Esperanto - what is it? International language of Esperanto

Probably, at least once everyone has heard about Esperanto - a universal language, designed to become a worldwide language. And although in the world until now most people speak Chinese, this invention of the Polish doctor has its own history and perspectives. Whence there was an Esperanto, what is this innovation in linguistics, who uses it - read further, and we will answer all these questions.

Hope for mutual understanding

Probably, since the construction of the Tower of Babel, humanity is experiencing difficulties associated with a lack of understanding of the speech of other peoples.

Esperanto was designed to facilitate communication between people from 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 "he who hopes." So the name of his brainchild appeared, which he carefully developed over the years. The international language of Esperanto should be used as a neutral language when talking between people who do not know each other's languages.

He even has his own flag. It looks like this:

The artificial language of Esperanto is much easier to learn than ordinary national languages, which developed naturally. Its design is orderly and understandable.

Lexicon

It would not be an exaggeration to say about Esperanto, that it is a composite hodgepodge of major European languages. Dr. Zamenhof took as a basis quite real words for his creation. About 75% of the vocabulary comes from Latin and Romance languages (especially French), 20% is Germanic (German and English), and the remaining expressions are taken from the Slavic languages (Russian and Polish) and Greek (mostly scientific terms). Commonly used 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.

Language has a phonetic writing, that is, every word is pronounced exactly as it is written. There are no unpronounceable letters or exceptions, which greatly facilitates its study and use.

How many people speak Esperanto?

This is a very common question, but in fact no one knows the exact answer. The only way to reliably determine the number of people who speak Esperanto is to carry out a worldwide census, which, of course, is almost impossible.

Nevertheless, Professor Sydney Coulbert of the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) made the most comprehensive study on the use of this language. He conducted interviews with native speakers of Esperanto in dozens of countries around the world. Based on this study, Professor Coulbert came to the conclusion that it is used by about two million people. This puts it on a par with such languages as Lithuanian and Hebrew.

Sometimes the number of speakers of Esperanto is exaggerated or, conversely, minimized, figures range from 100,000 to 8 million people.

Popularity in Russia

The language of Esperanto has many ardent admirers. Do you know that there is an Esperanto street in Russia? Kazan was 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 Dr. Zamenhof's idea and began to propagate it. Then, professors and students of Kazan University opened their own small club in 1906, which could not last long in the turbulent years of the beginning of the twentieth century. But after the Civil War the movement resumed, even a newspaper appeared on Esperanto. Language became increasingly 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 on which the Esperanto club was located was given a new name - Esperanto. However, in 1947 it was again renamed in honor of a politician. At the same time, the involvement in the study of this language has become dangerous, and since then its popularity has fallen significantly. But Esperanto did not give up, and in 1988 the street got its former name.

In total, there are about 1000 native speakers in Russia. On the one hand, this is not enough, but on the other hand, if we consider that only enthusiasts in clubs are studying the language, this is not such a small figure.

Letters

The alphabet is based on Latin. It contains 28 letters. Since each of them corresponds to sound, there are also 28 of them, namely: 21 consonants, 5 vowels and 2 half-voices.

In Esperanto, letters familiar to us from the Latin alphabet, sometimes go by two and are written with a "house" (an inverted check mark on 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. In the language there are no genera, and the word order in the sentence is arbitrary. There are only two cases, three times and three moods of verbs. There is an extensive system of prefixes and suffixes, with which you can create many new words from one root.

The flexible word order in the sentence allows representatives of different language families to use the structures with which they are most familiar, but at the same time speak a perfectly understandable and grammatically correct Esperanto.

Practical use

New knowledge will never interfere, but here's what concrete benefits you can get from learning Esperanto:

• This is the perfect second language, which can be learned quickly and easily.
• 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 ready to receive free of charge other speakers in their own house or apartment.
• International understanding. Esperanto helps break down the language barriers between countries.
• The possibility of meeting people from other countries at congresses, or when foreign Esperantists come to visit you. This is also a good way to get to know interesting compatriots.

• International equality. When using a national language, one should make an effort to learn an unfamiliar speech, and someone only uses knowledge from birth. Esperanto is a step towards each other, because both companions have worked hard to study it and make communication possible.
• Translations of masterpieces of literature. Many works have been translated into Esperanto, some of them may not be available in the native language of the Esperanto.

disadvantages

For more than 100 years, the most common artificial language has appeared both admirers and critics. They talk about Esperanto, that this is just another funny relic of the Victorian era, the same as phrenology or spiritualism. For all of its existence, it has never become a universal language. Moreover, humanity does not show much enthusiasm for this idea.

Also, critics say about Esperanto, that this is not a simple, but a difficult language for learning. In his grammar there are many unspoken rules, and writing letters is difficult on a modern keyboard. Representatives of different countries constantly try to make their own amendments to improve it. This leads to disputes and differences in the training materials. Also, his euphoniousness is put into question.

But fans of this language argue that for the whole world to speak the same language, 100 years is too little, and given the current number of native speakers, Esperanto has its future.