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THE INTERNATIONAL AUXILIARY
LANGUAGE
ESPERANTO
GRAMMAR & COMMENTARY
COMPILED BY
Major-General George Cox
B.A. (Cantab.)
FOURTH EDITION
REVISED
B.E.A. Publications Fund, No. 14
LONDON:
BRITISH ESPERANTO ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED
[_All rights reserved_]
_Reprinted, January, 1939_
_Printed in Great Britain_
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
In this Fourth Edition of a work which, since its first appearance
in August, 1906, has had a very favourable reception among
English-speaking Esperantists in all parts of the world, advantage
has been taken of the necessity for reprinting the work, to make
a thorough revision of the text, and to introduce some other
improvements.
Major-General Cox, born 1838, the author of the Commentary, died on
27th October, 1909, and the revision of the work has been carried out
under the direction of the British Esperanto Association
(Incorporated).
Footnotes to the Preface to the First Edition have been introduced to
record facts not known to the author at the time.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
Esperanto is the International Auxiliary Language created by Dr. L.
L. Zamenhof, a doctor of medicine, residing at Warsaw, Poland. It
is now hardly necessary to mention this fact, but there was a time,
not very long ago, when many people thought that Esperanto was a
patent medicine, or new kind of soap, or, in fact, anything except a
language!
Its aim is not to displace existing languages, but to be a
second language for the world, and its merits are now recognized
by many eminent men of all nationalities.[1]
If we consider the enormous advantages of a common language,
understood by all, we shall at once confess what a blessing Dr.
Zamenhof has conferred upon mankind, for:--
_Firstly._--It enables anyone to correspond on any topic, social,
commercial, or scientific, with persons of all nationalities.[2]
_Secondly._--Books of all descriptions can at once be translated
into this common language, and sold all over the world; consequently,
scientific and medical men will not have to wait, perhaps years,
before some important treatise appears in their own language.
Lovers of fiction would also have at command the works of all the
best foreign novelists.[3]
_Thirdly._--At international congresses the speeches and discussions
could be in Esperanto, and understood by all present, the aid of
interpreters being unnecessary, by which great saving of time would
be effected.[4]
_Fourthly._--Treaties and Conventions with foreign Powers could be
drawn up in the international language, and there would be no
difficulty in determining their exact signification.[5]
Esperanto was first introduced into Great Britain by Mr. Joseph
Rhodes, of Keighley, Yorkshire, who formed the first group in that
town in 1902. Shortly afterwards, in January, 1903, a group was
formed in London, under the auspices of Mr. W. T. Stead, Editor
of the "Review of Reviews," Miss E. A. Lawrence, and Mr. J. C.
O'Connor, M.A., Ph.D., which resulted in the foundation of the
present London Esperanto Club. The first English-Esperanto Gazette
was founded by Mr. H. Bolingbroke Mudie, in November, 1903; this
was followed in January, 1905, by "The British Esperantist," the
official organ of the _British Esperanto Association_, which
was then founded as the official organization of the Esperantists
of the British Empire. Progress in the language was at first slow,
but it is now advancing by leaps and bounds, and there are at
present, in England, Ireland, and Scotland, some 60[6] societies,
groups, and clubs, affiliated to the _British Esperanto Association_.
There is also now an American Esperanto Association, with already a
large number of energetic groups.[7]
I hope that those who take up this Commentary on Esperanto will not
think it necessary to wade through all its pages before they can
read and write the language. All that is necessary for this purpose
is to read the 16 simple rules, written by Dr. Zamenhof himself
(par. 94), and a few paragraphs and examples on the Formation of
Words (par. 40), and on the Parts of Speech (pars. 103, 107, 125,
149, 159, 238, 249, 262). This can easily be done in two or three
hours; and then, with the aid of a small English Dictionary, you
will be able to write a letter in Esperanto, which will be readily
understood by any Esperantist.
Or, you can buy for a few pence various primers, first lessons, or
instruction books, most of which contain a small vocabulary of common
words. A tiny book, costing 1d., called the "Esperanto Key," weighing
1/5th of an ounce, containing a vocabulary of over 1,500 roots,
with explanations of the suffixes, formation of words, etc., gives
you the language in a nutshell. This little book is already published
in nineteen different languages. If you wish to correspond with
anyone of a different nation, all you have to do is to write your
letter in Esperanto, enclose the "Esperanto Key" in the language of
the person you are writing to, and he will understand your letter.
This, you may say, is pure nonsense, but I assure you it is true, for
on several occasions I have done this myself. In all cases my letters
were thoroughly understood, and in two cases I received replies
written in Esperanto, within three days of my writing, from persons
who had never previously read a word in the language; these replies
were in perfectly good Esperanto, with only one or two trifling
errors, and I was quite amazed when I got them.
But then you will say, "What is the use of this Commentary?" Well, it
is compiled for the use of those who wish to go deeper into the study
of this delightful, logical, flexible, and sonorous language, and who
wish to write and speak it, not merely sufficiently well to be
understood, but to write and speak it in good style. Esperanto,
although so extraordinarily easy to learn, has, like every national
language, a certain style and elegance of expression of its own. If
we translate French, or any other foreign language, literally into
English, we see how bald and strange it reads, and probably some
sentences would be unintelligible. A language literally translated
into Esperanto would be quite intelligible to persons of all
nationalities, owing to the fact that Esperanto is a purely logical,
clear, and unidiomatic language, and to the use of the accusative
case; but the literal translation might be wanting in style, grace,
and smoothness, for the order of the words, although perfectly
correct grammatically, might, in some cases, entail harshness of
sound, and so the easy flow and euphony of the language would be
lost.
The standard book for good style in the language is the "Fundamenta
Krestomatio" (Fundamental Chrestomathy), or book of extracts for
studying a language. This book, containing 458 pages of prose and
verse on numerous subjects, was published by Dr. Zamenhof in 1903,
and all the articles in it were either written by himself or, if
written, as many were, by others, were corrected by him to such a
degree that they do not too widely differ from the Doctor's own
style.
The more the student studies this language, the more he will wonder
how it could have been created by the brain of one man; for we must
remember that Esperanto was not devised by a group of learned men of
different nationalities, bringing the knowledge of their own language
to bear upon the construction of an entirely new language, but that
it was born of one individual after years of intense thought and
labour, and it is marvellous how he has discarded the illogical, and
introduced the logical and best points of all the European and dead
languages into Esperanto. How this result was obtained can best be
shown by a short history of the language, taken generally from the
Doctor's article on the subject in the "Krestomatio," page 241,
and also from a letter he wrote to a friend, which was first printed
by his consent in 1896, and reproduced in "Esperantaj Prozaĵoj,"
page 239.
Footnotes:
[1] The Third Assembly of the League of Nations, held at Geneva in
September, 1922, unanimously adopted an exhaustive Report favourable
to Esperanto.
[2] The Universala Esperanto-Asocio (U.E.A.), with headquarters at
12, Boulevard du Théâtre, Geneva, has a world-wide organization with
delegates (or consuls, as they are sometimes called) in over 1000
towns in thirty-nine countries who render important international
services.
[3] A book list containing titles of hundreds of translations and
original works in Esperanto may be had from the British Esperanto
Association (Incorporated).
[4] International Congresses, at which Esperanto was the only
language used, have been held at Boulogne-sur-Mer (1905), Geneva
(1906), Cambridge (1907), Dresden (1908), Barcelona (1909),
Washington (1910), Antwerp (1911), Cracow (1912), Berne (1913),
Paris (1914), San Francisco (1915), The Hague (1920), Prague (1921),
Helsingfors (1922), and Nurnberg (1923). A Conference of educationists
was held in 1922 at the Secretariat of the League of Nations in
Geneva, at which twenty-eight countries and sixteen governments
were represented; and in 1923 a Commercial Conference was held at
Venice, to which over 200 commercial and touring associations from
twenty-three countries sent delegates. At both of these conferences,
Esperanto was the only language used.
[5] The most notable example of a modern treaty was the Treaty of
Peace signed at Versailles in 1919. It was executed in French and
English; but not long afterwards questions of the interpretation
of certain parts of it were raised, based upon alleged divergencies
of meaning in the two texts.
[6] In 1923 more than 100.
[7] The Esperanto Association of North America (Inc.), 507, Pierce
Buildings, Copley Square, Boston 17 (Mass.), U.S.A., incorporates
the English-speaking Esperantists of North America. There are also
similar associations in the British Colonies.
The Origin of Esperanto.
Doctor Ludovic Zamenhof, Doctor of Medicine, the inventor of
Esperanto, was born on December 3rd (15th N.S.), 1859, at Bialystok
(Bjelostok), in the Government of Grodno, West Russia, where he spent
his boyhood.[8] The inhabitants of Bjelostok were of four different
nationalities, Russians, Poles, Germans, and Jews, all speaking
different languages, and generally on bad terms with each other. The
boy's impressionable nature caused him to reflect that this animosity
was occasioned by diversity of language, and thus the first seeds of
the idea of an International Language were sown. Even at an early age
Dr. Zamenhof came to the conclusion that an international language
was possible only if it were neutral, belonging to no nationality in
particular. When he passed from the Bjelostok gymnasium to the second
classical school at Warsaw he was for some time allured by the dead
languages, and dreamed of travelling through the world to revive one
of them for common use, but he was eventually convinced that this was
impracticable owing to the mass of grammatical forms and ponderous
dictionaries of those languages.
Footnote:
[8] Dr. Zamenhof died at Warsaw on April 14th, 1917.
In his boyhood he learnt French and German, and began to work out
the idea of his new language, but when, in the 5th Class of the
Gymnasium, he began to study English, the simplicity of its grammar
was a revelation to him, and his own grammar soon melted down to a
few pages without causing any loss to the language. But his giant
vocabularies left him no peace of mind.
He tried to use similar economy in his dictionary as in the grammar,
thinking that it did not matter what form a word took if it had a
given meaning; so he began to invent words, taking care only that
they should be as short as possible. For instance, he argued that the
word "conversation" has 12 letters; why should not the same idea be
conveyed by two, say, "_pa_"? He tried this by simply writing
the shortest and most easily pronounced mathematical series of joined
letters, and these he gave a defined meaning, e.g., ab, ac, ad, ...
ba, ca, da, ... eb, ec, ed, ... etc. He, however, soon abandoned this
idea, as he found these invented words very difficult to learn, and
hard to remember, and thus he came to the conclusion that the word
material for the dictionary must be Romance-Teutonic, changed only as
regularity and other important conditions of the language required.
He soon remarked that the present spoken languages possessed an
immense store of ready-made international words known by all nations,
and he commenced at once to make use of this unlimited supply.
One day, when he was in the 6th or 7th Class at the Gymnasium
he, by chance, observed that the signs over shops had certain
terminations, as we might notice in England, for instance, "Surgery,"
"Bakery," etc., and it then struck him for the first time that these
terminations had certain meanings, and that by using a number of
suffixes, each always having the same meaning, he might make out
of one word many others that need not be separately learnt. This
thought shed a ray of light upon his great and terrible vocabularies,
and he cried out "The problem is solved!" He at once understood how
important it was to make use of this power, which, in the national
languages, plays only a blind, irregular and incomplete _rôle_.
So he began to compare words, and to search out the constant and
defined relationship between them. He cast out of his vocabularies
a vast series of words, substituting for each huge mass a single
suffix, which had always a certain fixed relationship to a root-word.
He next remarked that certain words, which he had hitherto regarded
as purely roots, might easily become formed words and disappear from
the dictionary, such as patr-_ino_ (mother), _mal_-larĝa
(narrow), tranĉ-_ilo_ (knife). Soon after this the Doctor had
in manuscript the whole grammar and a small vocabulary.
In 1878, when he was in the 8th Class at the Gymnasium, the language
was more or less ready, and his fellow students commenced to study
it. On December 17th, 1878, they celebrated the birth of the language
by a banquet, at which a hymn was sung, the commencing words being as
follows:--
Malamikete de las nacjes
Kadó, kadó, jam temp' está!
La tot' homoze in familje
Konunigare so debá.
The language then was very different from what it is now, as the
following translation will show:--
Malamikeco de la nacioj
Falu, falu, jam tempo estas!
La tuta homaro en familion
Unuiĝi devas.
"Let the enmity of nations fall, fall, for the hour is come. All
mankind must be united in one family."
On the table, in addition to the grammar and dictionary, were some
translations in the new language.
The Doctor's fellow students were at first enthusiastic, but
meeting with ridicule when they tried to discuss the language with
their elders, they soon renounced it, and the Doctor hid his work
from all eyes.
After he left school and was at the University, for five years
and a half he never spoke of it to anyone. This secrecy tormented
him. Compelled to conceal his thoughts and plans, he went scarcely
anywhere, took part in nothing, and the best period of his life,
his student years, were, for him, his saddest. Occasionally, he
sought society, but it failed to enliven him, and he then tried
to tranquillize his mind by writing poems in the language he was
elaborating.
For six years he worked at perfecting and testing it. This gave him
plenty of work, notwithstanding he had considered it ready in 1878;
but severe trials showed him that, although it might be ready in
theory, it was not so in practice. He had much to cut out, alter,
and radically transform. Words, forms, principles, and postulates
opposed one another in practice, although each, taken separately,
appeared in theory right. Such things as the universal preposition
_je_, the elastic verb _meti_ (to put), the neutral, but
definite, ending _aŭ_, would probably never have entered his
head had he proceeded only on theory. Some forms, which appeared to
him to possess a mine of wealth, were shown in practice to be useless
ballast, and, on this account, he discarded several unnecessary
suffixes.
He had thought, in the year 1878, that it was sufficient for the
language to have a grammar and vocabulary; the heaviness and want of
grace of the language he ascribed to his not knowing it sufficiently
well; but practice always kept convincing him that the language
required an indescribable "something," a uniting element, giving it
life and soul. He therefore avoided all literal translations, and
commenced to _think_ in the language.
He soon noticed that his new language was not a mere shadowy
reflection of the language he happened to be translating, but was
becoming imbued with a life and spirit of its own, and was now no
mere lifeless mixture of words, It flowed of itself as flexibly,
gracefully, and freely as his own native tongue.
However, another circumstance delayed for a long time its public
appearance. He knew that everyone would say, "Your language will
be useful to me only when the whole world accepts it, therefore
I shall not learn it until I find everyone else is adopting it."
This problem gave him much thought till at last it struck him that
correspondence was carried on in cipher by means of a key possessed
by both parties. This gave him his great idea, namely, to construct
his language in the fashion of such a key by inserting in it not
only the vocabulary, but the whole grammar in its separate elements.
Such a key, alphabetically arranged, would enable anyone possessing
the key, giving the meaning of the elements in his own language, to
understand without further ado a letter written in Esperanto.
Dr. Zamenhof illustrates this in the "Krestomatio," page 249, by the
following sentence:--"I do not know where I left my stick; did
you not see it?" Now supposing that a German wished to write this to
an Englishman or person of any other nationality, he would translate
it from the German into Esperanto as follows, dividing the words into
their elements by hyphens:--
_Mi ne sci-as, kie mi las-is mi-a-n baston-o-n; ĉu vi ĝi-n ne
vid-is?_
The Englishman, on receiving the letter, turns to his Esperanto
dictionary, or to the Ĉefeĉ Key, if it be enclosed, and reads as
follows:--
MI = I _I_
NE = no, not _not_
{SCI- = know }_know_
{-AS = ending of present tense of verb }
KIE = Where _where_
MI = I _I_
{LAS- = leave }_left_ or
{-IS = ending of past tense of verb } _have left_
{MI = I }_my_
{-A- = ending of an adjective (nom. case) }
{-N = ending of the objective case }
{BASTON- = stick }_stick_
{-O- = ending of noun (nom case) }
{-N = ending for the objective case }
ĈU = whether; asks a question _whether_
VI = you _you_
{ĜI- = it (nom case) }_it_
{-N = ending for the objective case }
NE = no, not _not_
{VID- = see }_saw_, or _did see_,
{-IS = ending of past tense of verb } or _have seen_
The above, therefore, in bald English is "I not know where I left
my stick; whether you it not have seen (_or_, did see)?"
Now this is perfectly comprehensible to any Englishman. But some
may say, "But if the German had written in his own language, and
I had found a German dictionary, I could quite as easily have
made out his meaning." Now the following is the German for this
sentence:--_Ich weiss nicht wo ich meinen Stock gelassen habe;
haben Sie ihn nicht gesehen?_
On referring to the German dictionary, and looking out the words, he
would find:--ICH=I, WEISS=white, NICHT=not, WO=where, ICH=I,
MEINEN=to think, STOCK=stick, GELASSEN=composed, calm, HABE=property,
goods, HABEN=to have, SIE=she, her, it, they, them, you, IHN=(not
in the dictionary), NICHT=not, GESEHEN=(not in the dictionary).
Therefore the sentence would read:--_I white not where I to think
stick composed property; to have she_ (blank) _not_ (blank).
It would be rather difficult to gather the meaning of this!
On leaving the university, Dr. Zamenhof commenced his medical
practice, and began to consider the publication of his language. He
prepared the manuscript of his first brochure, "An International
Language, by Dr. Esperanto, Preface and Full Manual," and sought out
a publisher. For two years he sought in vain, the financial question
meeting him at every turn; but, at length, after strenuous efforts,
he succeeded in publishing the brochure himself, in 1887. He had
"crossed the Rubicon," and Esperanto was given to the World!
Before concluding this preface let me give a word of advice to
learners. Do not think, after a few days' study, as many do,
that you can improve the language. If you have such thoughts, put
down on a piece of paper your youthful would-be improvements, and
think no more of them till you have a really good knowledge of
the language. Then read them over, and they will go at once into
the waste-paper basket! or, perhaps, be preserved as curiosities!
The most skilled Esperantists have had these thoughts, and have
wasted valuable time in thinking them out, only to find at last
that the more they studied Esperanto, the less they found it
needed alteration. This is what Dr. Zamenhof himself says on the
point:--"As the author of the language, I naturally, more than
anyone else, would wish that it should be as perfect as possible;
it is more difficult for me than others to hold back from fancied
improvements, and I have at times been tempted to propose to
Esperantists some slight alterations, but I bore in mind the great
danger of this step and abandoned my intention." Copy the Doctor in
this, and whatever you do, do not attempt to put your crude ideas of
improvement into _print_.
In compiling this Commentary, my thanks are
due to the following works I have consulted:--
"Fundamenta Krestomatio," by Dr. Zamenhof.
"Fundamento de Esperanto," by Dr. Zamenhof.
"The Student's Complete Text Book," by Mr. J. C. O'Connor, B.A.
"Grammaire et Exercises," "Commentaire sur la Grammaire Esperanto,"
"Ekzercoj de Aplikado," "Texte Synthetique," all by M.
L. de Beaufront.
"Esperanta Sintakso," by M. Paul Fruictier.
Various articles in "The Esperantist" and "The British Esperantist"
gazettes.
As regards personal assistance, Mr. Bolingbroke Mudie very kindly
looked over the MS. before its completion.
In preparing the manuscript for publication, my warmest thanks are
due to Mr. E. A. Millidge, F.B.E.A., who took infinite pains in
correcting errors of all kinds. And I must take occasion here to say
that any points of grammar that may be found incorrect, or failure in
making explanations clear to learners, are, in all probability, due
to my not strictly following his suggestions.
George Cox.
_August 21st, 1906_.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
In this Second Edition of the "Grammar and Commentary" the press and
other errors which appeared in the first edition have been corrected,
and the book has been revised throughout; the text also has been
altered, where explanations were not quite clear.
In Part I an attempt has been made to give a nearer approach to the
proper pronunciation of the vowels which differ in sound from those
in English. In Part II the use of some of the pronouns, correlative
words, and adverbs has been more fully explained, and fresh pages
have been added to the verb section, showing, by numerous examples,
the rendering of the common English verbs "_can, could, may, might,
shall, will, should, would, must, ought_." In Part V, additions have
been made in the list of useful words and expressions.
My thanks, for their kind assistance in the revision of the book, are
especially due to Mr. E. A. Millidge, Mr. A. E. Wackrill, Mr. J. M.
Warden (President of the Edinburgh Group), Mr. M. C. Butler, Mr. G.
W. Bullen, Dr. R. Legge, Mr. W. Bailey, Mr. C. P. Blackham, Mr. P. J.
Cameron, Mr. H. Clegg, Mr. W. Morrison, Mr. G. Ledger, and many other
kind Esperantists, who have written to me pointing out errors and
giving useful suggestions.
Even in this second edition I fear that some errors will be found,
and I shall, therefore, be extremely obliged if Esperantists will
kindly point out to me any they may meet with.
George Cox.
_April 12th, 1907_.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
In this Third Edition of the "Grammar and Commentary" I have again to
thank many kind Esperantist friends for assisting me in correcting
errors, and for their advice in pointing out desirable alterations
and improvements.
The book has been carefully revised, and a few additions have been
made, which I trust will be found useful.
George Cox.
L' ESPERO.
En la mondon venis nova sento,
Tra la mondo iras forta voko;
Per flugiloj de facila vento
Nun de loko flugu ĝi al loko.
Ne al glavo sangon soifanta
Ĝi la homan tiras familion:
Al la mond' eterne militanta
Ĝi promesas sanktan harmonion.
Sub la sankta signo de l' espero
Kolektiĝas pacaj batalantoj,
Kaj rapide kreskas la afero
Per laboro de la esperantoj.
Forte staras muroj de miljaroj
Inter la popoloj dividitaj;
Sed dissaltos la obstinaj baroj,
Per la sankta amo disbatitaj.
Sur neŭtrala lingva fundamento,
Komprenante unu la alian,
La popoloj faros en konsento
Unu grandan rondon familian.
Nia diligenta kolegaro
En laboro paca ne laciĝos,
Ĝis la bela sonĝo de l' homaro
Por eterna ben' efektiviĝos.
L. L. Zamenhof.
El Fundamenta Krestomatio.
HOPE.
Literal Translation.
A new sentiment has come into the world,
A mighty call is passing through the world;
On wings of a light breeze
From place to place now let it fly.
Not to the sword thirsting for blood
Does it draw the family of mankind:
To the ever-warring world
It promises holy harmony.
Under the sacred sign of hope
Peaceful combatants are gathering,
And the cause is rapidly growing
Through the labour of the hopeful.
Strongly stand the walls of thousands of years
Between the divided peoples;
But the obstinate barriers shall leap asunder,
Beaten down by sacred love.
On a neutral lingual foundation,
Understanding one another,
The peoples shall form in agreement
One great family circle.
Our diligent colleagues
Will not weary of their peaceful labour,
Until the beautiful dream of mankind
For eternal blessing shall be realized.
LA VOJO.
Tra densa mallumo briletas la celo,
Al kiu kuraĝe ni iras,
Simile al stelo en nokta ĉielo,
Al ni la direkton ĝi diras.
Kaj nin ne timigas la noktaj fantomoj,
Nek batoj de l' sorto, nek mokoj de l' homoj,
Ĉar klara kaj rekta kaj tre difinita
Ĝi estas, la voj' elektita.
Ni semas kaj semas, neniam laciĝas,
Pri l' tempoj estontaj pensante,
Cent semoj perdiĝas, mil semoj perdiĝas,--
Ni semas kaj semas konstante.
"Ho, ĉesu!" mokante la homoj admonas,
"Ne ĉesu, ne ĉesu!" en kor' al ni sonas:
"Obstine antaŭen! La nepoj vin benos
Se vi pacience eltenos."
Se longa sekeco aŭ ventoj subitaj
Velkantajn foliojn deŝiras,
Ni dankas la venton kaj, repurigitaj,
Ni forton pli freŝan akiras.
Ne mortos jam nia bravega anaro,
Ĝin jam ne timigas la vento, nek staro:
Obstine ĝi paŝas, provita, hardita,
Al cel' unu fojon signita
Nur rekte, kuraĝe kaj ne flankiĝante
Ni iru la vojon celitan!
Eĉ guto malgranda, konstante frapante,
Traboras la monton granitan.
L' espero, l' obstino kaj la pacienco--
Jen estas la signoj, per kies potenco
Ni paŝo post paŝo, post longa laboro,
Atingos la celon en gloro.
L. L. Zamenhof.
CONTENTS
PART I.
PAGES
Alphabet.--Pronunciation.--Syntax.--Formation of Words.
--Definitions.--Primary Words.--Foreign Words.--
Grammatical Terminations.--List of Suffixes.--List of
Prefixes.--Elision.--Interrogation.--Negation.--
Affirmation.--The Accusative--Capital Letters.--
Punctuation.--Order of Words 1-58
PART II.
Grammar and Commentary.
Rules.--Parts of Speech.--The Article.--Nouns.--Adjectives.
--Numerals.--Pronouns.--Correlative Words.--Verbs.--
Adverbs.--Prepositions.--Conjunctions.--Interjections.
--Remarks on the Suffixes and Prefixes 59-258
PART III.
Exercises 259-316
PART IV.
Phrases.--Conversation.--Correspondence 317-333
PART V.
List of Primary Words.--List of Adverbs, Adjectives,
Conjunctions, Prepositions, and Adverbial and
Prepositional Expressions 334-362
Hints To Learners 363-364
Index 365-371
PART I
ALPHABET (Alfabeto).
1. The Alphabet (la alfabeto) consists of 28 letters, viz.:--5
vowels (vokaloj) and 23 consonants (konsonantoj).
Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff,
Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, Jj, Ĵĵ,
Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr,
Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz.
2. The Characters are written as in English, the marks over the
letters requiring them being added as printed. In telegrams ĉ,
ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ, may be written ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, u.
3. Typewriting.--If the letters ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ, are not on
the machine, type the plain letters and add the supersigns
afterwards with the pen; most makers, however, supply a machine with
the necessary characters, or they can be added to any machine on a
"dead key" at the cost of a few shillings.
4. The Names given to the letters are different from those of other
languages. For instance, in English we add E to _some_ of the
consonants to name the letter, but in Esperanto O is added to _all_
the 23 consonants, and the alphabet runs thus:--A, Bo, Co, Ĉo, Do,
E, Fo, Go, Ĝo, Ho, Ĥo, I, Jo, Ĵo, Ko, Lo, Mo, No, O, Po, Ro, So,
Ŝo, To, U, Ŭo, Vo, Zo. Note particularly the pronunciation of the
12 consonants, given in the next paragraph.
See "Hints to Learners," page 363.
PRONUNCIATION (Prononco).
5. The Consonants are pronounced as in English, with the following
exceptions:--
C pronounced _tso_ like _ts_ in _pits_, _Tsar_.
Ĉ pronounced _cho_ like _ch_ in _choke_ or _church_.
G pronounced _go_ like _g_ in _get_ or _go_, always hard.
Ĝ pronounced _djo_ like _j_ in _Joe_, or _G_ in _George_.
Ĥ pronounced _hHo_ like _ch_ in _loch_ (is a very strong guttural aspirate).
J pronounced _yo_ like _y_ in _yoke_.
Ĵ pronounced _zho_ like _s_ in _pleasure_, _leisure_.
R pronounced _ro_ like _rr_ in _terror_.
S pronounced _so_ like _s_ in _so_ (never has the sound of _z_).
Ŝ pronounced _sho_ like _sh_ in _show_.
Ŭ pronounced _oo-o_ or _wo_ like _w_ in _cow_.
Z pronounced _zo_ like _z_ in _zone_.
For the pronunciation of the vowels, see pars. 8 and 9.
6. In spelling a word use the Esperanto name, thus:--A, No, To, A,
Wo, spells _antaŭ_ (before). E, Wo, Ro, O, Po, O, spells _Eŭropo_
(Europe). U, No, U, spells _unu_ (one).
7. Consonants. Note the following:--
(_a_). C and J are the only consonants which have a different sound
than in English.
(_b_). C, Ĉ and Ŝ are the equivalents of the English combinations
_ts_, _ch_ (soft) and _sh_.
(_c_). G has always the English _hard_ sound.
(_d_). Ĝ is like the English J.
(_e_). J is like the English Y.
(_f_). H is always aspirated.
(_g_). Ĥ is a guttural aspirate similar to the Spanish J as heard in
_mujer_ (a woman), or like the Scotch _ch_ in "loch," or the Irish
_gh_ in "lough." If the learner cannot catch this sound it will be
sufficient to aspirate the character strongly, as if it were a double
letter _hH_, laying stress on the last H.
(_h_). S _never_ has the sound of Z, as it has in the English words
"rose, has, was," etc.
(_i_). ĵ, the small letter, does not require the dot in addition to
the circumflex.
(_j_). Ŭ is a consonant, and is used in the combinations AŬ and EŬ
(see par. 10).
8. Vowels.--There are no _short_ vowels in Esperanto, as heard in
the words bat, bet, bit, pot, but. All vowels should be of _medium_
length, but it is well to begin by sounding them _long_ (see note,
page 12).
9. The vowel A is sounded like "ah!" or the _a_ in "father"; I like
_ee_ in "seen"; U like _oo_ in "fool."
As regards the vowels E and O, we have no words in English exactly
expressing their true sounds. The correct sound of E is something
midway between the vowels heard in "bale" and "bell," and that of O
something midway between those heard in "dole" and "doll," viz.,
"eh!" (cut short) and "oh!" (cut short), but without the _prolonged_
sound heard in these words. In the vowel E there should be no trace
of the _ee_ sound heard in "cake"; its true sound is much nearer to
the _e_ in "bell." The vowel O approaches to the sound of _o_ in
"for," or of _aw_ in "law."
In the scheme of pronunciation (par. 19) we have therefore used _ah_
for A; _eh_ for E; _ee_ for I; _o_ for O; _oo_ for U.
N.B.--Do not clip or drag the vowels.
10. Combinations, Vowel and Consonant.--The following 6
combinations resemble diphthongs, but are not so, since a diphthong
consists of 2 _vowels_ and _j_ and _ŭ_ are both consonants:--
AJ pronounced _ahye_ or _i_ something like _ai_ in aisle.
AŬ pronounced _ahoo_ or _ow_ something like _ow_ in cow.
EJ pronounced _ehye_ or _ae_ something like _aye_ in c_aye_nne.
EŬ pronounced _ehoo_ or _ew_ something like _ayw_ in w_ayw_ard.
OJ pronounced _oye_ or _oi_ something like _oy_ in joy.
UJ pronounced _ooye_ or _ooe_ something like _uj_ in Hallel_uj_ah.
It will be observed that if these double sounds be rapidly made the
pronunciation will resemble the English words given, but remember
they are each pronounced as one syllable, so the examples "cayenne,"
"wayward," "Hallelujah," are not strictly correct. AJ, EJ, OJ, UJ,
resemble the sound heard in the French words "paille," "oseille,"
"boyard," "fouille," and AŬ is heard in the German word "Haus."
N.B.--It is difficult to explain the exact sound of EŬ. Pronounce
our word "_ewe_," and then give the sound of _eh_ (cut short) to the
first letter, thus _ehwe_, pronouncing the word as _one_ syllable. In
the scheme of pronunciation at page 10 we have given it as _ehw_. It
occurs very rarely.
11. Combinations of Consonants.--There are a few which do not occur
in English, and the attention of the student is therefore called to
the following:--
12. GV, KN KV, SV. When these letters commence a word, both must be
clearly pronounced.
13. Ŝ, being the same as our Sh, must be distinctly pronounced, when
followed by one or two consonants. Ŝm = shm, Ŝn = shn, Ŝp = shp,
Ŝt = sht, Ŝtr = shtr, Ŝv = shv. If the _sh_ sound be not clearly
given, mistakes might occur in a few words, as, for instance,
Ŝtupo is a _step_ (of a ladder), but Stupo is _tow_; Ŝtalo is
_steel_, but Stalo a _stall_.
14. SC. This combination may at first be found difficult, especially
when it commences a word, since it represents STS, which, with a
following vowel, form but one syllable. There are very few words
commencing with SC, viz.:--The five given in the list of words (par.
19) and their derivatives, the word scii (_to know_) being the only
one in common use. First the sound of S has to be given, then T, and
lastly S. Since every letter has to be sounded, it is not sufficient
to pronounce scii as _tsee-e_, for then the initial S is omitted;
we must therefore mentally pronounce it _estsee-e_, the "_es_" being
uttered very rapidly (as if it were merely a short sibilant) before
the voice reaches the TS, on which the stress is made. When SC is not
preceded by a comma or other stop, or is in the middle of a word,
the pronunciation can be easily effected by joining the sound of
the preceding letter to the S. Thus mi scias = _I know_ can be
pronounced _meest-see-ahs_. Mi vidis brunan sciuron = _I saw a
brown squirrel_--_mee-vee-dees broo-nahnst-see-oo-ron_. But when the
preceding word ends in S, the full sound of both of the letters S
must be given, as mi havas sciuron = _I have a squirrel_--_mee
hahvahs (e)stsee-oo-ron_ (the initial _e_ very short to help to give
the sound of the first _s_) . [By repeating the sentence: "You at
least see as well as I do," and then detaching the words "least see,"
the student will readily arrive at the proper pronunciation of "sc"
in "Li scias."]
15. KZ. In pronouncing this combination, do not follow the English
pronunciation of words like "exempt," etc., which our dictionaries
give as "egzempt." Be careful not to turn the K into G in such words
as ekzemplo = _example_, ekzameni = _to examine_. The full sound
should be given to every letter in the three syllables, ek-zem-plo.
16. Pronunciation of Words.--Every vowel and consonant in a word is
pronounced distinctly, and the sound never varies, whether the
letters are initial, medial, or final; _there is no mute letter in
Esperanto_. Each syllable must be distinct, and it must be remembered
that when two vowels come together, such as ai, ae, ee, ii,
oi, etc., or two similar consonants, as kk, ll, mm, etc.,
each letter always belongs to a different syllable, and must be given
its full sound.
17. Tonic Accent.--The stress of the voice, or the tonic accent, is
always on the _penultimate_ (last syllable but one). Even in words of
two syllables the tonic accent must be strongly perceived in the
first syllable. The euphony and beauty of the language would in a
great measure be destroyed by non-observance of this rule.
(_a_). In compound words, as in others, the accent must very
distinctly fall on the penultimate of the _whole_ word; but when a
compound word consists of four syllables, or more, the _meaning_ of
the prefixed word, or words, may be shown by laying a certain stress
on those syllables which would be accented if they were complete
independent words. It will be noticed how much easier it is to grasp
the meaning of a prefixed word if a slight stress of the voice be
given to that syllable on which we are accustomed to hear the accent
fall when the word stands alone, as:--_Du_-be-_ni_-gra = Blackish.
_An_-taŭ-_vi_-di = To foresee. _Gas_-o-_me_-tro = Gasometer.
Arm-_il_-far-_ist_-o = Gunsmith. Ĝar-_den_-la-bor-_ad_-o = Gardening.
_In_-ter-ri-_lat_-o = Intercourse. _Sen_-la-_bor_-of-_ic_-o = Sinecure.
Le-_ter_-pa-_per_-o = Note-paper.
18. Beginners should read aloud daily; at first slowly and slightly
exaggerating the sounds, making free use of the organs of speech. It
will then be found that in more rapid utterance the exaggeration
will gradually disappear, and a good, bold, free pronunciation be
attained. (See "Hints to Learners," page 363.)
19. It is advisable that the student, before proceeding to the
grammar, should get a thorough knowledge of the sounds of letters,
syllables, and words; he should, therefore, read over the following
list of words, which gives most of the combinations of sounds in the
language. The italics denote where the tonic accent falls.
SCHEME OF PRONUNCIATION.
Esperanto Letter.
A = _ah_ is used to represent the _a_ in _father_.
E = _eh_ (see par. 9).
I = _ee_ is used to represent the _ee_ in _seen_.
O = _o_ (see par. 9).
U = _oo_ is used to represent the _oo_ in _fool_.
Ŭ = _w_ is used to represent the _w_ in _wet_.
G = _g_ is used to represent the _g_ in _go_.
Ĝ = _dj_ is used to represent the _g_ in _George_.
Ĥ = _hH_ is used to represent a very strong guttural aspirate
J = _y_ is used to represent the _y_ in _yes_.
Ĵ = _zh_ is used to represent the _s_ in _pleasure_.
Esperanto. Pronunciation. English.
A abato ah-_bah_-to abbot.
a-a la afero lah ah-_feh_-ro the affair.
a-e aero ah-_eh_-ro air.
a-i trairi trah-_ee_-ree to traverse.
balai bah-_lah_-ee to sweep.
aj ajlo _ahy_-lo (sound "y" short,
as ye) (dissyllable) garlic.
krajono krah-_yo_-no pencil.
majesta mah-_yehs_-tah majestic.
ajn _ahyn_ (sound "y" short,
as ye) (monosyllable) ever.
palaj _pah_-lahy (sound "y" short,
as ye) (dissyllable) pale (adj., pl.)
a-o la ondo lah _on_-do the wave.
a-u la ungo lah _oon_-go the nail.
aŭ laŭdo _lahw_-do praise.
antaŭ _ahn_-tahw before.
hodiaŭ ho-_dee_-ahw to-day.
B Biblio Bee-_blee_-o Bible.
C cent _tsehnt_ hundred.
citi _tsee_-tee to cite, quote.
colo _tso_-lo inch.
paco _pah_-tso peace.
pacienco pah-tsee-_ehn_-tso patience.
oficiro o-fee-_tsee_-ro officer.
proceso pro-_tseh_-so lawsuit.
Ĉ ĉar _chahr_ because, for.
ĉielo chee-_eh_-lo heaven, sky.
senĉesa sehn-_cheh_-sah incessant,
ceaseless.
eĉ _ehch_ even.
E elemento eh-leh-_mehn_-to element.
e-a oceano o-tseh-_ah_-no ocean.
e-e treege treh-_eh_-geh exceedingly.
e-i feino feh-_ee_-no fairy.
perei peh-_reh_-ee to perish.
ej plej _plehy_ (sound "y" short,
as ye) (monosyllable) most.
malplej _mahl_-plehy (sound "y" short,
as ye) (dissyllable) least.
hejmo _hehy_-mo (sound "y" short,
as ye) (dissyllable) home.
e-o neo _neh_-o negative.
teorio teh-o-_ree_-o theory.
e-u pereu peh-_reh_-oo perish
(imperative).
eŭ Eŭropo ehw-_ro_-po Europe.
G gento _gehn_-to tribe.
gv gvidi _gvee_-dee to guide.
lingvo _leen_-gvo language.
g-u guano goo-_ah_-no guano.
Ĝ ĝui _djoo_-ee to enjoy.
ĝojo _djo_-yo joy.
paĝo _pah_-djo page.
H haro _hah_-ro hair.
senhara sehn-_hah_-rah bald.
Ĥ ĥemio hHeh-_mee_-o (guttural
aspirate) chemistry.
eĥo _eh_-hHo (do.) echo.
I idilio ee-dee-_lee_-o idyll.
i-a ial _ee_-ahl for any cause.
i-e tiel _tee_-ehl thus.
i-i diigi dee-_ee_-gee to deify.
i-o tiom _tee_-om as much.
i-u ĉiu _chee_-oo each.
i-uj tiuj _tee-ooy_ (dissyllable) those.
J justa _yoos_-tah just.
ĉiujara chee-oo-_yah_-rah yearly.
Ĵ ĵus _zhoos_ just (adv.).
ĵaŭdo _zhahw_-do Thursday.
bovaĵo bo-_vah_-zho beef.
K konkuri kon-_koo_-ree to compete.
kn knedi _kneh_-dee to knead.
kv kvankam _kvahn_-kahm although.
kvitanco kvee-_tahn_-tso receipt.
malkvieteco mahl-kvee-eh-_teh_-tso restlessness.
k-z ekzemplo ehk-_zehm_-plo example.
L mallumiĝo mahl-loo-_mee_-djo eclipse.
ellabori ehl-lah-_bo_-ree to achieve.
O ondo _on_-do a wave.
o-a boato bo-_ah_-to boat.
o-e troe _tro_-eh excessively.
o-i foiro fo-_ee_-ro a fair.
oj vojoj _vo_-yoy roads (plur.).
o-o zoologio zo-o-lo-_gee_-o zoology.
o-u trouzi tro-_oo_-zee to abuse.
R rimarki ree-_mahr_-kee to remark.
rr forrampi for-_rahm_-pee to creep away
S sekci _sehk_-tsee to dissect.
sc sceno _(e)stseh_-no (imagine
a very short _e_ to
help to give the
sound of the first _s_) scene.
sceptro _(e)stsehp_-tro sceptre.
scienco (e)stsee-_ehn_-tso science.
scii _(e)stsee_-ee to know.
sciuro (e)stsee-_oo_-ro squirrel.
konscienco kons-tsee-_ehn_-tso conscience.
nescio nehs-_tsee_-o ignorance.
sf sfero _sfeh_-ro sphere.
sv sveni _sveh_-nee to swoon.
skl sklavo _sklah_-vo slave.
skv skvamo _skvah_-mo scale (of fish).
Ŝ ŝaŭmo _shahw_-mo froth.
malŝarĝi mahl-_shahr_-djee to unload (a cart).
ŝl ŝlosi _shlo_-see to lock.
ŝm ŝmiri _shmee_-ree to smear.
ŝpr ŝpruci _shproo_-tsee to spurt (intrans.).
ŝtr ŝtrumpo _shtroom_-po stocking.
ŝv ŝveli _shveh_-lee to swell (intrans.).
ŝt poŝtmarko posht-_mahr_-ko postage stamp
T trajto _trahy_-to (dissyllable) trait, feature.
U unu _oo_-noo one.
u-a unua oo-_noo_-ah first.
u-e duelo doo-_eh_-lo duel.
u-i kuirejo koo-ee-_reh_-yo kitchen.
detrui deh-_troo_-ee to destroy.
uj monujo mo-_noo_-yo purse.
tuj _tooy_ (monosyllable) immediately.
prujno _prooy_-no (dissyllable) white frost.
unuj _oo_-nooy (dissyllable) some (plural of
_unu_).
u-o duobla doo-_o_-blah double.
paruo pah-_roo_-o tomtit.
u-u detruu deh-_troo_-oo destroy (imperative).
V envolvi ehn-_vol_-vee to envelop,
wrap.
Z edzino ehd-_zee_-no wife.
noktomezo nok-to-_meh_-zo midnight.
Note.--Esperanto vowels are very similar in sound to those in German
and Spanish, and in the Italian _do_, _re_, _mi_, _fa_.
SYNTAX (Sintakso).
20. Syntax (sintakso) treats of the connection, dependence, and
arrangement of words to form intelligible speech.
21. Speech (parolo) consists of propositions.
22. A Proposition (propozicio) is a collection of words by which we
assert, or question, the act, state, or quality of some person or
thing. A complete proposition consists of two chief parts, viz., the
Subject and Predicate.
23. The Subject (subjekto) is the name of the person or thing
spoken of.
24. The Predicate (predikato) is what is said about the subject.
25. The Subject of a proposition is always:--
(_a_). One or more nouns.
(_b_). Some word used as a noun, e.g., (1), a pronoun, mi = _I_;
(2), an adjective, mia kara estas bona filino = _my dear (one) is a
good daughter_; (3), an infinitive, mensogi estas honte = _to lie_
(or, _lying_) _is shameful_; (4), a phrase. Estas agrable por (or,
al) mi, ke vi aĉetis tiun domon (here "ke vi aĉetis" is the
subject) = _I am glad (it is agreeable to me) that you bought that
house._
26. The subject is always in the nominative case. When the subject
is a noun, it must, therefore, always end in -O, if the noun is
singular, or in -OJ, if the noun is in the plural. The subject of any
verb can always be determined by putting the word "who?" or "what?"
before the verb, and the word giving the reply is the subject,
as:--La riĉulo havas multe da mono = _The rich man has much (of)
money_. (Who has much money? _The rich man_ = la riĉulo is the
subject.) La papero estas blanka = _The paper is white._ (What is
white? _The paper_ = la papero is the subject.) De timo paliĝis
Antono = _Antony grew pale from fear._ (Who grew pale? _Antony_ =
Antono is the subject.) Miaj fratoj batis min = _My brothers beat
me._ (Who beat me? _My brothers_ = miaj fratoj is the subject.)
27. Subject omitted.--Sometimes the subject is omitted,
as:--Pluvas = _it rains_. Fulmis = _It lightened_. (See remarks
on impersonal verbs, par. 164.)
28. The Object is the person or thing acted upon by the subject,
hence the term objective (or accusative) case, as:--Johano batas la
knabon = _John beats the boy._ Knabon = _the boy_ is acted upon
by Johano, the subject, therefore knabon is the object, and has
the accusative termination N.
29. The Direct Complement (rekta komplemento).--The noun or pronoun
(not governed by a preposition), which is the direct complement of a
transitive verb, must have the accusative form -N in the singular,
or -JN in the plural. The direct complement of a verb can be
determined by asking the question "whom?" or "what?" after such verb,
and the word giving the reply is the direct complement, as:--Diru al
mi vian nomon = _Tell me your name_. (Tell what? _Your name_ = vian
nomon is the direct complement.) Johano min amas = _John loves
me_. (Loves whom? _Me_ = min is the direct complement.)
30. The direct complement of an active verb becomes the subject if
the verb is put in the passive voice, as:--Mia patro amas min = _My
father loves me_. Here min = _me_ is the direct complement; but Mi
estas amata de mia patro = _I am loved by my father_. Here mi =
_I_ is the subject of the verb. Note, that intransitive verbs cannot
have a direct complement, for they have no passive voice (par. 162).
31. The Indirect Complement (nerekta komplemento) is formed with a
preposition and a noun or pronoun in the nominative, as:--Donu al la
birdoj akvon = _Give (to) the birds water_, or _Give water to the
birds_. (Here "akvon" is the direct, and la birdoj the indirect,
complement.) Venu kune kun la patro = _Come together with (the)
father_. But if direction towards something be implied, and the
preposition of itself does not denote movement, the noun, or pronoun,
will then be in the accusative case (see pars. 67, 256), as:--Li
eniris en la domon = _He went into the house_.
32. The Circumstantial Complement.--A word or phrase is termed a
circumstantial complement (_cirkonstanca komplemento_) when it marks
the time, place, manner, cause, etc., of an action, as:--En
printempo floroj aperas, or Printempe floroj aperas = _In Spring
flowers appear_. Li agas pro ĵaluzo = _He acts from (owing to)
jealousy_.
The Predicate (Predikato).
33. The Predicate is what is said about the subject.
(_a_). A predicative verb is one which, of itself, shows in a
definite manner some act, state, or quality, as:--Arbo kreskas =
_A tree grows_. La arbo verdiĝis = _The tree became green_.
(_b_) A non-predicative verb is one which does not, of itself,
show an act, but is accompanied by some adjective, participle or
predicative noun, defining and describing the subject, as:--La urbo
estas belega = _The city is magnificent_. Kolombo estas birdo = _A
pigeon is a bird_. This is called a "Disjoined predicate" (disigita
predikato).
34. The Predicate can furthermore be precisely defined by an adverb
or a noun (or a word used as a noun) governed by a preposition. This
serves to show the object of the act and circumstances surrounding
it, as:--Arturo batis Georgon per sia pugno = _Arthur struck George
with his fist_.
35. A noun can be more precisely defined by the addition of another
noun or word used as a noun, as:--Eduardo, reĝo de Anglujo =
_Edward, King of England_. This is called "apposition" (_apozicio_).
36. To every noun can be added adjectives or participles, which also
can be defined by other nouns, as:--Homo mortiginta sian patrinon
estas granda krimulo = _A man who has murdered (having murdered) his
mother is a great criminal_. An adjective added, without any
intervening word, to a noun is termed "qualifying," in order to
distinguish it from an adjective (called a "predicative" adjective)
having the verb esti (expressed or understood) between it and the
noun, as:--Homo bona = _A good man_ (qualifying). La homo estas
bona = _The man is good_ (predicative). (See remarks on adjectives,
par. 108.)
DEFINITIONS (Difinoj).
37. A word consists of one or more syllables or distinct sounds,
and has a definite meaning.
38. A root is an incomplete word conveying only an idea. It may
consist of one or more syllables, but requires one or more letters to
form it into a word.
39. Words in Esperanto may be divided into four classes: Primary,
Simple, Compound, and Foreign.
(_a_). A Primary word is one which requires no additional letters
to give it a distinct meaning (see list of Primary Words, Part V).
(_b_). A Simple word is one formed by adding a grammatical
termination to a single root, or to a primary word (which then
becomes a root), with or without suffixes or prefixes.
Examples.--_Bon-a_ = Good. _Ĉirkaŭ-i_ = To surround. _Antaŭ-ul-o_
= A predecessor. _Dis-sem-i_ = To scatter. _Mal-san-ul-ejo_ = An
infirmary.
(_c_). A Compound word is one formed by adding a grammatical
termination to two or more roots, or to a primary word and a root,
with or without suffixes or prefixes. Any of the component parts may
be complete words, if euphony requires it.
Examples.--_Bon-intenc-a_ = Well-meaning. _Super-natur-a_ =
Supernatural. _Antaŭ-vid-i_ = To foresee. _Ĉas-o-ŝtel-ist-o_ = A
poacher. _Ĉas-gard-ist-o_ = A gamekeeper. _Vapor-ŝipo_ = A
steamship. _Griz-har-a_ = Grey-haired. _Super-akv-eg-o_ = A deluge.
(_d_). A Foreign word is one common to most languages, being
derived from the same root.
Examples.--_Teatr-o_ = Theatre. _Teatr-a_ = Theatrical. _Geologi-o_ =
Geology. _Geologi-a_ = Geological.
FORMATION OF WORDS (Vortfarado).
40. To show the manner in which words are formed in Esperanto, it
will perhaps be better first to do so in Dr. Zamenhof's own words, as
given on page 248 of his "Fundamenta Krestomatio." He says:--
"I arranged a complete dismemberment of ideas into independent
words, so that the whole language, _instead of_ being words in
various grammatical forms, consists solely of _unchangeable_ words.
If you will take a work written in my language, you will find that
each word is always in one constant form, namely, in that form in
which it is printed in the dictionary, and that the various
grammatical forms, reciprocal relation between words, etc., etc.,
are expressed by the union of unchanging words. But, because such a
construction of language is quite strange to Europeans, I adapted
this dismemberment of the language to the spirit of the European
languages, so that anyone learning mine from a manual would not
suppose that it differed in construction from his own. Take, for
example, the word fratino, which in reality consists of three words,
frat, in, o. Frat gives the idea of the offspring[9] of one's
parents, in the idea of the female sex, and o the idea of existence
(person or thing), hence a noun. These three ideas combined, in
Esperanto, make fratino = _a sister_. The first and last make frato
= _a brother_. The instruction book shows this in the following
manner:--Brother = frat-, but because every substantive in the
nominative ends in o, therefore frato = _brother_. For the formation
of the feminine, the little word -in- is inserted, therefore fratino
= _sister_. In this way, the dismemberment of the language in no way
embarrasses the learner; he does not even suspect that that which he
calls a prefix, or suffix, or termination, is really an _independent
word_, which always preserves its meaning, no matter whether it be
used at the beginning, middle, or end of a word, or independently,
and that every word, with equal right, can be used as a root word or
grammatical particle."
Footnote:
[9] It must be remembered that all roots or root-words in Esperanto
are either sexless, or have only the sex _naturally_ belonging to
the root, unless the feminine suffix--IN--be added. For instance,
vir- gives the idea of "man" (male), therefore viro = a man; and we
always speak of viro as li = _he_, because we are sure the noun
refers to the male sex. But the root infan- gives only the idea of a
"child" (neuter), so, unless we actually know the child is a male,
we speak of infano = _child_ as ĝi = _it_, just as we do in
English. When a suffix denoting a person, such as -estr-, -ist-,
-ul-, is added to a root, the noun is sexless, or may be presumed to
be masculine, unless the feminine -in- be also added.
41. With reference to the above, it will be observed that Dr.
Zamenhof calls all combinations of letters,[10] which convey an
idea, a "word," as for instance frat, in, o, but in practice the
student may find it helpful to use the terms which are defined in
pars. 37-39, and (with the exception of the primary words in the
list, Part V.) to call no combination a "word" until it receives a
grammatical termination.
Footnote:
[10] Not only combinations of letters, but each vowel (as already
shown in the case of O), conveys an idea, and is therefore,
technically speaking, a word; for instance--
A conveys the idea of _quality_ and marks the _Adjective_.
E conveys the idea of _modification_ and marks the _Adverb_.
I conveys the idea of _indefiniteness_ and marks the _Infinitive mood_.
O conveys the idea of _existence_, _entity_ and marks the _Noun_.
U conveys the idea of _order_ and marks the _Imperative mood_.
In the table of Correlative Words, Dr. Zamenhof carries out the idea
of indefiniteness in the _I_ series, ia, ial, iam, etc.; all,
however, be it noted, independent indivisible _roots_ (see par.
147). In fact ia, ie, io, might be considered as adjective, adverb,
and noun, regularly formed from the indefinite word (or grammatical
termination as we call it) "i."
42. Grammatical Terminations (_gramatikaj finiĝoj_).--Every word
in Esperanto, except the primary words, has a grammatical termination
which shows:--
(_a_). The part of speech.
(_b_). Whether the word is singular or plural.
(_c_). Whether in the nominative or accusative case.
(_d_). The mood, tense, and participles of a verb.
A list of the grammatical terminations will be found in par. 53.
43. Suffixes.--Suffixes are syllables placed between the root and
grammatical termination, adding to the word the idea contained in the
suffix as well as that in the root.
A list of suffixes will be found in par. 54.
44. Prefixes.--A prefix is a syllable placed before the root,
adding to the root the idea contained in the prefix.
A list of prefixes will be found in par. 55.
45. From the foregoing definitions we see that words in Esperanto are
either primary words, or words composed of:--
(_a_). Roots and grammatical terminations.
(_b_). Roots, suffixes, and grammatical terminations.
(_c_). Prefixes, roots, and grammatical terminations.
(_d_). Prefixes, roots, suffixes, and grammatical terminations.
46. Order of Suffixes.--The grammatical terminations, _A_, _E_,
_I_, _O_, _U_, _AS_, _IS_, _OS_, _US_, showing the part of speech and
mood and tense of verbs, must end all words (except some of the
primary words), the accusative _N_ or plural _J_ being added if
required. Suffixes precede this termination in their natural order.
For instance, if we want to say "a tiny female kitten," we commence
with the root kat-, giving the idea only of "cat" ; then add -id-
(suffix for "offspring of") kat-id- = _kitten_; then -in- (female
suffix) kat-id-in- = _kitten female_; then -et- (diminutive
suffix) kat-id-in-et- = _kitten female tiny_; we have now got the
root and all the suffixes, and we might make the word an adjective by
adding _A_, but we want a noun, so add _O_; kat-id-in-et-o = _a
tiny female kitten_. If we place -et- after kat-, we commence by
speaking of a "tiny cat," for kateto has that meaning, so
katetidino would be the "female offspring of a tiny cat." If we
reversed the three suffixes, we should get kat-in-et-id-o =
_offspring of a tiny female cat_. This exaggerated example of
building up suffixes will show the importance of placing them in
their natural order. The student cannot make a mistake if he
commences with the root and forms a word of each suffix in
succession; for instance, hund-o = _a dog_, hund-id-o = _a
puppy_, hundid-in-o = _a female puppy_, hundidin-eg-o = _a huge
female puppy_.
47. Order of Prefixes.--In like manner prefixes must come in their
natural order, as:--Sano = _health_, mal-sano = _illness_,
re-mal-sano = _a return of illness_, _a relapse_.
48. Order of roots in compound words.--The principal root is always
placed last, and receives the grammatical termination, with or
without a suffix. The root of a subordinate word is sufficient
without any suffix.
Examples.--_Ĉas-gard-ist-o_ = A gamekeeper, (_ĉasi_ = to hunt,
_ĉas-aĵo_ = a thing hunted, game; but it is unnecessary to add the
suffix _-aĵ-_ to the subordinate root). _Roz-kolora_ = Rose
coloured. _Skrib-tablo_ = Writing table. _Lerno-libro_ = Instruction
book, manual (_lern-o_, the root, made a full word for euphony).
Compare: _librolerno_, book-learning. _Tir-kesto_ = A drawer
(_tir-i_ = to draw, _kesto_ = a chest). _Lum-turo_ = Lighthouse
(_lum-i_ = to shine, _turo_ = a tower). _Lip-haroj_ = Moustache
(_lip-o_ = a lip, _haroj_ = hairs). _Vang-haroj_ = Whiskers
(_vang-o_ = a cheek).
49. When the root should be a noun, adjective, or adverb.--When the
joining of the root alone makes the compound word difficult to
pronounce, the root is generally made a noun by adding _O_ for the
sake of euphony, as:--Lerno-libro = _manual_, _instruction book_.
If the prefixed root alone would not give the required meaning, the
suitable grammatical ending must be added. Estis unu-taga laboro =
_it was one day's work_. Estis la unua-taga laboro = _it was the
first day's work_. La supre-citita paragrafo = _the above-quoted
paragraph_. In case of adverbs, _N_ to form the accusative is also
added, if direction is implied, as:--Li supren-iris la monton =
_he ascended the mountain_ (see 67 (_b_)).
N.B.--The hyphens are not necessary.
50. The idea conveyed by the root.--In forming a word, the first
thing is to find out the exact primary idea contained in the root. Do
not think, for instance, that because you happen to know that one of
the meanings of cel-o is _end_, that cel-i will mean to _finish_
or _end_. The primary idea of cel- is _aim_, or _purpose_,
therefore cel-i is _to aim_, _to purpose_. Do not, in the case of a
word with one or more suffixes, think that because you know one of
its meanings, you know also the idea conveyed in its root. For
instance, kresk-aĵ-o is _a plant_, but do not at once say that
kresk-i is _to plant_; kreskaĵo comes quite logically from
kreski = _to grow_, therefore kreskaĵo is a thing grown, _a
growth_, _a plant_. In other words, make certain that you understand
the exact meaning of the Esperanto root; and be careful not to be
misled by the fact that many English words have a number of different
meanings.
PRIMARY WORDS (Vortoj fundamentaj).
51. The Primary words are 158 in number, and must be carefully
learnt (see list, page 334). They are not only complete words in
themselves with a definite meaning, but they can be treated as
root-words and receive prefixes, suffixes, and grammatical
terminations. There is no rule to prevent any of these words, ending
in a vowel, from receiving, if logically allowable, the accusative
_N_ or the plural _J_ (see par. 142).
Examples.--_Jen_ (behold), _jene_ = As follows. _Ne_ (no, not), _nei_
= To deny. _Tie_ (there), _tieulo_ = A man from there (that place).
_Ĉirkaŭ_ (around, round), _ĉirkaŭi_ = To surround. _Jes_ (yes),
_jeso_ = An affirmation. _Tiaj esprimoj_ = Such expressions. _Tiuj
ĉevaloj_ = Those horses. _Li aĉetis ĉiujn ĉevalojn_ = He bought
all the horses. _Faru al mi ian respondon_ = Make me some (kind of)
reply. _Venu tien ĉi_ = Come hither. _Diru al mi tion, kion vi
faris_ = Tell me what (that which) you did (have done). _Unuj faris
tion ĉi, aliaj tion_ = Some did this, others that.
Among the Primary Words are found all the personal and demonstrative
pronouns, all the cardinal numbers and prepositions, and also many
common adverbs and conjunctions. It is important, therefore, that the
student should thoroughly master their meaning.
FOREIGN WORDS (Vortoj fremdaj).
52. Foreign words are those which in most languages are derived
from the same source, and, being consequently much alike in
formation, are easily understood by most nations, there being only a
slight difference in spelling and that difference of termination
which occurs in all languages. Dr. Zamenhof wisely lays down that
they should undergo no change, beyond conforming to Esperanto
orthography and its grammatical terminations.
In order to show their change from English spelling, the following
examples are given, not only of words which may be called "foreign,"
but of others that are a near approach to English in formation. It
must be borne in mind that these changes of letters by no means
invariably take place; they are only _general_.
52 (_a_).--Initial and Medial Letters.
C (hard) = _K_ generally, as:--_Declare_ = deklari, _economy_ =
ekonomio, _decameter_ = dekametro, _hectogram_ = hektogramo. In
a few cases _C_ becomes _Ĉ_, as:--_Dedicate_ = dediĉi, _carpenter_
= ĉarpentisto (probably from the French _charpentier_).
C (soft) generally undergoes no change, so remains _C_ with its
sound of _TS_, as:--_Cipher_ = cifero, _cigar_ = cigaro,
_glycerine_ = glicerino, _grimace_ = grimaco, _spice_ = spico.
Some few words change to _Z_, as:--_Price_ = prezo.
Ch (soft) = _Ĉ_ generally, as:--_Chamber_ = ĉambro, _charming_
= ĉarma, _chaste_ = ĉasta, _chief_ = ĉefo.
Ch (hard) = _Ĥ_ generally, as:--_Chameleon_ = ĥameleono,
_chaos_ = ĥaoso, _chemistry_ = ĥemio, _cholera_ = ĥolero,
_hypochondria_ = hipoĥondrio, _chorister_ = ĥoristo. It will be
seen that these words are mostly derived from the Greek.
G (soft or hard) = _G_ generally, as:--_Geology_ = geologio,
_elegant_ = eleganta, _general_ (officer) = generalo. The
exceptions in which Ĝ is used are mostly words following the
French pronunciation, as:--_Danger_ = danĝero, _garden_ =
ĝardeno, _general_ (adjective) = ĝenerala, _germ_ = ĝermo,
_giraffe_ = ĝirafo, etc.
PH = _F_, as:--_Elephantiasis_ = elefantiazo, _sphere_ = sfero,
etc.
QU = _KV_, as:--_Equivalent_ = ekvivalenta, _eloquent_ =
elokventa, _inquisition_ = inkvizicio, _quantity_ = kvanto,
_quadratic_ = kvadrata.
S = _S_, but in a few instances it becomes _Ŝ_ (probably following
German pronunciation) as:--_Slime_ = ŝlimo, _smear_ = ŝmiri,
_spare_ = ŝpari, _spin_ = ŝpini, etc.
S (sounded like Z) = _Z_ generally, as:--_Desert_ = dezerto,
_rose_ = rozo, _present_ = prezenti, _preside_ = prezidi, etc.
Sh = _Ŝ_ generally, as:--_Shark_ = ŝarko, _ship_ = ŝipo,
_shoe_ = ŝuo.
Th = _T_, as:--_Theatre_ = teatro, _mythology_ = mitologio.
X = _KS_ or _KZ_, generally, as:--_Example_ = ekzemplo,
_exercise_ = ekzerco, _dispatch_ = ekspedi, _excite_ = eksciti,
_exposition_ = ekspozicio, _exist_ = ekzisti. In a few instances
_X_ becomes _S_, as:--_Extinguish_ = estingi, _explore_ =
esplori, _express_ = esprimi. Occasionally _L_ is used for _X_,
as:--_Expel_ = elpeli, _excrescence_ = elkreskaĵo, etc. When _L_
is substituted it will be observed that the English prefix _EX_ means
"out of," and that, therefore, Esperanto logically uses the
preposition _EL_, meaning "out of," as the prefix.
52 (_b_).--Terminal Letters.
Terminal Letters.--If the last syllable ends in the sound of a
consonant, it is generally right to add _O_ to the last consonant of
the English word, to form a noun, as:--_Diadem_ = diademo,
_diagonal_ = diagonalo, _granite_ = granito, _dialogue_ =
dialogo, _debate_ = debato. There are, of course, exceptions.
Beginners should always consult an Esperanto Dictionary if they have
any doubt as to internationality or spelling. Note the following
terminations, which have a peculiarity of their own:--
-ER. = _RO_ generally, for a noun, as:--_December_ = Decembro,
_diameter_ = diametro. Words like "centre," "theatre," etc.,
sometimes spelt "center," "theater," follow the rule, as:--Centro,
teatro.
-IC and -ICAL. = _A_ or _IA_. These terminations are English
suffixes for adjectives. Esperanto, however, discards them and gives
its own adjectival suffix _A_, as _Galvanic_ = galvana, _hypnotic_
= hipnota, _theatrical_ = teatra, _identical_ = identa, _theoretic_
= teoria, _geographical_ = geografia. (See remarks on -OGY and -ISM).
-ICS. = _KO_. The English termination -ICS has a plural form, but
in Esperanto -CS is generally represented by -KO, and not the
plural -KOJ, as:--_Mathematics_ = matematiko, etc.
-INE. The I in this termination is occasionally turned into E,
as:--_Gelatine_ = gelateno. More commonly it is retained,
as:--_Glycerine_ = glicerino.
-ISH. = _DUBE_ (doubtful) may be prefixed to colours to form the
adjective in _-ish_, as:--Dubenigra = _blackish_, dubeblanka =
_whitish_, dubeverda = _greenish_. It is, however, better to use
the suffix -et, thus: nigreta, verdeta.
-ISM. In many cases the ending -ISM forms part of an international
root, and is thus used in Esperanto also; e.g., paroksismo =
_paroxysm_, sofismo = _a sophism_, _fallacy_, aforismo = _an
aphorism_, are simple words, for there are no roots paroks, sof
(in this sense), afor. In the majority of cases the English
suffix _-ism_ and the Esperanto suffix -ism coincide, thus:
komunismo = _communism_, vegetarismo = _vegetarianism_.
Sometimes the English _-ism_ has the meaning -ec, thus: heroeco
= _heroism_, fanatikeco = _fanaticism_. _Catholicism_ may mean
katolikismo or katolikeco.
-IST. Esperanto words ending in -ism often have companion forms
in -ist, to which similar remarks apply, as:--sofisto = _a
sophist_, komunisto = _a communist_.
-MENT. When this is the English termination of a noun derived from
a root not ending in -MENT, it becomes O, as:--_Embarrass_ =
embarasi, _embarrassment_ = embaraso, _rebate_ = rabati,
_rebatement_ = rabato. But when -MENT is part of the English root
it is retained, as:--_Element_ = elemento, _experiment_ =
eksperimento, _fundament_ = fundamento.
-OGY. Words derived from the Greek change _Y_ into _IO_,
as:--_Geology_ = geologio, _theology_ = teologio. The adjectives
of these words end in -IC and -ICAL, and, as their Esperanto root
ends in -I, A must be added to this to form the adjectives
geologia, teologia.
-SIS. = _ZO_ generally, as:--_Apotheosis_ = apoteozo,
_hypothesis_ = hipotezo, _oasis_ = oazo, _synthesis_ = sintezo.
-TH. = _T_, as:--_Hyacinth_ = hiacinto.
-TION. = _CIO_ occasionally, as:--_Declaration_ = deklaracio,
_exposition_ = ekspozicio, _arbitration_ = arbitracio, _generation_
= generacio, _situation_ = situacio. Usually, however, English
_-tion_ corresponds to Esperanto -o, -ado, or -aĵo, as:--_information_
= inform-o, -ado, -aĵo; and such forms are often used even when
an alternative form in -cio exists, thus: deklar-o, -aĵo.
-UM. = _O_ generally, as:--_Epithalamium_ = epitalamio,
_gymnasium_ (_college_) = gimnazio, _geranium_ = geranio.
-Y. = _IO_ generally in words derived from Latin or Greek,
as:--_Philosophy_ = filozofio, _astronomy_ = astronomio,
_sympathy_ (_liking_) = simpatio, _industry_ = industrio.
53. GRAMMATICAL TERMINATIONS
(Gramatikaj Finiĝoj).
A final denotes an Adjective. Patra, _paternal_.
E final denotes an Adverb. Patre, _paternally_.
I final denotes the Infinitive Mood. Fari, _to do_.
O final denotes a Noun. Patro, _a father_.
U final denotes the Imperative Mood. Faru, _do_.
Li faru, _let him do_.
Diru, ke li faru tion, _say he is to do that_.
J final denotes the Plural. Patroj, _fathers_.
N final denotes the Accusative Case. Patron.
Mi vidis mian patron, _I saw my father_.
AS final denotes the Present Tense.
Mi faras, _I do_, or, _I am doing_.
IS final denotes the Past Tense.
Li faris, _he did_, or, _he has done_.
OS final denotes the Future Tense. Ni faros, _we shall do_.
US final denotes the Conditional Mood.
Vi farus, _you should_, or _would_, _do_.
ANTA final denotes Present Participle Active.
Faranta, _doing_.
INTA final denotes Past Participle Active.
Farinta, _having done_.
ONTA final denotes Future Participle Active.
Faronta, _about to do_.
ATA final denotes Present Participle Passive.
Farata, _being done_.
ITA final denotes Past Participle Passive.
Farita, _having been done_.
OTA final denotes Future Participle Passive.
Farota, _about to be done_.
N.B.--There are three forms of participles, the adjectival,
substantival, and adverbial. The one given above is the adjectival.
In the adverbial form the final A is changed into E. Farante
tion, li ... = _By_ (_in_, or _through_) _doing that, he_ ... To
form the substantive, change A into O. La faranto = _The doer_
(_the person doing_). These three forms are applicable to all the
three participles in both the active and passive voices (see pars.
208-210).
LIST OF SUFFIXES (Sufiksoj).
54. The following lists of suffixes (31) and prefixes (7 in number)
should be carefully studied, since innumerable words of the finest
shade of meaning can be formed by their aid, in fact, they are the
ground-work of the language. In cases where a suffix can be used as a
root, the word it helps to form is given. The hyphens are used only
to show the root, suffix, and grammatical termination of the
examples. The student should form other words himself, and study the
works of the best authors. (For remarks on suffixes and prefixes, see
pars. 270-290.)
-AĈ- Denotes badness of quality or condition (aĉ-a, _vile_, _bad_),
(par. 271):
dom-o, _a house_, dom-aĉ-o, _a tumble-down house_.
ĉeval-o, _a horse_, ĉeval-aĉ-o, _a sorry nag_.
-AD- Denotes the continuation of an action (par. 270):
paf-o, _a shot_, or _discharge_, paf-ad-o, _a firing_,
_fusillade_.
ir-i, _to go_, ir-ad-i, _to continue going_.
-AĴ- Denotes some real or concrete thing made from, or having the
quality of, the root (aĵ-o, _a thing_), (par. 271):
mola, _soft_, mol-aĵ-o, _a soft thing_, or _substance_.
frukt-o, _fruit_, frukt-aĵ-o, _jam_.
-AN- Denotes a member, inhabitant, or partisan (an-o, _a member,
etc._), (par. 272):
vilaĝ-o, _a village_, vilaĝ-an-o, _a villager_.
London-o, _London_, London-an-o, _a Londoner_.
-AR- Denotes a collection of the idea implied in the root (ar-o,
_a collection_, _flock_), (par. 273):
arb-o, _a tree_, arb-ar-o, _a wood_.
hom-o, _a man_, hom-ar-o, _mankind_.
-ĈJ- These letters, substituted for one or more of the letters of
a masculine name, make it an affectionate diminutive (par. 274):
Petr-o, _Peter_, Pe-ĉj-o, _Pete_.
Vilhelm-o, _William_, Vilhel-ĉj-o, _Willie_, Vilhe-ĉj-o,
_Will_, Vil-ĉj-o, _Billy_, Vi-ĉj-o, _Bill_.
For feminine names insert _nj_ instead of _ĉj_ (par. 274):
Mari-o, _Mary_, Ma-nj-o, _Polly_.
Helen-o, _Helen_, Hele-nj-o, _Nelly_, He-nj-o, _Nell_.
-EBL- Denotes possibility, similar to the English terminations
_-able_, _-ible_ (ebl-a, _possible_, ebl-e, _perhaps_), (par.
275):
leg-i, _to read_, leg-ebl-a, _legible_.
tra-vid-i, _to see through_, tra-vid-ebl-a, _transparent_.
-EC- Denotes an abstract quality of the idea conveyed in the root,
like the English terminations _-ness_, _-tude_, _-ity_ (ec-o, _a
distinctive mark_, or _quality_), (par. 271):
bon-a, _good_, bon-ec-o, _goodness_.
riĉ-a, _rich_, riĉ-ec-o, _wealth_.
-EDZ- Denotes a married person (edz-o, _a husband_), (par. 276):
doktor-o, _a doctor_, doktor-edz-in-o, _a doctor's wife_,
lav-ist-in-o, _a washerwoman_, lav-ist-in-edz-o, _a washerwoman's
husband_.
-EG- Denotes augmentation, intensity of degree (eg-a, _intense_,
eg-ec-o, _intensity_), (par. 277):
grand-a, _great_, grand-eg-a, _enormous_.
pord-o, _a door_, pord-eg-o, _a portal_, _outer-door_.
-EJ- Denotes the place specially used for, or allotted to, the idea
implied in the root (ej-o, _place_, _location_), (par. 278):
preĝ-i, _to pray_, preĝ-ej-o, _a church_.
tomb-o, _a grave_, _tomb_, tomb-ej-o, _a graveyard_, _cemetery_.
-EM- Denotes propensity, inclination, disposition (em-o, _a
disposition_, _bias_, _tendency_), (par. 275):
babil-i, _to chatter_, babil-em-a, _chattering_.
pac-o, _peace_, pac-em-a, _inclined to peace_, _peaceful_.
-ER- Denotes one of many objects of the same kind, a small fragment
(er-o, _an item_), (par. 273):
sabl-o, _sand_, sabl-er-o, _a grain of sand_.
mon-o, _money_, mon-er-o, _a coin_.
-ESTR- Denotes a chief, leader, ruler, or head of (estr-o, _a
chief_), (par. 272):
ŝip-o, _a ship_, ŝip-estr-o, _a captain of a ship_.
imperi-o, _an empire_, imperi-estr-o, _an emperor_.
-ET- Denotes diminution of degree (et-a, _little_, _small_),
(par. 277):
mont-o, _a mountain_, mont-et-o, _a hill_.
rid-i, _to laugh_, rid-et-i, _to smile_.
-ID- Denotes the young of, offspring, descendant (id-o,
_offspring_), (par. 279):
ŝaf-o, _a sheep_, ŝaf-id-o, _a lamb_.
Izrael-o, _Israel_, Izrael-id-o, _an Israelite_.
-IG- Denotes the causing, making, or rendering anything to be in
the state implied by the root (ig-i, _to cause_, _to make_), (par.
280):
mort-i, _to die_, mort-ig-i, _to kill_.
pur-a, _clean_, pur-ig-i, _to clean_, _purify_.
-IĜ- Denotes the action of becoming, turning to, and has sometimes
a reflexive force (iĝ-i, _to become_, _to be made_), (par. 280):
ruĝ-a, _red_, ruĝ-iĝ-i, _to become red_, _to blush_.
riĉ-a, _rich_, riĉ-iĝ-i, _to become_, or _grow rich_, or _to
get rich_.
-IL- Denotes the tool or instrument or means by which something is
done (il-o, _a tool_, _means_), (par. 281):
tranĉ-i, _to cut_, tranĉ-il-o, _a knife_.
pres-i, _to print_, pres-il-o, _a printing press_.
-IN- Denotes the feminine gender (in-o, _a female_), (par. 282):
frat-o, _a brother_, frat-in-o, _a sister_.
leon-o, _a lion_, leon-in-o, _a lioness_.
-IND- Denotes worthiness, deserving of something, worthy of
(ind-o, _worth_, _merit_), (par. 275):
laŭd-i, _to praise_, laŭd-ind-a, _praiseworthy_.
estim-o, _esteem_, estim-ind-a, _estimable_, _worthy of esteem_.
-ING- Denotes a thing used for holding _only one_ object (ing-o,
_a socket_, or _sheath_), (par. 278):
plum-o, _a pen_, plum-ing-o, _a penholder_.
kandel-o, _a candle_, kandel-ing-o, _a candlestick_.
-ISM- Denotes a theory, system, doctrine, school of thought
(ism-o, _an "ism"_), (par. 293):
real-a, _real_, real-ism-o, _realism_.
protestant-o, _a protestant_, protestant-ism-o, _protestantism_.
-IST- Denotes a person occupied with the idea contained in the root
(par. 272):
drog-o, _a drug_, drog-ist-o, _a druggist_.
ŝtel-i, _to steal_, ŝtel-ist-o, _a thief_.
-NJ- See ĈJ, page 29, and par. 274.
-OBL- Denotes a numeral multiple (par. 284):
du, _two_, du-obl-a, _double_.
tri, _three_, tri-obl-a, _triple_.
-ON- Denotes a numeral fraction (par. 284):
kvar, _four_, kvar-on-o, _a fourth_.
kvin, _five_, kvin-on-o, _a fifth_.
-OP- Denotes a numeral collective (op-a, _collective_), (par.
284):
du, _two_, du-op-e, _by twos_.
dek, _ten_, dek-op-e, _by tens_, _ten together_.
-UJ- Denotes that which contains, produces, encloses, or bears, a
quantity or more than one article (uj-o, _a receptacle_), (par.
278):
ink-o, _ink_, ink-uj-o, _an inkpot_.
plum-o, _a pen_, plum-uj-o, _a pen box_ (not a penholder).
turk-o, _a Turk_, Turk-uj-o, _Turkey_.
-UL- Denotes a person or being characterized by the idea implied in
the root (par. 272):
riĉ-a, _rich_, riĉ-ul-o, _a rich man_.
avar-a, _avaricious_, avar-ul-o, _a miser_.
-UM- Has no defined meaning. The meaning of a word with um is
suggested by the context and the signification of the root to which
it is joined. It is rarely used (par. 285):
kol-o, _a neck_, kol-um-o, _a collar_.
plen-a, _full_, plen-um-i, _to fulfil_.
man-o, _a hand_, man-um-o, _a cuff_.
55. LIST OF PREFIXES (Prefiksoj).
BO- Denotes any relationship resulting from marriage (par. 286):
patro, _a father_, bo-patro, _a father-in-law_.
filino, _a daughter_, bo-filino, _a daughter-in-law_.
DIS- Denotes division, dissemination, separation, etc., (dis-e,
_separately_), (par. 287):
ĵeti, _to throw_, dis-ĵeti, _to throw about_, _to scatter_.
ŝiri, _to tear_, dis-ŝiri, _to tear in pieces_.
EK- Denotes the beginning of an action, or its short duration
(par. 288):
kanti, _to sing_, ek-kanti, _to begin to sing_.
brili, _to shine_, ek-brili, _to flash_.
EKS- Denotes late, formerly, like the English _ex-_.
kolonelo, _colonel_, eks-kolonelo, _ex-colonel_.
edziĝo, _a wedding_, eks-edziĝo, _a divorce_.
GE- Denotes persons of both sexes taken together (par. 286):
patro, _a father_, ge-patroj, _parents_, or _father and mother_.
mastro, _a master_, ge-mastroj, _master and mistress_.
MAL- Denotes the direct opposite of any idea (mal-e, _on the
contrary_), (par. 289):
forta, _strong_, mal-forta, _weak_.
estimi, _to esteem_, mal-estimi, _to despise_.
MIS- Denotes mis-, amiss, wrongly, erroneously.
RE- Denotes, as in English, repetition, again, back (re-e,
_again_), (par. 290):
iri, _to go_, re-iri, _to go again_.
diri, _to say_, re-diri, _to repeat_.
55 (_a_). PREPOSITIONS AND OTHER ROOTS USED AS PREFIXES.
On reference to par. 254, it will be seen that prepositions are
frequently used as prefixes. A good many other particles also are
used in the same way, e.g.:--
ĈEF par. 272 (_g_)
DUON par. 286
FI par. 270
FOR par. 287
FUŜ par. 270
MEM par. 291
SIN par. 291
PRA par. 286
VIC par. 292
ELISION (Elizio).
56. Elision is not common in Esperanto, except in poetry, where it
is used, when required, for the purpose of rhythm. Some prose writers
use it, but it is better to avoid its use.
57. The letter _A_ in the article la may be elided when the article
is preceded by a preposition ending in a vowel, for then the _L_ of
the article can be sounded with the preposition and the full
pronunciation given to the first letter of the following word, e.g.,
de l' kreo de l' mondo (for de la) = _since the creation of the
world_. (Pronounce de l' as del).
In poetry the letter _A_ of the article is occasionally elided before
a word beginning with a vowel.
The final _O_ of the substantive may also be elided, e.g., kant'
(for kanto) = _a song_. The tonic accent (par. 17) remains on the
same syllable on which it would fall if no elision had taken place.
Note that kant' may not be used as an abbreviation of anything else
but kanto. Thus, it cannot represent kanton, kantoj, kante,
kantas, etc.
The dropped letter is in all cases noted by an apostrophe.
_Ĝis la bela sonĝo de l' homaro_ (_de l'_ for _de la_)
_Por eterna ben' efektiviĝos_ (_ben'_ for _beno_).
Till the beautiful dream of humanity
Shall be realized for an eternal blessing.
_Pri l' tempoj estontaj pensante_ (_pri l'_ for _pri la_)
Thinking of times to be.
_L' espero, l' obstino kaj la pacienco._
Hope, tenacity, and patience.
INTERROGATION (Demandado).
58. Questions are asked in two ways, viz.--either by the
interrogative adverb ĉu = _whether_, or by one of the interrogative
words kia = _what kind of_, kial = _why_, kiam = _when_, kie =
_where_, kiel = _how_, kies = _whose_, kio = _what_, kiom =
_how much_, or _how many_, kiu = _who, which_.
(_a_). Ĉu is used when none of the other words in a sentence are
used in an interrogative sense. It is, in fact, the general word for
interrogations answerable by "yes" or "no."
Examples.--_Ĉu vi komprenas?_ = Do you understand? _Ĉu li legas?_ =
Does he read? _Ĉu vi havas mian libron?_ = Have you my book? _Ĉu vi
havas tion, kion mi bezonas?_ = Have you what (that which) I want?
_Ĉu Johano iris lernejon?_ (or, _al lernejo?_) = Did John go (_or_,
has John gone) to school? _Ĉu vi pruntos al mi krajonon?_ = Will you
lend me a pencil? _Ĉu li estos foririnta, antaŭ ol vi alvenos?_ =
Will he have gone away before you (will) arrive? _Ĉu vi estus tion
farinta, se mi estus tie?_ = Would you have done that if I had been
there?
When the verb following ĉu is in the Imperative mood, it shows
the ellipsis of some other verb expressing "wish, desire, etc."
(see pars. 200, 237 (_m_)).
Examples.--_Ĉu mi iru kaj kunpremu la gorĝon de tiu ĉi hundo...?_
(Zamenhof, "La Rabistoj") = Shall I go and squeeze the throat of this
dog...? Here the full phrase would be, _Ĉu vi volas, ke mi iru...?_
= Do you wish me to go...? _Ĉu mi aĉetu por vi libron?_ = Shall I
buy you a book? _Ĉu ni luu fiakron?_ = Shall we take a cab?
The verb is sometimes omitted when a question is preceded by an
assertion.
Examples.--_Hodiaŭ estas merkredo, ĉu ne?_ (or, _ĉu ne vere?_) =
To-day is Wednesday, isn't it? _Ili diris al vi la veron, ĉu ne?_ =
They told you the truth, didn't they? _Ili ne diris al vi la veron,
ĉu?_ = They didn't tell you the truth, did they?
(_b_). The following examples show the use of the nine interrogatives
kia, kial, kiam, etc.
Examples.--_Kian leteron vi skribis?_ = What kind of letter did you
write? _Kial vi ne respondis?_ Why did you not answer? _Kiam li
alvenos?_ = When will he come? _Kie estas la poŝtoficejo?_ = Where
is the post-office? _Kiel vi faris tion?_ = How did you do that?
_Kies domo estas tiu?_ = Whose house is that? _Kion vi konsilas al mi
fari?_ = What do you advise me to do? _Kiom da ĉevaloj estas tie?_ =
How many horses are there? (at that place)? _Kiom kostas tio?_ = How
much does that cost? _Kiu estas en la ĝardeno?_ = Who is in the
garden? _Kiun vi vidis en la preĝejo?_ = Whom did you see in the
church? _Kiu estas tie?_ = Who is there?
(_c_). Of the above, those ending in a consonant are invariable.
Those ending in a vowel can take the accusative _N_, but kia and
kiu are the only words which take the plural _J_ (par. 142).
Examples.--_Kien vi iras?_ = Whither are you going? _Kiajn
tranĉilojn vi bezonas?_ = What kind of knives do you need? _Kiujn
librojn vi aĉetis?_ = Which books did you buy? _Kiuj estas la tagoj
de la semajno?_ = Which are the days of the week?
(_d_). From kiom the adjective kioma = _how much, how many'th_ is
formed, and this also may be used as an interrogative.
Example.--_Je kioma horo vi venos?_ = At what o'clock (hour) will you
come?
(See correlative words, pars. 147-157. For further examples see pars.
64, 170. For place of interrogative see par. 91.)
NEGATION (Neado).
59. Double negatives are hardly ever used in Esperanto, for, if
employed, they would, as in English, have an affirmative meaning.
(_a_). Ne = _no_, _not_, is the word in general use to imply
negation. It immediately precedes the word or words it modifies.
Examples.--_Ĉu vi ne vidis lin?_ = Did you not see him? _Mi devas
ne iri_ = I must not go.f[11] _Mi ne devas iri_ = I am not obliged
to go.[11] _Ne mi, sed li, havas katon_ = It is not I, but he, who
has a cat. _Mi ne havas katon_ = I have not (got) a cat.
Footnote:
[11] This distinction, however, is not observed by all writers.
(_b_). The nine correlative words, nenia, nenial, neniam, nenie,
neniel, nenies, nenio, neniom, neniu, also imply negation.
Examples.--_Li havas nenian sperton_ = He has no kind of experience.
_Li ne havas ian sperton_ = He has not any kind of experience.
_Nenial li subite foriris de Londono_ = For no reason he suddenly
left London. _Mi nenion trovis_ = I found nothing. _Mi ne trovis
ion_ (_ion_, not _nenion_, here) = I did not find anything. (See
correlative words, pars. 147-157).
(_c_). Nek = _nor_ and nek ... nek = _neither ... nor_ have also a
negative meaning.
Examples.--_Nek mi nek li estis tie_ = Neither I nor he was there.
_Mi vidis nek Johanon nek Georgon_ = I saw neither John nor George.
Nek is generally used in the second clause of a sentence, although
the first is negative.
Examples.--_Mi ne scias la francan lingvon, nek la anglan, nek la
turkan_ = I do not know the French language, or (nor) English, or
(nor) Turkish. _Nenio estas al mi pli kara, nek dolĉa, ol vi_ =
Nothing is dearer to me or (nor) sweeter than you. _Mi ne renkontis
lin, nek lian fraton_ = I did not meet him or (nor) his brother.
(_d_). Compound words with ne, sen, mal, have also a negative
signification, and such words are often employed with a negative to
express an affirmative assertion. (See par. 289.)
Examples.--_La okazo ne estis neatendita_ = The event was not
unexpected. _Lia riĉeco ne estis senlima_ = His fortune was not
unlimited. _Li ne estis malhonesta_ = He was not dishonest.
60. Double Negative.--Occasionally a double negative is used to
give strong force to a negation. Dr. Zamenhof, in his translation of
Hamlet, Act I., Scene 5, renders "Lay your hands again upon my sword:
swear by my sword, never to speak of this that you have heard" by
Metu viajn manojn denove sur la glavon, kaj ripetu, ke vi neniam al
neniu diros pri la apero de la nokto, lit. = _Lay your hands again
upon the sword, and repeat, that you never, to no one, will speak of
the apparition of the night_.
Some Esperantists do not consider this a double negative, but it
undoubtedly is, according to the literal English translation. Another
explanation of the passage is to supply mentally an omitted kaj
after the word neniam.
61. Of course, when two negatives refer to different verbs, expressed
or unexpressed, this is not a double negative.
Examples.--_Mi ne volis, ne skribi al vi_ = I did not wish, not to
write to you. _Ne nur ne malamiko, sed kunbatalanto li estis_ = (He
was) not only not an enemy, but he was a comrade in arms (fellow
combatant).
62. Two negatives may be used in such an expression as "could not
help," etc.
Example.--_Li ne povis ne kisi la malgrandulon_ = He could not help
kissing the little one. Lit.:--He could not not kiss the little one.
QUESTIONS AND REPLIES (Demandoj kaj Respondoj).
63. Jes = _yes_ is the word used to answer a question
affirmatively.
Examples.--_Ĉu vi vidis mian patron? Jes!_ = Did you see my father?
Yes. _Jes_, with the conjunction _ke_, is also used for "it is so,"
as, _mi vin certigas, ke jes_ = I assure you that it is so.
Ne = _no_, _not_, is used in a similar way to answer a question
negatively.
Example.--_Mi vin certigas, ke ne_ = I assure you that it is not so.
64. To give force to affirmative or negative replies one can add to
ne or jes any suitable adverb, as certe = _certainly_, ja =
_indeed_, kompreneble = _of course_, etc., etc., or repeat the verb
of the interrogation without its complement, in the same way as in
English we often repeat the auxiliary of the verb.
Examples.--_Ĉu vi faris tion?_ = Did you do that? _Jes! Jes! Mi
faris_, or _Ne! Ne! Mi ne faris_ = Yes, yes, I did, _or_ No, no! I
did not. _Ĉu vi finis vian laboron?_ = Have you finished your work?
_Jes! mi finis_, or _Ne, mi ne (finis)_ = Yes, I have, _or_, No, I
have not. _Ĉu vi mortigis tiun birdon?_ = Did you kill that bird?
_Jes! Certe mi mortigis_, or, _Certe jes!_ or, _Ne, kompreneble, mi
ne mortigis_, or, _Kompreneble ne!_ = Yes! Certainly I did, _or_, No!
Of course, I didn't! _Ĉu vi deziras kafon?_ = Do you want coffee?
_Jes, mi deziras_, or _Ne, mi ne deziras; mi jam havas_ = Yes, I do,
_or_, No, I do not; I have (some) already.
64 (_a_). When the verb is omitted in the reply, the case must be
used which would have been used had the verb been expressed.
Examples.--_Kiom kostis la ĉapelo? Naŭ ŝilingojn (aŭ, ĝi kostis
naŭ ŝilingojn)_ = What did the hat cost? Nine shillings (_or_, it
cost nine shillings). _Kien vi iras? En la ĝardenon (aŭ, mi iras en
la ĝardenon)_ = Where (whither) are you going? Into the garden
(_or_, I am going into the garden). _Kiom pezas la kesto? Dek naŭ
funtojn_ = What does the chest weigh? Nineteen pounds; but, _Kiom
estas la pezo de la kesto? Dek naŭ funtoj_ = what is the weight of
the chest? Nineteen pounds.
THE ACCUSATIVE (La Akuzativo).
65. Accusative: when used.--The accusative is used in Esperanto:--
(1). To show the direct object of a verb.
(2). To show motion towards something (Rule 13, par. 94).
(3). To show a preposition has been omitted (Rules 8 and 14, par.
94).
The following are examples of these three uses:--
66 (1). To show the direct object of a verb.
(_a_). After transitive verbs the accusative is used to show the
direct object.
Examples.--_Johano vidas la knabon_ = John sees the boy. _Georgo
aĉetis bonan ĉevalon_ = George bought a good horse. Now in either
of these sentences the order of the words can be changed without
altering the meaning. _La knabon vidas Johano_ would still mean "John
sees the boy," because _Johano_, being in the nominative, is clearly
the subject, and _knabon_, being in the accusative, is clearly the
object. But if we inverted the words in English, the sense would be
entirely changed (see order of words, pars. 73-93).
(_b_). After participles.--The accusative is also used after active
participles (adjectival or adverbial) to denote the object.
Examples.--_Johano estis rigardanta la knabon, kiam mi lin vidis_ =
John was looking at the boy, when I saw him. _Johano, vidante la
knabon, donas al li pomon_ = John, seeing the boy, gives him an
apple. _Georgo estis aĉetinta ĉevalon_ = George had bought a horse.
_Georgo, aĉetinte ĉevalon, donis ĝin al sia frato_ = George,
having bought (_or_, after buying) a horse, gave it to his brother
(par. 212 (_d_)).
(_c_). When a verb is omitted.--The accusative is also used in
exclamations and in expressions in which some verb expressing "wish"
or "desire" is understood (see par. 64 (_a_)).
Examples.--_Peston al la tranĉilo: Mi tranĉis al mi la fingron!_ =
Plague on the knife! I have cut my finger! _Bonan tagon, Sinjoro_ =
Good day, sir. _Saluton al vi, sinjorino_ = (lit.) Salutation to you,
madam. In reply to a question the accusative is used whenever the
verb in the reply, which is omitted, governs the accusative,
as:--_Kiom kostas tiu ĉi krajono? (Ĝi kostas) du pencojn_ = How
much does this pencil cost? (It costs) twopence. _Kiom estas la kosto
de tiu ĉi krajono? (Ĝi estas) du pencoj_ = What is the price of
this pencil? (It is) twopence.
67 (2). To show motion towards something.
(_a_). Accusative of direction.--To show direction towards which
movement (physical or otherwise) is made the accusative is used, and
this is generally called "the accusative of direction." It will be
observed, however, that we can also use a preposition to show the
motion, and, if such preposition in itself shows movement, its
complement must be in the nominative, since all prepositions govern
that case; but if the preposition does not in itself denote movement,
then its complement must be in the accusative.
Examples.--_Mi iras Romon (aŭ, al Romo)_ = I am going to Rome. _Li
kuris en la ĝardenon_ = He ran _into_ the garden. The preposition
_en_ does not show movement, therefore _ĝardenon_ is in the
accusative, but _Li kuris en la ĝardeno_ = He ran _in_ the garden.
This means he was already in the garden, and was running in it. _Sur
la danan tronon mi havas rajtojn_ = On the Danish throne I have
rights.
(_b_). Adverbs also take the accusative of direction.
Examples.--_Kien vi iras? Mi iras nenien hodiaŭ_ = Where (whither)
are you going? I am going nowhere to-day. _Ĝi falis teren_ (or, _sur
la teron_) = It fell to the ground (_or_, on to the ground; lit.,
earthwards). _Li iris hejmen kaj restis hejme_ = He went home and
remained at home.
68. (3). To show that a preposition has been omitted.
As stated in Rule 8, par. 94, every preposition in Esperanto governs
the nominative case.
By Rule 14 we are told that every preposition has a defined and
constant meaning, but that if we _must use some preposition_, and the
direct sense does not show what special preposition we are to take,
we can then either use the indefinite preposition _je_, or the
accusative without a preposition. The following are examples under
this head in which the accusative may be used:--
(_a_). After doubtful verbs.--From the foregoing remarks it follows
that if we do not know whether a verb governs the accusative or not,
we can always use the accusative, if no ambiguity is occasioned
thereby. Otherwise some preposition should be employed instead.
For instance, we can say:--_Obeu vian patron_, or, _Obeu je via
patro_, or, _Obeu al via patro_ = Obey your father. _Ŝi helpis al
sia frato_, or, _Ŝi helpis sian fraton_ = She helped her brother.
_Li pardonis sian filon_, or, _Li pardonis al sia filo_ = He forgave
his son. But in phrases where doubt as to meaning may arise we must
always use a preposition, as:--_Li pardonis al sia filo lian kulpon_
= He forgave his son his fault. Not _Li pardonis sian filon lian
kulpon_, for the _two_ accusatives here would create confusion. _Li
legis tion en la dua de Marto_, or, _Li legis pri tio la duan de
Marto_ = He read that on the 2nd of March.
(_b_). Duration or any point of time.
Examples.--_Mi restis tie kvar semajnojn_ (or, _dum_ or _tra_, _kvar
semajnoj_) = I remained there (during) four weeks. _La proksiman
lundon_ (or, _en la proksima lundo_) _mi veturos Londonon_ (or, _al
Londono_) = Next Monday I shall go to London. _Printempon_ (or, _en
printempo_) _floroj aperas_ = In spring flowers appear. _Li venos
dimanĉon_ (or, _en dimanĉo_) = He will come on a Sunday. Similarly
the accusative may be used for dates, as:--_Washington_ (pronounced
_Ŭaŝington_) _estis naskita la dudek-duan_ (or, _en la dudek-dua_)
_de Februaro_ = Washington was born on the 22nd of February. _La 23an
Marton, 1906a_, or _Je la 23a de Marto, 1906_ = 23rd of March, 1906.
(_c_). Price, weight, measure.
Examples.--_La libroj kostis dek ŝilingojn_ (or, _po dek ŝilingoj_)
_por dekduo_ = The books cost ten shillings (_or_, at the rate of ten
shillings) a dozen. _La ĉambro estas alta dek du futojn_ (or, _je
dek du futoj_) = The room is twelve feet high. _La kesto pezas tridek
funtojn_ (or, _je tridek funtoj_) = The chest weighs thirty pounds.
69. General Remarks on the Accusative.
From the foregoing examples we see the important part the accusative
_N_ plays in the construction of Esperanto, the clearness it gives to
the meaning of a sentence, and the advantage it affords in permitting
words to be placed in almost any order, The following examples will
further illustrate this.
(_a_). Qualifying and Predicative Adjectives.--An adjective is
termed "qualifying" when its noun or pronoun actually possesses the
quality which the adjective denotes; and the adjective then agrees
with the noun or pronoun both in case and number. But a "predicative"
adjective, although it agrees in number, is always in the nominative
(pars. 36, 108).
Examples.--_Mi trovis la belajn rozojn_ (_or, rozojn belajn_) = I found
the beautiful roses. _Mi trovis la rozojn belaj_ = I found the roses
beautiful. In the first example the assertion is that beautiful
roses were found; but in the second you assert only that you
found, or discovered, that they were beautiful; they might, in
someone else's opinion, have been the contrary.
(_b_). Qualifying Adverbs are invariable.
Examples.--_Li skribis al mi tute malveran raporton pri la afero_ =
He wrote me an entirely false statement of the matter. _Mi pensis, ke
ŝi estas treege bela_ = I thought (that) she was (is) extremely
beautiful.
(_c_). Nouns and Pronouns in apposition have like cases and
numbers.
Examples.--_Vi serĉas la princon, Hamleton_ = You seek the Prince,
Hamlet. _La diablo lin prenu, la sentaŭgulon_ = The devil take him,
the wretch!
N.B.--Note the difference in case of two nouns in the following
sentences:--_Kuracisto havis du infanojn, filon kaj filinon; li nomis
sian filon Johano, kaj sian filinon Mario. Kiam li parolis pri ili
kun mi, li ĉiam nomis sian filon Johanon kun voĉo de amo, sed sian
filinon Marion antipatie_ = A doctor had two children, a son and a
daughter; he named his son, John, and his daughter, Mary. When he
spoke to me about them, he always named his son, John, in voice of
affection, but his daughter, Mary, with antipathy.
N.B.--In this example, when the nouns (_Johano_ and _Mario_) are in
the nominative, they express what is _predicated_ or said about the
objects (_filon_ and _filinon_). But when they agree in case with the
objects (_filon_ and _filinon_), this shows they are nouns in
apposition (see pars. 108, 109).
(_d_). Proper names.--In the case of non-Esperanto names it is
possible to indicate the accusative, where desired, by the addition
of _N_ after a vowel, or _ON_ after a consonant. This is the plan
adopted by Zamenhof in _La Malnova Testamento_. Or the name may be
regarded as a foreign word and left unchanged for the accusative.
Examples.--_David_, _Davidon_. _Noa_, _Noan_. _Sara_, _Saran_.
_Robinson_, _Robinsonon_. _Smith_, _Smithon_ (or simply _Smith_). Of
course, proper names which have been converted by use into Esperanto
are treated like other nouns in O, as, _Londono_, _Londonon_;
_Berlino_, _Berlinon_. _Jones iris Berlinon, kaj renkontis Arturon
Brown_ = Jones went to Berlin and met Arthur Brown.
CAPITAL LETTERS (Majuskloj).
70. Capital Letters (Majuskloj) may be used as they are in English,
but as their use varies in different languages, it is as well to
follow the majority of Esperanto writers. We, therefore, advise the
student to--
Use capital letters, as in English, except:--
(_a_). For words derived from the names of places, as:--La angla
nacio = _The English nation_. Li estas franco kaj loĝas en
Francujo = _He is a Frenchman and lives in France_. Sur la danan
tronon mi havas rajtojn = _On the Danish throne I have rights_.
(b). For the names of the days of the week, as:--Mi alvenos lundon
= _I shall arrive on a Monday_.[12]
(_c_). For the pronoun "I" = _mi_.
In the _Fundamento_, Zamenhof used capital letters to begin the names
of months. In his mature style he also used capitals for nouns and
adjectives of nationality, e.g. _Angla_, _Anglo_, _Dana_, _Franco_.
Footnote:
[12] Note that _lundon_ means "on _a_ (or, _some_) Monday." If we
wish to say "on Monday," meaning "_next_ Monday," the full
translation would be _Mi alvenos la proksiman lundon_ = I shall
arrive on (the next) Monday (see par. 68 (_b_)). _Mi venas lunde_ =
I come on Mondays.
PUNCTUATION (Interpunkcio).
71. Punctuation is only necessary to make clear the sense we wish
to convey in writing. Happily it is not so important in Esperanto as
in English, where a simple comma may make a great difference in the
meaning of a sentence. Hence the verbosity of law documents in which
stops are not used.
Every writer is free to use in Esperanto his own national or
individual method of punctuation. Nevertheless, Zamenhof and the best
writers follow a definite international usage, and the student is
strongly advised to study and imitate their writings in this respect.
It is the custom, for instance, to separate every clause in a
sentence by a punctuation mark. Accordingly, words like ke, por
ke, ĉu, kiu, when they introduce a secondary sentence within
the main sentence, are usually preceded by a comma. This aids the
reader, and helps in the formation of a uniform international style.
When two verbs joined by kaj have the same subject, no comma is
needed; but a comma is used if the subjects are different. Li staras
kaj parolas (one subject). Li staras, kaj mi parolas al li (two
subjects).
Use a comma after ho when it is part of an exclamation, but not in
naming the person spoken to. Ho Dio! Ho, tute ne!
With abbreviations like S-ro, S-ino, D-ro, it is usual to
insert a hyphen, but no following stop, thus: F-ino Jones.
72. The following is what Dr. Zamenhof has written on the subject in
the "Esperantisto." We give it in Esperanto, so that the student can
see the punctuation for himself:--
La reguloj pri la uzado de la interpunkcioj estas en nia lingvo
pli-malpli tiaj samaj, kiel en ĉiuj aliaj lingvoj; sekve ĉiu povas
uzadi en Esperanto la interpunkciojn tiel, kiel li uzas ilin en sia
nacia lingvo. Estas vere, ke en diversaj detaloj la uzado de la
interpunkcioj estas malegala en diversaj lingvoj; sed ĉar la objekto
ne estas tre grava, tial ni pensas, ke ne venis ankoraŭ la tempo por
difini en nia lingvo severajn regulojn por tiuj ĉi detaloj. En tiuj
ĉi dubaj detaloj ĉiu povas uzi en Esperanto la interpunkciojn tiel,
kiel li uzas ilin en sia nacia lingvo, kaj nur la uzo iom post iom
ellaboros por tiuj ĉi negravaj detaloj difinitajn regulojn.
_Translation._--The rules regarding the use of stops are in our
language more or less the same as in all other languages, therefore
everyone can continue using in Esperanto stops in such a manner as he
uses them in his national language. It is true that in several
details the use of stops is different in various languages, but since
the matter is not very important, we think the time has not yet come
to lay down in our language strict rules for these details. In these
doubtful details everyone can use in Esperanto the stops he uses in
his national language, and only custom, little by little, will work
out for these unimportant details definite rules.
ORDER OF WORDS. (Ordigo de Vortoj).
The hints in this chapter should be considered not as hard and fast
rules to be learned by heart, but simply as an endeavour to state the
usual practice of good writers. The best guide for the student is the
study of the best authors, coupled with obedience to his own common
sense and feeling for beauty of style and clarity of expression. (See
par. 93.)
73. Since Esperanto has eliminated the defects of other languages,
and embraced only the good points of each, its flexibility as regards
the order of words in a sentence is great. This is principally owing
to the fact that the accusative _N_ clearly distinguishes the
object from the subject, to the agreement in case and number of
the adjective with the noun it qualifies, and to the fact that
prepositions and conjunctions do not interfere with the proper
functions of other words. In English the accusative case is
distinguished only in the pronouns _he_ (_him_), _she_ (_her_), etc.
It is true that English has a possessive case, which in Esperanto is
applied only to the correlative group of words ending in _-ES_,
viz., ies, kies, etc. (see pars. 106 (_b_), 154); but even this
doubtful advantage is lessened by the fact that the apostrophe _S_ in
English is useless _in speech_ in the plural when the word ends in
_S_. For instance, when one says, "_That is my brothers' house_,"
does one mean it belongs to one brother or more? Certainly, as
_written_, with the apostrophe _after_ the _S_, the meaning is two or
more, but, as _spoken_, one would naturally suppose it belonged to
one brother only. So, to be clear, we should have to fall back on
the Esperanto mode of expression, and say, _That is the house
of my brothers_ = Tio estas la domo de miaj fratoj; even then
Esperanto is clearer than English, for the pronoun (miaj) is a
plural form, whereas in English _my_ is the same for both numbers.
74. Owing to the above advantages, words may be arranged in almost
any order in Esperanto, and yet be intelligible; but of course it is
advisable that they should follow one another in the natural sequence
of our thoughts. The first point is, that the meaning of a sentence
should be absolutely clear, and the second, that the sounds should be
as harmonious as they can be, combined with clearness of expression.
The student is advised to read the "Fundamenta Krestomatio," by Dr.
Zamenhof, which will familiarize him with the construction of the
language, and he will then rapidly acquire a knowledge as to the best
order for words.
75. Place of the subject and object.--The subject is usually placed
before and the object after the verb.
Examples.--_Mia fratino aĉetis libron_ = My sister bought a book.
_Rikardo manĝas kukon_ = Richard is eating a cake. _Kukon manĝas
Rikardo_ means exactly the same, and would he quite intelligible, but
the mind would not grasp the meaning so rapidly, and it would be
absurd, without a reason, to place words in such an unnatural order.
76. Position for emphasis.--Words are often placed out of the usual
order, as they are in English, to give emphasis, or for the sake of
contrast.
Examples.--_Lin mi renkontis, ne ŝin_ = Him I met, not her. _Belon
mi trovis ĉie, bonon nenie_ = Beauty I found everywhere, good
nowhere.
77. Place of the predicate.--The predicate, or what is said about
the subject, is usually placed after the verb.
Examples.--_Li estos kontenta_ (or _Li kontentiĝos_) _se vi donos al
li ŝilingon_ = He will be satisfied if you (will) give him a shilling.
_Ŝi fariĝus pli sana, se la vetero estus pli varma_, or _Ŝi pli
saniĝus, se la vetero pli varmiĝus_ = She would get better if
the weather became warmer. But after the word _kiel_ it is
preferable to put the predicate before the verb, as:--_Kiel
malsana li ŝajnas!_ = How ill he seems! _Kiel li ŝajnas malsana_
would be quite possible and correct, but Esperanto inclines to follow
the English order of words here, as also in many other cases where in
other languages the construction is quite different.
78. Place of the direct complement.--We have stated that the object
is placed usually after the verb, but it may equally correctly
precede it.
Examples.--_Mi lin malamas_, or, _Mi malamas lin_ = I detest him. If,
however, the object be followed by an explanatory phrase, it is
better to place it after the verb, as:--_Mi vidis lin kuŝantan sur
la lito_ = I saw him lying on the bed. _Mi renkontis ŝin, ĝuste
kiam ŝi estis eliranta_ = I met her just as she was going out (see
par. 29).
79. Place of the indirect complement.--The complement is said to be
indirect when it is governed by a preposition (see Syntax, par. 31).
It is usually placed after the verb.
Examples.--_Zorgu pri tio_ = Take care of (about) that. _Alkonduku
lin al mi_ = Bring him to me. _La domo estas konstruata de mia patro_
= The house is being built by my father. _Mi ĝin donis_ (or, _donis
ĝin_) _al li por lia nepino_ = I gave it to him for his
granddaughter. Of course, we can place it before the verb if we wish,
just as we can in English, and as we probably should in the following
phrase:--_El la dirita regulo sekvas, ke...._ = From the said rule,
it follows that....
80. Place of circumstantial complements (see Syntax, par.
32).--These complements, which mark the time, place, manner, cause,
etc., of an action, are usually placed first or last in a sentence.
Examples.--_En printempo floroj aperas_ = In spring flowers appear.
_Nur kelke da knaboj ludadis sur la kampo_ = Only a few boys were
playing in the field; or, _Sur la kampo ludadis nur kelke da knaboj_.
In a sentence like the following the complement might be placed last,
as:--_Mi kriegis pro la dolorego_ = I howled with the intense
pain. But in one like the following, where there are two or more
circumstantial complements, they naturally should come first in
the sentence, as:--_Kun la haroj malordigitaj, kaj la okuloj
eksaltantaj el la kapo de_ (or, _pro_) _teruro, ŝi kuregis laŭ
la strato_ = With dishevelled hair, and eyes starting out of her
(the) head with terror, she rushed down the street.
81. The complements of nouns, adjectives, or participial
adjectives, usually follow them.
Examples.--_La amo al_ (or, _por_) _Dio_ = Love to (for) God.
_Mirigita de liaj vortoj, mi eliris el la domo_ = Astonished at his
words, I left (went out of) the house.
82. Place of the infinitive.--The infinitive being really a noun,
takes its place, according as it is the subject, predicate, or
complement. When it is the subject, it generally precedes the verb,
unless one wishes to place it otherwise for the sake of emphasis.
Examples.--_Scii estas utile_ = Knowledge (to know) is useful. _Honte
estas mensogi_ = It is shameful to lie. If the predicate, it
usually follows the verb, as:--_Tion fari estas agi malsaĝe_ = To do
that is to act foolishly. If the complement, it follows the word of
which it is the complement, as:--_Mi tre deziras paroli kun vi_ = I
want very much to speak with you. _Ni trinkas por sensoifiĝi, kaj ni
manĝas por satigi nin_ (or, _por satiĝi_) = We drink to allay
thirst (to become without thirst), and we eat to allay hunger (to be
satiated). _Mi devas iri hejmen_ = I must go home. _La elekto tion
fari restas ĉe vi_ = The option of doing that rests with you. _Li
estos tre feliĉa vin vidi morgaŭ_ = He will be very glad to see you
to-morrow. _La deziro kontraŭdiri_ = The desire of contradicting (to
contradict).
83. Place of the noun.--The noun is placed according as it is the
subject, predicate, complement (direct, indirect, or circumstantial),
(see pars. 76-80).
84. Place of the adjective.--The position of the adjective varies
in national languages. In English it is nearly always placed before
the word it qualifies, and we may say that this is generally its
place in Esperanto. The following remarks and examples of the four
classes of adjectives, "qualifying," "predicative," "possessive," and
"demonstrative," will give an idea of its position, in accordance
with the sense or emphasis wished to be conveyed.
(_a_). A qualifying adjective may either precede or follow the word
it qualifies.
(In either position the meaning is precisely the same grammatically.
It is considered by some that it throws a shade of emphasis on the
adjective to place it after the noun it qualifies, especially when
the adjective is the last word in the sentence.)
Examples.--_La malfeliĉa knabo_ (or, _knabo malfeliĉa_) _perdis
sian monujon_ = The unfortunate boy lost his purse. _Li renkontis
maljunan virinon_ (or, _maljunulinon_), _tre grasan, kiu portis
grandan korbon, plenan de maturaj pomoj_ = He met an old woman, very
fat, who was carrying a large basket, full of ripe apples.
(_b_). A predicative adjective is usually placed after the verb,
and noun or pronoun, to which it relates.
Examples.--_La papero estas blanka_ = The paper is white. _Ili trovis
la manĝaĵojn bonaj_ = They found the eatables good. _Mi pensis, ke
mi vidas ilin mortigantaj la homon_ = I thought (that) I saw (see)
them killing (that they are killing) the man.
N.B.--A predicative adjective does not agree in case, when its noun
or pronoun is in the accusative (pars. 69 (_a_), and 108 (_b_)).
(_c_). A possessive adjective usually precedes the word to which it
relates. If we wish to speak in an affectionate strain, we can place
it after the noun.
Examples.--_Mia patrino kaj miaj gefratoj donis al mi donacon en mia
naskotago_ = My mother and my brothers and sisters gave me a present
on my birthday. _Ne ploru, patrino mia!_ = Do not weep, mother dear!
(_or_, mother mine!). _Johano mia, ne faru tion!_ = John dear, do
not do that.
(_d_). A demonstrative adjective usually precedes the word to which
it relates.
Examples.--_Tiu sinjorino estas mia fratino_ = That lady is my
sister. _Du ŝilingoj ne sufiĉos por aĉeti tiun libron_ = Two
shillings will not buy that book.
(_e_). To show emphasis, adjectives can, as in English, be placed
first in phrases.
Examples.--_Bona, malavara kaj ĝentila, li estas estimata de ĉiuj_
= Kind, generous and courteous, he was esteemed by all. _Feliĉa
estas la homo, kiu ne havas malamikojn_ = Happy is the man who has no
enemies.
85. Place of the pronoun.--As in English, a personal pronoun may
follow or precede the verb.
Examples.--_"Jes," diris li_ (or, _li diris_), "_vi estas prava_" =
"Yes," said he, "you are right." _"Kial," ekkriis la homo, "vi faris
tion?"_ = "Why," cried the man, "did you do that?"
86. Place of the verb.--The verb is, as a rule, placed after the
subject, but this does not mean that it must follow it immediately,
for it can be separated by predicates, complements, and adverbs.
Examples.--_La lingvo Esperanto, kreita de doktoro Zamenhof, estas
jam uzata en la tuta mondo civilizita_ = The language Esperanto,
created by Dr. Zamenhof, is already used in the whole civilized
world. In sentences like the following it is, as in English, often
placed before the subject. _"Kien ni iros," diris mi al li, "kiam via
amiko alvenos?"_ = "Where shall we go," said I to him, "when your
friend arrives (shall arrive)?" _Nun alvenas la horo de la sukceso
por la lingvo internacia_ = Now comes the hour of (the) success for
the international language. _Aperis sur la monteto la figuro de
rajdanto_ = There appeared on the hill the figure of a horseman. (For
the place of the Infinitive, see par. 82.)
87. Place of the participle varies as follows:--
(_a_). When forming the compound tenses of verbs, the participle
usually follows the auxiliary verb esti, though not necessarily
immediately after it (see (_d_)).
Examples.--_Mi estos fininta mian leteron, antaŭ ol li alvenos_ = I
shall have finished my letter before he arrives (will arrive). _Ŝi
estas tre amata de ĉiuj_ = She is very much loved by all.
(_b_). In a qualifying or predicative sense participles generally
follow their noun or pronoun.
Examples.--_Mi vidis lin riproĉeganta kaj batanta la knabon_ = I
saw him (that he is) rebuking and beating the boy. _Ĉu tio estas mia
hundo ĉasanta ŝafon?_ = Is that my dog chasing a sheep? _La
fraŭlino leganta la ĵurnalon estas tre bela_ = The young lady
reading the newspaper is very beautiful. _La konstruata domo_ (or,
_domo konstruata_) = The house under construction (being
constructed). _Mi imagis, ke mi vidas la homon kisanta la virinon_ =
I fancied (that) I saw the man kissing (that he is kissing) the
woman.
(_c_). An adverbial participle generally precedes its noun or
pronoun.
Examples.--_Vidante sian amikon, li haltis_ = (On) seeing his
friend, he stopped. _Leginte la libron, ŝi ekdormis_ = After reading
(_or_, having read) the book, she fell asleep (par. 212 (_d_)).
(_d_). For emphasis the participle may be put first in a sentence.
Examples.--_Tedita de vojaĝado, mi decidis reveni hejmen_ = Tired of
travelling, I decided to return home. _Amataj kaj estimataj de ĉiuj,
la fratoj havis multajn amikojn_ = Loved and esteemed by all, the
brothers had many friends.
Note.--If qualifying and predicative participles are not placed in
their natural position, viz., after their nouns or pronouns, the
sense may be entirely changed. For instance, in the following two
sentences the words are the same, but the sense varies with their
positions:--Ŝi, kuranta en la ĉambron, vidis mian hundon = _She,
(who is) running into the room, saw my dog_ (here kuranta is the
qualifying participle of ŝi). Ŝi vidis mian hundon kuranta en la
ĉambron = _She saw my dog (that he is) running into the room_ (here
kuranta is the predicative participle of hundon, and, being
predicative, does not take the accusative (see pars. 69 (_a_) and 108
(_b_)). The above two sentences might be altered as follows,
showing different meanings, by using in the first an adverbial
participle, and in the second a qualifying participle, as:--Kurante
en la ĉambron, ŝi vidis mian hundon = _(While) running
into the room, she saw my dog_. Ŝi vidis mian hundon kurantan
= _She saw my running dog_. A phrase is often clearer if the
conjunction ke be used instead of a predicative participle. For
instance, instead of Ŝi vidis mian hundon kuranta en la ĉambron,
we can say Ŝi vidis, ke mia hundo kuras en la ĉambron = _She saw
that my dog was (is) running into the room_; or, Ŝi vidis mian
hundon kuri en la ĉambron = _She saw my dog run into the room_.
88. Place of the adverb.--The adverb, as a rule, immediately
precedes or follows the word to which it refers, or which it
qualifies.
Examples.--_Li rapide kuras_, or, _Li kuras rapide_ = He runs
rapidly. _La virino zorge legis_ (or, _legis zorge_) _la leteron_ =
The woman read the letter carefully. _Li ĝentile demetis la
ĉapelon_ = He politely took off his hat.
N.B.--In this last example it is more elegant to place the adverb, as
in English, before the verb.
(_a_). To avoid ambiguity, care, however, must be taken not to
place the adverb in a position where it might be taken to refer
either to the word which precedes or the word which follows it. For
instance, if an adverb be placed between two verbs, it sometimes
happens that we cannot tell to which it refers, and the sense is thus
materially altered.
Example.--_Li ekstreme deziris saĝiĝi_ = He desired extremely to
become wise. _Li deziris saĝiĝi ekstreme_ = He desired to become
extremely wise. In this example, if we place the adverb between the
two verbs, and say _Li deziris ekstreme saĝiĝi_, the sentence might
be translated in either of the above two ways. See also remarks on
the use of _ne_ (par. 59 (_a_)). The word _nur_, also, similarly
modifies the word it precedes.
(_b_). Adverbs of comparison, such as: iom, multe, kiel, plej, pli,
sufiĉe, tiel, tiom, tre, tro, are usually placed before the words
to which they refer.
Examples.--_Li iom laciĝis kaj multe senkuraĝiĝis_ = He became
somewhat fatigued and much discouraged. _Kiel malavare li agis,
donante al sia frato tiom da mono, kiom li bezonis!_ = How generously
he acted in giving his brother as much money as he needed! _Li venos
pli aŭ malpli frue_ = He will come sooner or later (lit., more or
less early). _Vi agis plej saĝe, farante tion_ = You acted most
wisely in doing that. _Kio ajn okazos, li estis sufiĉe saĝa por
tion fari_ = At all events he was wise enough to do that. _Ŝi tre
amis sian fraton_ = She loved her brother very much. _Li tro
manĝadas_ = He eats too much.
(_c_). To give emphasis, adverbs and adverbial participles may
commence a sentence.
Examples.--_Ĉarme, bele kaj kortuŝe estis vidi la birdon zorgi pri
sia ido_ = Charming, beautiful and touching it was to see the bird
take care of its offspring. _Starante kun la brakoj etenditaj, li
paroladis al la popolamaso_ = Standing with arms outstretched, he
harangued the populace (see par. 245 (_a_)).
89. Place of the preposition.--The preposition always immediately
precedes its complement.
Examples.--_Skribu al mi_ = Write to me. _Li venis al mia domo kune
kun la du hundoj je la tria (horo)_ = He came to my house (to me)
along with the two dogs at 3 o'clock.
90. Place of the conjunction.--The conjunction always precedes the
verb to which it refers, but separated from it by the words which
logically intervene.
Example.--_Se iu hodiaŭ matene deziros min vidi, diru al ĝi, ke mi
estas tre okupita_ = If anyone (someone), this morning, should desire
to see me, tell him (or her) I am very busy.
N.B.--Note that _iu_ does not give the sex, therefore _ĝi_ is
rightly used; but, as in English, the sense would be clear without
the words _al ĝi_.
91. Place of the interrogative.--In direct questions the subject
usually precedes the verb.
Examples.--_Ĉu vi havas mian libron?_ = Have you my book? In
English, in many cases, we place the subject first; for instance, in
the present tense we often commence a question with "Do"; in the
past, with "Have" or "Did"; in the future, with "Shall" or "Will." If
we substitute _Ĉu_ for any of these words, we have the Esperanto
construction, as:--_Ĉu vi bezonas tiun plumon?_ = Do you want that
pen? _Ĉu vi faris tion?_ = Did you do that? _Ĉu li venos tien ĉi?_ =
Will he come here?
92. Place of the negative.--The negative ne = _not_, when it
relates directly to a verb, is placed immediately before such verb,
but otherwise in its natural position in the clause; i.e., it
negatives the word or words it precedes. The negative correlatives
nenia, nenial, etc., may be placed in almost any position,
according to the emphasis we wish to give to the word.
Examples.--_Mi lin ne vidis_, or, _Mi ne vidis lin_ = I did not see
him. _Ĉu vi ne vidis lin?_ or, _Ĉu vi lin ne vidis?_ = Did you not
see him? _Mi neniam renkontis ŝin_, or, _Neniam mi renkontis ŝin_,
or, _Mi ŝin renkontis neniam_ = I never met her. _Mi volas renkonti
ne nur Johanon, sed ankaŭ Georgon_ = I want to meet not only John,
but also George.
93. Order very similar to English.--The foregoing remarks show that
the order of words in Esperanto is very similar to the English
construction of sentences, and we can hardly do wrong if we follow it
nearly word for word. A slightly different order in Esperanto
sometimes makes an expression more elegant but this is generally
owing to harmony of sound rather than grammatical construction.
[In writing _original_ work in Esperanto it is well to cultivate a
style as international as possible, and use the normal, simple, and
logical order of words. In _translation_ work, when it is desired to
reproduce as far as possible the national or individual atmosphere of
the original, it is legitimate intentionally to reproduce in the
translation--so long as intelligibility is ensured, and as far as the
structure of the language permits--the characteristic order of words
in the original text. The wonderful flexibility of Esperanto is one
of the reasons why Esperanto is such an admirable language for
translation purposes.]