WIRELESS AND ESPERANTO

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 149, 27 June 1925, Page 22

WIRELESS AND ESPERANTO

'f ;.. Acorrespondent has fbrwaTdeil' some fiteraUiro bearing:uppn v the" use of esperanto .'among' wireless .amateurs,, and suggests that, in-view'.of the great interest that is : toeing- .-taken, in the matter in.other countries, it should'be.commendea to the 'attention of: radio enthusiasts here. .. ' . - ■■■ ' : - '

There may be some '"who. havenot even heard of 'esperanto. - For:;these: it . maybe stated that'it is ■ ah_ -'artificial language, designed for-international use, and invented; by Dr. Zamenhof, of Warsaw, •who first published -":.-Itl",in (1887. . .Other, attempts . at creating a.universal language had been/made before;'.and .the ad-, vent 'or 'esperanto .after ' the. dismalfailure of: the:. chief; of I its predecessors, ■ Volapuk, was very, welcome to those who realised the. need-for :such. a means of communication. It was designed' upon a logical foundation, ■■ by adopting (as fat as .-possible '.. the '-numerous •./ -word-roots: which -are common; to .many languages, adding such few artificial vvordsas were found necessary—there : are - remarkably; few-of these:: purely arbitrary. words-I^-. j and constructing; a'perfectly._regu]arsys-:, tern -of .inflection. . The-; system h of spellll ing /and pronunciation isvphonetic sand natural to manyV.European nationalities, : and particularly , appeals to' a New- Zea.larider' because /the." system -of spelling Maori-, words; : was, developed : like that of. Esperanto, -'arid- anyone who can ';.'■' pro- ; nounce Maori names will makenomistakes with .Zamenhof's production, r. It is: described in ; the official literature as "Simple, . Regular, .'Phprietic' ■'..; Sixteen rules, i No exceptions." .In; all: these Te : ; spe'cts litVdiffers from, all 'the natural languages/.; It might. be added that its vocabulary is: extensible .in.'any degree by" the addition of new .'terms,: and when its. rules', are understood, any -technicalterm :6an be expressed,' even .if it.is not 'already ; in the vocabulary, .withoutfrisk, of its .being misunderstood. 3 " One of its notatle advantages. is its lack of ambiguity, i ,For!; instance,';, if . one ..say's, ■ "John gave Jim his knife,".,there remains an insoluble, doubt- as to wbether^ it.'was: John's knife or Jim's that changed' hana^s. :In esperanto, the point is not in doubt. f-Tlie writer ; many years. •'•' ago spent>a most interesting .day at an-es-peranto'vpicnic, '. at. which the -members refused 1:, to speak anything but their adopted'tongue. Knowing nothing- of it he was'at first quite at sea. But':before long its mysteries; ibegan to .solve themselves, and by. the end of the day, without'any study other than that oif listen ing/he washable" to follow, conversations, and even to;"buttvin." -Here is a:sample

sentence: "Simpla, fleksabla. belsona, vere internacia, esperanto prezentas al la ..civilizita mondo la veran solvon de la lingva problemo." See what you make oE that.

The point for radio amateurs is, of course, that nowadays they never know who they are going to raise next, and if one calls up a. Polo or a Swede, there is liable to be a deadlock as soon' as the limited resources of the "Q" code list are exhausted. But a question of-three words in esperanto, backed by a working knowledge of the language, may open up the whole range of possible topics for discussion with the stranger. Esperanto has been adopted by ° tho American Radio Relay League as its official language; and the Internacia Ea-dio-Asocio, which has been little' more than a year in existence, has now a J membership in over thirty countries.