A Very Brief History of Esperanto

Esperanto is a "planned" or "constructed" language

Esperanto was first published in 1887  by a Polish ophthalmologist Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof

The purpose was intended to create a universal auxiliary language

The language had to be easy to learn yet still be able to handle complex communication

Its underlying ideals of Esperanto we well suited for the ideals that were starting the take hold at the turn of the century 

Esperanto grew beyond a language, but a community

During WWII and beyond

Esperantists were discriminated by both Hitler and Stalin

Over the next few decades, Esperanto's enthusiasm has ebbed and flowed 

Internet and social media has brought a new and "different" life to Esperanto in the modern age.

Esperanto is considered the most succesful constructed language

Estimated to have 200K+ active speakers with 2000+ native Esperanto speakers

Famous Esperantists

JRR Tolkien

George Soros (through is father)

Pelé

Esperanto is open sourced

Esperanto was not the first

Other languages failed to grow due to the original author of the language held control and make "breaking changes"

Esperanto was "given" to the community and Zamenhof declared that it's further evolution would happen via community.

Akademio de Esperanto

The Academy of Esperanto is an independent linguistic institution whose task is to preserve and protect the fundamental principles of the Esperanto language and to control its development.

Esperanto has been "forked"

Built on previous languages

Esperanto's root words come from other languages to make it more familiar.

Hundo === Dog

Luno === Moon

Rivero === River

Esperanto's 16 consistent grammar rules make them "easier" to use.

Nouns end with "o"

Adjectives end with "a"

Adverbs end with "e"

The past tense end with "is"

The present tense end with "as"

The future tense and with "os"

Kanti

to sing

Kantis === Sang

Kantas === singing

Kantos === will sing

Kanto === Song

Kanta === Song-like

Kante === while singing

Mia Hundo kantas bele nokte.

My dog sings beautifully at night

Esperanto's root words come from European languages, primarily Latin and germanic.  This was "international" from the perspective of it's creator.

Uses composition

Esperanto roots can be combined to make new words

Skribi - to write

Maĉino - Machine

Skribmaĉino - typewriter

Esperanto has affixes that when composed with the base changes the word

et - small

eg - big

Domo - house

Dometo - cottage

Domego - mansion

More examples

aĵ - concrete manifestation

nova - new

manĝi - to eat

novo - newness

manĝo - meal

Novaĵo - news

Manĝaĵo - food

Affixes can be used as words

(when it makes sense)

ej - location of 

lerni - to learn

lernejo - school

Ejo - Location

Esperanto has a NOT operator

In JavaScript we have ! operator

Esperanto has an prefix mal that does the same thing

Examples

Amiko - friend

Malamiko - enemy

granda - big

malgranda - small

plena - full

malplena - empty

dekstra - right (direction)

maldekstra - left (direction)

Mal !== bad

mal only flips the meaning to its opposite.

bona - good

malbona - bad

malo - oppositness

Esperanto has "decorators"

Nouns and adjectives need to agree on pluralization

ruĝa pomo - a red apple

ruĝaj pomoj - red apples

pomoj ruĝaj - red apples

Direct objects require an extra "n"

mi manĝas ruĝan pomon - I eat a red apple

ruĝajn pomojn mi manĝas - I eat red apples

pomojn ruĝajn manĝas mi - I eat red apples

Complex abstractions are possible, but simple abstractions are prefered

Active/Continuous  Voice

-int-

-ant-

-ont-

Esper-ant-o === One who hopes

Parolanto === Speaker 

Passive Voice

-it-

-at-

-ot-

vokita === called

Esperanto can create complex sentences easily

Mi estis Vokota

I was going to be called

Mi parolantis

I was (in the process) of speaking

Despite that, a good "abstraction" needs to solve a problem

Mi parolis vs mi estis parolanta

The difference here is nuanced