International Language Part 21

wo where pas step ich I ou where den ? j'ai ?

Stock stick laisse ?

gela.s.sen dispa.s.sionate la the habe: property: canne: reed: haben to have ne not Sie she, they, you, l'avez ?

ihn ? vous you nicht not pas step gesehen ? vu ? ?

If your Russian wishes to reply, hand him a Russian-Esperanto vocabulary, pointing to the following paragraph on the outside:

"To express anything by means of this vocabulary, in the international language, look for the words required in the vocabulary itself; and for the terminations necessary to distinguish the grammatical forms, look in the grammatical appendix, under the respective headings of the parts of speech which you desire to express."

The whole of the grammatical structure is explained in a few lines in this appendix, so the grammar can be looked out as easily as the root words.

PART IV

SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO, WITH GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

NOTE

The best way of learning Esperanto is to begin at once to read the language. Do not trouble to learn the grammar and list of suffixes by themselves first. All this can be picked up easily in the course of reading.

In the following specimens the first two pieces are marked for beginners. Each part of a word marked off by hyphens is to be looked out separately in the vocabulary. By the time the beginner has read these two pieces carefully in this way he will know the grammar, and have a fair idea of the structure of the language and the use of affixes.

In order to save time in looking out words, and so quicken the process of learning, the English translation of the third piece is given in parallel columns. Therefore in this piece only the princ.i.p.al words, which might be unfamiliar to English readers, are given in the vocabulary. Word-formation and some points of grammar are explained in the notes.

To get a practical grasp of Esperanto, cover the left-hand (Esperanto) column with a piece of paper after reading it, and re-translate the English into Esperanto, using the notes. After half an hour per day of such exercise for two or three weeks, an ordinary educated person will know Esperanto pretty well.

N.B.-It is very important to acquire a correct p.r.o.nunciation at the start. Study the p.r.o.nunciation rules, and practise reading aloud before beginning to translate. _Read slowly._

I

p.r.o.nUNCIATION

_Vowels_

There are no long and short, open and closed, vowels: just five simple, full-sounding vowels, always p.r.o.nounced the same. English people must be particularly careful to make them sufficiently full.

_a_ as _a_ in Engl. "father."

_e_ " _ey_ " " "they."

_i_ " _ee_ " " "eel."

_o_ " _o_ " " "hole," inclining to _o_ in Engl. "more."

(English speakers find it hard to p.r.o.nounce a true _o_.) _u_ " _oo_ " " "moon."

In short, the vowels are as in Italian.

_Diphthongs_

_aj_ as _eye_ in Engl. "eye."

_oj_ " _oy_ " " "boy."

_au_ " _ow_ " " "cow."

(_eu_ " _e...w_ " " "g_e_t _w_et": this sound does not often occur.)

_Consonants_

These are p.r.o.nounced as in English, except the following:

_c_ as _ts_ in Engl. "bits."

_c_ " _ch_ " " "church."

_g_ " _g_ " " "give."

_g_ " _g_ " " "gentle."

_h_ " _ch_ " Scotch "loch," or German "ich."

_j_ " _y_ " Engl. "yes."

_j_ " _s_ " " "pleasure."

_s_ " _sh_ " " "s.h.i.+lling."

_u_ " _w_ " " "cow" (only occurs in the diphthongs _au_ and _eu_).

_Accent_

Always upon the last syllable but one.

_Example_

The first few lines of piece I in the following specimens may be thus figured for English readers:

Gayseenyoroy-mee noon deeros ahl vee kaylkine vortoyn Ayspayrahntay.

Mee kraydahs kay vee owdos, kay Ayspayrahnto aystahs tray fahtseelah ki baylsonah leengvo.

N.B.-The precise sound of _e_ is between _a_ in "b_a_le" and _e_ in "b_e_ll."

II

SPECIMENS OF ESPERANTO

1. PAROL-AD-O

Ge-sinjor-o-j-mi nun dir-os al vi kelk-a-j-n vort-o-j-n Esperant-e. Mi kred-as ke vi aud-os, ke Esperant-o est-as tre facil-a kaj bel-son-a lingv-o. Ver-e, gi est-as tiel facil-a, sonor-a kaj simpl-a, ke oni tut-e ne hav-as mal-facil-ec-o-n por lern-i gi-n. La lern-ant-o-j pov-as ordinar-e kompren-i, leg-i, skrib-i kaj parol-i gin en tre mal-long-a temp-o. La fakt-o ke Esperant-o en-hav-as tre mal-mult-a-j-n, vokal-a-j-n son-o-j-n, kaj ke la vokal-o-j est-as ciu-j long-a-j kaj plen-son-a-j, est-ig-as gin mult-e pli facil-a ol la ali-a-j lingv-o-j, ciu por au-d-i, ciu por el-parol-i.

Mi kred-as ke mal-long-a lern-ad-o est-os sufic-a por vi-n kompren-ig-i, ke la hom-o-j de ciu-j naci-o-j pov-as inter-parol-i Esperant-e sen mal-facil-ec-o.

Mi ne de-ten-os vi-n pli long-e. Fin-ant-e, mi las-os kun vi du fraz-et-o-j-n: unu-e, por la ideal-ist-o-j, kiu-j cel-as unu frat-ec-o-n inter la popol-o-j de ciu land-o, la Esperant-a-n deviz-o-n-"Dum ni spir-as ni esper-as": du-e, por la hom-o-j praktik-a-j la praktik-a-n konsil-o-n-"Lern-u Esperant-o-n."

2. LA MAR-BORD-IST-O-J: ALEGORI-ET-O

Cirkau grand-a mez-ter-a mar-o viv-is mult-a-j popol-o-j. Ili hav-is mult-a-n inter-a-n komerc-o-n. Car la mar-o est-is oft-e mal-trankvil-a kaj ili hav-is nur mal-grand-a-j-n sip-o-j-n, ili vetur-is lau-long-e la mar-bord-o, neniam perd-ant-e la ter-o-n el la vid-o.