by Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009)

Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone

This story is taken in part from an article published by BBC News (Online)

Esperanto was to be a international language of hope and if zealous proponents continue their pursuit, perhaps it will develop and become so, even if it is more than a century past due. That has been the wish and the plan ever since Esperanto first came into the mind of a gentleman from Poland.

Dr Ludwig Zamenhof

This year devotees of Esperanto celebrate the 150th birthday anniversary of Dr Ludwig Lazar Zamenhof (1859-1917) who is identified as the father of Esperanto. A book written by Zamenhof, Doktor Esperanto, to reflect the name given the language and the hope of the originator, i.e., that it would help to bring individuals, then groups and finally entire diverse people together, helped to spread the language intially. The basic Esperanto language contained just 900 words, but could be easily expanded through utilization of suffixes and prefixes and was derived through words in the Romanesque, Germanic and Slavic languages.

Esperanto speakers believe it would be difficult for other Esperanto afficiandos not be accepted into a group of  established speakers, no matter how diverse their origins, as they all share the common background of the language. While I wish the speakers of common languages hope and attainment of other benefits supposedly brought by a common language, I’m afraid there is no guarantee that such would be the case.

For the most part, England has shared a common language for a while now. Yet, they can be the the rowdiest of the rowdy … witness their parliamentary deliberations and their soccer games. An infusion of folks from former colonies of Great Britain has helped to dilute the pool of English speakers, perhaps mostly through the design of  religious groups or maybe in more innocuous ways.

The United States of America, although populated by legal and illegal immigrants has for years settled in to be an English speaking nation, perhaps by benign design, if for no other reason. Yet, there is more contentiousness in our government, more disputes among our ordinary people and certainly, more animosity between the major political parties than might have been at the Tower of Babel .   To put it succinctly, our English common language just makes it extra easy to argue, fuss and fight and to separate ourselves into English speaking boxes.

English has not and Esperanto can not bring us hope of civility and union of purpose. But, I do find the idea of being an Esperanto speaker to be intriguing … maybe someday?