Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. It was created in the late 19th century by L. L. Zamenhof. In 1887 he published a book detailing the language, Unua Libro, under the pseudonym Dr. Esperanto. Esperanto translates to English as "one who hopes".
Esperantujo or Esperantio[esperanˈtio] is the community of speakers of the Esperanto 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 and published the first publication about it, Unua Libro, in 1887. The number of Esperanto speakers has grown gradually since then, although it has not had much support from governments and international organizations and has sometimes been outlawed or otherwise suppressed.
Dr. Esperanto's International Language, commonly referred to as Unua Libro, is an 1887 book by L. L. Zamenhof, in which the author 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.
The Universal Esperanto Association, also known as the World Esperanto Association, is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with 5501 individual members in 121 countries and 9215 through national associations and in official relations with the United Nations. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated with UEA. Its current president is the professor Duncan Charters. The magazine Esperanto is the main organ used by UEA to inform its members about everything happening in the Esperanto community.
The World Esperanto Congress is an annual Esperanto convention. It has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run for 113 years. The congresses have been held since 1905 every year, except during World Wars I and II. Since the 1920s, the Universal Esperanto Association has been organizing these congresses.
The International Youth Congress is the largest annual meeting of young Esperantists in the world. The participants come from all over the world for one week, and they usually number around 300, although there has been a congress with more than 1000 attendees before. The congress takes place in a different country every year and is organized by the World Esperanto Youth Organization, the youth wing of the Universal Esperanto Association. Both the IJK and the World Esperanto Congress take place each summer, usually in consecutive weeks but rarely in the same country.
Esperanto II or Esperanto 2 was a reform of Esperanto proposed by René de Saussure in 1937, the last of a long series of such proposals beginning with a 1907 response to Ido later called Antido 1. Esperanto II was one of several languages investigated by the International Auxiliary Language Association, the linguistic research body that eventually standardized and presented Interlingua de IALA.
Anationalism is a term originating from the community of Esperanto speakers. It denotes a range of cosmopolitan political concepts that combine some or all of the following tendencies and ideas:
Fundamento de Esperanto is a 1905 book by L. L. Zamenhof, in which the author explains the basic grammar rules and vocabulary that constitute the basis of the constructed language Esperanto. On August 9, 1905, it was made the only obligatory authority over the language by the Declaration of Boulogne at the first World Esperanto Congress. Much of the content of the book is a reproduction of content from Zamenhof's earlier works, particularly Unua Libro.
Finvenkismo is an ideological current within the Esperanto movement dating back to L. L. Zamenhof, the initiator of Esperanto. The name is derived from the concept of a fina venko denoting the moment when Esperanto will be used as the predominant second language throughout the world. A finvenkist is thus someone who hopes for and/or works towards this "final victory" of Esperanto. According to some finvenkists, this "final victory" of Esperanto may help eradicate war, chauvinism and cultural oppression.
The Canadian Esperanto Association is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance the education of Esperanto among the Canadian public.
Boris Grigorevich Kolker is a language teacher, translator and advocate of the international language Esperanto. He was until 1993 a Soviet and Russian citizen and since then has been a resident and citizen of the United States residing in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1985 he was awarded a Ph.D. in linguistics from the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow.
Like natural languages, the constructed language Esperanto contains profane words and indecent vocabulary. Some of this was formulated out of the established core vocabulary, or by giving specific profane or indecent senses to regularly formed Esperanto words. Other instances represent informal neologisms that remain technically outside the defined vocabulary of the language, but have become established by usage.
Major-General Han Moo-hyup was a Korean army general, businessman, and high-level government official of the Republic of Korea. He was the Honorary Chairman of the Korea Esperanto-Asocio, formerly major general of the Republic of Korea Army, and CEO and owner of Hyundai Insurance. Park Chung-hee, former president of South Korea, officiated at Han's wedding as an old friend.
Peter Baláž, in Esperanto known as Petro, is an Esperantist, publisher and editor; he was selected as the 2012 Esperantist of the Year. Baláž lives in his hometown of Partizánske and speaks Slovak, Czech, German, Polish, Russian and English, as well as the international planned language Esperanto.
Ahmad Reza Mamduhi is an Iranian translator, author and an iconic figure in the Iranian Esperanto movement. He is best known for his prolific contributions to the Iranian Esperanto Association, as well as publishing two salient books, Aasaan-tarin zabaane donyaa (2005) — a comprehensive step by step Persian textbook concerning with learning/teaching Esperanto — and Padide-ye Esperanto (2007) — originally written in Esperanto by Nobel prize-nominated William Auld, titled La fenomeno Esperanto. He has also written numerous articles in cultural magazines chiefly in the field of Esperantic Stuides.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Esperanto:
