbetweenEsperantoandNovial
EncyclopediaofEsperanto
EoLA
ESPDisk
EsperanticStudiesFoundation
Esperantolibrary
Esperantomagazine
EsperantoWikipedia
Esperantology
Esperantujo
lernu!
IndigenousDialogues
NorthAmericanSummerEsperantoInstitute
SemajnodeKulturoInternacia

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123."Criticheall'esperantoedallealtrelingueinternazionali".Parracomumangi.altervista.org.Retrieved
20101205.
124.Europe'sBabylon(http://dok.esperantic.org/ced/eurlan.htm)Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20121222105548/http://dok.esperantic.org/ced/eurlan.htm)December22,2012,
attheWaybackMachine.
125.LaBonaLingvo,ClaudePiron.Vienna:ProEsperanto,1989.Lalingvovolaseleganti,neelefanti."The
languagewantstobeelegant,notelephantine."
126.Corsetti,Renato(20071031)."itiuEsperantoestusturka..."(inEsperanto).LaBonaLingvo.Archived
fromtheoriginalon20090107.
127."PMEG".Bertilow.com.Retrieved14January2015.
128.Camacho,Jorge.Surlalinio.RakontojkajnovelojdeGeorgoKamao.EnkondukodeFernandodeDiego.
Berkeley:EldonejoBero,1991.
129.ClaudePironcitesandrepliestoseveralsuchcriticismsinhisLeDfidesLangues(Paris:L'Harmattan,
1994).
130.LalakomunaopiniodegvidajfakulojdelaInstituto,Esperantoapartenasallakategoriodevivajlingvoj.
Plidetaletraktantelatemon,konsiderantelahistorionkajlanunanstatondeEsperanto,a.)iestas
grandmezurenormigita,b.)ampleksesociiinta,c.)neetnavivalingvo,kiuensekundaralingvakomunumo
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132."EsperantoIsland".Data.aad.gov.au.Retrieved14January2015.

Furtherreading
EmilyvanSomeren.Republicationofthethesis'TheEULanguageRegime,LingualandTranslational
Problems'.(http://igiturarchive.library.uu.nl/studenttheses/20060324075222/UUindex.html)
LudovikologiadokumentaroI(http://katalogo.uea.org/index.php?inf=4006)Tokyo:Ludovikito,1991.
FacsimilereprintsoftheUnuaLibroinRussian,Polish,French,German,EnglishandSwedish,withthe
earliestEsperantodictionariesforthoselanguages.
FundamentodeEsperanto(http://www.akademiodeesperanto.org/fundamento/index.html).HTMLreprint
of1905Fundamento,fromtheAcademyofEsperanto.
EsperantoLessons(http://learn101.org/esperanto.php).Includingthealphabet,adjectives,nouns,plural,
gender,numbers,phrases,grammar,vocabulary,verbs,exam,audio,andtranslation.
Auld,William.LaFenomenoEsperanto("TheEsperantoPhenomenon").Rotterdam:UniversalaEsperanto
Asocio,1988.
Butler,MontaguC.StepbyStepinEsperanto.ELNA1965/1991.ISBN0939785013.
DeSoto,Clinton(1936).200MetersandDown.WestHartford,Connecticut,US:AmericanRadioRelay
League,p.92.
Crystal,David,article"Esperanto"inTheNewPenguinEncyclopedia,PenguinBooks,2002.
Crystal,David,HowLanguageWorks(pages4245),PenguinBooks,2006.ISBN9780141015521.
Everson,Michael.TheAlphabetsofEurope:Esperanto
(http://www.evertype.com/alphabets/esperanto.pdf)PDF(25.4KB).Evertype,2001.
Forster,PeterG.TheEsperantoMovement.TheHague:MoutonPublishers,1982.ISBN9027933995.
Gledhill,Christopher.TheGrammarofEsperanto:ACorpusBasedDescription.(http://stl.recherche.univ
lille3.fr/sitespersonnels/gledhill/Esperanto_a_corpusbased_description_GLEDHILL.pdf)Secondedition.
LincomEuropa,2000.ISBN3895869619.
Harlow,Don.TheEsperantoBook(http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/eaccess/eaccess.book.html).Self
publishedontheweb(199596).
Okrent,Arika.IntheLandofInventedLanguages(http://inthelandofinventedlanguages.com/).
Wells,John.LingvistikajaspektojdeEsperanto("LinguisticaspectsofEsperanto").Secondedition.
Rotterdam:UniversalaEsperantoAsocio,1989.
Zamenhof,LudovicLazarus,Dr.Esperanto'sInternationalLanguage:Introduction&CompleteGrammar
(http://genekeyes.com/Dr_Esperanto.html)Theoriginal1887UnuaLibro,EnglishtranslationbyRichardH.
GeogheganHTMLonlineversion2006.Printedition(2007)alsoavailablefromELNA
(http://www.esperantousa.org/)orUEA(http://www.uea.org/).
Patterson,RobertHuff,StanleyM.(November1999),"TheDeclineandFallofEsperanto",Journalofthe
AmericanMedicalInformaticsAssociation6(6):444446,doi:10.1136/jamia.1999.0060444,PMC61387,
PMID10579602

Externallinks
Esperanto(https://www.dmoz.org/World/Esperanto)at
Esperantoeditionof
DMOZ
Wikipedia,thefree
UEA.org(http://www.uea.org/)WebsiteoftheWorld
encyclopedia
EsperantoAssociation
KursoSaluton!InternationalCourse(http://www.kursosaluton.org/)
Lernu!(http://en.lernu.net/)
EsperantoBookshelfat(http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Esperanto_%28Bookshelf%29)Project
Gutenberg
EsperantababilejoEsperantochat(http://babilejo.org/)
EldonejoMisteraSturno(http://esperanto.us/)Shortstoryebookswithlinkeddictionarydefining
alluncommonterms.
1985UNESCOresolutions(http://mesg2012.blogspot.com/2014/10/unescocallingngostouse
esperanto.html/)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

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