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{{Infobox Language
'''Esperanto''' is a [[constructed language|constructed]] (or 'artificial') [[language (general)|language]] created by [[L.L. Zamenhof]] in the 1870s and 1880s. Zamenhof envisaged Esperanto as an artificial ''[[lingua franca]]'' that would facilitate easier global [[communication]]. Despite this, he chose to derive much of its vocabulary from [[Romance languages|Romance]], [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] and other [[Europe]]an languages. Today, the users of the languages number at least in the tens of thousands, of whom a few have been identified as [[native language|native speakers]]. However, the dominance of several [[natural language]]s in the world, especially [[English language|English]], has meant that Esperanto is yet to emerge as a true global tongue.
| name    = Esperanto
| creator  = [[L.L. Zamenhof]]
| setting  = [[International auxiliary language]]
| speakers = [[Native Esperanto speakers|Native]]: approx. 1000;<br />Fluent speakers: est. 100,000 to 2 million
| fam1    = [[Constructed language]]
| fam2    = [[International auxiliary language]]
| iso1    = eo
| iso2    = epo
| iso3    = epo
}}
 
'''Esperanto''' is the most widely spoken [[constructed language|constructed]] [[international auxiliary language|international language]]. The name derives from ''Doktoro Esperanto'', the [[pseudonym]] under which [[L. L. Zamenhof]] first published the ''[[Unua Libro]]'' in 1887. The word itself means 'one who hopes'. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy and flexible [[language]] as a universal [[second language]] to foster [[peace]] and international understanding.
 
Although no [[List of countries|country]] has adopted the [[official language|language officially]], it has enjoyed continuous usage by a community estimated at between 100,000 and 2 million speakers and it is estimated that there are about a thousand [[Native Esperanto speakers|native speakers]]. <ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=epo Esperanto page at ethnologue.com ]</ref>
 
Today, Esperanto is employed in [[tourism|world travel]], [[correspondence]], [[culture|cultural]] exchange, conventions, [[literature]], language instruction, [[television]] ([[Internacia Televido]]) and [[radio]] [[broadcasting]]. Some state [[education]] systems offer elective courses in Esperanto; there is evidence that learning Esperanto is a useful preparation for later language learning (see [[#Esperanto and education|Esperanto and education]]).
 
== History ==
{{main|History of Esperanto}}
Esperanto was developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s by [[ophthalmology|ophthalmologist]] [[L. L. Zamenhof|Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof]], a [[Litvish]] Jew from the West of the [[Russian Empire]] (now Poland).  After some ten years of development, which Zamenhof spent translating literature into the language as well as writing original [[prose]] and [[verse]], the [[Unua Libro|first Esperanto grammar]] was published in [[Warsaw]] in July 1887. The number of speakers grew rapidly over the next few decades, at first primarily in the [[Russian empire]] and [[Eastern Europe]], then in [[Western Europe]] and the [[Americas]], [[China]], and [[Japan]]. In the early years speakers of Esperanto kept in contact primarily through correspondence and [[magazine|periodicals]], but in 1905 the first [[World Congress of Esperanto|world congress of Esperanto speakers]] was held in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]], [[France]]. Since then world congresses have been held on five [[continent]]s every year except during the two [[world war|World Wars]], and have been attended by up to 6000 people (typically 2000-3000).
 
Esperanto has no official status in any country, but is an elective part of the [[curriculum]] in several state systems. There were plans at the beginning of the 20th century to establish [[Moresnet|Neutral Moresnet]] as the world's first Esperanto state, and the short-lived [[artificial island]] [[micronation]] of [[Republic of Rose Island|Rose Island]] used Esperanto as its official language in 1968. In China, there was talk in some circles after the 1911 [[Xinhai Revolution]] about officially replacing [[Chinese language|Chinese]] with Esperanto as a means to dramatically bring the country into the twentieth century, though this policy proved untenable.  In the summer of 1924, the [[American Radio Relay League]] adopted Esperanto as its official [[international auxiliary language]], and hoped that the language would be used by [[Amateur radio|radio amateurs]] in international communications, but actual use of the language for radio communications was negligible.  Esperanto is the working language of several [[non-profit organization|non-profit]] international organizations such as the ''[[Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda]]'', but most others are specifically Esperanto organizations. The largest of these, the [[World Esperanto Association]], has an official consultative relationship with the [[United Nations]] and [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]]. The U.S. Army has published military phrasebooks in Esperanto <ref>[http://www.kafejo.com/lingvoj/auxlangs/eo/maneuver/ ''The Maneuver Enemy'' website]</ref>, to be used in wargames by the enemy (i.e. non-U.S.) forces – an ironic contrast to the peace-loving idealism of the inventor Zamenhof.
 
== Linguistic properties ==
=== Classification ===
As a [[constructed language]], Esperanto is not [[Genealogy|genealogically]] related to any [[ethnic group|ethnic]] language.
Esperanto can be described as "a language [[lexicon|lexically]] predominantly [[Romance languages|Romanic]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphologically]] intensively [[agglutination|agglutinative]] and to a certain degree [[isolating languages|isolating]] in character" <ref>{{cite book |last= Blank |first= Detlev |coauthors= |title= Internationale Plansprachen. Eine Einführung ("International Planned Languages. An Introduction") |publisher= Akademie-Verlag |date= 1985 |month= |id= ISSN 0138-55 X }}</ref>. The [[phonology]], [[grammar]], [[vocabulary]], and [[semantics]] are based on the western [[Indo-European languages]]. The [[phoneme|phonemic inventory]] is essentially [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], as is much of the semantics, while the [[vocabulary]] derives primarily from the [[Romance languages]], with a lesser contribution from [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]. [[Pragmatics]] and other aspects of the language not specified by Zamenhof's original documents were influenced by the native languages of early speakers, primarily [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[German language|German]], and [[French language|French]].
 
[[Linguistic typology|Typologically]], Esperanto has [[preposition]]s and a [[information flow|pragmatic word order]] that by default is ''[[Subject Verb Object]]'' and ''[[Word order|Adjective Noun]]''. New words are formed through extensive [[prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]ing and [[suffix]]ing.
 
=== Phonology ===
{{Main|Esperanto phonology}}
Esperanto has 5 [[vowel]]s and 23 [[consonant]]s, of which two are [[semivowel]]s. It does not have [[tone (linguistics)|tone]]. [[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] is always on the penultimate vowel, unless a final vowel ''o'' is [[Elision|elided]] (which in practice occurs most in [[poetry]]). For example, ''familio'' (family) is {{IPA|[fa.mi.ˈli.o]}}, but ''famili’'' is {{IPA|[fa.mi.ˈli]}}.
 
==== Consonants ====
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto;"
|-
|
| colspan="2" | '''[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Labiodental consonant|Labio-<br />dental]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Velar consonant|Velar]]'''
| colspan="2" | '''[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]'''
|-
| | '''[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]'''
| {{IPA|p}} || {{IPA|b}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| {{IPA|t}} || {{IPA|d}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| {{IPA|k}} || {{IPA|g}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]'''
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|m}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|n}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Flap consonant|Tap]]'''
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|ɾ}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]'''
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| {{IPA|f}} || {{IPA|v}}
| {{IPA|s}} || {{IPA|z}}
| {{IPA|ʃ}} || {{IPA|ʒ}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| {{IPA|x}} || &nbsp;
| {{IPA|h}} || &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]'''
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| {{IPA|ʦ}} || &nbsp;
| {{IPA|ʧ}} || {{IPA|ʤ}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Lateral consonant|Lateral approximant]]'''
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|l}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
| | '''[[Approximant]]'''
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || {{IPA|j}}
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
| colspan="2" | &nbsp;
|-
|}
 
The sound {{IPA|/r/}} is usually [[alveolar trill|rolled]], but may be [[alveolar flap|tapped]] ({{IPA|[ɾ]}} in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]). The {{IPA|/v/}} has a normative pronunciation like an [[English language|English]] ''v'', but is sometimes somewhere between a ''v'' and a ''w'' (IPA {{IPA|[ʋ]}}), depending on the language background of the speaker. A semivowel {{IPA|[u̯]}} normally occurs only in [[diphthong]]s after the vowels {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/e/}}. Common (if debated) [[assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]] includes the pronunciation of /nk/ as {{IPA|[ŋk]}}, as in English ''sink'', and /kz/ as {{IPA|[gz]}}, like the ''x'' in English ''example''.
 
A large number of possible consonant clusters can occur, up to three in initial position and four in medial position (for example, 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).
 
==== Vowels ====
Esperanto has the five vowels of [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Swahili language|Swahili]]. No distinctions of length are made and there are no nasalized vowels.
 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;"
!
! | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! style="text-align: right;" | [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|i}}
| {{IPA|u}}
|-
! style="text-align: right;" | [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA|e}}
| {{IPA|o}}
|-
! style="text-align: right;" | [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan=2 | {{IPA|a}}
|}
 
There are six falling diphthongs: ''uj, oj, ej, aj, aŭ, eŭ'' ({{IPA|/ui̯}}, {{IPA|oi̯}}, {{IPA|ei̯}}, {{IPA|ai̯}}, {{IPA|au̯}}, {{IPA|eu̯/}}).
 
With only five vowels, a good deal of variation is tolerated. For instance, {{IPA|/e/}} commonly ranges from {{IPA|[e]}} (French ''é'') to {{IPA|[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) and ''praavo'' (great-grandfather).
 
=== Grammar ===
{{Main|Esperanto grammar}}
Esperanto words are [[Derivation (linguistics)|derived]] by stringing together [[prefix (linguistics)|prefix]]es, [[Root (linguistics)|roots]], and [[suffix]]es. This is very regular, so that people can create new words as they speak and be understood. [[Compound (linguistics)|Compound]] words are formed with modifier-first, head-final order, i.e. the same way as in English ''birdsong'' vs. ''songbird''.
 
The different [[Part of speech|parts of speech]] are marked by their own suffixes: all [[common noun]]s end in ''-o,'' all [[adjective]]s in ''-a,'' all derived adverbs in ''-e,'' and all [[verb]]s end in one of six [[Grammatical tense|tense]] and [[Grammatical mood|mood]] suffixes, such as [[present tense]] ''-as.''
 
[[Grammatical number|Plural]] nouns end in ''-oj'' (pronounced "oy"), whereas [[direct object]]s end in ''-on''. Plural direct objects end in ''-ojn'' (pronounced to rhyme with "coin"). Adjectives [[Grammatical number#Effect of number on verbs and other parts of speech|agree]] with their nouns; their endings are plural ''-aj'' (pronounced "eye"), direct-object ''-an,'' and plural direct-object ''-ajn'' (pronounced to rhyme with "fine").
 
<table border=0 align=center><tr><td>
<table border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0>
<tr align=center style="background: #cccccc"><th>[[Noun]]</th><th style="background: #efefef">Subject</th><th style="background: #efefef">Object</th></tr>
<tr align=center><th style="background: #efefef">Singular</th><td>-'''o'''<td>-'''on'''</td></tr>
<tr align=center><th style="background: #efefef">Plural</th><td>-'''oj'''</td><td>-'''ojn'''</td></tr>
</table></td>
<td><table border=1 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0>
<tr align=center style="background: #cccccc"><th>[[Adjective]]</th><th style="background: #efefef">Subject</th><th style="background: #efefef">Object</th></tr>
<tr align=center><th style="background: #efefef">Singular</th><td>-'''a'''<td>-'''an'''</td></tr>
<tr align=center><th style="background: #efefef">Plural</th><td>-'''aj'''</td><td>-'''ajn'''</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr>
</table>
 
The six verb [[inflection]]s are three tenses and three moods. They are [[present tense]] ''-as,'' [[future tense]] ''-os,'' [[past tense]] ''-is,'' [[infinitive|infinitive mood]] ''-i,'' [[conditional mood]] ''-us,'' and [[jussive mood]] ''-u.'' 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.
 
<big><center>Conflictive table</center></big>
 
Word order is comparatively free: adjectives may precede or follow nouns, and subjects, verbs and objects (marked by the suffix ''-n)'' can occur in any order.  However, the [[article (grammar)|article]] ''la'' (the) and  the [[demonstrative]]s almost always come before the noun, and a [[preposition]] ''must'' come before it. Similarly, the negative ''ne'' (not) and [[conjunction]]s such as ''kaj'' (both, and) and ''ke'' (that) must precede the [[phrase]] or [[clause]] they introduce. In [[copula]]r (A = B) clauses, word order is just as important as it is in English clauses like ''people are dogs'' vs. ''dogs are people.''
 
=== Vocabulary ===
{{Main|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 the 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 terminology|technical]] and [[science|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), now also means a computer input device, as in English). 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 learn 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 the ethnic 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 truly idiomatic or [[slang]] words in Esperanto as in ethnic languages, as these tend to make international communication difficult, working against Esperanto's main goal.
 
In modern times, conscious attempts have been made by Esperantists to eliminate sexism in the language. One example of this is [[Riism]], which is one among several propositions to modify the language in a non-sexist manner.
 
=== Writing system ===
{{Main|Esperanto orthography}}
Esperanto is written with a modified version of the [[Latin alphabet]], including six [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]] with [[diacritic]]s: [[c-circumflex|ĉ]], [[g-circumflex|ĝ]], [[h-circumflex|ĥ]], [[j-circumflex|ĵ]], [[s-circumflex|ŝ]] and [[u-breve|ŭ]] (that is, ''c, g, h, j, s'' [[circumflex]], and ''u'' [[breve]]). The alphabet does not include the letters ''q, w, x, y'' except in unassimilated foreign names.
 
The 28-letter alphabet is:
<big><center>'''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'''</center></big>
 
All letters are pronounced approximately as their [[Minuscule|lower-case]] equivalents in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], with the exception of ''c'' and the accented letters:
 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;"
! Letter
! Pronunciation
|- align="center"
! c 
| {{IPA|[ʦ]}}
|- align="center"
! ĉ
| {{IPA|[ʧ]}}
|- align="center"
! ĝ
| {{IPA|[ʤ]}}
|- align="center"
! ĥ
| {{IPA|[x]}}
|- align="center"
! ĵ
| {{IPA|[ʒ]}}
|- align="center"
! ŝ
| {{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|- align="center"
! '''ŭ'''<br>(as ''aŭ, eŭ'')
| {{IPA|[u̯]}}
|}
 
Two [[ASCII]]-compatible writing conventions are in use. These substitute [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s for the accented letters. The original "h-convention" (''ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, u'') is based on English 'ch' and 'sh', while a more recent "[[x-convention]]" (''cx, gx, hx, jx, sx, ux'') is useful for alphabetic word sorting on a [[computer]] (''cx'' comes correctly after ''cu'', ''sx'' after ''sv'', etc.) as well as for simple conversion back into the standard [[orthography]]. See ''[http://www.esperanto.mv.ru/Ek Esperanta klavaro]'', [[keyboard layout]], [[Latin-3]] and [[Unicode]].
 
Esperanto has been a 'clear' language for [[Morse code]] communication since the 1920s, and [[code]]s exist for all accented Esperanto characters.
 
=== Useful phrases ===
Here are some useful Esperanto phrases, with IPA transcriptions:
 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto"
! Esperanto
! English
! IPA transcription
|-
| '''Saluton'''
| Hello
| {{IPA|/sa.ˈlu.ton/}}
|-
| '''Kiel vi nomiĝas?'''
| What is your name?
| {{IPA|/ˈki.el vi no.ˈmi.ʤas/}}
|-
| '''Mi nomiĝas ...'''
| My name is ...
| {{IPA|/mi no.ˈmi.ʤas .../}}
|-
| '''Kiom?'''
| How much?
| {{IPA|/ˈki.om/}}
|-
| '''Jen'''
| Here you are
| {{IPA|/jen/}}
|-
| '''Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton?'''
| Do you speak Esperanto?
| {{IPA|/ˈʧu vi pa.ˈro.las es.pe.ˈran.ton/}}
|-
| '''Mi ne komprenas vin'''
| I don't understand you
| {{IPA|/mi ˈne kom.ˈpre.nas vin/}}
|-
| '''Mi ŝatas tiun ĉi'''<br />'''Ĉi tiu plaĉas al mi'''
| I like <u>this</u> one
| {{IPA|/mi ˈʃat.as ˈti.un ˈʧi/}}<br />{{IPA|/ʧi ˈti.u ˈpla.ʧas al ˈmi/}}
|-
| '''Dankon'''
| Thank you
| {{IPA|/ˈdan.kon/}}
|-
| '''Ne dankinde'''
| You're welcome
| {{IPA|/ˈne dan.ˈkin.de/}}
|-
| '''Bonvolu'''
| Please
| {{IPA|/bon.ˈvo.lu/}}
|-
| '''Je via sano'''
| Here's to your health
| {{IPA|/je ˈvi.a ˈsa.no/}}
|-
| '''Sanon!'''
| Bless you!<br />Gesundheit!
| {{IPA|/ˈsa.non/}}
|-
| '''Bone'''
| Okay
| {{IPA|/ˈbo.ne/}}
|-
| '''Estas bela tago'''
| It is a nice day
| {{IPA|/ˈes.tas ˈbe.la ˈta.go/}}
|-
| '''Mi amas vin'''
| I love you
| {{IPA|/mi ˈam.as vin/}}
|-
| '''Ĝis (la) revido'''<br />'''Ĝis (la)!'''
| Goodbye
| {{IPA|/ˈʤis (la) re.ˈvid.o/}}<br />{{IPA|/ˈʤis (la)/}}
|-
| '''Pacon'''
| Peace
| {{IPA|/ˈpa.tson/}}
|}
 
== The Esperanto speaker community ==
=== Geography and demography ===
Esperanto speakers are more numerous in Europe and East [[Asia]] than in the Americas, [[Africa]], and [[Oceania]], and more numerous in [[urban area|urban]] than in [[rural]] areas <ref name=Sikosek_2003>Sikosek, Ziko M. ''Esperanto Sen Mitoj'' ("Esperanto without Myths").  Second edition. Antwerp: Flandra Esperanto-Ligo, 2003.</ref>. 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; and in [[Togo]] and [[Madagascar]] in Africa.
 
An estimate of the number of Esperanto speakers was made by [[Sidney S. Culbert]], a [[retirement|retired]] [[psychology]] [[professor]] of the [[University of Washington]] and a longtime Esperantist, who tracked down and tested Esperanto speakers in sample areas of dozens of countries over a period of twenty years. Culbert concluded that between one and two million people speak Esperanto at [[ILR or Foreign Service Level language ability measures|Foreign Service Level 3]], "professionally proficient" (able to communicate moderately complex ideas without hesitation, and to follow speeches, radio broadcasts, etc.) ([[#References|Wolff 1996]]). 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|World Almanac and Book of Facts]].  Culbert's most detailed account of his methodology is found in a [http://www.panix.com/~dwolff/docs/culbert-methods.html 1989 letter to David Wolff]. 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 [[international auxiliary language|universal language]], but it represents a level of popularity unmatched by any other constructed language. Ethnologue also states that there are 200 to 2000 [[native Esperanto speakers]] (''denaskuloj''), who have learned the language from birth from their Esperanto-speaking parents (this happens when Esperanto is the family language in an international family or sometimes in a family of devoted Esperantists).
 
Marcus Sikosek has challenged this figure of 1.6 million as exaggerated.  Sikosek 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, Germany|Cologne]]. Sikosek finds only 30 [[fluency|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 <ref name=Sikosek_2003/>.  Others think such a [[ratio]] between members of the organized Esperanto movement and speakers of the language is not unlikely.
 
The [[Finnish people|Finnish]] [[linguistics|linguist]] Jouko Lindstedt, an expert on native-born Esperanto speakers, presented the following scheme <ref name=Lindstedt_1996>Lindstedt, Jouko. "Re: Kiom?" (posting). [http://www.helsinki.fi/~jslindst/denask-l.html DENASK-L@helsinki.fi], 22 April 1996.</ref> 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 [[textbook]]s 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. [http://www.uea.org/info/angle/an_ghisdatigo.html]
 
=== Culture ===
{{main|Esperanto culture|Esperanto literature|Esperanto film|Esperanto music}}
Esperanto is often used to access an international [[culture]], including a large corpus of original as well as translated [[Esperanto literature|literature]].  There are over 25,000 Esperanto books (originals and translations) as well as over a hundred regularly distributed [[Esperanto magazine]]s.  Many Esperanto speakers use the language for free travel throughout the world using the [[Pasporta Servo]]. Others like the idea of having [[pen pal]]s in many countries around the world using services like the Esperanto Pen Pal Service. Every year, 1500-3000 Esperanto speakers meet for the [[World Congress of Esperanto]] ''(Universala Kongreso de Esperanto)''.
 
Historically most of the [[Esperanto music|music]] published in Esperanto has been in various folk traditions; in recent decades more rock and other modern genres has appeared.
 
To some extent there are also shared [[tradition]]s, like the [[Zamenhof Day]], and shared [[behaviour]] patterns, like avoiding the usage of one's national language at Esperanto meetings unless there is good reason for its use.
 
Two full-length [[feature film]]s have been produced with [[dialogue]] entirely in Esperanto, namely ''[[Angoroj]]'' in 1964 and ''[[Incubus (1965 film)|Incubus]]'' starring [[William Shatner]] in 1965. 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]]''.
 
Esperanto is frequently criticized for "having no culture".  Proponents 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 culture. (See ''[[Esperanto as an international language]]''.)
 
=== Goals of the Esperanto 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.
 
Those Esperanto speakers who want to see Esperanto adopted officially or on a large scale worldwide are commonly called ''finvenkistoj'', from ''fina venko'', meaning "final victory".  Those who focus on the intrinsic value of the language are commonly called ''raŭmistoj'', from [[Rauma, Finland|Rauma]], [[Finland]], where a declaration on the near-term unlikelihood of the "fina venko" and the value of Esperanto culture was made at the International Youth Congress in 1980. These categories are, however, not mutually exclusive. (''See [[Finvenkismo]]'')
 
The [[Prague Manifesto (Esperanto)|Prague Manifesto]] (1996) presents the views of the mainstream of the Esperanto movement and of its main organisation, the World Esperanto Association ([[World Esperanto Association|UEA]]).
 
===Symbols and flags===
 
In 1983, C. Rjabinis and P. Deullin designed and manufactured a lapel pin for Esperantists to identify each other. The design was a circular pin with a white background and a five pointed green star. The theme of the design was the hope of the five continents being united by a common language.
 
Shortly afterwards, a flag was developed featuring a green star on a white background in the top left corner of a solid green flag. Early versions of the flag featured the letter "E" superimposed over the green star. There have been some variants [http://www.fotw.net/flags/qy-eo.html#vars], including a Christian Esperantists flag with a white Christian cross superimposed into the green star, and a Leftist version of the flag, with the green bulk of the flag replaced by red.
 
In 1997, a second flag design was chosen in a contest by the UEA for the first centennial of the language. It featured a white background with two stylised curved "E"s facing each other. Dubbed the "jubilea simbolo" (jubilee symbol) [http://www.fotw.net/flags/qy-eo.html#jub], it attracted some criticism from some Esperantists, who dubbed it "melono" (mellon) because of the design's eliptical shape. It later fell into disuse, and the traditional flag, known as "verda stelo" (green star), is still in use today. [http://www.fotw.net/flags/qy-eo.html]
 
== Esperanto and education ==
Relatively few [[school]]s teach Esperanto officially outside of [[China]], [[Hungary]], and [[Bulgaria]]; the majority of Esperanto speakers continue to learn the language through self-directed study or correspondence courses.  Several Esperanto paper correspondence courses were early on adapted to [[e-mail]] and taught by corps of volunteer instructors.  In more recent years, teaching websites like ''[[lernu!]]'' have become popular. 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.[http://esperanto-usa.org/?q=node/77] Some argue, however, that this is only true for native speakers of Western European languages.[http://www.rickharrison.com/language/bloated.html]
 
[[Claude Piron]], a psychologist formerly at the [[University of Geneva]] and Chinese-English-Russian-Spanish translator for the United Nations, argued that it is easier to think clearly in Esperanto than in many ethnic languages (see [[Sapir-Whorf hypothesis]] for an explanation on this theory). "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 [[neuropsychology|neuropsychological]] law [— called by] [[Jean Piaget]] ''generalizing assimilation'' — applies to word formation as well as to grammar." <ref name=Piron>Piron, Claude: [http://www.claude-piron.ch/hidden-perverse-effects.html "The hidden perverse effect of the current system of international communication"], published lecture notes</ref>
 
Several [[research]] [[experiment|studies]] demonstrate that studying Esperanto before another [[foreign language]] speeds and improves [[learning]] the other language. This is presumably 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 <ref name=Williams_1965>Williams, N. (1965) 'A language teaching experiment', ''Canadian Modern Language Review'' 22.1: 26-28</ref>, a group of European [[high 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 second language was [[Japanese language|Japanese]], or when the course of study was reduced to two years, of which six [[month]]s was spent learning Esperanto. ''See [[Propaedeutic value of Esperanto]] for other relevant studies.''
 
== Esperanto and religion ==
=== Homaranismo ===
LL Zamenhof promoted a religion of his own called ''[[Homaranismo]]'', but was concerned this could taint his earlier work in establishing Esperanto. He proposed abandoning his public role as an Esperantist to avoid confusion.
 
=== Oomoto ===
 
The [[Oomoto]] religion encourages the use of Esperanto among their followers and includes Zamenhof as one of its deified spirits.
 
=== Bahá'í ===
 
The [[Bahá'í Faith]] encourages the [[Bahá'í Faith and auxiliary language|use of an auxiliary international language]], and, while endorsing no specific language, sees Esperanto as having great potential in this role <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bahai.de/bahaaeligo/angla/englisch.htm | title=The Baha'i Faith and Esperanto | publisher= Bahaa Esperanto-Ligo ( B.E.L. )  | accessdate=2006-08-26 }}</ref>.
 
[[Lidja Zamenhof]] became a Bahá'í.  It should be noted that before the Bahá'í interest in Esperanto in 1981, the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] through the [[mullah]]s had also encouraged the use of Esperanto<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.webcom.com/~donh/efaq.html | title=Esperanto - Have any governments opposed Esperanto?| publisher= Donald J. Harlow| accessdate=2006-08-26 }}</ref>.
 
=== Brazilian Spiritism ===
 
Esperanto is also actively promoted, at least in [[Brazil]], by followers of [[Spiritism]]. The Brazilian Spiritist Federation publishes Esperanto coursebooks, translations of [[Spiritist Codification|Spiritism's basic books]] and encourages Spiritists to become Esperantists<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.math.uu.se/esperanto/207pardue.pdf#search=%22esperanto%20%2Breligion%22 | title=Uma só língua, uma só bandeira, um só pastor: Spiritism and Esperanto in Brazil by David Pardue| publisher= University of Kansas Libraries| accessdate=2006-08-26 }}</ref>.
 
=== Bible translations ===
 
The first translation of the [[Bible]] into Esperanto was a translation of the [[Tanakh]] or Old Testament done by [[L. L. Zamenhof]]. The translation was reviewed and compared with other languages' translations of the Bible by a group of British clergy and scholars before publishing it at the [[British and Foreign Bible Society]] in 1910.  In 1926 this was published along with a New Testament translation, in an edition commonly called the "Londona Biblio". In the 60's, ''Internacia Asocio de Bibliistoj kaj Orientalistoj'' tried to organize a new, ecumenical Esperanto Bible version. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://home.att.net/~el_sxadaj/kbiblio.htm | title=La Sankta Biblio - "Londona text" | publisher= | accessdate=2006-08-26 }}</ref>  Since then, the Dutch Lutheran pastor Gerrit Berveling has translated the [[Deuterocanonical]] or apocryphal books in addition to new translations of the Gospels, some of the New Testament epistles, and some books of the Tanakh or Old Testament; these have been published in various separate booklets, or serialized in ''Dia Regno'', but the [[Deuterocanonical]] books appeared in a recent new edition of the Londona Biblio.
 
=== Christianity ===
 
* [http://www.ikue.org/ IKUE] - Internacia Katolika Unuiĝo Esperantista - the International Union of Catholic Esperantists.
* Roman Catholic popes (including at least [[Pope John Paul II|John Paul II]] and [[Pope Benedict XVI|Benedict XVI]]) have occasionally used Esperanto in their multilingual ''[[urbi et orbi]]'' blessings.
* [http://www.chez.com/keli/ KELI] - Kristana Esperantista Ligo Internacia - the International Christian Esperantists League. KELI was formed early in the history of Esperanto, and works in cooperation with IKUE
* An issue of "The Friend" describes the activities of the [[Quaker]] Esperanto Society.<ref>{{cite journal
| journal=The Friend
| title=Esperanto Lives On
| author=Eric Walker
| date=May 27, 2005
}}</ref>
* There are instances of Christian apologeticists and teachers who use Esperanto as a medium. [[Nigeria]]n [[Pastor]] Bayo Afolaranmi's "[http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritanutrajxo/ Spirita nutrajxo]" (spiritual food) Yahoo mailing list, for example, has hosted weekly messages since 2003.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritanutrajxo/
| title=Spirita nutrajxo
| author=Bayo Afolaranmi
| accessdate=2006-09-13
}}</ref>
 
== Criticism and modifications of Esperanto ==
{{Main|Esperanto as an international language|Esperantido}}
Common criticisms of the language are that its vocabulary and grammar are too European; that its vocabulary, accented letters, and grammar are not Western European enough (a critique addressed by [[Ido]], [[Novial]] and [[Interlingua]]); that it is [[sexism|sexist]], artificial, or has failed to live up to expectations.
 
Though Esperanto itself has changed relatively little since the publication of the ''[[Fundamento de Esperanto]]'' ("Foundation of Esperanto"), a number of reform projects have been proposed over the years, starting with [[Reformed Esperanto|Zamenhof's proposals in 1894]] and  [[Ido]] in 1907. Several later constructed languages, such as [[Fasile]], were based on Esperanto.
 
==Esperanto in popular culture==
{{main|Esperanto in popular culture}}
Esperanto has been used in a number of films and novels.  Typically, this is done either to add the exoticness of a foreign language without representing any particular ethnicity, or to avoid going to the trouble of inventing a new language. Filmmaker [[Charlie Chaplin]] used Esperanto for signage on storefronts and buildings in his 1940 classic ''[[The Great Dictator]]''.  In [[science fiction]], Esperanto is often used to represent a future in which there is a more universally spoken language than exists today.  Examples of this include the ''[[Riverworld]]'' series by [[Philip José Farmer]], the UK sci-fi [[sitcom]] ''[[Red Dwarf (science fiction series)|Red Dwarf]]'', the ''[[Stainless Steel Rat]]'' series by [[Harry Harrison]], and the 1997 sci-fi drama ''[[Gattaca]]''. It is also seen and heard in the 2004 [[vampire]] film ''[[Blade Trinity]]''.
 
There are two instances of feature films being entirely performed in Esperanto. ''[[Angoroj]]'', (Esperanto for "Agonies") 1964, was the first feature film to be produced entirely in Esperanto and ''[[Incubus]]'' (with English and French subtitles), a 1965 black and white horror film, directed by [[Leslie Stevens]] and starring a pre- ''[[Star Trek]]'' [[William Shatner]]. The earliest film to incorporate Esperanto was the thriller "State Secret" 1950, with [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr]]., who starred as an American surgeon contacted by the authorities of Vosnia, an Eastern European dictatorship, to perform a rare operation on their leader. The language spoken in "Vosnia" is Esperanto.
The earliest film (not of feature length, however) to utilize the language was titled Antaŭen! (Onwards!), a silent Esperanto publicity film before [[World War II]].
 
More rarely, it is used jokingly, referred to as a "[[geek]] language", such as the usage seen on occasion in the animated series ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', where the only characters who speak it are either self-described "geeks", or a particular ghost (who is apparently more fluent in the language than the human characters, as evidenced by the difficulty Tucker Foley had in translating said ghost's comments into English). Also, the Esperanto word "jahurto", or "[[yogurt]]", is the origin of the name of the beverage [[Yakult]].
 
Esperanto has also been cited as a possible inspiration for [[George Orwell]]'s [[Newspeak]]. Orwell had been exposed to Esperanto in 1927 when living in Paris with his aunt Nellie Limouzin, who was then living with Eugène Lanti, a prominent Esperantist. Esperanto was the language of the house, and Orwell, who had come to Paris in part to improve his French, was obliged to find other lodging.<ref>{{cite web
| title=Esperanto and George Orwell
| url=http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/esperanto/div/eo1984.htm
| accessdate=2006-09-13
}}</ref>
 
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
 
== Further reading ==
* Emily van Someren. [http://www.ethesis.net/eu_language/eu_language_contence.htm]. Republication of the thesis 'The EU Language Regime, Lingual and Translational Problems'.
* [http://katalogo.uea.org/index.php?inf=4006 ''Ludovikologia dokumentaro I'']  Tokyo: Ludovikito, 1991.  Facsimile reprints of the ''Unua Libro'' in Russian, Polish, French, German, English and Swedish, with the earliest Esperanto dictionaries for those languages.
* [http://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/fundamento/enhavo.php Fundamento de Esperanto].  HTML reprint of 1905 ''Fundamento'', from the Academy of Esperanto.
* Auld, William.  ''La Fenomeno Esperanto'' ("The Esperanto Phenomenon").  Rotterdam: Universala Esperanto-Asocio, 1988.
* Butler, Montagu C. ''Step by Step in Esperanto''. ELNA 1965/1991. ISBN 0-939785-01-3
* Culbert, Sidney S. [http://www.panix.com/~dwolff/docs/ Three letters about his methodology for estimating the number of Esperanto speakers], scanned and HTMLized by David Wolff.
* DeSoto, Clinton (1936). ''200 Meters and Down''.  West Hartford, Connecticut, USA: [[American Radio Relay League]], p. 92.
* Everson, Michael. [http://www.evertype.com/alphabets/esperanto.pdf The Alphabets of Europe: Esperanto {PDF}]. Evertype, 2001.
*Forster, Peter G. ''The Esperanto Movement''. The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1982. ISBN 90-279-3399-5.
* Harlow, Don.  [http://www.webcom.com/~donh/eaccess/eaccess.book.html The Esperanto Book].  Self-published on the web (1995-96).
* [[John C. Wells|Wells, John]].  ''Lingvistikaj aspektoj de Esperanto'' ("Linguistic aspects of Esperanto").  Second edition.  Rotterdam: Universala Esperanto-Asocio, 1989.

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Esperanto is a constructed (or 'artificial') language created by L.L. Zamenhof in the 1870s and 1880s. Zamenhof envisaged Esperanto as an artificial lingua franca that would facilitate easier global communication. Despite this, he chose to derive much of its vocabulary from Romance, Germanic and other European languages. Today, the users of the languages number at least in the tens of thousands, of whom a few have been identified as native speakers. However, the dominance of several natural languages in the world, especially English, has meant that Esperanto is yet to emerge as a true global tongue.

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