Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-03-22
A Boom for Esperanto.

ne UNIVERSAL ldI6 udsV,
called Esperanto by its architects, gets
at least Il temporary boost into prOmi-
hence by the somewhat qualified in
dorsement given il by the London
Chamber OF Commerce. That body
doubtless believes. as most of us do,
that English is destined To be the uni
versal language of the future in the
sense that it will be the chief medium
OF international business and diplomacy
and the one language most needed by
travellers, for nobody believes that
there vii, ever be any real universal
language, as tradition tells us there
was before the confusion Of Babel.
Nevertheless, the London Chamber Of
Commerce sees the good points of
| Esperanto and says n good word Tor it
which its promoters greatly appreciate.
Esperanto is not Of recent invention.
Fol nearly 20 years a number of Eu-
ropean writer's and philologists have
striren for its acceptance. but with
small success. Its predecessor, VOLTA
theories OF language reform. 1t may he
said, however, that Esperanto has
many distinct advantages over VIOLA
puk in that it is constructed upon
words that are common to all Flu
ropcan languages.
In writing of the possibilities of n
common language, that eminent
pathological authority, Charles b.
Waite, says in his "Homophonic
Vocabulary in Ten Languages" IF
any attempt be made to solve this
great problem, the first thing to be
done is to preserve and use what We
already have in common. The words
or modes OF expression which are the
| same. or nearly the same, in various
languages, should be made the basis
on which to build" This same Iu-
thOrity points out that II vast number
| OF words are common to nearly all Of
tine lndo- Germanic languages. In his
voca bulary Mr. Waite gives Il list of
more Than 1000 words nearly the same
in English. French. Spanish, Portu-
gueSe, Italian. German. Dutch. Danish
| Norwegian. Swedish and Russian. 1t
is truly astonishing how many Of our
commonest English words are pre-
served in recognizable form in these
nine other languages. AS examples "f
| some such forms following the above
order IRE: Instrument, instrument. in
strumento. instrumental. Instruments.
instrument. Instrument. instrument. in
| Strument. instrument. Ii will he
noticed that the word is the same in
English. French, German. Dutch,
Danish Norwegian. Swedish and Rus
sian. The word lord is exactly the
same in all ten languages. Many
words are the same with the exception
of final "a and 90 in the French
tSpanish. Portuguese and Italian Ian
gus ges a change not sufficient to dis
guise the word.
Esperanto differs fundamentally from
Volapuk in that the latter arbitrarily
disregards all existing forms. while the
former seeks to preserve those easil!
recognizable expressions common tn q
ma jority of the ten Indo- Germanic Ian.
guages. Nolapuk has expresset
fern" in the word "fom." leaving on,
the letter r." although form is com.
mon to nine out of the ten Language:
here referred to and in the other i.
worm" which is understood by thos,
. at all acquainted with the Dutch
philology.
That a universal language may b,
constructed is easily possible. but tina
, it will meet with universal acceptanc,
must be doubted. Esperanto is
, pheasant theory upon which To specu
late. bat IL is hard to conceive of :
Frenchman or an Englishman or