|
|
|
|
|
Esperanto History Development of the language before publication At first, L. L. Zamenhof considered a revival of Latin to be the solution for the language problem, but after learning it he realized it was obsolete and too difficult for the task. When he learned English, he noted that verb conjugations were unnecessary for comprehension. At this point, he still had the problem of a large vocabulary base until he encountered two signs labelled ŝvejcarskaja (porter's lodge-- place of the porter) and konditorskaja (confectioner's shop-- place of sweets). Then he realized that the proper use of suffixes could greatly decrease the number of words needed in the vocabulary. The vocabulary was chosen to be the most recognizable by the most speakers of the most number of languages. Zamenhof taught an early version of the language to fellow students in gymnasium (high school). Then, for several years, he worked on translations and poetry to see which of his linguistic theories really worked and which needed to be discarded due to being cumbersome or ugly. Zamenhof commented in a 1895 letter to Nikolai Borovko, "I worked for six years perfecting and testing the language, even though it had seemed to me in 1878 that the language was already completely ready." When he thought he was ready to publish his language, the Czarist censors would not allow it. Stymied, he spent his time in translating works (such as parts of the Bible and Shakespeare) into Esperanto. This enforced delay led to continuing refinement and improvement before the language was presented to the world. In July 1887, he published his Unua Libro (First Book) with a basic introduction to Esperanto. From this base, Esperanto evolved naturally into the language spoken today. From publication until the first world congress In the early years, Esperanto speakers were mostly in contact only through correspondence and through magazines, such as La Esperantisto, published from 1889 to 1895. By 1905 there were already 27 magazines being published (Auld 1988). The movement grew most at first in the Russian empire and eastern Europe, but soon spread to western Europe, the Americas, and Asia. A small international conference was held in 1904, leading to the first world congress in August 1905 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. There were 688 Esperanto speakers present from 20 nationalities. At this congress, Zamenhof officially resigned his leadership of the Esperanto movement, as he did not want personal prejudice against himself (or anti-Semitism) to hinder the progress of the language. He proposed a declaration on founding principles of the Esperanto movement, which the attendees of the congress endorsed. Evolution of the language The Declaration of Boulogne http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/9061/bulonja.html limited changes to Esperanto. That declaration stated, among other things, that the basis of the language should remain the Fundamento de Esperanto ("Foundation of Esperanto", a group of works by Zamenhof), which is to be binding forever: nobody has the right to make changes to it. The declaration also permits new concepts to be expressed as the speaker sees fit, but it recommends doing so in accordance with the original style. Many Esperantists believe this declaration stabilizing the language is a major reason why the Esperanto speaker community grew beyond the levels attained by other constructed languages and has developed a flourishing culture. Constructed languages are often hindered from developing a speaker community by continual tinkering, with the constant changes making the language impossible to learn and use. Many developers of constructed languages are possessive of their brain-children and reject any attempt by others to contribute or have a significant role in the development of the language. (Compare Johann Martin Schleyer's attitude toward Volapük, or James Cooke Brown's with respect to Loglan.) Zamenhof declared that "Esperanto belongs to the Esperantists" and moved to the background once the language was published, allowing others to share in the early development of the language. The grammar description in the earliest books was somewhat vague, so a consensus on usage (influenced by Zamenhof's answers to usage questions) developed over time within boundaries set by the initial, unchanging grammar outline (Auld 1988). Even in the years before the Declaration of Boulogne, the language was fairly stable; only a few significant grammatical changes were made in the earliest years after publication. This gave Esperanto a stability of structure and grammar similar to that which natural languages possess by virtue of their great body of literature and speakers. Thus one could learn Esperanto without having it move from underfoot. Changes could and did occur in the language, but only by acquiring widespread popular support; there was no central authority making arbitrary changes, as happened with Volapük and some other languages. Modern Esperanto usage may in fact depart from that originally described in the Fundamento, though the differences are semantic (involving changed meaning of words) rather than grammatical or phonological. The translation given for "I like this one", in the sample phrases in the main Esperanto article, offers a significant example. According to the Fundamento, Mi ŝatas ĉi tiun would in fact have meant "I esteem this one". The traditional usage would instead have been Ĉi tiu plaĉas al mi (literally, "this one is pleasing to me"), which, although it differs from the English phrasing in "I like this one", more closely reflects the phrasing in several other languages (e.g. French celui-ci me plat, Spanish ste me gusta, Russian это мне нравится mnye nravitsya, German das gefllt mir). The more traditional Ĉi tiu plaĉas al mi is still used as well, though it may be a minority usage. Other changes from traditional Esperanto have affected the names of some countries, whose endings have changed from -ujo to -io. Also, women's names ending in -a (e.g. Maria) are now recognized although this is strictly an adjectival ending, whereas previously purists would have insisted on the noun ending -o (e.g. Mario). In addition to these changes, Esperantists have formed many words to express concepts which have arisen since the publication of the Fundamento, but where possible these have indeed conformed to the existing style of the language. For example, early translations proposed for the word "computer" included komputero and komputoro, but the modern word in universal use is komputilo (adding the suffix -il-, meaning 'tool', to the root of the verb komputi, 'to compute'). Eŭro is another good example: even though the currency is called euro in official legal documents in all the European Community's official languages which use a Latin script, in Esperanto Eŭro was chosen because it better fits the phonology of the language. Not all new coinages meet ready acceptance, however. For example, the neologism "ĉipa", meaning "cheap", has appeared as an alternative to the more verbose "malmultekosta", meaning "the opposite of expensive", but remains in minority usage. Since the first congress World congresses have been held every year since 1905, except during the two World Wars. In the early 1920s, there was a proposal for the League of Nations to accept Esperanto as their working language. Ten delegates accepted the proposal with only one voice against, the French delegate, Gabriel Hanotaux. Hanotaux did not like how the French language was losing its position as the international language and saw Esperanto as a threat. Later, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin murdered many Esperanto speakers because of their anti-nationalistic tendencies. Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that it was created as a universal language to unite the Jewish diaspora. Stalin declared it as "the language of spies." Timeline of Esperanto - 1859: L. L. Zamenhof, the initiator of Esperanto, was born in Poland.
- 1887: The first grammar book of Esperanto was published
- 1905: The first world congress of Esperanto held, the Fundamento de Esperanto published
- 1908: Universala Esperanto-Asocio, the World Esperanto Association, was founded by Hector Hodler, a 19 year old Esperantist
- 1966: In Argentina the "Programme Passport" was launched, which turned into "Pasporta Servo" (a network of Esperanto speakers around the globe willing to host other Esperanto speakers for limited time) several years later
- 2001: The Wikipedia project in Esperanto was launched resulting in what may be the first general encyclopedia written in an international language. It is now one of the most popular websites in Esperanto.
Outside events influencing Esperanto history - 1914, 1939: The World Wars slowed down development of the Esperanto movement generally (activists were killed, publication destroyed, achievements in international relations lost)
- Stalin-period in the Soviet Union: Esperanto was prohibited, many Esperantists were executed or forced to move to Siberia.
- 1968: Worldwide anti-war protests and changes colored a declaration that was signed by participants of the 25th IJK (Internacia Junulara Kongreso, International Youth Congress) in Tyres, Sweden, 1969.
- 1980: Social and economical changes in the world also influenced policies of the youth Esperanto-movement. During an IJK in Rauma, Finland, goals and objectives of the movement were redefined through the Rauma manifesto.
- 1985: United Nations declared the International Year of Youth which inspired a series of activities in TEJO and its national branches.
- 2001: The International Year of Languages was declared, and became the year of language festivals, as a new form of action in TEJO.
References History
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|