The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-03
ESPERANTO MAY
 YET BE UNIVERSAL: Story of Rapid Spread ot' New
 Language COLLEGES TAKING 1T UP Complete Exhibit and Demonstration of Possibilities of New Tongue
 Will Be Shown at James
 town Exposition.
COLLEGES TAKING 1T UP
BY sILAs E. SNYDER.

worth while to give Esperanto serious consideration before it is absolutely forced upon us far it Is no fad, but a practical linguistis structure erected ac- cording to scientific principles and upon the true, fundamental laws of grammar. It must not be confounded with "Vola- puk" which never was practicable and which passed into a deserved oblivion after brief existence as fad.
 Freshmen entering college this fall may find Esperanto included in the oarricu- lum before they matriculate as seniors, and if this be realized, the language will be taught in the primary grades of the public schools as Is now being done in Switzerland In American colleges there are always more than fifty Espe- ranto clubs made up of students ana members of the faculty, while all educa- tional societies and journals are devot- ing thought and space to it. In Flu rope hunrreds of thousands of people speak, write and read 1t and at the Es- parano congress held at Boulogue-sur- Mer in 1905, three thousand persons rep resenting fifteen countries attended.
 Japan Takes 1t Up.
 Even Japan has taken it up and it's Esperanto association has undertaken a propaganda under the direction of committee composed of three editors pro- fessors from the imperial universities and high schools and the secretary of the Japan Foreign Trade association, with the result that a grammar in Japanese character is ready for the press.
 By special order the officers of the French army are studying the new lan- guage and it is proposed that every gov ernment officer of the French nation whether of the army, navy diplomatic service or other branch shall be able to read, write and speak in Esperanto, as the government sees in 1t the nterna- tional medium of official intercourse which is soon to become universal.
 Canada, England, Italy, Spain Russia Sweden, Belgium, Roumania, Algeria and India all have long ako taken up the study and the most enthusiastic Esper- antists are the men who have interna- tional business to transact. In Ger many trade workers such as Autograph CTS and printers have adopted the lan- guage officially and it will be used in their congresses and conventions
 Bohemia has sent an Esperanto sec ton to the earls court exhibition in Lon 
 in England and the English press Is de- | voting columns of space to Its discus | sion and no word is said except in favor of 1t as the greatest medium yet discoY- cred for the promotion of the worlds fraternity.
 Geneva Enthusiastic.
 At this rate we may soon look for an Esperanto literature, for in Geneva, they are singing songs and acting dramas in the new tongue and an Esperanto publi- | cation tells its deVotees weekly, the news l of the world and the progress of the lan- guage, while Freemasons, Christian En- deavors and other societies of world , wide scope advocate it's study for use in the international congresses and cores 1 pondence.
 It is, therefore, not to be thought Of that a great educational exposition like l that to be held on the shores of Hamp- ton Roads near the city of Norfolk, Va, | in 1907 in celebration of the three hum dredth anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown should overlook the develop ment and propagation of this wonderful 1 language, and, to the end that Esper- anto may be officially introduced to the American people the department of con- | gresses and special events have invited the esperantists of the world to meet in | international congress at the Jamestown | exposition. lney VIII dlSO Dt luNitSo lo make an exhibit and will be given special day and permission to draw up | programme to suit themselves. If the l very bands play in strange tongue on that day you'll know its Esperanto.
 How 1t Was Created.
 | The study of the creation of Esper- | anto is extremely interesting. After the | failure of Volapuk Dr. Zamenhof, a Rus sian savant, took up tho study of uni versal language, and writing under the name of Esperanto. developed the arti ncal tongue which has made him famous. l He recognized that if a new language was to be made attractive it must be i made easy and he first set about con- | structing a grammar that might be mas tered in an hour. He eliminated all rules not absolutely required in the construc- tion of a logical sentence and ignored entirely all exceptions.
 | His next concern was the vocabulary. | for it is the great number of roots, the vast variety of words. that puzzles most the student of foreign language. As case in point take the expressions we have in English to set forth the ideas suggested hy the one conception of death dead. deadly. to die mortal to kill, to | murder. suicide. to commit homicide, nor tally, etc. Zamenhof rid himself of this great number of roots by selecting one and by means of a system of prefixes and suffiXes a dictionary or two thouS- and roots selected from the widest known languages and they are so wisely and judiciously chosen that the Esperanto vocabulary Is sufficietly extensive for every purpose and its appearance seems familiar to people of every nationality. The employment of the prefxes, which number only half dozen and the suf- fixes. of which there are thirty-two. in coniuction with these roots enables the student to extend his vocabulary to the point that the most delicate shades of meaning may be expressed. It follows therefore that Esperanto has the advan- tage over any other language in the facility with which it's construction admits of the forming of new words; and in this lies its grea test charm.
 Example of Its Workings.
 Prof J. L. Borgerhoff of the Western Reserve university, Cleveland O., in a recent communication on a recent con struction of Esperanto to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution explains brief ly and lucidly the mechanical working of the device for forming words. He says: 'sTo take the word death for ex- ample: the key word is mort; remem- bering that in Esperanto all nouns end in O. all adjectives in a. adverbs in e, in- finitives in |; that contraries are formed by prefixing maf that the prefix sen means without; that the suffix ant marks the agent Corresponding to the English ing0 and that the suffix fig means to cause, we get the above root: morto. death morta. mortal; morti. to die; morte. mortally: moranto. the dying man; nor tana, dying; morti. to cause death or