Esperanto is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it is intended to be a universal second language for international communication, or "the international language". Zamenhof first described the language in Dr. Esperanto's International Language, which he published under the pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto. Early adopters of the language liked the name Esperanto and soon used it to describe his language. The word esperanto translates into English as "one who hopes".
Esperantujo or Esperantio is the community of speakers of the Esperanto language and their culture, as well as the places and institutions where the language is used. The term is used "as if it were a country."
L. L. Zamenhof developed Esperanto in the 1870s and '80s. Unua Libro, the first print discussion of the language, appeared in 1887. The number of Esperanto speakers have increased gradually since then, without much support from governments and international organizations. Its use has, in some instances, been outlawed or otherwise suppressed.
Esperanto culture refers to the shared cultural experience of the Esperantujo, or Esperanto-speaking community. Despite being a constructed language, Esperanto has a history dating back to the late 19th century, and shared socio-cultural norms have developed among its speakers. Some of these can be traced back to the initial ideas of the language's creator, Ludwig Zamenhof, including the theory that a global second language would foster international communication. Others have developed over time, as the language has allowed different national and linguistic cultures to blend together. Some Esperanto speakers have also researched the language's ideologies.
L. L. Zamenhof was the creator of Esperanto, the most widely used constructed international auxiliary language.
Dr. Esperanto's International Language, commonly referred to as Unua Libro, is an 1887 book by Polish ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof, in which he first introduced and described the constructed language Esperanto. First published in Russian on July 26 [O.S. July 14] 1887, the publication of Unua Libro marks the formal beginning of the Esperanto movement.
Esperanto symbols, primarily the Esperanto flag, have seen much consistency over the time of Esperanto's existence, though a few variations in exact flag patterning and symbology exist.
Interlinguistics, also known as cosmoglottics, is the science of planned languages as it has existed for more than a century. Formalised by Otto Jespersen in 1931 as the science of interlanguages, in more recent times, the field has been more focused with language planning, the collection of strategies to deliberately influence the structure and function of a living language. In this framework, interlanguages become a subset of planned languages, i.e. extreme cases of language planning.
The Declaration on the Essence of Esperantism, commonly referred to as the Declaration of Boulogne, is a historic document that establishes several important premises for the Esperanto movement. The Declaration was written by L. L. Zamenhof and ratified in 1905 by the attendees of the first World Esperanto Congress, held in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Lidia Zamenhof was a Jewish Polish writer, publisher, translator and the youngest daughter of Klara (Silbernik) and L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto. She was an active promoter of Esperanto as well as of Homaranismo, a form of religious humanism first defined by her father.
Homaranismo is a philosophy developed by L. L. Zamenhof, who laid the foundations of the Esperanto language. Based largely on the teachings of Hillel the Elder, Zamenhof originally called it Hillelism. He sought to reform Judaism because he hoped that without the strict dress code and purity requirements, it would no longer be the victim of antisemitic propaganda. The basis of Homaranismo is the sentence known as the Golden Rule: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.
Dua Libro de l' Lingvo Internacia, usually referred to simply as Dua Libro, is an 1888 book by L. L. Zamenhof. It is the second book in which Zamenhof wrote about the constructed language Esperanto, following Unua Libro in 1887, and the first book to be written entirely in the language.
Richard Henry Geoghegan was an Anglo-American philologist and the first known Esperantist from the English-speaking world. As a young man, he emigrated to the United States, first living in Washington state and then in the Alaska Territory.
Ivo Lapenna was a Dalmatian Italian law professor and Esperantist, born in Split in 1909.
A Zamenhof-Esperanto object is a monument or place linked to L. L. Zamenhof, to the constructed language Esperanto that he created and first published in 1887, or to the community of Esperanto speakers which has been using the language since.
La Esperantisto, stylised as La Esperantisto., was the first Esperanto periodical, published from 1889 to 1895. L. L. Zamenhof started it in order to provide reading material for the then-nascent Esperanto community.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Esperanto:
Esperanto was constructed in Poland by L. L. Zamenhof. It maintained a notable presence in Poland until the Occupation of Poland during World War II and the subsequent Communist rule resulted in the persecution of Esperantists.
Abram Antoni Kofman, also known as Abraham S. Kofman, was a Russian-Jewish accountant, and poet and translator in several constructed languages. From Odesa, Russian Empire, Kofman learned Esperanto in 1889 and was an early supporter of the language's adoption. He was one of the first Russian Jews to write poetry in Esperanto and has been described by several as a "pioneer". His work appeared in several Esperanto-language magazines and early anthologies, including the Fundamenta Krestomatio. He was the translator of several sections of the Hebrew Bible in both Esperanto and its daughter language, Ido. He was the first Ancient Greek–Esperanto translator, producing a rendition of parts of the Iliad starting in 1895.
Esther H. Schor is an American scholar, essayist, and professor of American Jewish studies at Princeton University. Completing a PhD at Yale University in 1985, she has been Professor of English at Princeton since 1986, where she focuses on subjects such as Romanticism in Britain and Jewish culture. Schor is a writer for several publications, including The Forward, The New York Times Book Review, and The Times Literary Supplement.
