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Esperanto - yay or nay?

Started by Tom S. Fox, February 18, 2009, 03:20:57 PM

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February 18, 2009, 03:20:57 PM
Hello! I would like to know whether you have heard of the language Esperanto and what you think about it.

Saluton! Mi volus scii, ĉu vi aŭdis pri la lingvo Esperanto, kaj kion vi pensas pri ĝi.
February 18, 2009, 03:31:38 PM #1
It's just another government failure. You can't enforce things like language from the top down, not even with a bad William Shatner movie.
February 18, 2009, 03:43:58 PM #2
What does it have to do with the government?
February 18, 2009, 04:14:08 PM #3
I have never heard of Esperanto before, but a quick trip Wikipedia calls it a "constructed international auxiliary language." Interesting concept inventing a new language. Although with the proliferation of the English language as the world's most common native and second language, it seems kind of pointless.

Despite that, I fail to see how it qualifies as a government failure since it is not even recognized as an official language in any country.
February 18, 2009, 04:17:40 PM #4
Quote from: Andy120290 on February 18, 2009, 04:14:08 PM
Although with the proliferation of the English language as the world's most common native and second language, it seems kind of pointless.

Actually, English is not nearly as common as many people like to think.
February 18, 2009, 04:42:14 PM #5
Quote from: Tom S. Fox on February 18, 2009, 04:17:40 PM
Actually, English is not nearly as common as many people like to think.

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Chinese is almost certainly one of the most common, but that is simply becuse China is the most heavily populated country. What I probably should have said is that English is one of the most common, but that does not mean a majority of the world's population has even a basic understanding of it.
February 18, 2009, 04:46:49 PM #6 Last Edit: February 18, 2009, 04:49:14 PM by Tom S. Fox
Exactly. Also, Esperanto has some advantages over English.
For example no irregular verbs, and words are actually pronounced the way they are spelled.
February 18, 2009, 05:25:06 PM #7
Quote from: Tom S. Fox on February 18, 2009, 03:43:58 PM
What does it have to do with the government?
Well, the UN, actually, a collection of governments.
February 18, 2009, 05:28:44 PM #8
OK, how are they related to Esperanto?
February 18, 2009, 05:32:52 PM #9
They tried to make it the official language for diplomats to use when communicating with each other. It didn't work.
February 18, 2009, 05:33:51 PM #10
Are you sure? I never heard of that before!
February 18, 2009, 05:42:58 PM #11
Yeah, but Esperanto was created decades before the UN was.
February 18, 2009, 05:48:37 PM #12
That's true! Also, as far as I know, the UN never considered using Esperanto so far, and why would it not work, anyway?
February 18, 2009, 06:15:23 PM #13 Last Edit: February 18, 2009, 06:27:49 PM by Andy120290
I cannot find anything saying the UN has seriously adopted, or even considered adopting, Esperanto as a language. Although there are some advocates who say it might be a good idea. Do you have a specific citation for your claim?
February 18, 2009, 06:23:26 PM #14
I have seen it explicitly stated somewhere that the UN never considered it, but I can't find it at the moment.
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