Questions tagged [history]

Questions about the history of Esperanto

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What are skemismo and naturalismo in Esperanto's language history?

I once encountered the terms skemismo and naturalismo to describe different philosophies about how Esperanto should be used or developed. What would be a good summary of these two opposing ...
Lover of Structure's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
72 views

Did Zamenhof recommend this usage of apostrophe in the H-System?

La Vikipedio has the following passage: Por eviti la ambiguecon en tiu sistemo en vortoj kiel flughaveno, chashundo, traumata (ĉu traŭmata aŭ tra-um-ata?), oni devas aldone uzi alian montrilon. ...
Ainar-G's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
550 views

Why Esperanto uses "j" in the plural instead of "s"?

Is there any historical reason for this? do any languages use "j" to indicate the plural?
Raphael Augusto's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
56 views

Ekde kiam oni celebras Esperanto-Tagon / Tago de Esperanto (26-a de julio)? Since when is Esperanto Day (July 26) being observed?

Esperanto-Tago / Tago de Esperanto en la 26-a julio memorigas evento de la jaro 1887. Sed ekde kiam oni celebras ĝin en tiu dato? En kiu jaro oni unue festis aŭ aktivis pri ĝi? Esperanto Day on July ...
das-g's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
111 views

Esperanto evolution from "unua libro" to "fundamento"

What changes did Zamenhof made to Esperanto from the publication of the Unua libro to La Fundamento de Esperanto. I only found the evolution of (correlatives) -an to -am. I wondered if there were any ...
Caalbito's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
90 views

Who interviewed whom?

The Vikipedio article on Steve Allen says that Steve Allen interviewed Esperantist William Harmon about Esperanto, but I would have thought it would be the other way around. Is this just a glitch in ...
user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
130 views

Who is "Kola Adzaj" - an African Esperantist present at the 1937 World Congress in Warsaw, Poland?

In a text written in Hebrew, it's author, Polish Jewish esperantist Icchak Kominkowski, speaks about a friend named "Kola Adzaj", from Africa, who visited Warsaw at the occasion of the 1937 World ...
Sta Ol's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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What are origins of basic suffixes?

Is there an explicit reason for -o, -a, -e, -i? The longer ones vaguely remind me of similar words/constructs in different languages that influenced Esperanto, but the very basic ones seem completely ...
Lazar Ljubenović's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
74 views

Kial nomiĝas la pilko en futbalo 'piedpilko', kaj ne futbalpilko?

Mi komprenas kial futbalo estas pli klara ol piedpilko, sed tio ĉi ne havas sencon por mi.
Asloro's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
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Kion Zamenhof uzis anstataŭ «pluraj»?

Mi freŝe rimarkis, ke laŭ PIV, Zamenhof neniam uzis la vorton «pluraj». Plie la vortaro de Louis de Beaufront — aprobita de Zamenhof — ne enhavas ĝin. Mi ankaŭ ne povis trovi ĝin en la tekstoj de ...
maliktunga's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
336 views

Has Esperanto ever been successfully reformed?

Many people have tried to change Esperanto to their own liking. Have any reform proposals ever entered the general language? (Are there, for example, Ido elements in current usage? – No this is not an ...
Bjørn's user avatar
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12 votes
0 answers
816 views

Who helped Michael Jackson write Esperanto?

Few people know this, but Esperanto has probably never enjoyed more airtime than on June 14 1995, when 60 million people watched Diane Sawyer’s live interview of Michael Jackson and his wife Lisa ...
Bjørn's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
261 views

How often are new loans fully integrated into Esperanto?

The borrowing of vocabulary is part and parcel of natural language evolution. Although Esperanto is now without doubt a full living language, it is nevertheless somewhat unusual as it is still spoken ...
Miztli's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
117 views

What are the big events that help spread the Esperanto Language

I am looking at the history of the Esperanto Language I wonder what are the big events (old or recent) that helped to spread or just get people know that the language exists Starting the list ...
benahm's user avatar
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8 votes
5 answers
186 views

Kio estas la vera signifo de "muĝi"?

Laŭ PIV, «muĝi» signifas: 1. Bleki, kiel bovo. 2. (figurasence) Aŭdigi fortan, obtuzan, longe tiratan sonon: muĝanta popolamaso. Ŝajnas do, ke «bleki kiel bovo» estas la precipa signifo, ĉu ne? ...
maliktunga's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
116 views

When did Couturat say Esperanto lacks recursion?

I saw on a few Wikipedia pages that René de Saussure apparently “opposed the criticism of Louis Couturat that Esperanto lacks recursion”. However, the previous sentence talks about the principle of “...
maliktunga's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
727 views

Why was "kaj" chosen?

The conjunction "and" is so universal and ubiquitous that languages in which it is more than one letter tend to shorten it (English &, German u., both having existed for centuries if I'm not ...
La Vo-o's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
408 views

Why is Ŭ the only hat-letter [Ĉ, Ĝ, Ĥ, Ĵ, Ŝ, Ŭ] that doesn't use a circumflex?

All of the Esperanto diacritic characters use a circumflex except for Ŭ. Is there a reason that the letter ended up this way. Why isn't it Û instead, to go better with the other diacritic characters?
Buster Blue's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

How has Linux geek culture reacted to Esperanto over the years?

In this question there is an answer that comments "There was for a long time resistance in some parts of the Linux world to Esperanto, so it seems it was only this year that the Esperanto localization ...
esperblue's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
91 views

What were Clarence Bicknell's Esperanto translations of Alfred Tennyson's poems published in?

I've found a lot of places claiming that he produced these translations, but no one seems to know where they were published(or whether they still exist at all in any format, for that matter).
esperblue's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
235 views

What was the first Esperanto telegram ever sent?

I remember somewhere reading that in some year Esperanto was approved as a language for use in telegraphy, so that it would cost less than being calculated as a telegram written in code, but currently ...
Chuck Smith's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
156 views

Kiel pluramemo iĝis populara en Esperantio?

Mi multe aŭdis ke inter la parolantoj de la lingvo Esperanto ekzistas sufiĉe granda elcento de homoj, kiuj vivas en pluramemaj rilatoj. Ekzemple, la anoj de tre konata muzikbando "La Perdita ...
Aviadisto's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
83 views

Is there a biography about Verda Majo?

I've been looking for a book of some kind about Teru Hasegawa and, so far, I've only found one PDF from the university of Heidelberg.
Charlotte SL's user avatar
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16 votes
6 answers
4k views

What are the most common misconceptions about Esperanto?

Sometimes otherwise well educated people, can say the strangest things about Esperanto and its speakers. What are the most common misconceptions, prejudice and myths that we face? Are these ...
Milo Minderbinder's user avatar
17 votes
5 answers
2k views

Why do so many prejudices and misinformation exist about Esperanto?

I often heard so many misbeliefs about Esperanto, from people who know absolutely nothing about the language. Sadly, those who spread those rumors are often well educated people. The common mistakes ...
Aviadisto's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
724 views

Why are so many Esperanto word roots derived from French?

As stated in esperanto.net FAQ About 75 % of Esperanto's vocabulary comes from Latin and Romance languages (especially French), about 20 % comes from Germanic languages (German and English), and ...
benahm's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Was Zamenhof wanting to introduce ambiguity with the plural -i instead of -oj?

In Reformed Esperanto, and also at the start of Esperanto, Zamenhof wanted to introduce plurals using -i instead of the Greek influenced -oj. Was he planning on introducing another infinitive (like ...
Fer22f's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
740 views

Why doesn't Esperanto use "neutral" days and months?

With its building block style, and being a new language, why did Esperanto use existing variations of days and months, instead of a neutral, generic, building block approach, for example using ...
just me's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
440 views

How did Ido influence Esperanto grammatically?

As far as I know, some Esperantist were unhappy with some grammar constructs and branched the language. How did Ido influence Esperanto from the grammatical point of view since then?
Aviadisto's user avatar
  • 3,273
11 votes
2 answers
152 views

Kiel Volapüko influis Esperanton?

Antaŭ la kreado de Esperanto jam ekzistis planlingvo nomata Volapük. Post la eldono de la Unua Libro, multaj Volapükkluboj iĝis Esperantaj kluboj. Sed kiel Volapüko influis Esperanton? Ĉu oni uzas ...
Aviadisto's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
410 views

What is the origin of the Esperanto green star ("Verda Stelo")?

What is the origin of the Esperanto green star symbol (Verda Stelo)?
benahm's user avatar
  • 1,720
27 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why are country names in Esperanto so "irregular"?

One of the selling points of Esperanto is its regularity. However, one area where I have noticed this is not the case is in country names. As far as I can tell there are at least three competing ...
harlandski's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
283 views

Are there good reasons for the prefixes and suffixes in the table of correlatives?

Zamenhof's innovation of the table of correlatives (AFAIK the first one in any language) is brilliant, but I was always a little perplexed by some of the oddities in it. So I am wondering if anyone ...
nerimarkinde's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why is Esperanto popular in Iran?

Is there a reason why Esperanto is a lot more popular in Iran, compared to some countries like Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa?
benahm's user avatar
  • 1,720
11 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is the link between billionaire investor George Soros and Esperanto?

I have sometimes heard the name George Soros thrown around as a possible financier of different Esperanto projects. Is this only done as a joke, or does he actually have some involvement with ...
Jane D Chen's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
191 views

How do you become "Esperantist of the Year" (Esperantisto de la Jaro)?

"Esperantisto de la Jaro" is a famous title given every year by the periodical La Ondo de Esperanto. The award recipient is selected by an international jury led by Halina Gorecka, without any clear ...
Vanege's user avatar
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