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Esperanto

File:Flag_of_Esperanto.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Esperanto language

Esperanto () is the world's most widely spoken constructed auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 as "the International Language" (), it is intended to be a universal second language for international communication. He described the language in ''Dr. Esperanto's International Language'' (known as , the "first book"), which he published under the pseudonym . Early adopters of the language liked the name and soon used it to describe his language. The word translates into English as "one who hopes".

AI overview

Esperanto is an artificial language created in 1887 by L. L. Zamenhof to serve as a universal second language that would help people from different countries communicate with each other. Though it never achieved widespread adoption globally, it remains the most widely spoken constructed auxiliary language in the world and has maintained a community of speakers and enthusiasts since its creation.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Language.name
Esperanto
Language.states
120 countries; nowhere an official language
Language.speakers
Native:
Language.date
2022
Language.speakers2
L2: estimated 30,000 to 2 million Sidney Culbert: Around 2 million Amri Wandel: Above 2 million Svend Vendelbo: 30,000–180,000
Language.familycolor
Constructed language
Language.fam1
Constructed language
Language.fam2
International auxiliary language
Language.fam3
A posteriori language
Language.ancestor
Proto-Esperanto
Language.creator
L. L. Zamenhof
Language.created
1887
Language.setting
International: most parts of the world
Language.posteriori
Primarily Romance and Germanic languages, with some influence of Slavic, and Greek
Language.script
Latin script (Esperanto alphabet)Esperanto Braille
Language.agency
Akademio de Esperanto
Language.iso1
eo
Language.iso2
epo

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Flag of Esperanto.svg
Show 17 more facts
number of speakers, writers, or signers
60000
hashtag
Esperanto
native label
Esperanto
inception
1887-07-26
Stack Exchange site URL
esperanto.stackexchange.com
IRC channel URL
irc://irc.freenode.net/esperanto
Commons category
Esperanto
Wikimedia language code
eo
P10369
Wales
social media followers
27674
female form of label
la langue espéranto
NCI Thesaurus ID
C210835
Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

~64 min read

Article

57 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Background
  • Creation
  • 20th century
  • Official repression
  • Modern history
  • Official use
  • International organizations
  • Media
  • Proposed microstates and micronations
  • Linguistic properties
  • Classification
  • Phonology
  • Consonants
  • Vowels
  • Orthography
  • Alphabet
  • Phonology
  • Diacritics and Substitutions
  • Vocabulary
  • Grammar
  • Gender-neutrality
  • Simple phrases
  • Sample texts
  • Education
  • Formal education
  • Internet resources
  • The Zagreb method
  • Third-language acquisition
  • Community
  • Geography and demography
  • Number of speakers
  • Native speakers
  • Culture
  • Esperanto heritage
  • Notable authors in Esperanto
  • Popular culture
  • Science
  • Commerce and trade
  • Goals of the movement
  • Symbols and flags
  • Politics
  • Religion
  • Oomoto
  • Baháʼí Faith
  • Spiritism
  • Theosophy
  • Bible translations
  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Modifications
  • Eponymous entities
  • See also
  • References
  • Literature
  • Further reading
  • External links

Esperanto () is the world's most widely spoken constructed auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 as "the International Language" (), it is intended to be a universal second language for international communication. He described the language in ''Dr. Esperanto's International Language (known as , the "first book"), which he published under the pseudonym . Early adopters of the language liked the name and soon used it to describe his language. The word translates into English as "one who hopes".

Within the range of constructed languages, Esperanto occupies a middle ground between "naturalistic" (imitating existing natural languages) and a priori'' (where features are not based on existing languages). Esperanto's vocabulary, syntax and semantics derive predominantly from languages of the Indo-European group. A substantial majority of its vocabulary (approximately 80%) derives from Romance languages, but it also contains elements derived from Germanic, Greek, and Slavic languages. One of the language's most notable features is its extensive system of derivation, where prefixes and suffixes may be freely combined with roots to generate words, making it possible to communicate effectively with a smaller set of words.

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