Esperanto

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

The flag of Esperanto
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The flag of Esperanto

Esperanto is a special language that was made to be very easy to learn. It was made in the end of the nineteenth century by Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, a Polish doctor. Zamenhof made Esperanto because he wanted there to be an easy language that everyone could learn, so that people from different parts of the world could easily talk together.

The name "Esperanto" comes from the name that Zamenhof used for himself when he wrote the first book about the new language, Lingvo internacia. Antaŭparolo kaj plena lernolibro ("An International Language - Introduction and Complete Textbook"). The book appeared in 1887. The name he used when writing this book was "Doktoro Esperanto", which means "Doctor Hopeful."


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[edit] Esperanto culture

People who speak Esperanto are often called Esperantists. No one knows exactly how many people now speak Esperanto. The most common estimates are between several hundred thousand and 2 million speakers around the world. It is estimated that 1000 people know Esperanto from birth (because they learned it from their parents, in addition to learning a national language like English or Polish.)

Many people use Esperanto to communicate by mail or email or blogs with Esperantists in other countries. Some people travel and meet other Esperantists in person.

There are annual meetings. The largest is the Universala Kongreso de Esperanto (Universal Congress of Esperanto), held in a different country each year. In recent years it has had over 2000 people from 60 or more countries.

There are books and magazines written in Esperanto, and much literature translated into Esperanto from other languages. This includes famous works like the Bible and plays by Shakespeare, as well as less famous works which do not have English translations.

There are bands who sing in Esperanto, perform live concerts and sell recordings of their music.

There are radio stations which broadcast partly in Esperanto. For example, a Polish radio station has a half hour Esperanto broadcast every day, and a Chinese station has an hour every day.

[edit] The language

Esperanto uses words from some other languages, such as Latin, Russian, and German.

The Esperanto alphabet has 28 letters. These letters are:

a b c ĉ d e f g ĝ h ĥ i j ĵ k l m n o p r s ŝ t u ŭ v z

A in Esperanto is like the a in father, b is just like the b in English, c is like ts is lets, ĉ is like ch in chocolate, d is just like the d in English, e is like the e in met, f is like the f in flower, g is like the g in go, ĝ is like the g in gem, h is like the h in honey, ĥ makes a sound that vibrates your throat (the sound does not exist in English, when it appears in names one writes kh), i is like the ee in speed, j is like the y in you, ĵ is like the s in pleasure, k is just like the English k, l is just like the l in English, m is just like the English m, n is just like the English n, o is similar to the English o, but it's shorter, p is just like the English p, r is a rolled r, s is like the English s in simple, ŝ is like the sh in short, t is just like the English t, u is like the oe in shoe, ŭ is similar to w, v is the same as the v in English, and z is like the z in zipper.

There is no Q, W, X, or Y in the Esperanto language.

[edit] Grammar

The rules for using the language (grammar) are very simple. When you learn a rule in the Esperanto language, it never changes and you can always use it.

The basic words are: mi - I, vi - you, li - he, ŝi - she, ĝi - it, la - the, jes - yes, ne - no.

Nouns end in -o. For example, patro means father. To make a noun plural you must only add -j. For example: patroj means fathers.

Verbs end in -as when they are in present tense. In English, you must say I am, you are, he is. But in Esperanto, there is just one word for am, are, is - estas. Similarly, kuras can mean run or runs. Infinitives end in -i. For example, esti means to be, povi means can. It is easy to make past tense - you always add -is ending. To make future tense, add -os For example:

  • kuri - to run
  • mi kuras - I run
  • vi kuras - you run
  • li kuris - he ran
  • ĝi kuros - it will run

Adjectives end in -a, adverbs end in -e, for example rapide means fast, granda means big, bona means good, bone means well.

Many words can be made opposite by adding mal at the beginning.

  • bona = good. malbona = bad
  • bone = well, malbone = poorly
  • granda = big, malgranda = small
  • peza = heavy, malpeza = light

Examples of sentences which show the rules:

  • Mi povas kuri rapide. = I can run fast.
  • Vi ne povas kuri rapide. = You cannot run fast.
  • Mi estas knabo. = I am a boy.
  • Mi estas malbona Esperantisto. = I am a bad Esperantist.

To make a yes-or-no question, you must say Ĉu at the beginning. For example:

  • Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton? = Do you speak Esperanto?
  • Jes, mi parolas Esperanton tre bone. = Yes, I speak Esperanto very well.
  • Ne, mi estas komencanto. = No, I am a beginner.

The numbers are:

0 nul
1 unu
2 du
3 tri
4 kvar
5 kvin
6 ses
7 sep
8 ok
9 naŭ
10 dek
100 cent
1000 mil

Mia means my, via means your, lia means his. So if you want to say how old is somebody in Esperanto, just say:

  • Lia aĝo estas dudek = He is twenty (20) years old.

Esperanto has over 20 special words which can change meaning of another word. Some of them are:

  • mal- (added before the word) makes the word opposite.
  • bo- (added before the word) makes the word "in-law". So patro means a father, but bopatro means a father-in-law.
  • -ej- (added after the word, but before the ending) means place. So lerni means to learn, but lernejo means a school.
  • -in- (added after the word, but before the ending) changes the gender of a word into female. So patro means a father, but patrino means a mother.
  • -ar- (added after the word, but before the ending) means many things of the same kind. So arbo means a tree, but arbaro means a forest.
  • -ist- (added after the word, but before the ending) means somebody who does something as a profession. So baki" means "to bake" and "bakisto" means "a baker", scienco is science, so sciencisto is a (professional) scientist. Esperantisto means a speaker of Esperanto.

These words combined can make a very complicated word, like malmultekosta (cheap), vendredviandmanĝmalpermeso (that you cannot eat meat on Friday)

[edit] External links