Esperanto (the Universal Language)

The Student's Complete Text Book; Containing Full Grammar, Exercises, Conversations, Commercial Letters, and Two Vocabularies

John Charles O'Connor

• Publisher: Left of Brain Books
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781396321030
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Anyone who has ever traveled knows the challenge of language barriers. These are caused by the different languages and dialects across the world. Perhaps the solution to those barriers lies within this book.

This is an entry-level text for learning the language of Esperanto. Unlike nearly every other language on Earth, Esperanto is a constructed language, created by Dr. L. L. Zamenhoej in the late 19th century. This book contains not only the vocabulary, mechanics, grammar, and syntax of Esperanto, but also the hopes and dreams of Dr. Zamenhoej. His goal was to create an easy to understand language that the whole world could learn to tear down an ancient barrier that had kept people apart. As George Soros put it - "Esperanto was a very useful language, because wherever you went, you found someone to speak with."

After using this book, the dedicated student will be able to read, speak, and write in Esperanto. The text is divided into three sections, each working towards one of the aforementioned goals, but they can be worked on in any order and still be equally effective. By the conclusion of study, the reader will be able to use a vocabulary of roughly 800 words to effectively correspond in Esperanto.

PART I. — THE ESPERANTO GRAMMAR

The Alphabet.

1. There are twenty-eight letters in the alphabet, viz.:—

Aa, Dd, Ĝĝ, Jj, Mm, Rr, Uu,

Bb, Ee, Hh, Ĵĵ, Nn, Ss, Ŭŭ,

Cc, Ff, Ĥĥ, Kk, Oo, Ŝŝ, Vv,

Ĉĉ, Gg, Ii, Ll, Pp, Tt, Zz.

2. With the exception of the following, these letters are pronounced exactly as in English:—

A is always pronounced as “a” in father.

E “ “ “ “a” in cake.

I “ “ “ “ee” in seen.

O “ “ “ “o” in so.

U “ “ “ “u” in rule.

C “ “ “ “ts” in Tsar.

Ĉ “ “ “ “ch” in church.

G “ “ “ “g” in good.

Ĝ “ “ “ “g” in gem.

Ĥ “ “ “ “ch” in loch.

J “ “ “ “y” in yes.

Ĵ “ “ “ “z” in azure.

S “ “ “ “s” in basin, never like “s” in rose.

Ŝ “ “ “ “sh” in she.

Aŭ “ “ “ “ow” in how.

Aj “ “ “ “i” in nigh.

Oj “ “ “ “o-wi” in sowing.

Eŭ “ “ “ “eh-oo” as in the words “they who.”

Ej “ “ “ “ayi” in saying.

Uj “ “ “ “ui” in ruin.

3. The sound of the letters is always the same, whether initial, medial or final. “One letter one sound.”

4. There are no silent letters in Esperanto; every letter must be sounded separately, except in the case of the double letters, Aj, Aŭ and Oj, the pronunciation of which is given.

5. Esperanto being a phonetic language, every word is read exactlyas it is written, and written as read.

Dume: “doo-may,” not “doom.”

Iel = “ee-ale,” not “eel.”

Traire = “tra-ee-ray,” not “tra-ire.”

Fingringo= feen-green-go, not fing-gring-o (treat “ing” always after this model).

The Accent.

1. Every word in Esperanto is accented on the penultimate (the last syllable but one). Hence this syllable must be well marked, raising the voice on it, and not on the final syllable. Even in words of two syllables the accent must be strong, distinct and clear upon the first. This is called the “tonic” accent.

2. This, however, does not mean that the other syllables should be slurred or pronounced carelessly. Every syllable must get its full sound-value, but the neglect of the tonic accent would tend, in a great measure, to rob the language of an essential part of its beauty and euphony.

Compound Words.

1. These are formed by the junction of words, much the same as in English. In Esperanto the principal word is always placed last, this word taking the termination determining which part of speech it is.

Antaŭ, before, Vid’, see. Antaŭvidi, to foresee (verb).

Griz, grey, Har’, hair. Grizhara, greyhaired (adj.).

Vapor, steam, Sip’, ship. Vaporŝipo, steamship (noun).

The grammatical terminations “i,” “a,” “o,” are regarded as independent words in such cases. In elementary work, or in corresponding with learners, the different parts of compound words are divided by perpendicular or sloping bars ‘, as Vapor'ŝip’o, Griz’har’a, Antaŭ’vid’i.

Foreign Words.

1. By “foreign words” we understand a large class of words which most languages receive from a common source.

2. In Esperanto these words retain their original form, undergoing no change except only so far as they are subject to its orthographical system and rules.

Mikrofono, Microphone. Teatro, Theatre.

Mikrofona, Microphonic. Teatra, Thea...

Table of contents

• PREFACE
• THE MAKING OF AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
• ADVICE TO THE STUDENT
• PART I. — THE ESPERANTO GRAMMAR
• PART II. — EXERCISES ON THE GRAMMAR
• PART III. — CONVERSATIONS
• PART IV. — LETTERS, COMMERCIAL, ETC.
• A FEW IDIOMATIC PHRASES
• PART V. — VOCABULARIES.
• I. — ENGLISH - ESPERANTO.
• II. — ESPERANTO - ENGLISH.
• APPENDIX
• NAMES OF COUNTRIES, ETC.