"The inner idea of Esperanto is this: to remove the walls separating the tribes on a neutral linguistic basis, and to teach people to see only a man and a brother in their neighbor."
L. L. Zamenhof, 1912
This artificial language was invented by Lazar (Ludwig) Zamenhof. He created a grammar based on European languages with a minimum of exceptions. The vocabulary is mostly taken from Romance languages, although there are also words from Germanic and other languages. The new language, which first appeared in the form of a textbook in 1887, attracted public attention, and the normal process of evolution of the language within the community began, which used it in different environments and created a culture associated with this language. Two decades later, the first children were born who spoke Esperanto with their parents, they became the first native speakers of the language. Thus, we can say that this language, created for international communication, then creolized and today has become the language of the Esperanto-speaking diaspora.
It was created based on the vocabulary of Indo-European languages, with the aim of being easy to learn. For this reason, grammar is agglutinative (a characteristic feature of Turkish and Finno-Ugric languages), and at a deeper level, the language is isolating (like North Chinese and Vietnamese). This means that morphemes can be used as separate words in it. He has a strictly regular (no exceptions) grammar. This language also allows the creation of a huge variety of words by combining lexical roots and about forty affixes (for example, from san-("healthy"), you can create words like: malsana("sick"), malsanulo("a sick man"), gemalsanuloj("Sick people of both sexes"), malsanulejo(“Hospitals”), sanigilo("medicine"), saniĝinto("recovered"), sanigejo(“Place of treatment”), malsaneto("Little disease") malsanego("Huge disease"), malsanegulo("Very sick person"), sanstato("health status"), sansento("Feeling of health"), sanlimo("Boundaries of health"), malsankaŭzanto("Pathogens"), kontraŭmalsanterapio("treatment")…). The main parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs) have a system of endings that make it possible to recognize all parts of speech. Its consistency makes the language easy to learn, and its flexibility in creating new words makes it one of the most productive languages with a potentially unlimited number of words, capable of expressing ever new ideas or states. For example, it is possible to write a fantasy novel about invented table-shaped Martians and name them tablo("table"), tablino("female table"), tablido(“Offspring of the table”) ... We can imagine a device that simplifies sex life and call it sekssimpligilo("Sex facilitator"), a person who walks backwards ( inversmarŝanto, "Walking backwards"), a remedy against dogmatism ( maldogmigilo, "Anti-dogmatizer"), and the like.
Important features of Esperanto
The main idea of Esperanto is to maintain tolerance and respect between people of different peoples and cultures. Communication is a necessary part of mutual understanding, and if communication is in a neutral language, it can reinforce the feeling that you are “dating” on an equal basis and with respect for each other.
international
Esperanto is useful for communication between people of different nations who do not have a common mother tongue.
Neutral
It does not belong to any particular people or country and therefore acts as a neutral language.
Equal
When you use Esperanto, you feel linguistically equal with the other person, in contrast to the situation when, for example, you use English to speak with a person who speaks it from birth.
Relatively light
Due to the structure and structure of this language, it is usually much easier to master Esperanto than some foreign national language.
Alive
Esperanto develops and lives in the same way as other languages; Esperanto can express the most varied shades of human thoughts and feelings.
Equal
Everyone who learns Esperanto has a good chance to achieve a high level of proficiency in the language and then, from a linguistic point of view, communicate at the same level with others, regardless of the language background.
History
Grammar
Alphabet
This is the Esperanto alphabet. Each letter is always read the same regardless of its position in the word, and words are written the same way they are heard. Click on the example to hear the pronunciation!
- Aa ami be in love
- Bb bela beautiful
- Cc celo goal
- Ĉĉ ĉokolado chocolate
- Dd doni to give
- Ee egala equal
- Ff facila light
- Gg granda big
- Ĝĝ ĝui enjoy
- Hh horo hour
- Ĥĥ ĥoro chorus
- Ii infano child
- Jj juna young
- Ĵĵ ĵurnalo newspaper
- Kk kafo coffee
- Ll lando country
- Mm maro sea
- Nn nokto night
- Oo oro gold
- Pp paco peace
- Rr rapida quick
- Ss salti jump
- Ŝŝ ŝipo ship
- Tt tago day
- Uu urbo town
- Ŭŭ aŭto automobile
- Vv vivo life
- Zz zebro zebra
Nouns
All Esperanto nouns end in -o. (Nouns are the names of things and phenomena)
Plural
To get the word plural, just add the ending -j:
Addition
In Esperanto, we denote a direct object (that is, an accusative word) in a sentence by adding -n to it. This allows us to change the order of words in a sentence the way we like, without changing the meaning. (A direct addition is something that is directly affected)
Adjectives
All Esperanto adjectives end in -a. (Adjectives are used to describe nouns)
Prefixes
Look! By adding mal- to the beginning of a word, we reverse its meaning.
mal- is a prefix. The prefix is placed in front of the root to get new words. Esperanto has 10 different prefixes.
Suffixes
There are also many ways to build new words using special endings. For example, -et- decreases something.
Et- is a suffix. Suffixes must be inserted after the root to get new words. Esperanto has 31 different suffixes.
Verbs
Verbs are, of course, very important. But you will find that in Esperanto they are very simple too. (Verbs indicate the performance of an action or being in some state)
Verb forms
Indefinite verbs end in -i. Verbs in the present tense end in -as, in the past in -is, and in the future in -os. Esperanto has no conjugation classes or irregular verb forms!
- mi est as I am
- mi est is I was
- mi est os I will
- vi est as you / you are
- vi est is you were / you were
- vi est os you will / you will
- li est as he is
- li est is he was
- li est os he will
- ŝi est as she is
- ŝi est is She was
- ŝi est os She will be
- ĝi est as it / it is
- ĝi est is it / it was
- ĝi est os it / it will
- ni est as we're
- ni est is we were
- ni est os we will
- ili est as they are
- ili est is they were
- ili est os they will
Adverbs
With the ending -e we create adverbs. (Adverbs are words that describe verbs)
In the first textbook, published in 1887 (the so-called "First Book" - "La unua Libro"), an "international-Russian dictionary" was printed on a separate sheet, which included 920 morphemes: roots and affixes (prefixes, suffixes, endings). The five-lingual dictionary Universala Vortaro (UV), published in 1893 and being an integral part of Fundamento de Esperanto, contains 2639 capital units, 2629 of which are simple morphemes (roots and affixes), 10 are polymorphic formations (stems). In addition, a number of derivative words are included in dictionary entries as examples. Thus, UV contains 2935 lexical units. UV is built on the same principle as the dictionary of the "First Book": capital non-official units (roots and stems) are given without endings, but are translated into national languages by a certain part of speech.
At the World Congress in 1905, it was decided that the Fundamento is the only and obligatory for all Esperantists the basis of the Esperanto language, in which no one has the right to make changes. Thus, the lexical units contained in UV have received the status of "fundamental". The principle of inviolability of Fundamento, or "fundamentalism", does not at all limit the enrichment of the language with new words and grammatical rules. He implies that if a particular word is supplanted from active use by a new word, it should still be included in dictionaries as archaism. This guarantees the continuity and evolutionary development of Esperanto. The Esperanto Academy monitors vocabulary development. So far, she has made 9 official additions to UVs, including about 2000 words (more precisely, roots, from almost each of which only using affixes can be formed from 10 to 50 derivative words). The overwhelming majority of words function as informal.
The vocabulary of the Esperanto language is primarily formed by the so-called international words, or internationalisms, that is, words that have entered many languages of the world: teatro, dramo, sceno, komedio, gazeto, telegrafo, telefono, radio, literaturo, prozo, poezio, ideo, idealo, legendo, kongreso, konferenco, revolucio, komunismo, ekonomio, maŝino, lokomotivo, vagono, atomo, molekulo, medicino, gripo, angino, vulkano, eĥo, ĥaoso, rozo, askedo, tigro, kroamanared, etaĝo, ekzameno, ĥoro, jaĥto, kanalo, afiŝo, aŭtoro, strukturo, ekskurso, etc.
Most of these international words were included not only in almost all European languages, but also in many languages of the East. So, for example, a large number of internationalisms are noted in the Japanese language, in the languages of India, Turkish, somewhat less in Persian and Arabic.
An important place in the Esperanto dictionary is also occupied by such international words that are less widespread, but are common for at least one language family or group of languages: familio "family", papero "paper", sako "bag", ŝipo "Ship", ŝuo "boot", boto "boot", rapida "fast", jaro "year", tago "day", pomo "apple", dento "tooth", osto "bone", elefanto "elephant", kamelo "Camel", mano "hand", etc.
Many Latin and ancient Greek words are represented in Esperanto, referring mainly to scientific, technical and medical terminology, to the names of animals, plants, etc. Some of them can be considered as in the full sense international words known to a huge number of people, while others, being elements of scientific terminology and nomenclature, they are known to a much smaller circle of specialists: biologio "biology", geografio "geography", filozofio "philosophy", dialektiko "dialectics", hipertrofio "hypertrophy", histerio "hysteria", pneŭmonito "pneumonia", dialekto " dialect, epidemio epidemic, febro fever, paralizo paralysis, operacio operation, kverko oak, abio fir, brasiko cabbage, persiko peach, meleagro turkey, urogalo wood grouse, paruo tit, mirmekofago anteater, pirolo bullfinch, rosmaro walrus, lekanto daisy, lieno spleen, koturno quail, kratago hawthorn, kolimbo loon, hir leech ", helianto" sunflower " and many others.
Many prepositions and conjunctions are also borrowed from the Latin language: sub “under”, sur “on”, preter “by”, tamen “however,” sed “but”, etc.
The vocabulary of Esperanto contains words that are common in origin for the Indo-European languages of Europe and Asia (patro "father", frato "brother", nazo "nose", nova "new", etc.). Many Esperanto words are common to Romance and Germanic languages (sako "bag", etc.). Esperanto has even more words of Roman origin (betulo “birch”, bieno “estate”, burdo “bumblebee”, butiko “shop”, cervo “deer”, cikonio “stork”, ĉielo “sky”, degeli “to melt”, etc. ). There are fewer words common in origin for the Germanic languages (jaro "year", monato "month", tago "day", melki "to milk", knabo "boy", etc.). There is also a certain number of words common to all or several Slavic languages (vojevodo "voivode", starosto "elder", hetmano "ataman, hetman", etc.).
Some words from non-Indo-European languages have taken their rightful place in Esperanto, becoming internationalisms or reflecting local realities. These include cunamo "tsunami", kungfuo "kun (g) fu", ĵudo "judo", janiĉaro "janissary", ŝaŝliko "shish kebab", bumerango "boomerang", vigvamo "wigwam", efrito and many others ...
If we add to all that has been said that some Russian words proper have also entered Esperanto, it becomes clear that the vocabulary of this language is largely close to Russian. Here are some examples of words in Esperanto that are especially easily recognized by a native Russian speaker: vidi “to see”, sidi “to sit”, ĉerpi “to scoop up”, bani “to bathe”, barakti “to flounder”, kartavi “to burst”, klopodi “to bother”, gladi "to stroke", svati "to woo", paŝti "to graze", domo "house", nazo "nose", muso "mouse", muŝo "fly", sevrugo "stellate sturgeon", sterledo "sterlet", brovo "eyebrow", kreno "horseradish", serpo "sickle", toporo "ax", kolbaso "sausage", burko "burka", kaĉo "porridge", stepo "steppe", vosto "tail", bulko "bun", ŝtupo "step", rimeno "belt", soveto "council (authority)", bolŝevisto "bolshevik", kolĥozo "collective farm", sputniko "satellite", celo "target", nova "new", prava "right, correct", kruta "cool" , sama “the same”, du “two”, tri “three”, krom “except”, nepre “certainly”, vodko “vodka”, balalajko “balalaika”.
The internationality of the Esperanto vocabulary should not lull the attention, because in this language, like in any other, there are “false friends of the translator”. So, sledo means not “footprint”, but “sleigh, sled”, kravato - not “bed”, but “tie”, dura - not “fool” or “bad”, but “solid”; Esperanto mano has nothing to do with English man or German Mann, tasko with Italian tasca, and napo with French nappe.
1 In addition to Universala Vortaro, Fundamento includes books: Gramatiko (published in 1887 as part of the First Book) and Ekzercaro (published in 1894), as well as a foreword written by L. Zamenhof in 1905.
2 The commonality of Esperanto with the Russian language in the layer of the most common vocabulary, according to our observations, is 58.8%. The influence of the Russian language on the semantics and phraseology of Esperanto is also obvious, although it is difficult to measure. (Kolker B. G. International language Esperanto: a complete textbook / B. G. Kolker. - M., 2007. S. 85.)
This tutorial covers the following topics: Phrases, greetings, everyday expressions... This course is designed to help you learn grammar and improve vocabulary... Try to concentrate on the following examples, as they are very important for language learning.
Phrases
Grammar tips:
Phrases, greetings, everyday expressions are very important to study because they are used in everyday communication. Try to remember the new words that are available. Also try to write down words that you do not understand or expressions that you are not familiar with.
The following table shows some examples, please read them carefully and see if you can understand them.
You are done with the first table. Have you noticed any grammar patterns? Try to use the same words in different sentences.
Phrases - Expressions
The following table will help you understand this topic in more depth. It is important to memorize any new words you come across because you will need them later.
| Phrases | Phrases |
|---|---|
| green Tree | verda arbo |
| high building | alta konstruaĵo |
| very old man | tre maljuna viro |
| old red house | la malnova ruĝa domo |
| very good friend | tre bela amiko |
| I read a book sometimes | Mi legislation libron foje |
| I will never smoke | Mi neniam fumos |
| You by yourself? | vi estas sola? |
| he is happy | li estas feliĉa |
| she's happy | ŝi estas feliĉa |
| he is American | li estas Usona |
| she's American | ŝi estas Usona |
We hope this lesson helped you with grammar and vocabulary.
Probably, at least once everyone has heard about Esperanto - a universal language designed to become a global one. And although the world's most people still speak Chinese, this invention of the Polish doctor has its own history and perspectives. Where did Esperanto come from, what is this innovation in linguistics, who uses it - read on, and we will answer all these questions.
Hope for mutual understanding
Probably, since the construction of the Tower of Babel, mankind has experienced difficulties associated with a lack of understanding of the speech of other peoples.
The Esperanto language was developed to facilitate communication between people of different countries and cultures. It was first published in 1887 by Dr. Ludwik Lazar Zamenhof (1859-1917). He used the pseudonym "Doctor Esperanto", which means "one who hopes." So the name of his brainchild appeared, which he carefully developed over the years. The international language Esperanto should be used as a neutral language when speaking between people who do not know each other's language.
It even has its own flag. It looks like this:
Esperanto is much easier to learn than the common national languages that developed naturally. Its construction is streamlined and understandable.
Vocabulary
It would not be an exaggeration to say about Esperanto that it is one of the major European languages. Dr. Zamenhof took quite real words for his creation as a basis. About 75% of the vocabulary comes from Latin and Romance languages (especially French), 20% is from Germanic (German and English), and the rest of the expressions are taken from Slavic languages (Russian and Polish) and Greek (mostly scientific terms). Common words are widely used. Therefore, a person who speaks Russian, even without preparation, will be able to read about 40% of the text in Esperanto.
Phonetic writing is inherent in the language, that is, each word is pronounced exactly as it is written. There are no unpronounceable letters or exceptions, making it much easier to learn and use.
How many people speak Esperanto?
This is a very common question, but no one really knows the exact answer. The only way to reliably determine the number of people who speak Esperanto is to conduct a worldwide census, which, of course, is almost impossible.
Nevertheless, Professor Sidney Culbert of the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) has done the most comprehensive research on the use of this language. He has interviewed native speakers of Esperanto in dozens of countries around the world. Based on this study, Professor Culbert concluded that it is used by about two million people. This puts it on a par with languages such as Lithuanian and Hebrew.
Sometimes the number of Esperanto speakers is exaggerated or, conversely, minimized, the numbers vary from 100,000 to 8 million.
Popularity in Russia
The Esperanto language has many ardent admirers. Did you know that there is Esperanto Street in Russia too? Kazan became the first city of the then Russian Empire, where a club was opened dedicated to the study and dissemination of this language. It was founded by several intellectual activists who enthusiastically accepted the idea of Dr. Zamenhof and began to propagate it. Then the professors and students of Kazan University opened their own small club in 1906, which could not exist for a long time in the turbulent years of the early twentieth century. But after the Civil War, the movement resumed, even a newspaper about Esperanto appeared. The language became more and more popular, as it corresponded to the concept of the Communist Party, calling for the unification of different peoples in the name of the World Revolution. Therefore, in 1930, the street where the Esperanto club was located received a new name - Esperanto. However, in 1947 it was renamed again in honor of the politician. At the same time, involvement in the study of this language became dangerous, and since then its popularity has dropped significantly. But the Esperantists did not give up, and in 1988 the street got its former name.
All in all, there are about 1000 native speakers in Russia. On the one hand, this is not enough, but on the other hand, considering that the language is learned only by enthusiasts in clubs, this is not such a small figure.
Letters
The alphabet is based on Latin. It contains 28 letters. Since each of them corresponds to the sound, there are also 28 of them, namely: 21 consonants, 5 vowels and 2 semi-vowels.
In Esperanto, letters familiar to us from the Latin alphabet sometimes go in twos and are written with a "house" (an inverted checkmark at the top). So Dr. Zamenhof introduced new sounds that were needed for his language.
Grammar and sentence construction
Here, too, the main principle of Esperanto is professed - simplicity and clarity. There are no genders in the language, and the order of words in a sentence is arbitrary. There are only two cases, three tenses and three. There is an extensive system of prefixes and suffixes with which you can create many new words from one root.
Flexible word order in a sentence allows members of different people to use the structures with which they are most familiar, while still speaking in perfectly understandable and grammatically correct Esperanto.
Practical use
New knowledge never hurts, but here are some specific benefits you can get from learning Esperanto:
- It is an ideal second language that can be learned quickly and easily.
- The ability to correspond with dozens of people from other countries.
- It can be used to see the world. There are lists of Esperantists who are willing to host other native speakers for free in their own home or apartment.
- International understanding. Esperanto helps break down language barriers between countries.
- The opportunity to meet people from other countries at conventions, or when foreign Esperantists come to visit you. It is also a good way to meet interesting compatriots.
- International equality. When using the national language, someone must make an effort to learn a speech that is unfamiliar to him, and someone only uses the knowledge from birth. Esperanto is a step towards each other, because both interlocutors worked hard to learn it and make communication possible.
- Translations of literary masterpieces. Many works have been translated into Esperanto, some of them may not be available in the native language of the Esperantist.
disadvantages
For more than 100 years, the most widely used artificial language has had both fans and critics. They say about Esperanto that it is just another amusing relic, just like phrenology or spiritualism. For all the time of its existence, it never became a world language. Moreover, humanity does not show much enthusiasm for this idea.
Critics also argue about Esperanto that it is not an easy language, but a difficult language to learn. There are many unspoken rules in his grammar, and writing letters is difficult on a modern keyboard. Representatives from different countries are constantly trying to make their own amendments to improve it. This leads to controversy and differences in teaching materials. Its euphony is also questioned.
But fans of this language argue that 100 years is too little for the whole world to speak the same language, and given the current number of native speakers, Esperanto has its own future.
According to the calculations of scientists, the number of languages spoken by the world's population is 4,000. In some countries, people use multiple languages, and sometimes in different parts of the country they use different variants or dialects of the same language. In such cases, the "official" state language is chosen for the calculations. This is the language in which all state documents are written, teaching is carried out in schools, the media (television, radio) operate.
In different parts of the world there are languages that do not have a written language. For example, the languages of some tribes in Australia and Africa exist only orally. Such languages often disappear after their speakers begin to speak the official language of the country in which they live.
And some languages are spoken in many parts of the world. One of the reasons languages such as English and Spanish are spoken in many countries is that the people who speak them conquered foreign lands and replaced the national cultures and languages existing there with theirs.
For a long time, people have been trying to destroy language barriers and for this they are trying to invent a universal universal language, simple and accessible to everyone. Esperanto is considered the best of these languages.
Is a planned (i.e. artificially created) language. According to some reports, today it is owned by 2 to 16 million people... Esperanto was created in 1887 by the Polish physician Ludwik Eliezer Zamenhof. The name of the language was the pseudonym of the doctor Esperanto, which means "hopeful" in Esperanto.
This language is based on international words (mainly of Romanesque origin, with Germanic and Slavic elements), which are understandable to many without translation, and a simple grammatical structure. The simplicity of the vocabulary and structure of Esperanto allows you to learn the language in a short time. And in the future, knowing Esperanto makes it easier to learn other languages. Despite the elementary structure of Esperanto, the language is very euphonic and has sufficient expressive capabilities, which made it possible to translate many world classics into Esperanto and create original literature in this language, including poetry. More than 200 books are published annually in Esperanto and about 300 periodicals are published.
What are the features of Esperanto that make it so easy to learn. International vocabulary; phonetic writing: letters of the Latin alphabet are used; constant stress on the penultimate syllable. Derivative affixes make it possible to produce the entire vocabulary of the language from a limited number of already known roots. For example, the affix mal is an indicator of the opposite meaning, if this affix is added to the word granda “big”, we get malgranda “small”.
Esperanto grammar strictly normalized and does not provide for any exceptions: only 11 endings are used, denoting parts of speech (-o) for nouns, (-a) for adjectives, (-i) for verbs in the infinitive, (-e) for adverbs); the plural is indicated by the ending (-j), the accusative case - (-n), the tenses of the verb: present - (-as), past - (-is), and future - (-os), subjunctive and imperative - ( -us), (-u) respectively. The conjugation of verbs includes only 12 forms, only one auxiliary verb esti "to be" is used. Suffixes are used to form participles, and analytical indicators are used for degrees of comparison, difficult tenses and the passive voice.
During the existence of Esperanto, the language has undergone some changes: the number of words increases (due to scientific and technical terms), new areas of use are mastered, various functional styles arise, words are shortened and their morphological structure is simplified.
was created in order to become a second language for everyone on a global scale. This would allow for greater mutual understanding between peoples. Knowledge of this language gives some advantages to those who speak it: the circle of communication with foreign citizens expands, you can get acquainted with literary works that have not been translated into a person's native language, but are available in translation into Esperanto. But in order to appreciate all the possibilities that the knowledge of Esperanto opens up, it is necessary to learn this language.
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