Posted by Lex
Since Halloween approaches, a friend of mine asked me to write a critical essay of the horror genre. It’s still in the works, but I’ve done a bit, including something on the film Inkubo. Here’s an adapted snippet of it that’s pretty relevant to our continued discussion of Esperanto.
You might remember a post some months ago where we discussed Inkubo as an example of Esperanto cinema. For those of you who missed it, Inkubo is a black-and-white horror film starring, of all people, William Shatner. The entire movie is spoken in Esperanto. While the use of Esperanto makes the film far more interesting for Esperantists, I’ve been thinking recently that using the language could be useful for the horror genre as a whole. Allow me to explain.
Two goals were met in Inkubo by using Esperanto. For one, since many audiences would neither have heard nor spoken Esperanto, the presence of the language creates an uncomfortable, even otherworldly, feeling. The language is left a mystery to these audiences, and as such, the film becomes much more terrifying for lack of understanding. Secondly, the general incomprehensibility for these audiences would help establish the point that, in a true horror tale, language and dialogue are merely ancillary to the horror at hand. The spectacle of terror that film presents is the important aspect.
If we subscribe to either of the two aforementioned goals, I can foresee plenty of uses for Esperanto in horror fiction. Once the language catches on, the incomprehensibility idea will dissipate. However, using Esperanto would be thematically effective. If a horror film in Esperanto is presented to an Esperanto-speaking (or at least understanding) audience, the horrors therein can be said to be as universal as the language. True horror, I imagine, would be a terror that transcends all linguistic and cultural barriers - much like Esperanto. As such, a film with Esperanto at the helm could result in a greatly enhanced horror effect.
Posted by Lex
The website Lernu.net is one of the best Internet resources an Esperantist can use. They have all sorts of exercises and learning materials for all different skill levels. My personal favorite tool from the good people at Lernu is their Word of the Day feature. Every day, they put up a new Esperanto word, and give full, dictionary-quality definitions and sample sentences. Give it a look, or bookmark it - the site gives you a bite-sized fact to learn while you wait for your email to load, or something similar.
There is also a way to subscribe to Lernu’s Word of the Day service via email, but it requires that you register for a Lernu profile. It’s free, though, and a profile also lets you track your scores.
Posted by Lex
A few days ago, somebody requested a post on how to use the American-English acronym “LOL.” For those of you who have never encountered it, “LOL” is a common bit of Internet slang that means “laugh out loud” or “laughing out loud.” While I haven’t been able to find a common Esperanto equivalent, I thought it would be pertinent to attempt to show a possible acronym that could be used instead.
To begin, let us take the Esperanto verb for “to laugh,” “ridi.” The word for “out,” in this instance, would need to be an adverb, so let us use the word “ekstere.” Then, we need a word for “loud.” Here, “lauxta” is an appropriate translation. Thus, we have the acronym “REL.”
Whether or not other Esperantists would know what you’re saying, I do not know. But hey, go ahead and use it. Maybe it will catch on!
Posted by Lex
Here’s something to think about today. If Esperanto happened to become the world’s second language, as we all hope it someday will, do you think that it would cause a homogenization of cultures? Or perhaps it would consume every culture and unite it under the single banner of Esperanto culture?
My neighbor, a student of history, asked me to consider the above. He reasoned that language constitutes a large part of a culture’s identity, and if so, it is possible that multiple cultures when utilizing a shared language might experience some blending of their respective cultures. The result on a large scale could be a single, motley culture that arises from the combined aspects of various ways of thinking!
On the other hand, there is always the chance that world cultures could remain relatively stagnant as they are. The sole change from having Esperanto be the world’s second language could be that a definitive Esperanto culture would arise at last - and it would be the aggregate of all the world’s cultures! It’s a bit difficult to envision, I admit, but perhaps it’s not too improbable.
Per usual, any thoughts? There have been some good points made in previous discussions. Let your voice be heard!
Posted by Lex
It’s a simple fact that languages, given time, will evolve. If ever you have the chance, take a look at the Oxford English Dictionary, and track the evolution of any random word. Sometimes, the years required for a word to radically alter its meaning are few - take today’s contradictory-seeming definitions of the word “oversight,” for example. One definition means a moment of neglect in which crucial details are missed; the second refers to near-omniscient monitoring of an institution!
The thought of evolving languages always creeps into my mind when I think of Esperanto. I love the language, and want to see it succeed. Yet I cannot help but wonder whether, if it did become the global second language, how long it would last before it evolved differently in varying parts of the world. Perhaps it would take some time…Decades, centuries, eons, I don’t know. Eventually, though, Esperanto would evolve, and again we would have the same diversity of languages that once more begs for a middle ground among them.
Then again, since Esperanto is not intended to be everybody’s first language, there is always the possibility that it would evolve considerably slower that a widely-spoken first language, especially given the contexts in which Esperanto would be used. I imagine may of us have a vision of Esperanto being used in world governments, and as such, it would be a tool for conducting official business. Under those circumstances, perhaps Esperanto would be better off in a static state. Politicians would likely not opt to use words that have come into the regional parlance, but are utterly meaningless to someone from a different milieu.
What do you all think? Is the quest for a global language destined to revert back to the same place from whence it started? Or will it be more tenable once it is finally attained?
Posted by Lex
One of my neighbors will soon graduate with a degree in Music Education. Per her request, here are some words for expressing your choice of musical instrument in Esperanto! I couldn’t hope to represent an entire orchestra’s worth of instruments, but I figured I would offer you a list of some of the more common instruments you might have encountered. The world of music is vast…much too much to cover in a single post, so feel free to comment with any additions!
Instrument - instrumento
Guitar - gitaro
Bass - basagitaro
Drum - tamburo
Violin - violono
Saxophone - saksofono
Trumpet - trumpeto
Oboe - hobojo
Trombone - trombono
Cello - violoncxelo
Posted by Lex
Perhaps it’s because I’m a student of philosophy, but I find that I deal with lots of “-isms” on a daily basis. Taoism, capitalism, anarchism…There are a great many schools of thought out there. Much like the English suffix “-ism,” there is an Esperanto infix that means virtually the same thing. Try using “-ism-” when you want to indicate a school of thought in Esperanto.
As a word of warning, don’t be tempted to drop the “i” that might be a part of your root word. For example, the word “anarchy” in Esperanto is “anarkio.” If we wanted to say “anarchism,” we would use the root “anarki-,” and add “-ism-,” then finally our concluding “-o.” The end result “anarkiismo.” I’m sure you’ll be cautious in your use, but it never hurts to remind oneself!
Posted by Lex
A recent blood drive I attended has me in a medical mindset. It occurred to me how infrequently I’ve heard medical terms used in Esperanto, since so much of my Esperanto communication over the years has been through writing! Although (with luck!) you may never find yourself in an emergency situation that requires you to note areas of your body, or describe an emergency in general, it could prove helpful to know at least a handful of words for such a scenario. Here are a few. Je via sano!
Emergency - krizo (think English “crisis”)
Bleeding - sangellaso
Injury/Wound - vundo
Broken Bone - rompita osto
Arm - brako
Leg - gambo
Body - korpo
Accident - akcidento
Ambulance - ambulanco
Surgery - kirurgio
“Help me!” - “Helpu min!”
Posted by Lex
My next-door neighbor in the dorm is a huge fan of all sorts of anime, a term for a lengthy animated series from Japan. I don’t usually partake, but occasionally I catch a glimpse of what he’s watching. Today I became acquainted with his latest pastime, a series known as Read or Die.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be too pertinent for a blog entry. However, I find one thing especially curious about this particular anime. One of the antagonists seeks to control the thoughts of the world by managing all the books in it…And his weapon of choice to do so is by spreading a worldwide language!
Perhaps, as an Esperantist, the choice of portraying a global language in a villainous light might bother you. If so, I ask that you consider a fundamental difference between Zamenhof’s linguistic brainchild and that of the Read or Die antagonist. Do not forget that Zamenhof intended for Esperanto to be a global SECOND language, rather than a first. I imagine that Zamenhof knew of the potential issues that would come from everyone speaking one and only one language. By presenting Esperanto as a second language, we preserve other languages, and the unique thought processes that accompany them. I doubt that Read or Die is intended as a critique of Esperanto, but it makes for some interesting discussion about the role of language in a thinking society.
Posted by Lex
Using your knowledge of Esperanto, you know that “to write” is “skribi.” So, if you wanted to think of what tool you would use when you wish to write something, you might combine the root “skrib-” with the infix for “tool, “-il-,” and finish it off with an “-o.” The end result would be “skribilo,” a perfectly acceptable, albeit generic, term for a writing implement.
Of course, Esperanto is a rich language, and so it has a few subtly different synonyms for “skribilo,” when you would rather refer to a more precise writing implement. I’ve listed some of them below for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to comment with any terms you find appropriate, or would like to mention!
Pencil or Crayon - krajono (see also “mekanikakrajono” for “mechanical pencil”)
Pen (Quill or Fountain) - skriboplumo, plumo
Ball-point Pen - globkrajono, globskribilo (notice the “glob-” prefix!)
Eraseable Pen - gumebla plumo
Charcoal Pencil - bragxakrajono
Carbon Pencil - karbonakrajono
Grease Pencil - grasakrajono
Stenographer’s Pencil - stenografia krajono
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