The Esperanto alphabet consists of 28 letters: the 26 letters of
the English alphabet, but with "q", "w", "x" and "y" removed, and
six accented letters added. The accented letters are "c", "g",
"h", "j", and "s" (each with a circumflex accent), and "u" (with
a breve accent). Since these accented letters are not included
in the ASCII character set, some other means must be used to
represent them.
The rules of Esperanto grammar allow for alternative spellings if
the accented letters are not available: the accented letters may
be replaced by "ch", "gh", "hh", "jh", "sh", and "u"
(respectively). However, this system presents some difficulties
for electronic applications, since it cannot be reliably
converted automatically into other formats in which the accented
characters can be displayed properly. Many electronic Esperanto
texts therefore write the accented letters as "cx", "gx", "hx",
"jx", "sx", and "ux". Since "x" does not appear in the Esperanto
alphabet, this system allows the accented letters to be
represented without ambiguity so that the text can be more
reliably converted to other formats. It is this "x" system that
is used in this Project Gutenberg eBook.
At the time of the writing of the "Dua Libro," the time
correlatives ("kiam," "tiam," "iam," "neniam," and "cxiam") were
spelled "kian," "tian," "ian," "nenian," and "cxian"
(respectively). These words had been changed to their modern
forms by the time of publication of the "Aldono al la Dua Libro"
(also included with this text). The original spellings have been
preserved in this eBook.