Esperanto Self-Taught WITH PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION. BY WILLIAM W. MANN. (Member of the British Esperanto Association.)
THIRD EDITION
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
London: E. MARLBOROUGH & CO., LTD., 51 Old Bailey, E.C. 4
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
PREFACE.
The object of this volume is two-fold. It supplies very full and comprehensive vocabularies of the words required by the tourist or traveller, visitor or resident abroad, health or pleasure seeker, and professional or business man, together with a large number of conversational sentences of a typical and practical character. The words and phrases are classified according to subject, and the phonetic pronunciation of every word is added in accordance with Marlborough's simple and popular system of phonetics.
With the aid of this book anyone may undertake a trip to a foreign land, even if he know nothing of the language of the country he is going to, and, if he will put himself beforehand in communication with Esperantists in the various places he intends to visit, he will find them ready to help him in many ways, and his stay abroad will thus be made much more entertaining and instructive than if he had spent his time in the conventional manner of the ordinary tourist. A further great advantage of this international language is, that it opens up to the traveller, not merely one particular country, but the whole of Europe.
The book also aims at affording a practical guide to Esperanto for the student, who will find, in the section on Grammar, all that he needs to give him full insight into and grasp of the language, enabling him with very little effort to read, write and speak correctly.
By joining an Esperanto Group the learner may have frequent opportunity of conversational practice, and he will soon find that it is by no means a difficult matter to become as fluent in the auxiliary language as in his mother-tongue.[1]
Esperanto is not merely a language for tourists, but already possesses a rich literature of considerable extent, the beginnings of that "Weltlitteratur" foreseen by Goethe; it has a press of its own representing every country of importance in the world, and is constantly being made use of for professional purposes by doctors, scientists, teachers, lawyers, soldiers, sailors, merchants, etc., in every quarter of the globe. It is undoubtedly destined, ere many years have passed, to become a very important factor in the progress of the world.
THE ESPERANTO ALPHABET (WITH PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION).
The Esperanto Alphabet has 28 letters—23 consonants, 5 vowels:—
Characters.
Name and English Pronunciation.
Phonetics used.
A, a
(ah) like a in father or pa; as patro (pah'troh). In unaccented syllables it should not be dwelt upon, and in all cases it should be pronounced quite purely, without the slight drawling r-sound which is sometimes added to the corresponding vowel in English
ah
B, b
(bo) as in English
b
C, c
(tsoh) like ts in gets, hits, and never as in English; as caro (tsah'roh)
ts
Ĉ, ĉ
(cho) like ch in church; as ĉasi (chah'see)
ch
D, d
(do) as in English, but with tip of tongue placed on back of teeth instead of on front ridge of roof of mouth
d
E, e
(eh) like e in bend pronounced broadly, or a in hate shortly pronounced, but quite pure, entirely without the slight drawling ee-sound often heard after the English vowel; as beno (beh'noh)
e, eh
F, f
(fo) as in English
f
G, g
(go) like g in go, give, as gasto (gah'stoh), and never like g in gem, allege
g
Ĝ, ĝ
(jo) like g in gem, general, and j in jovial; as ĝeni (jeh'nee)
j
H, h
(ho) as in English
h
Ĥ, ĥ
(ĥo) like ch in Scotch loch, ch in German hoch, j in Spanish mujer. This guttural sound is practically a very strongly aspirated h, and may be made by trying to pronounce "ho" with the throat arranged as for saying k:—ĥoro (khoro), ĥino (khino)
kh
I, i
(ee) like ee in seen, as li (lee). In unaccented syllables, and before two consonants together, this i practically becomes the i in it or in wind; as ferminte (fehrr-min'teh)
ee, i
J, j
(yo) always like y in yet, as jes (yehss), vojo (vo'yo), and never like j in judge, joke
y
It should be remembered that j is always a consonant, with the sound of the English y in you. Of course, when j occurs at the end of a word or before a consonant, it practically unites with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong, and loses the full consonantal sound which it has before a vowel. Thus:
Aj (ahy), like ah y in ah yes (almost like y in my); as kaj (kah'y), rajdi (rah'y-dee), krajono (krah-yo'no)
ahy
Ej (ehy), like ay y in say yes; as plej (pleh'y, one syllable)
ehy
Oj (oy), like oh y in oh yes (almost like oy in toy); as ranoj (rah'noy), kojno (koy'noh)
oy
Uj (ooy), like oo y in too young; as tuj (too'y, one syllable), prujno (proo'yno, two syllables)
ooy
Ĵ, ĵ
(zho) like s in vision or pleasure, or j in French jeune, j'ai; as ĵeti (zheh'tee)
zh
K, k
(ko) as in English
k
L, l
(lo) as in English
l
M, m
(mo) as in English
m
N, n
(no) as in English
n
O, o
(oh) like o in horse, not diphthongized, but pronounced purely and rather shortly, as bona (boh'nah NOT bow'nah), quite without the short oo-sound frequently heard with the English vowel in such words as note, boat. Its sound is almost equivalent to aw in caw, pronounced shortly and with the lips placed roundly as if for saying oh; as estonta (ess-tohn'tah)
o, oh
P, p
(po) as in English
p
R, r
(ro) as in English, but sounded much more forcibly, and always with a trill as in singing; as korpo (kohr'po)
r
S, s
(so) like s in say, as suno (soo'noh), and never as s in rose; as pesi (peh'see)
s, ss
Ŝ, ŝ
(sho) like sh in show, she; as ŝipo (shee'poh)
sh
T, t
(to) as in English, but dentally—with tip of tongue placed on back of teeth instead of on front ridge of roof of mouth
t
U, u
(oo) like oo in boot, as nubo (noo'boh); and never as u in mute or but
oo
Ŭ, ŭ
(wo) is equivalent to the English w, and is produced by a partial bringing together of the lips. It practically only occurs after a or e
w, ŏŏ
(1) Aŭ. To say antaŭ, for instance, say "ahn'tah," and finish by bringing the lips slightly together to pronounce the ŭ (w). Similarly for laŭta (lah'w-tah). This sound is not exactly the English ou in house, but is just the au in the German Haus. The phonetic sign for aŭ, therefore is
ahw
(2) Eŭ, as in Eŭropo (ehw-ro'poh), is pronounced with a similar closing of the lips after the eh-sound
ehw
V, v
(vo) as in English
v
Z, z
(zo) as in English
z
PRELIMINARY NOTES.
In order to make the best progress in acquiring the words and sentences in the following pages, the student is recommended to learn a few at a time by repeating them aloud with the aid of the phonetic pronunciation in the third column.
Although the system of phonetics may seem a little cumbersome, practice will soon enable the student to pronounce the words easily and naturally. The following notes will be useful:—
1.Accent.—In Esperanto, every letter, whether vowel or consonant, is sounded. The accented syllable of a word is always the last but one. Thus, nobla (noh'blah), irado (ee-rah'do), telefono (teh-leh-foh'no), internacia (in-tehr-naht-see'ah), folio (fohlee'oh).
It should be borne in mind that j and ŭare consonants, and do not, like the vowels, of themselves constitute a syllable. Thus, tiu (tee'oo, two syllables) and tiuj (tee'ooy, also two syllables), rajdi (rah'y-dee, not rah-ĭ'dee), antaŭ (ahn'tahw, not ahn-tah'ŏŏ).
2.The vowels, a, e, i, o, u, should in Esperanto be pronounced quite purely, and entirely without any drawling after-sound. Many English speakers diphthongize a, i, o, and pronounce late as "la-it," pale as "pa-il," paper as "pa-y-per," road as "row-d," etc. This habit of drawling the vowels, when transferred to Esperanto, thus: Mi ne povas bone paroli, mee'y nay'ee poh'ŏŏ-vah(r)ss boh'ŏŏ-nehy pah(r)-roh'ŏŏ-leey, immediately reveals the nationality of the speaker.
There is also an inclination to interpose an r-sound between la ("the") and a word beginning with a vowel, thus: la(r)ebleco instead of la ebleco, la(r)internacia lingvo instead of la internacia lingvo, etc. This should be avoided.
3.Combinations of Consonants.—There are a few consonantal combinations which offer a slight difficulty to English beginners, viz., gv, kn, kv, sc. The combinations gv, kn, and kv, as in gvidi (gvee'dee), knabo (knah'bo), kvieto (kvee-eh'toh), may be practised by first placing a vowel before the g or k, and gradually suppressing it. Thus, first say la knabo (lahk-nah'bo), and gradually drop the "lah," until finally knabo can be said without difficulty.
The combination sc, as in sceno (stseh'no), may be learnt thus: Say "last sane" several times, very distinctly pronouncing the st and the s, then gradually "'st sane", and finally sceno (stseh'no) without any preceding vowel-sound. When this combination follows a vowel, as in mi scias, it should cause no difficulty, for the s is easily pronounced with the first syllable, thus: meess-tsee'ahss.
LETTER FROM DR. ZAMENHOF. (Founder of Esperanto.)
Varsovio, 14.9.08.
Karaj Sinjoroj,—Kun plezuro kaj danko mi ricevis vian leteron de 10.9, kaj ankaŭ la presprovaĵon de "Esperanto Self-Taught."
Ĉar Sro Mann estas tre kompetenta kaj sperta esperantisto, tial mi estas tute certa, ke la libro verkita de li estos tre bona kaj tre utila.
Via,
(Signed) ZAMENHOF.
[TRANSLATION.]
Warsaw, 14.9.08.
Dear Sirs,—I received your letter of Sept. 10, and the proofs of "Esperanto Self-Taught," with pleasure and thanks.
As Mr. Mann is a very competent and experienced Esperantist, I am quite certain that the book written by him will be very good and very useful.
Yours,
(Signed) ZAMENHOF.
VOCABULARIES.
1. The World & its Elements. (La Mondo kaj ĝiaj Elementoj.)
Note.—The names of workers in the various trades and professions are formed by adding the suffix -ist to the root-word. Thus: vendi, to sell—vendisto, a salesman; lampo, a lamp—lampvendisto, a lamp-seller, lampfaristo, a lamp manufacturer; maro, sea—maristo, a sailor; akrigi, to sharpen—akrigisto, a grinder, etc.
Note.—Observe that the cardinal numbers are grouped together (without hyphens) in thousands, hundreds, tens and units. Thus, 548 is kvincent kvardek ok, not kvincent-kvardek-ok, and 17 dek sep, not dek-sep.
The Definite Article the is in Esperanto represented by la. Like the article in English, la does not vary with the number or gender of the noun before which it is placed; e.g., la briko, the brick; la brikoj, the bricks; la patro, the father; la patrinoj, the mothers.
The Indefinite Article a is not expressed in Esperanto. Thus, "filo" is son or a son.
The Noun.
In Esperanto every noun in the singular ends in o. Thus: viro, a man; la libro, the book. The plural is formed from the singular by adding the termination -j. Thus: viroj, men; la libroj, the books.
In order to allow each nation to construct its sentences in the order to which it is accustomed, every noun in Esperanto has two forms or "cases," (1) the Nominative, or unchanged form, and (2) the Accusative, which is formed from the nominative by adding the termination -n. This is merely to distinguish between subject and object. The accusative form is also used to indicate motion towards, etc.
The Adjective.
All adjectives end in the nominative singular in a. They may be placed either before or after the noun. As in the case of the noun, the plural is formed by adding the termination -j, and the accusative is formed by adding -n to the nominative. The adjective agrees in number and case with the noun which it qualifies. Ex.:—
Blua libro (or libro blua), a blue book; bluaj libroj, blue books.
La viro legas bluan libron. The man reads a blue book.
La viroj legas bluajn librojn. The men are reading blue books.
Thanks to the accusative case, one might say without loss of clearness: Bluan libron legas la viro, or la viro bluan libron legas, or bluan libron la viro legas, etc.
Degrees of Comparison.
There are three degrees of comparison, as in English:
The Positive, as bona, good; bela, beautiful; granda, big, great.
The Comparative is formed by placing pli (more) or malpli (less) before the positive, thus: bona, good—pli bona, better; bela, beautiful—malpli bela, less beautiful. The comparison may be heightened by using multe (much), thus: multe pli (or malpli) bela.
Than is translated by ol, thus: pli (or malpli) bela ol…, more (or less) beautiful than…
The Superlative degree is formed by using plej (most) with the positive; as bela, beautiful—plej bela, most beautiful.
Of with a superlative is translated by the preposition el (out of). La plej granda el ĉiuj, the greatest of all.
The more…the more, the less…the less, are translated by means of the particles ju and des. Thus: Ju pli oni studas, des pli oni lernas, the more one studies, the more one learns. Ju pli mi kun li parolas, des malpli mi lin estimas, the more I speak to him, the less I esteem him.
Cardinal Numbers.
The Cardinal Numbers may be used as nouns, by the addition of the ending -o. Thus, unuo, a unit; trio, a trio; dekduo, a dozen; dudeko, a score; cento, a hundred; milo, a thousand. Note that miliono is ALWAYS used as a noun.
When a number or any other word is used as a noun of quantity, the noun which follows it must be preceded by the quantitative preposition da:—Dekduo da ovoj, a dozen eggs; milo da soldatoj, a thousand soldiers (one might of course also say dek du ovoj, mil soldatoj); du metroj da drapo, two metres of cloth; tri funtoj da sukero, three pounds of sugar.
Ordinal Numbers.
The Ordinal Numbers are formed by adding the adjectival ending -a to the Cardinals. In Compound Ordinal Numbers, the groups of hundreds, tens, units, etc., are joined by hyphens, and the ending -a is added to the unit numeral. Thus: unu, one—unua, first; tria, third; dek-unua, eleventh; tridek-sepa, thirty-seventh; kvarcent-sesdek-dua, 462nd, and so on. Written in figures these would be 1a, 3a, 11a, 37a, 462a. The Ordinals are of course inflected like adjectives. (See page [77].)
Fractions
Fractionals are formed by adding the suffix -on (plus the endings o, a, or e as required) to the Cardinal Numbers. Thus: unu duono, one-half; tri kvaronoj, three-quarters; dek sep dek-naŭonoj, 17/19; dudek tri kvarmil-kvincent-tridek-naŭonoj, 23/4539. Duone vera (or duonvera), half-true. Tri-kvaronoj da funto (or trikvaronfuntoj), ¾ lb. Duono da funto (or duonfunto), ½ lb.
Multiples, Collectives, and Distributives.
Multiple Numbers are formed from the Cardinals by adding the suffix -obl, with the requisite grammatical ending o, a, or e. Thus: duobla, double; duoblo, a double; duoble, doubly; tridekoble, thirty-fold; sesoble naŭ estas (or faras) kvindek kvar, six nines are fifty-four; duoble du estas kvar, twice two are four.
Collective Numerals are formed by the addition of the suffix -op (plus the grammatical termination required). Thus: duope, two at a time, two together; naŭope, nine at a time; ili venadis dekope, they came in tens; dumilopa taĉmento, a detachment two thousand strong.
Distributives are shown by the preposition po, meaning at the rate of. Thus: li aĉetis por ĉiu infano po ses pomoj, he bought six apples for each child; li ricevas po dek ŝilingoj por ĉiu tago, he gets ten shillings a day; la vagonaro veturas po sesdek mejloj en ĉiu horo (or ĉiuhore), the train travels at (the rate of) sixty miles an hour, etc.
The Pronoun.
The Personal Pronouns are, in the nominative: Mi, I; vi, you (sing. and pl.); ni, we; li, he; ŝi, she; ĝi, it; ili, they.
The archaic English thou may be translated by ci.
The Accusative case of the personal pronouns is formed like that of nouns and adjectives, by adding -n. Thus: Min, me; vin, you; nin, us; lin, him; ŝin, her; ĝin, it; ilin, them.
The Reflexive Pronoun of the 3rd person is si (accusative sin), standing for himself, herself, itself, one's-self, or themselves, as the case may be. There is no special reflexive form for the pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person, I, we, and you.
The Indefinite Personal Pronoun is oni (= the French on)—one, people, they, you. Ex.: Li amas sin, he loves himself; ŝi amas sin, she loves herself; ĝi montras sin, it shows itself; ili diras al si, they say to themselves; oni vidas sin, one sees one's-self; mi lavas min, I wash myself; vi laŭdas vin, you praise yourself.
Possessive Adjectives or Pronouns.
By adding the adjectival ending -a to the personal pronouns, the Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns are obtained. Thus: Mia, my, mine; cia, thy, thine; via, your, yours; nia, our, ours; lia, his; ŝia, her, hers; ĝia, its; sia (reflexive), his, her(s), its, their(s), one's.
Note the following use of sia. In English the sentence, "He saw his friend with his brother," is not clear. Does it mean that he saw his friend (1) with his friend's brother, or (2) with his own brother? In Esperanto, the use of sia makes the meaning quite clear; (1) would be: Li vidis sian amikon kun LIA frato, and (2) would be: Li vidis sian amikon kun SIA frato.
The word mem, meaning -self or -selves, may be added to a personal pronoun to give emphasis. Thus: Konu vin mem, know thyself; li iris mem, he went himself; li mem, himself; li parolis al si mem, he spoke to himself.
Like other adjectives, possessives agree in case and number with the noun to which they refer. Ex.:
lia libro, his book; liaj libroj, his books;
ŝi havas lian, kaj li havas ŝian, she has his, and he has hers;
liaj estas la plej bonaj libroj, his are the best books;
mi preferas miajn, I prefer mine; li preferas siajn, he prefers his;
ili preferas siajn, they prefer theirs.
Demonstrative Adjective or Pronoun.
The Demonstrative Adjective and Pronoun "that" is rendered in Esperanto by the word tiu (acc. tiun); plural tiuj (acc. tiujn), those. The addition (either before or after) of the particle ĉi to the singular and plural respectively, gives this and these. Ex.:
Tiu viro, that man. Tiu estas mia, that (one) is mine.
Mi elektas tiun, I choose that (one).
Mi preferas tiun ĉi (or ĉi tiujn), I prefer this (one).
Kiu is also used with Adjectival meaning. Thus: Kiu libro estas via?—which book is yours? Kiun libron vi preferas?—which book do you prefer? Kiuj domoj apartenas al vi?—which houses belong to you? Kiujn stratojn vi konas?—which streets do you know? Kio estas tio?—what is that? Kion li volas?—what does he want?
The English -ever is translated by ajn. For example: Kiu ajn li estas, ne parolu al li, whoever he be, do not speak to him. Kies ajn, whosesoever. Kiu(j)n ajn, whomever.
Relative Pronouns.
The Relative Pronouns are identical with the Interrogative: Kiu(j), who, that, which, kiu(j)n, whom, that, which. Ex.:
La libro, kiun vi legas, the book (which) you are reading.
Tiu, kiu parolis al vi, the one who spoke to you.
La personoj, kiujn li konas, the persons (whom) he knows.
Tio, kion li diras, ne estas vera, what he says is not true.
La arbo, kies supron vi vidas, the tree whose top you can see.
Indefinite Pronouns.
iu (acc. iun), anyone, someone or other;
ies, anyone's, someone's;
iuj (acc. iujn), any persons, some persons or other;
io (acc. ion), anything, something.
ĉiu (acc. ĉiun), everyone, each;
ĉies, everyone's, everybody's, each one's;
ĉiuj (acc. ĉiujn), everybody, all;
ĉio (acc. ĉion), everything, all.
neniu (acc. neniun), no one, nobody;
nenies, no one's, nobody's;
nenio (acc. nenion), nothing, not anything.
Note.—Iu, ĉiu, and neniu are also used with nouns. Thus: Kiun libron vi deziras? Which book do you desire? Iun ajn libron. Any book. Iu homo, any man, some man or other. Ĉiu bona patro amas siajn infanojn, every good father loves his children. Ĉiuj liaj amikoj (or ĉiu lia amiko), all his friends, every friend of his. Mi renkontis neniun amikon, I met no friend.
Other Pronominal Words and Expressions are:
multaj(n), many; multo(n), much; malmultaj(n), malmulte da…, a few. Ex.: malmultaj personoj, few persons; malmulte da scio, little knowledge.
kelkajn, some, several; kelke da…, some. Ex.: kelkaj personoj, some persons, several persons; kelke da libroj, some (quantity of) books.
alia(n), another, other; aliaj(n), others. Ex.: ili parolis unu al alia, they spoke to one another; ni parolis unu al la alia, we spoke to each other; unu aŭ la alia taŭgos, either (one or the other) will do; nek unu nek la alia konvenas, neither (one nor the other) is suitable.
ambaŭ (invariable), both. Ex.: ambaŭ venis, both came; mi konas ambaŭ fratojn, I know both brothers; mi vidis ilin ambaŭ, I saw both of them; mi ŝatas ambaŭ, I like both.
The Verb.
Tenses.
The Verb in Esperanto has three main Tenses—the Present, Past, and Future. These are denoted by means of the verbal endings -as, -is, and -os. Thus, from the root vid, see, are formed:
Present.
Past.
Future.
mi vidas, I see
mi vidis, I saw
mi vidos, I shall see
Moods.
Every Esperanto verb has three Moods—the Conditional, the Imperative, and the Infinitive, which are formed respectively by means of the endings -us, -u, and -i. Thus:
Conditional.
Imperative.
Infinitive.
mi vidus, I should see
vidu, see!
vidi, to see
The Conditional Mood is used to express supposition; the three Tenses, on the other hand, are used to express facts or actual happenings. (For examples, see "Conjunctions," page [83].)
The Imperative Mood is used to express an order, desire, wish, will, etc. (See page [84].) Used with the personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons, this mood corresponds to the English let, used as an expression of a wish. Thus: mi pensu, let me think; li venu morgaŭ, let him come to-morrow; ili parolu, let them speak.
Note that let sometimes means to allow, to give leave, in which case the verb lasi is used. Thus: let (allow) him come, lasu lin veni; leave it there, lasu ĝin tie.
The Imperative may be used interrogatively to translate the English shall, with an idea of wish or desire. Thus:
What shall I give you? Kion mi donu al vi?
What shall we do to-day? Kion ni faru hodiaŭ?
What will he do? would of course be simply Kion li faros?—for there is here no question of desire or wish, but merely a question of future action.
The Infinitive Mood is used to express the mere idea of the verb, without any limit of person or number, and corresponds to the English to before the verb. Thus: kuri, to run; paroli, to speak.
Note.—In Esperanto, as is largely the case in English, the mood and tense endings of the verb do not vary according to person or number. For instance: mi vidas, I see, li vidas, he sees; also ni vidis, we saw, ili vidis, they saw; vi vidos, you will see; oni vidos, one will see; ŝi vidus, she would see, vi vidus, you would see.
Participles.
There are in Esperanto six participles, three active and three passive, corresponding to three tenses. They are formed in the Active by means of the endings -ant, -int, and -ont, and in the Passive by means of the endings -at, -it, -ot, with the addition of the adjectival termination -a. Thus:
Active.
Present.
Past.
Future.
vidanta, seeing
vidinta, having-seen
vidonta, about-to-see
Passive.
vidata, (being) seen
vidita, (having-been) seen
vidota, (about-to-be) seen
The Participles may be used either as Nouns, Adjectives, or Adverbs, the terminations -o, -a, -e being added to the participial endings as required. When used as nouns or adjectives, they of course take the sign of the Plural (-j) and of the Accusative (-n) when the construction of the sentence so requires. Ex.:
(1) Active. En la venonta jaro, in the coming year. La parolanto, the speaker. La aŭskultantoj, the audience (lit., listeners). Mi vidis lin skribantan, I saw him writing. Li foriris kurante, he went off at a run. Li revenis ne vidinte sian amikon, he returned without having seen his friend.
(2) Passive. La ekzamenato, the examinee. La mortigitoj kaj vunditoj, the killed and wounded. Estimata sinjoro, dear (lit., esteemed) sir. Frapote, li sin defendis, about to be struck, he defended himself. Mi aŭdis tiun himnon kantatan, I heard that hymn sung.
Compound Tenses.
The Compound Tenses are formed by means of the auxiliary verb esti, to be. Thus, by the combination of the participles with the six tenses and moods, we obtain thirty-six compound tenses, enabling us to express with the utmost precision any time-relation whatsoever. We have in all:
li estas, or estus,
or estis, or estu,
or estos or esti
vidanta or vidata vidinta or vidita vidonta or vidota
The use of the participles is very easy when once one grasps the fact that the auxiliary esti serves to denote the particular division of time, or the particular manner, of the occurrence of the action denoted by the participle. Ex.:
Li estis skribanta, kiam mi vidis lin, he was writing when I saw him.
Li estis fininta, kiam mia amiko alvenis, he had finished (lit., was
having finished) when my friend arrived.
Mi estis tuj forironta, kiam vi aperis, I was just about to go out when
you appeared.
Li estas nunmomente parolanta, he is speaking at this very moment.
Li estas mortonta, he is about to die.
Li estus jam foririnta, he would
have already departed (lit., would be already gone away).
The word by after a Passive is translated by the preposition de. Thus: The wood was being chopped by the boy, la ligno estis hakata de la knabo. He has been seen by all, li estas vidita de ĉiuj.
Note.—The Compound Tenses should not be used if the Simple Tenses suffice to show the meaning clearly. Thus, I have seen him is more neatly expressed by mi jam vidis lin than by mi estas vidinta lin. Li jam foriris might stand for either he had gone or he has gone, according to circumstances, and the context would clearly show which was meant. Li parolas is generally quite right for he is speaking. Li estas parolanta should be used only when it is particularly intended to show that he is actually engaged in the act of speaking.
The Adverb.
In Esperanto, Adverbs are denoted by the ending -e, and may be placed in any position, either before or after the verb. Thus: bela, beautiful—bele, beautifully; vera, true—vere, truly. Li parolas saĝe, he speaks wisely. Li rapide kuras, he runs quickly.
Adverbial Numbers.
Adverbial Numbers are formed by adding -e to the Cardinals. Thus: unue (1e), firstly; trie (3e), thirdly; sepe (7e), etc.
The Preposition.
In English, one preposition often has many different meanings. In Esperanto, on the contrary, every preposition, with the exception of the word je, has one precise and fixed meaning.
The preposition je is the only one in Esperanto without a definite meaning. It sometimes happens that one wishes to use a preposition of some sort or other, but is uncertain just which preposition will precisely express the idea. In such cases je is used. Thus: He laughed at me, li ridis je mi; full of water, plena je akvo; six metres long, longa je ses metroj; fear of him, timo je li, etc.
Je should not be abused. Its too frequent use is a mark of the beginner in the language.
Use of Accusative.
When there is no ambiguity to be feared, the preposition je, and even other prepositions, are often omitted in Esperanto; and the word to which the preposition, if expressed, would have referred is put into the accusative. Thus, instead of saying li ridas je mi (he is laughing at me), one might say li ridas min; similarly, du metrojn alta would stand for alta je du metroj. Ĝi kostis je tri ŝilingoj is more usually expressed: ĝi kostis tri ŝilingojn. Mi restis tie dum kvin horoj (I stayed there for five hours) could be: mi restis tie kvin horojn; and so on.
Certain prepositions, viz., antaŭ, before, ĉe, at, en, in, sub, under, sur, on, kontraŭ, against, super, over, and trans, across, are often used to denote movement towards, whereas of themselves they only express rest at. In order to make it quite clear whether motion or rest is intended, use is made of the accusative. Thus: li promenis en la urbo, he took a walk in the city; but li promenis en la urbon, he took a walk into the city. Li kuris antaŭ mi, he ran (along) before or in front of me; but li paŝis antaŭ min, he stepped in front of me; and so on.
Adverbs are sometimes used with prepositional force. Thus: proksime de la domo, near the house; dekstre de la arbo, on the right of the tree, etc.
The Conjunction.
A full list of Conjunctions will be found on page [72]. The following constructions should be noted:
Tenses after Ke (that).
Mi vidis, ke ŝi ploras, I saw (that) she was crying.
Mi sciis, ke li venos, I knew that he would come.
Mi sciis, ke li jam alvenis, I knew (that) he had already arrived.
Li diris, ke se li estus tiel granda, kiel mi, li facile farus tion, he said that
if he were as tall as I, he would easily do that.
Note that in Esperanto the verb is put in the exact time or tense used by the speaker. Thus: mi ne sciis, ĉu li venos, I did not know whether he would (lit., will) come; ili ne diris, ĉu ili vin renkontis, they did not say whether they had met you.
Use of Imperative.
After verbs expressing wish, intention, will, or desire, or command, the verb following is put in the Imperative Mood. Thus: mi ordonas, ke li venu, I order that he come (him to come); mi tre deziris, ke li vivu, I very much wanted him to live; ili intencis, ke ni perdu, they intended us to lose. Here the actual expressions used were: li venu, li vivu, ili perdu.
Use of Conditional after Se.
Se vi tiel diris, vi malprave faris, if you spoke thus you did wrongly.
Se vi tiel dirus, vi estus malprava, if you said (were to say) thus, you
would be wrong.
Se vi venos, vi vidos, if you (will) come, you will see.
Interjections.
The following are the principal Interjections:
adiaŭ!
adieu! farewell!
ah!
ah!
antaŭen!
forward!
atentu!
look out!
bis!
encore!
bone!
good!
certe!
certainly!
ĉu ne? or ĉu ne vere?
is not that so?
ĉu vere?
is that so?
efektive!
indeed!
fi!
fie!
for!
away! be off!
ha!
ha!
halt!
halt!
he!
hey! halloo!
ho!
oh!
ho ve!
alas!
hontinde!
shameful!
jen!
there!
kompreneble!
naturally! of course!
ne!
no!
neeble!
impossible!
nu!
well!
rapide!
quick!
rapidu!
hurry up!
Formation of Words.
In Esperanto, considerable use is made of prefixes and suffixes, every one of which has a clear, fixed meaning. Great economy of vocabulary is thus effected, one root-word in Esperanto sufficing, when modified by suitable affixes, to translate many English words. Many of the affixes are often met with as single words. In such cases the English translation is added after the various examples of the affix in question.
dis- denotes Separation: ĵeti, to throw, disĵeti, to scatter, throw about; peli, to drive along, dispeli, to dispel, fali, to fall, disfali, to fall apart, fall to pieces.
ek- denotes a Beginning of an Action, a Momentary Action: iri, to go, ekiri, to begin to go, to start; brili, to shine, ekbrili, to begin to shine, to flash.
ge- denotes the Two Sexes Taken Together: patro, father, gepatroj, father and mother, parents; frato, brother, gefratoj, brother(s) and sister(s); Gesinjoroj B., Mr. and Mrs. B.
mal- denotes the Opposite of an Idea: bona, good, malbona, bad; ŝati, to like, malŝati, to dislike; amiko, friend, malamiko, enemy; laŭta, loud, mallaŭte, softly.—Malo, an opposite; male, on the contrary.
pra- is a prefix of Relationship, corresponding to the English FORE-, GREAT-: patro, father, prapatro, forefather, ancestor; avo, grandfather; praavo, great-grandfather; nepo, grandson, pranepo, great-grandson.
re- denotes Return and Repetition: iri, to go, reiri, to go back, or to go again; repreni, to take back; revidi, to see again.—Ree, again.
Suffixes.
-aĉ denotes that a word is used in a Bad Sense, with Disparagement: domo, a house, domaĉo, a hovel; ridi, to laugh, ridaĉi, to sneer.
-ad denotes Continuation or Duration of an action: paroli, to speak, paroladi, to make a speech; kanto, a song, kantado, singing; vojaĝo, a voyage, vojaĝado, travelling; rido, a laugh, ridado, laughter.
-aĵ denotes some Concrete Thing characterized by the idea contained in the root: bela, beautiful, belaĵo, a beautiful thing; nutri, to feed, nourish, nutraĵo (or nutrantaĵo), food; ĝentila, polite, ĝentilaĵo, a polite act, act of politeness; bovo, ox, bovaĵo, beef.—Aĵo, a thing.
-an denotes a Partisan of, a Member, an Inhabitant: Kristo, Christ, Kristano, a Christian; eklezio, a church, ekleziano, a churchman; Londonano, a Londoner.—Ano, a member.
-ar denotes a Collection of, a Number of: arbo, tree, arbaro, a forest; homo, a human being, homaro, mankind; vorto, a word, vortaro, a dictionary.—Aro, a collection, number, gathering.
-ĉj added to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to denote Masculine Diminutives of Endearment: Johano, John, Joĉjo, Jack; patro, father, paĉjo, papa, daddy.
-ebl denotes Possibility, and corresponds to the English suffixes -ABLE, -IBLE: kredi, to believe, kredebla, credible; videbla, visible; al, to, iri, to go, alirebla, accessible.
-ec denotes Abstract Ideas, Qualities and corresponds to the English suffixes -NESS, -SHIP, etc.: feliĉa, happy, feliĉeco, happiness; alta, high, alteco, height; reĝo, king, reĝeco, kingship.
-ej denotes a Place specially set apart for or allotted to: preĝi, to pray, preĝejo, church; manĝi, to eat, manĝejo, refectory; kuirejo, kitchen; enirejo, entrance; elirejo, exit.
-em denotes Propensity, Inclination, Disposition: paroli, to talk, parolema, talkative; mensogi, to lie, mensogema, untruthful.
-er denotes an Element of, a Unit, a Grain: polvo, dust, polvero, a grain of dust; fajrero, a spark; hajlero, hailstone; mono, money, monero, a coin.—Ero, particle, grain, element.
-estr denotes a Chief, Leader, Head: regno, state; regnestro, head of the state, ruler; lernejo, school, lernejestro, head-master.—Estro, leader, chief; estraro, the authorities; estri, to act as chief.
