Dear Sir,--A matter which requires the careful attention of
those who desire to make themselves perfectly intelligible to all,
irrespective of nationality, is the correct use of prepositions. In
English the same preposition is often employed to express many
diverse ideas, and it therefore becomes desirable to consider this
when translating prepositions into Esperanto.
Of course it is often possible to evade the difficulty by using the
accusative without a preposition, and one is often tempted to employ
the invaluable "je." As, however, this latter practice should not be
indulged in too frequently, it may be of interest to many of your
readers to consider some phases of our preposition "of."
The first word of the line.
_La unua vorto de la linio._
One of us will be chosen.
_Unu el ni estos elektata._
Do not think of it.
_Ne pensu pri ĝi._
The best means of obtaining it.
_La plej bonaj metodoj por ricevi ĝin._
The Professor of the school.
_La Profesoro ĉe la lernejo._
A great number of ideas.
_Granda nombro da ideoj._
The largest room of the house.
_La plej granda ĉambro en la domo._
The largest of all the trees in the garden.
_La plej granda inter ĉiuj la arboj en la ĝardeno._
When in doubt as to which preposition should be used, try the
sentence with all the possible forms, and the correct, logical,
preposition will almost always be obvious.
Esperantisto, 8105.
* * *
Several friends have called attention to the apparent misprint in the
word _Trinki_, thinking it should be _Drinki_. There is, however, an
important difference between the two. _Trink'_ (as "made in Germany")
is used for the ordinary drinking of man and beast; but with shame we
admit that our own vocabulary provided Dr. Zamenhof with the _drink'_
which represents the excessive tipplings of men and beasts. Let us
beware of calling our friends "Drinkuloj" during the dog-days.
Trinkulo is the more usual and agreeable word.
* * *
Having had occasion to write to the Remington firm on a matter of
business, a reply was received in Esperanto, concluding with a
question of general interest regarding the sound of "Scii." This
word, represented phonetically, does present some difficulty.
S-ts-ee-ee is not easy to pronounce. In practice one should elide the
first "s" on to the vowel immediately preceding. Thus _mi scias_ is
pronounced _mis cias_.
* * *
The pronunciation of the vowels in Esperanto still seems to give some
difficulty, for a correspondent queries the sounds of vowels when
followed by "r."
Esperanto is a phonetic language. "One letter, one sound," is one of
its invariable rules. Therefore, no matter what the letters adjacent
to those vowels may be, their value is invariable. Take the word
"per" for example. This is sounded as the English "pay," followed by
"r," which is slightly trilled, and not silent, as it often is in
English. The writer was once talking in Esperanto with a French
expert, and at the termination of the conversation asked if there
were any noticeable differences between the English and French
methods of pronunciation. "None whatever" was the reply, except
perhaps in the value of the letter "r."
Beginners must therefore be careful to sound this letter; and, with
regard to the vowels, students cannot dwell too much on them at
first. Dr. Lloyd, in his most able article on Esperanto, in the
current _Westminster Review_, says that the vowels are neither long
nor short, but have a middle value. This is a very happy description
of Esperanto vowels as they are spoken, and if beginners are careful
to keep them long at first the middle value will assert itself as
fluency is attained.
* * *
Some of the suffixes are very difficult to define. Many learners have
believed that only concrete substances could be represented by the
use of the suffix "aĵ." Such words as _bonaĵoj_, _amikaĵoj_,
_etc._, they would do away with, and replace by _boneco_, _amikeco_,
_etc._ On giving the matter a little thought, however, it is quite
clear that there is a distinct difference between _amikaĵoj_ and
_amikeco_. Whereas the latter means friendship pure and simple,
_amikaĵoj_ represent the friendly actions which are the outcome of
the state of friendship. The nearest English equivalent to define
_amikaĵoj_ is _friendlinesses_. Similarly _bonaĵoj_ are
_goodnesses_, or good actions, which necessarily arise from the state
of goodness, as represented by the abstract suffix "ec."