From: pfeiffer@cict.fr (Daniel Pfeiffer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe
Subject: A return to the polyglot traditions of Europe
Date: 9 Nov 92 16:30:06 GMT
Organization: Instituto de Reser^cado pri Informadiko de Tuluzo (IRIT)
	      Universitato Paul Sabatier
X-Accent-Convention: ^c ^u
Reply-Languages: Esperanto, Deutsch, Francais, English

The Maastricht treaty, if it passes, and even more so the European
Charta of Regional and Minority languages, may prove a boon to the
survival of the EC's estimated 35 languages.  There seems to be a
trend away from the monolinguistic vision which the Paris government
was maybe the worst perpetrator of, and away also from the
English-as-lingua-franca vision towards a polycultural solution.  For
example in the Val d'Aran the official language is Occitanian
(Gasconian), along with Catalonian and Castilian.  Only on this
trilingual basis do children then learn a foreign language such as
French.

And in French Occitania the language is slowly finding its old glory,
and is being promoted in ever more schools as a bridge towards,
Catalonian, Italian and romance languages in general.  All this
is very inspiring, but it leaves open the the question of how two
Europeans, each of whom speaks four languages, are to communicate.
An interlanguage is required, and it had better be easy (say one quarter
the learning time of other ``easy'' languages such as English) and
neutral such that the effort is the same for everybody.

Esperanto is a very easy language, but you will only be able to
understand it if you know the base mechanisms.  The following tries to
extract the essence of Esperanto's grammar rules, enabling you to read
my future annotated (word explanations) postings on European subjects.
You may want to keep a printed copy of this (sections 1-6) handy next
to your terminal.  Those who would like to go further in actively
learning this fascinating language will find some pointers in section
7.

0) THE ALPHABET

 Every letter has exactly one pronunciation, no matter what the
 adjacent letters are.  The stress is always on the second last vowel
 (a, e, i, o, u).  The letters ^c, ^g, ^h, ^j and ^s should have the
 circumflex on top, even in uppercase.  The letter ^u has the lower
 half of a circle over it.  The new codes (ISO 10646, Unicode, Latin-3)
 have thes characters.

 [In the meantime the following TeX-macro will correctly render these
 on paper without disturbing `^' in math mode:

 \let\potenco=^ \catcode`\^=\active
 \def^#1{\ifmmode\potenco{#1}
	\else\ifx#1u\u u\else\ifx#1U\u U%
	\else\ifx#1j\^\j
	\else\^#1\fi\fi\fi\fi}
 ]

 For every letter if possible I have given an English equivalent, and
 where this may help also in other languages:

  a	Argument,  D: Albern
  b	Bird
  c	haTS,  D: Zigeuner
  ^c	CHicken,  D: traTSCHen
  d	Duck
  e	D: Elend,  F: E'le`ve
  f	Fish
  g	Give
  ^g	Jungle, Ginger
  h	Help
  ^h	GR: KHi,  Arab: KHartoum,  D: aCHtung,  Scot: LoCH
  i	bEE,  F: sIlence
  j	(the short `i' in diphtongs) lie [laj], toy [toj]
  ^j	F: Journal,  R: Dr. ZHivago
  k	Kill, Copy
  l	Laugh
  m	Monday
  n	No
  o	D: hOlen,  F: bEAU
  p	Politics
  r	(rolled `r', but don't worry :-) R: Rossija
  s	Solitary,  D: waSSer
  ^s	SHip,  D: SCHalter,  F: CHic
  t	Take
  u	bOOt,  F: pOUr,  D: bUde
  ^u	Water,  D: aUtobahn
  v	Very,  D: Wasser
  z	Zoo,  D: Singen,  F: beSoin

1) THE REGULAR WORDS

 Words in Esperanto consist of a radical which conveys some notion.
 When you know about 2000 of them (and many are already familiar to
 you) you master basic (non-scientific) Esperanto.  To this may be
 appended affixes which modify the notion in a well defined way.  The
 following table of word endings which say what kind of word it is,
 contains most of Esperanto's grammar:

  adjective	-a   -aj   -an    -ajn
  noun		-o   -oj   -on    -ojn
  adverb	-e   -en
  verb		-i   -u    -is    -as    -os    -us
			   -int-  -ant-  -ont-
			   -it-   -at-   -ot-

  alia (other),  alie (otherwise, differently),  alio (something else)
  bona (good),  bone (well),  bono (the good, advantage)
  devi (must),  devo (obligation),  deva (compulsory)
  diri (to say),  diro (what is said)
  doni (to give),  dono (a gift)
  fari (to make),  faro (a deed)
  havi (to have),  havo (something one has)
  homo (a human), homa (human)
  iri (to go),  iro (a move)
  jaro (a year),  jara (yearly, lasting one year)
  man^gi (to eat),  man^go (a meal)
  multa, multe (much),  multo (plenty)
  povi (to be able),  povo (ability)
  preni (to take),  preno (taking)
  scii [stsee`ee] (to know),  scio (knowledge)
  tuta (whole),  tute (wholly),  ne tute (some),  tute ne (not at all)
  veni (to come),  veno (coming)
  vidi (to see),  vido (a glance),  vida (related to sight)
  voli (to want),  volo (desire)

 Adjectives, which may be before or after the noun they describe vary
 with the noun:  An added `-j' means plural.  An added `-n' marks the
 direct object.  It is also used to denote a direction (in adverbs as
 well):

  la bela a^uto		the beautiful car
  bela a^uto blua	a beautiful blue car (no indefinite article)
  belaj bluaj a^utoj	beautiful blue cars
  la a^utoj belaj	the beautiful cars

  en la domo		in the house
  en la belan domon	into the beautiful house
  hejme			at home
  hejmen		homewards

 The verb endings are respectively infinitive `drinki' (to drink);
 imperative or volitive `Iru for!' (Go away!) or `Mi skribu leteron.'
 (I must write a letter.);  past `Li drinkis.' (He drank.);  present
 `Ili vidas ion.'  (they see somthing); future `^Si skribos.' (She
 will write.); conditional `Mi kisus ^sin.' (I would kiss her.)

 The six suffixes are used to form participles from verbs.
 Respectively active and passive in the same tenses as the corres-
 ponding verb endings.  They can take adjective endings in which case
 you can use `esti' (to be) like an auxiliary verb; noun endings (a
 person doing something) or adverb endings referring to the subject of
 the verb while doing something.  Some people even use them again as
 verbs.

  ridanta viro (a laughing man)  La viro estis kurinta. (The man had run.)
  La viroj kurintos. (The men will have run.)  la atakantoj (the attackers)
  Mar^sante ^si vidas lin. (While walking she saw him.  She is walking!)
  kaptita fi^so (a caught fish)

2) PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES

 Affixes vastly multiply the number of possible words.  Words may have one
 prefix (xx-) and several suffixes (-xx-) followed by one of the above word
 endings:

  bo-	in-law		bofrato (brother-in-law),  bopatrino (mother-in-law)
  dis-  dispersed	distran^ci (cut to parts),  diskuri (run in different
			directions)
  ek-	sudden		ekridi (to burst out laughing)
  eks-	ex-		eksprezidanto (expresident),  eksamanto (former lover)
  fi-	bad		fihundo (nasty dog),  fiulo (scoundrel)
  ge-	both sexes	gestudantoj (students),  gepatroj (parents)
  mal-  opposite	malvarmega (cold),  malgranda (small)
  mis-	incorrect	mislegi (to misread),  misa^udi (to hear wrongly)
  pra-	antique		prapatroj (forefathers)
  re-	repeated, back	rediri (repeat words),  resalti (jump back at)

  -a^c- worthless, bad	droga^coj (drugs)
  -ad-  long process	lernado (learning),
  -a^j- thing		akira^jo (acquisition),  man^ga^jo (food)
  -an-  member		klubano (clubmember)
  -ar-  set, group	arbaro (forest),  homaro (humanity)
  -ebl- possible	videble (visibly),  nefarebla (impossible)
  -ec-  essence		personeco (personality),  ebleco (possibility)
  -eg-  big/much	varmega (hot)
  -ej-  place		telefonejo (phonebooth or corner),  lernejo (school)
  -em-  liking to	parolema (talkative),  timeme (fearfully)
  -end- a must		pagenda (to be paid)
  -er-  piece/part of   monero (coin),  diserigi (to split up)
  -estr-leader		^statestro (state's leader),  grupestro (group's l.)
  -et-	small/little	dometo (hut)
  -id-  offspring	bovido (calf),  re^gido (prince)
  -ig-  make be		bluigi (to colour blue),  varmigi (warm up something)
  -i^g- become		sidi^gi (to sit down),  droni^gi (drown)
  -il-  tool, means	tran^cilo (knife),  
  -in-  female		sinjorino (Mrs.),  bovino (cow)
  -ind- worthwhile	vidinda (worth seeing)
  -ist- professional	bakisto (baker)
  -uj-  container	monujo (purse)
	fruittree	pomujo (apple tree),  oran^gujo (orange tree)
	country		Skotujo (Scotland),  Danujo (Denmark)
  -ul-  person		ri^culo (a rich man),  belulino (beautiful girl)
  -um-  (undefined)	malvarmumo (a cold),  komunumo (communitiy)

3) PRONOUNS

 Pronouns all end in `-i' (but they are not verbs).  As direct object
 they take an `-n'.  Posessive pronouns are formed by adding an
 adjective ending:

  mi (I),  vi (you sing & plur),  li (he),  ^si (she),  ni (we),  ili (they)
  ^gi (it, a thing)  ^Sajnas ke ^gi estas ru^ga. (It seems that it's red.)
  oni (one, impersonal they)  Oni diras ke pluvos. (They say that it'll rain.)
  si (reference to the subject)  Patro lavis sin. (Father washed himself.)
	Lia patro lavos lin. (His father will wash him.)
  mia (my),  min (me),  ^sia (her),  ilin (them)

4) TABLEWORDS

 Esperanto has 45 correlatives and quite a few derived forms made up of only
 14 elements: five word beginnings combined with nine word endings.  Each of
 these elements has a base meaning and combined they form a word:

  ^ci- (all)  i- (indefinite)  ki- (question)  neni- (none)  ti- (that)

  -a(j)(n) (sort)  -e(n) (place)  -o(n) (thing)  -u(j)(n) (person, reference)
  -al (reason)  -am (time)  -el (manner)  -es (posession)  -om (amount)

 All combinations of these are meaningful.  The second line of endings can
 also be followed by the standard word endings and suffixes:

  ^ciam (always)  ^cie (everywhere)  ^ciu (every(body))  ^ciuj (all (persons))
  ia  (some kind of)  ial (for some reason)  kialo (reason)  kiam (when)
  kie (where)  kien (whereto)  kio (what)  kioma (how many'th)  kiu (who, that)
  neniu (nobody)  nenies (nobody's)  tiel (like that)  tiom (that much)

5) NUMBERS

 Numbers are simply stringed together by saying how many tens and units etc.
 there are.  Ordinals are formed by adding an `-a', -on- forms fractions,
 -obl- multiplies by, -op- groups:

  nulo (0)  unu (1)  du (2)  tri (3)  kvar (4)  kvin (5)  ses (6)  sep (7)
  ok (8)  na^u (9)  dek (10)  cent (100)  mil (1000)
  dek du (12)  okcent (800)  mil na^ucent na^udek unu (1991)  dua (second)
  kvina (fifth)  unuo (unit)  duo (duo, duett)
  duono (half)  kvarono (quarter)  dekono (tenth)  sep okonoj (seven eighths)
  duobla (double)  triobla (treble)  kvarobla (quadruple)  multobla (manyfold)
  duope (two by two)  triope (three by three)

6) ODD WORDS AND PARTICLES

 A few other words don't really fit anywhere, most of them are adverbs
 ending in `-a^u'.  These assure that the language doesn't sound too
 monotonous.  Standard word endings can often be stuck onto them:

  ajn ([what-/where-/who- etc.]ever),  ajna (random),  ie ajn (whereever)
  al (to)  Mi pensas al vi (I think about you)
  almena^u (at least)
  anka^u (also)
  ankora^u (still)
  anstata^u (instead),  anstata^ua (replacing)
  anta^u (before),  anta^uo (front),  anta^uen (forwards)
  a^u (or),  a^u ... a^u ... (either ... or ...)
  ^cu (whether; turns an assertion into a question)  ^Cu varmas? (Is it warm?)
	Mi ne scias ^cu ... (I don't know whether ...)
  da (quantity of),  glaso da akvo (glass of water)
  de (of),  glaso de akvo (glass for water)
  e^c (even if/...),  mi e^c legis ke ... (I even read that ...), e^c mortante
	(even while dying),  e^c se li venkus ... (even if he won)
  ekster (outside),  eksterlandano (foreigner),  eksterulo (medical extern)
  el (from),  el la domo (from the house),  elirejo (exit)
  en (in),  en la a^uto (in the car),  en la domon (into the house)
  ^gis (until),  ^gis pluvas (until it rains),  ^gis la domo (upto the house)
  hiera^u (yesterday),  hiera^ua (happening yesterday)
  hodia^u (today),  hodia^ua (happening today)
  ja (used for emphasis)
  je (any preposition),  je la sepa (at seven),  je la strato (in the street)
  jen (there),  jene (thus)
  jes (yes),  jesa (consenting),  jesi (reply positively)
  kaj (and)
  kvankam (even though)
  kvaza^u (as though)
  morga^u (tomorrow),  morga^ua (happening tomorrow)
  ne (no),  nea (negative),  nei (deny)
  ol (than),  pli ri^ca ol ^si (richer than her)
  plej (most),  plej granda (biggest),  plej rapide (most rapidly)
  pli (more),  pli varma (warmer),  pli la^ute (louder)
  po (each),  po unu ekuo (one ecu each)
  por (for),  mi laboras por li (I work for him)
  post (after, behind),  posta (posterior),  poste (later)
  preska^u (almost)
  pro (because of),  pro manko da mono (for lack of money)
  sen (without)
  tuj (immediately),  tuja (immediate)

7) MORE ABOUT ESPERANTO  /  PLI PRI ESPERANTO

 Well that was admittedly very short, and just about enables you to
 decipher texts.  I think that you have nevertheless gotten the idea
 that without too much additional effort you could actually be reading
 and even speaking.  Some pointers:

 You can email the letter body "send esperanto esper.tex" to the
 language server <langserv@ivory.cc.columbia.edu> to get a more
 complete introduction (needs LaTeX) or simply the lines "help" and
 "send esperanto Description" if you want to know more about what's
 available.

 On CompuServe type /GO FLEFO for info on the Esperanto board.

 Folks on newsgroup soc.culture.esperanto or mailing lists
 <esperanto@rand.org> (subscribe with <esperanto-request@rand.org>)
 and <esper-l@trearn.bitnet> (send "SUB ESPER-L Your Real Name" to
 <listserv@trearn.bitnet>) will surely be glad to help you.

 If you have access to French Minitel you can try 36.15 ESPERANTO
 which informs about current events worldwide.  36.14 PING is an
 online chat and mailbox service in four languages.

 The following all sell Esperanto courses, literature, music etc.,
 some of which they themselves publish.  UEA (Universal Esperanto
 Association) is the UN of Esperanto, they are made up of all national
 Esperanto groups.  Rival SAT (Nationless Worldwide Association) was
 founded by the turn-of-the-century international workers' movement.
 They publish the authoritative PIV (Plena Ilustrita Vortaro --
 Complete Illustrated Dictionary).  FEL (Flemish Esperanto League)
 publishes the truly international monthly newsmagazine MONATO.  You
 can also look in the phone book to see if there's a local Esperanto
 group or ask in a big bookshop or library if they have anything to
 get you started.

  Universala Esperanto-Asocio
  Nieuwe Binnenweg 176
  NL-3015 BJ Rotterdam

  Sennacia Asocio Tutmonda
  67 avenue Gambetta
  F-75020 Paris

  Flandra Esperanto-Ligo
  Frankrijklei 140
  B-2000 Antwerpen

 There are many specialised groups (railroaders, medical, tourism ...)
 and in the scientific sector we have ISAE (International Esperantist
 Science Association) and the San Marino based AIS (International
 Academy of the Sciences) which also gives Doctor-titles (Ph.D.) in
 any of four other languages.

  Internacia Scienca Asocio Esperantista	<matck@seudac21.bitnet>
  Ringstr. 13
  CH-8172 Niederglatt

  prof. Helmar Frank
  Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj		<maitzen@avia1.una.ac.at>
  Kleinenbergerweg 16b
  D-4790 Paderborn
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.french,soc.culture.german