Articles
Below is a list of some articles about or with a relation to Esperanto.
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ESPERANTO: ITS ORIGINS AND EARLY HISTORY by Prof. C. Kiselman (Sweden)
Abstract: We trace the development of Esperanto prior to the publication of the first book on the language in 1887 and try to explain its origins in a multicultural setting. Influences on Esperanto from several other languages are discussed.
CAUSES OF THE RELATIVE SUCCESS OF ESPERANTO by Dr. D. Blanke (Germany)
Abstract: Among what are now more than 1000 efforts to create an international language, primarily the project of L. L. Zamenhof (1887) has developed into a living and flexible language. Although Zamenhof’s hope for a language accepted worldwide were not fulfilled, Esperanto proves that in principle it is possible to create a new language through language planning and bring it to practical use. This is an important fact for linguistics. Esperanto’s success also lies in the fact that so far it has been able to resist competition from other systems of planned language. The factors that explain this success relate in part to linguistic structures (e.g. the system’s potential for development) and in part to sociolinguistic and language policy considerations. Of particular significance was Zamenhof’s language-policy role: he saw language as primarily a social phenomenon, he linked humanistic ideals to his language, and he passed Esperanto on to an emerging language community with all of its evolving and varied communicative needs. Zamenhof intuitively understood several important factors that contributed to Esperanto’s stability, for example the need for a standard and its codification. Over the past decades, the scholarly literature of Esperanto studies has grown in quality and is regularly recorded in the bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA).
THE METACOMMUNICATIVE IDEOLOGY OF ESPERANTO by Prof. G. C. Kimura (Japan)
Abstract: The issue of whether a particular humanistic ideology is immanent in Esperanto has been a topic of controversy since the early days of the movement. The question is explored here on the basis of evidence drawn from discussions in Esperanto between Japanese and Koreans about reconciliation between their respective countries. It is concluded that, while the convictions of the language’s initiator are not universally shared among Esperanto speakers, one may legitimately speak of a common metacommunicative ideology which valorises dialogue among ordinary people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
NATIVE ESPERANTO AS A TEST CASE FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE by Prof. J. Lindstedt (Finland)
Abstract: Esperanto has some properties of a natural language, including about 1,000 first-language speakers. In studies of the speech of Esperanto-speaking children it is difficult to find convincing examples of changes introduced by the process of nativisation. All examples proposed seem rather to be due to (1) transfers from the children’s other native languages, (2) differences between the spoken and written register of Esperanto and, in some cases, (3) incomplete acquisition. Consequently, it would appear that Esperanto has already been adjusted to the requirements of language universals or Universal Grammar in the process of being used by non-native speakers, which is why native speakers need not introduce immediate changes into it.
