TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Political Discussion / Debate
-- Esperanto: is it as ironic as it sounds?

Esperanto: is it as ironic as it sounds?

I love to study languages, and Esperanto has always puzzled me because of its origins and goals. I've studied a bit of the language and the reason why I'm posting this thread here is because I believe that I must have misunderstood something wrong and I am looking for different ideas for a constructive discussion

quote:

taken from Omniglot.com Zamenhof was born in the Polish city of Bialystok which at that time was home to a polyglot, multiethnic mixture of Poles, Russians, Jews, Lithuanians and Germans. He believed that much of the distrust and misunderstanding between the different ethnic groups was a result of language differences, so he resolved to create an international language which could be used as an neutral lingua franca and could help break down the language barriers.

A lingua franca is sure needed, but why couldn't it be one of the languages already used in the region, like Polish? (that's how all civilizations have been doing since the beginning - in fact, I'm doing it right now). Some may say it's a pride thing (why learn another language instead of having other people learning your "superior" language?), but if people aren't willing to learn someone else's language, that's because they're not willing to know more about this other people anyway: it's something that should be changed socially, not linguistically.

quote:

taken from Omniglot.com The majority of Esperanto roots are based on Latin, though some vocabulary is taken from modern Romance languages, and from English, German, Polish and Russian. Roots can be combined with affixes to form new words, for example: lerni = to learn, lernejo = a school, lernanto = a pupil/student, lernejestro = a headmaster. The affixes can also stand alone: ejo = place, estro = leader/head, etc.

So let's suppose you don't agree with what I said in my previous paragraph and you do think that a neutral language is a better idea. How can Esperanto be a neutral language if it's essentially European? Thai people would see Esperanto the same way they see English, with just one difference: When learning English, they would get to know more about the English culture, history and society; the same doesn't happen to Esperanto.

quote:

taken from Omniglot.com

This is a chart with the phonetic values (if you don't know what these symbols areclick here for the IPA guide - quite handy if you like linguistics). Sincerely, because of my accent (Brazilian Portuguese is my mother language), "h" and "h^" would sound exactly the same. Not much, right? But let's now focus on all my Spanish speaking neighbours from Latin America. "b" and "v" would be the same; "s" and "z" would be the same; "g^" and "j^"... and this list could go on and on. Maybe there wouldn't much misunderstanding, because sometimes you can understand the meaning from the context, but shouldn't an international language have a simple phonetic structure? And, wouldn't the Esperanto spoken here become different from the Esperanto spoken there and eventually become two different languages after some years?

What do you guys think? (does anyone like linguistics here? )

i knew a guy who spoke 42 (well a friend did..my gosh..)languages....well...reads..converses..writes in 42 diff languages..

We already have an international language, a sort of Lingua Esperanto or whatever they call it. It's the language I, an Israeli Austrian, use to communicate with you, an Italian(?) Brazilian. It is English. Don't need more than that. "Local" languages ought to be maintained as they are a product of your own culture. Different Cultures are what make the world interesting and colorful imo. They give you some kind of identity, some kind of "homeland". Keeping your cultures alive while still trying to integrate into the global western culture of Mcdonald's and Cola/speaking English...that's the tricky part.

Anywayz, If I have some sort of talent then it'd be languages. And even that I managed to totally waste over the years. Instead of investing I do my best to forget everything I've learned and not bother learning anything new. Maybe now that I'm going to University I'll take some classes in Chinese or whateva

tta: 46 languages? Whoa It's quite hard to be fluent in all these languages though. In my case I wouldn't say I speak 6 languages, when my Italian is completely rusty, my Russian is becoming a tragedy and my Japanese is almost turning into another language A Brazilian guy is in the Guinnes books because he speaks an absurd amount of language, as I recall it.

TranceGiant: I agree with you that English is the lingua franca, which makes me wonder why the heck there are people who still want Esperanto to be a world language. About the "McDonald" thing, I don't think it kills a culture, because what happens is something quite interesting: the former culture incorporates these new elements and evolve in order to accept these new values without getting rid of the previous ones. I believe I'm as urban as you are, and if we talk for a few minutes, we'll find out that there are loads of different things between our Coca-Cola'ed realities (the food, the manners,...) which could prove that our cultures (and our identities) are still pretty much alive

ps.: Chinese is a good choice

quote:

Originally posted by Maaz About the "McDonald" thing, I don't think it kills a culture, because what happens is something quite interesting: the former culture incorporates these new elements and evolve in order to accept these new values without getting rid of the previous ones.

VINCENT: Also, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES: What'd they call it?

VINCENT: Royale with Cheese.

JULES: Royale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?

VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.

quote:

Originally posted by Izzy VINCENT: Also, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese? VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is. JULES: What'd they call it? VINCENT: Royale with Cheese. JULES: Royale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac? VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.

lol

nice thread

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.