[edit] Consonants

The 22 consonants are:

The sound /r/ is usually rolled, but may be tapped [ɾ]. The /v/ has a normative pronunciation like an English v, but is sometimes somewhere between a v and a w, [ʋ], depending on the language background of the speaker. A semivowel /u̯/ normally occurs only in diphthongs after the vowels /a/ and /e/, not as a consonant *http://en.wikipedia.org/w/. Common, if debated, assimilation includes the pronunciation of /nk/ as [ŋk], as in English sink, and /kz/ as [gz], like the x in English example.

A large number of consonant clusters can occur, up to three in initial position and four in medial position, as in instrui "to teach". Final clusters are uncommon except in foreign names, poetic elision of final o, and a very few basic words such as cent "hundred" and post "after".

[edit] Vowels

Esperanto has the five cardinal vowels of Spanish, Swahili, and Modern Greek.

There are also two semivowels, /i̯, u̯/, which combine with the vowels to form six falling diphthongs: uj, oj, ej, aj, aŭ, eŭ (/ui̯, oi̯, ei̯, ai̯, au̯, eu̯/).

With only five vowels, a good deal of variation is tolerated. For instance, /e/ commonly ranges from [e] (French é) to [ɛ] (French è). The details often depend on the speaker's native language. A glottal stop may occur between adjacent vowels in some people's speech, especially when the two vowels are the same, as in heroo "hero" ([he.ˈro.o] or [he.ˈro.ʔo]) and praavo "great-grandfather" ([pra.ˈa.vo] or [pra.ˈʔa.vo]).

[edit] Grammar

Main article: Esperanto grammar

Esperanto words are derived by stringing together prefixes, roots, and suffixes. This process is regular, so that people can create new words as they speak and be understood. Compound words are formed with a modifier-first, head-final order, the same order as English "birdsong" vs. "songbird".

The different parts of speech are marked by their own suffixes: all common nouns end in -o, all adjectives in -a, all derived adverbs in -e, and all verbs in one of six tense and mood suffixes, such as present tense -as.

Plural nouns end in -oj (pronounced "oy"), whereas direct objects end in -on. Plural direct objects end with the combination -ojn (pronounced to rhyme with "coin"): That is, -o for a noun, plus -j for plural, plus -n for direct object. Adjectives agree with their nouns; their endings are plural -aj (pronounced "eye"), direct-object -an, and plural direct-object -ajn (pronounced to rhyme with "fine").

The suffix -n is used to indicate the goal of movement and a few other things, in addition to the direct object. See Esperanto grammar for details.

The six verb inflections consist of three tenses and three moods. They are present tense -as, future tense -os, past tense -is, infinitive mood -i, conditional mood -us, and jussive mood -u (used for wishes and commands). Verbs are not marked for person or number. For instance: kanti "to sing"; mi kantas "I sing"; mi kantis "I sang"; mi kantos "I will sing"; li kantas "he sings"; vi kantas "you sing".

Word order is comparatively free: Adjectives may precede or follow nouns, and subjects, verbs and objects (marked by the suffix -n) may occur in any order. However, the article la "the" and demonstratives such as tiu "this, that" almost always come before the noun, and a preposition such as ĉe "at" must come before it. Similarly, the negative ne "not" and conjunctions such as kaj "both, and" and ke "that" must precede the phrase or clause they introduce. In copular (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as it is in English clauses like "people are dogs" vs. "dogs are people".

[edit] Vocabulary

Main article: Esperanto vocabulary

The core vocabulary of Esperanto was defined by Lingvo internacia, published by Zamenhof in 1887. It comprised 900 roots, which could be expanded into tens of thousands of words with prefixes, suffixes, and compounding. In 1894, Zamenhof published the first Esperanto dictionary, Universala Vortaro, with a larger set of roots. However, the rules of the language allowed speakers to borrow new roots as needed, recommending only that they look for the most international forms, and then derive related meanings from these.

Since then, many words have been borrowed, primarily but not solely from the Western European languages. Not all proposed borrowings catch on, but many do, especially technical and scientific terms. Terms for everyday use, on the other hand, are more likely to be derived from existing roots—for example komputilo (a computer) from komputi (to compute) plus the suffix -ilo (tool)—or to be covered by extending the meanings of existing words (for example muso (a mouse), as in English, now also means a computer input device). There are frequent debates among Esperanto speakers about whether a particular borrowing is justified or whether the need can be met by deriving from or extending the meaning of existing words.

In addition to the root words and the rules for combining them, a learner of Esperanto must memorize some idiomatic compounds that are not entirely straightforward. For example, eldoni, literally "to give out", is used for "to publish" (a calque of words in several European languages with the same derivation), and vortaro, literally "a collection of words", means "a glossary" or "a dictionary". Such forms are modeled after usage in some European languages, and speakers of other languages may find them illogical. Fossilized derivations inherited from Esperanto's source languages may be similarly obscure, such as the opaque connection the root word centralo "power station" has with centro "center". Compounds with -um- are overtly arbitrary, and must be learned individually, as -um- has no defined meaning. It turns dekstren "to the right" into dekstrumen "clockwise", and komuna "common/shared" into komunumo "community", for example.

Nevertheless, there are not nearly as many idiomatic or slang words in Esperanto as in ethnic languages, as these tend to make international communication difficult, working against Esperanto's main goal.

[edit] Useful phrases

Here are some useful Esperanto phrases, with IPA transcriptions:

• Hello: Saluton /sa.ˈlu.ton/
• What is your name?: Kiel vi nomiĝas? /ˈki.el vi no.ˈmi.ʤas/
• My name is...: Mi nomiĝas... /mi no.ˈmi.ʤas/
• How much (is it/are they)?: Kiom (estas)? /ˈki.om ˈes.tas/
• Here you are: Jen /jen/
• Do you speak Esperanto?: Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton? /ˈʧu vi pa.ˈro.las es.pe.ˈran.ton/
• I do not understand you: Mi ne komprenas vin /mi ˈne kom.ˈpre.nas vin/
• I like this one: Ĉi tiu plaĉas al mi /ʧi ˈti.u ˈpla.ʧas al ˈmi/ or Mi ŝatas tiun ĉi /mi ˈʃa.tas ˈti.un ˈʧi/
• Thank you: Dankon /ˈdan.kon/
• You're welcome: Ne dankinde /ˈne dan.ˈkin.de/
• Please: Bonvolu /bon.ˈvo.lu/ or mi petas /mi ˈpe.tas/
• Here's to your health: Je via sano /je ˈvi.a ˈsa.no/
• Bless you!/Gesundheit!: Sanon! /ˈsa.non/
• Congratulations!: Gratulon! /ɡra.ˈtu.lon/
• Okay: Bone /ˈbo.ne/ or Ĝuste /ˈʤus.te/
• Yes: Jes /ˈjes/
• No: Ne /ˈne/
• It is a nice day: Estas bela tago /ˈes.tas ˈbe.la ˈta.ɡo/
• I love you: Mi amas vin /mi ˈa.mas vin/
• Goodbye: Ĝis (la) (revido) /ʤis la re.ˈvi.do/
• One beer, please: Unu bieron, mi petas. /ˈu.nu bi.ˈe.ron, mi ˈpe.tas/
• What is that?: Kio estas tio? /ˈki.o ˈes.tas ˈti.o/
• That is...: Tio estas... /ˈti.o ˈes.tas/
• How are you?: Kiel vi (fartas)? /ˈki.el vi ˈfar.tas/
• Good morning!: Bonan matenon! /ˈbo.nan ma.ˈte.non/
• Good evening!: Bonan vesperon! /ˈbo.nan ves.ˈpe.ron/
• Good night!: Bonan nokton! /ˈbo.nan ˈnok.ton/
• Peace!: Pacon! /ˈpa.tson/

[edit] Sample text

The following short extract gives an idea of the character of Esperanto.^[13] (Pronunciation is covered above. The main point for English speakers to remember is that the letter 'J' has the sound of the letter 'Y' in English)

• Esperanto text

En multaj lokoj de Ĉinio estis temploj de drako-reĝo. Dum trosekeco oni preĝis en la temploj, ke la drako-reĝo donu pluvon al la homa mondo. Tiam drako estis simbolo de la supernatura estaĵo. Kaj pli poste, ĝi fariĝis prapatro de la plej altaj regantoj kaj simbolis la absolutan aŭtoritaton de feŭda imperiestro. La imperiestro pretendis, ke li estas filo de la drako. Ĉiuj liaj vivbezonaĵoj portis la nomon drako kaj estis ornamitaj per diversaj drakofiguroj. Nun ĉie en Ĉinio videblas drako-ornamentaĵoj kaj cirkulas legendoj pri drakoj.

• English Translation:

In many places in China there were temples of the dragon king. During times of drought, people prayed in the temples, that the dragon king would give rain to the human world. At that time the dragon was a symbol of the supernatural. Later on, it became the ancestor of the highest rulers and symbolised the absolute authority of the feudal emperor. The emperor claimed to be the son of the dragon. All of his personal possessions carried the name dragon and were decorated with various dragon figures. Now everywhere in China dragon decorations can be seen and there circulate legends about dragons.

[edit] Education

The majority of Esperanto speakers learn the language through self-directed study, online tutorials, and correspondence courses taught by volunteers. In more recent years, teaching websites like lernu! have become popular.

Esperanto instruction is occasionally available at schools, such as a pilot project involving four primary schools under the supervision of the University of Manchester, and by one count at 69 universities.^[14] However, outside of China and Hungary, these mostly involve informal arrangements rather than dedicated departments or state sponsorship. Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest had a department of Interlinguistics and Esperanto from 1966 to 2004, after which time instruction moved to vocational colleges; there are state examinations for Esperanto instructors.^[15][16]

Various educators have estimated that Esperanto can be learned in anywhere from one quarter to one twentieth the amount of time required for other languages.^[17] Some argue, however, that this is only true for native speakers of Western European languages.^[18] Claude Piron, a psychologist formerly at the University of Geneva and Chinese-English-Russian-Spanish translator for the United Nations, argued that Esperanto is far more "brain friendly" than many ethnic languages. "Esperanto relies entirely on innate reflexes [and] differs from all other languages in that you can always trust your natural tendency to generalize patterns. [...] The same neuropsychological law [— called by] Jean Piaget generalizing assimilation – applies to word formation as well as to grammar."^[19]

[edit] Language acquisition

Main article: Propaedeutic value of Esperanto

Four primary schools in Britain, with some 230 pupils, are currently following a course in "propedeutic Esperanto", under the supervision of the University of Manchester. That is, instruction in Esperanto to raise language awareness and accelerate subsequent learning of foreign languages.^[20] Several studies demonstrate that studying Esperanto before another foreign language speeds and improves learning the second language to a greater extent than other languages which have been investigated. This appears to be because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible auxiliary language like Esperanto lessens the first-language learning hurdle. In one study,^[21] a group of European secondary school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group, who studied French for all four years. Similar results were found when the course of study was reduced to two years, of which six months was spent learning Esperanto. Results are not yet available from a study in Australia to see if similar benefits would occur for learning East Asian languages, but the pupils taking Esperanto did better and enjoyed the subject more than those taking other languages.^[22]

[edit] Community

[edit] Geography and demography

A map showing possible lodgings and hosting locations by Pasporta Servo in 2005.

Esperanto is by far the most widely spoken constructed language in the world. Speakers are most numerous in Europe and East Asia, especially in urban areas.^[23] Esperanto is particularly prevalent in the northern and eastern countries of Europe; in China, Korea, Japan, and Iran within Asia; in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico in the Americas;^[1] and in Togo in Africa.^[24]

[edit] Number of speakers

An estimate of the number of Esperanto speakers was made by the late Sidney S. Culbert, a retired psychology professor at the University of Washington and a longtime Esperantist, who tracked down and tested Esperanto speakers in sample areas in dozens of countries over a period of twenty years. Culbert concluded that between one and two million people speak Esperanto at Foreign Service Level 3, "professionally proficient" (able to communicate moderately complex ideas without hesitation, and to follow speeches, radio broadcasts, etc.).^[25] Culbert's estimate was not made for Esperanto alone, but formed part of his listing of estimates for all languages of over 1 million speakers, published annually in the World Almanac and Book of Facts. Culbert's most detailed account of his methodology is found in a 1989 letter to David Wolff^[26]. Since Culbert never published detailed intermediate results for particular countries and regions, it is difficult to independently gauge the accuracy of his results.

In the Almanac, his estimates for numbers of language speakers were rounded to the nearest million, thus the number for Esperanto speakers is shown as 2 million. This latter figure appears in Ethnologue. Assuming that this figure is accurate, that means that about 0.03% of the world's population speaks the language. This falls short of Zamenhof's goal of a universal language, but it represents a level of popularity unmatched by any other constructed language.

Marcus Sikosek (now Ziko van Dijk) has challenged this figure of 1.6 million as exaggerated. He estimated that even if Esperanto speakers were evenly distributed, assuming one million Esperanto speakers worldwide would lead one to expect about 180 in the city of Cologne. Van Dijk finds only 30 fluent speakers in that city, and similarly smaller than expected figures in several other places thought to have a larger-than-average concentration of Esperanto speakers. He also notes that there are a total of about 20,000 members of the various Esperanto organizations (other estimates are higher). Though there are undoubtedly many Esperanto speakers who are not members of any Esperanto organization, he thinks it unlikely that there are fifty times more speakers than organization members.^[23]

Finnish linguist Jouko Lindstedt, an expert on native-born Esperanto speakers, presented the following scheme^[27] to show the overall proportions of language capabilities within the Esperanto community:

• 1,000 have Esperanto as their native language
• 10,000 speak it fluently
• 100,000 can use it actively
• 1,000,000 understand a large amount passively
• 10,000,000 have studied it to some extent at some time.

In the absence of Dr. Culbert's detailed sampling data, or any other census data, it is impossible to state the number of speakers with certainty. Few observers, probably, would challenge the following statement from the website of the World Esperanto Association:

Numbers of textbooks sold and membership of local societies put the number of people with some knowledge of the language in the hundreds of thousands and possibly millions.^[28]

[edit] Native speakers

Main article: Native Esperanto speakers

Ethnologue reports estimates that there are 200 to 2000 native Esperanto speakers (denaskuloj), who have learned the language from birth from their Esperanto-speaking parents.^[1] This usually happens when Esperanto is the chief or only common language in an international family, but sometimes in a family of devoted Esperantists.

The most famous native speaker of Esperanto is businessman George Soros.^[28] Teodoro Schwartz, his father, was an Esperantist.^[28] Also notable is young Holocaust victim Petr Ginz, whose drawing of the planet Earth as viewed from the moon was carried aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003 (STS-107).

[edit] Culture

Monato, the most popular Esperanto news magazine. (The large print reads "15 years after the loss of empire".)

Main articles: Esperanto culture, Esperanto literature, Esperanto film, and Esperanto music

Esperanto speakers can access an international culture, including a large body of original as well as translated literature. There are over 25,000 Esperanto books, both originals and translations, as well as several regularly distributed Esperanto magazines. Esperanto speakers use the language for free accommodations with Esperantists in 92 countries using the Pasporta Servo or to develop pen pal friendships abroad through the Esperanto Pen Pal Service.^[29]

Every year, 1,500-3,000 Esperanto speakers meet for the World Congress of Esperanto (Universala Kongreso de Esperanto).^[30] The European Esperanto Union (Eŭropa Esperanto-Unio) regroups the national Esperanto associations of the EU member states and holds congresses every two years. The most recent was in Maribor, Slovenia, in July-August 2007. It attracted 256 delegates from 28 countries, including 2 members of the European Parliament, Ms. Małgorzata Handzlik of Poland and Ms. Ljudmila Novak of Slovenia.

Esperanto as used in the Icelandic Phallological Museum

Historically, much Esperanto music has been in various folk traditions, such as Kaj Tiel Plu, for example.^[31] In recent decades, more rock and other modern genres have appeared, an example being the Swedish band Persone.^[32]

There are also shared traditions, such as Zamenhof Day, and shared behaviour patterns. Esperantists speak primarily in Esperanto at international Esperanto meetings.

Detractors of Esperanto occasionally criticize it as "having no culture". Proponents, such as Prof. Humphrey Tonkin of the University of Hartford, observe that Esperanto is "culturally neutral by design, as it was intended to be a facilitator between cultures, not to be the carrier of any one national culture." The late Scottish Esperanto author William Auld has written extensively on the subject, arguing that Esperanto is "the expression of a common human culture, unencumbered by national frontiers. Thus it is considered a culture on its own."^[33] Others point to Esperanto's potential for strengthening a common European identity, as it combines features of several European languages.

[edit] Famous authors in Esperanto

Some of the best-known authors of works in Esperanto are:

[edit] In popular culture

Main article: Esperanto in popular culture

Esperanto has been used in a number of films and novels. Typically, this is done either to add the exotic flavour of a foreign language without representing any particular ethnicity, or to avoid going to the trouble of inventing a new language. The Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator (1940) showed Jewish ghetto shops designated in Esperanto, each with the general Esperanto suffix -ejo (meaning "place for..."), in order to convey the atmosphere of some 'foreign' East European country without referencing any particular East European language.

Two full-length feature films have been produced with dialogue entirely in Esperanto: Angoroj, in 1964, and Incubus, a 1965 B-movie horror film. Canadian actor, William Shatner learned Esperanto to a limited level so that he could star in Incubus.

Other amateur productions have been made, such as a dramatisation of the novel Gerda Malaperis (Gerda Has Disappeared). A number of "mainstream" films in national languages have used Esperanto in some way, such as Gattaca (1997), in which Esperanto can be overheard on the public address system. In the 1994 film Street Fighter, Esperanto is the native language of the fictional country of Shadaloo, and in a barracks scene the soldiers of villain M. Bison sing a rousing Russian Army-style chorus, the "Bison Troopers Marching Song", in the language. Esperanto is also spoken and appears on signs in the film Blade: Trinity.

In the British comedy Red Dwarf, Arnold Rimmer is seen attempting to learn Esperanto in a number of early episodes, including Kryten. In the first season, signs on the titular spacecraft are in both English and Esperanto. Esperanto is used as the universal language in the far future of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld stories.

[edit] In Science

In 1921 the French Academy of Sciences recommended using Esperanto for international scientific communication. A few scientists and mathematicians, such as Maurice Fréchet (mathematics), John C. Wells (linguistics), Helmar Frank (pedagogy and cybernetics), and Nobel laureate Reinhard Selten (economics) have published part of their work in Esperanto. Frank and Selten were among the founders of the International Academy of Sciences in San Marino, sometimes called the "Esperanto University", where Esperanto is the primary language of teaching and administration.

[edit] Goals of the movement

Zamenhof's intention was to create an easy-to-learn language to foster international understanding. It was to serve as an international auxiliary language, that is, as a universal second language, not to replace ethnic languages. This goal was widely shared among Esperanto speakers in the early decades of the movement. Later, Esperanto speakers began to see the language and the culture that had grown up around it as ends in themselves, even if Esperanto is never adopted by the United Nations or other international organizations.

.