" Growing up in 19th century Poland, Ludovic Zamenhof
(1859–1917) faced a plethora of languages. His
own family spoke Polish and Yiddish, the official government
language was Russian, and his neighbors
were Lithuanians and German-speaking Poles."
Zamenhof had to go through the struggles of having different ethnic backgrounds, and the diversity of languages he had to go through as well. So having gone through that there is no doubt that he would try and create a language to make the world come together, and just have one language that would be recognized around the world. He went through many different test to see how old languages that have not been used for many years would fair against languages that have prospered for many years. He found out that it would be to difficult to revive those because they were just too complex. "In 1887, Zamenhof introduced Esperanto1,2; the name means "one who hopes"." (444) The language was very simple and easy to learn, verbs were never irregular, and the spelling was always phonetic. This is good because most languages are very hard to learn and comprehend, but with this language everything is just plain and simple. Since there are probably over 5,000 languages out there today in the world, it is good that at least one could be simple enough to make it the world language. Zamenhof just wanted a common tongue to bring peace to Europe and the world.
Esperanto began to get popular in Eastern Europe and china after the Second World War. These countries felt like there was a need for a common language, and in the United States it didn't take so well. As of late scholars have not been giving this language much interest, but there is talk about making Esperanto an official language of a new European Union, but nothing has been done yet to do so. So does the world need a language? If so when will it be introduced to the world, will it be a hard language to learn, and what will happen to all the other languages that have been in existence for so long? Will this language be introduced in our lifetime? Is Esperanto going to be a forgotten language overwhelmed by the crazy amount of languages already out there, or can it be evolved and changed to make the communication of the world simpler.
Kyle, you bring up some very good questions. The idea to have a single worldwide language is something that in my eyes will never happen. Dispite Zamenhof's attempts to make Esperanto a worldwide language by making everything simple and easy to understand. He forgot to reason in the cultures that are behind all of these 5000 different languages worldwide. Now yes the English language is spread about the world yet it is not the official language but in the United States. Even though other countries know English they still speak their native tongueor language.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great theory to make. What if there were many other languages that were invented but were never practiced? Esperanto seemed very confusing with having no irregular verbs. How would one know the correct verb tense or the time that the action was occurring? Maybe one day there will be many of these languages introduced into the world. Also, how would teachers teach all of these different languages in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteEsperanto seems like a confusing language not just to learn but to understand as well. There are many languages and cultures around the world in which many countries refuse to forget about. Esperanto is not going to be used as the only language globally; if we were to establish this as the primary language, not only would there not be any diversity but many countries will lose their cultural identity.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading this article, I couldn't imagine just one language amongst all people. I think that the various languages in the world are pretty cool, especially meeting people with different accents learning different languages. However, from reading this article trying to put all the language into one to make language easier to communicate with one another is insane. There is no possible way I could think of in which that idea would work and be effective, especially because of the numerous amounts of dialogue in the world.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting concept and idea of having a worldwide language. It would never happen, I just do not see how it would ever be possible. Plus, I would hate to see this happen, there would be a lose of so many unique languages that are original to certain areas. These different languages and dialects are what areas in the world are comprised of.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of a worldwide language in my opinion is crazy because the normative of having many different languages throughout the world has been set and stoned in my mind, I'm very much aware of that so to even think of having one language that everyone speaks is crazy to me. I don't think that this is even possible because different countries have different languages that they already speak. Another thing is how would Esperanto be taught to everyone worldwide?
ReplyDeleteA countries language is an amazing thing. To take away the multiple different languages and ask everyone to adapt, is like trying to take away diversity. I think it is beautiful to walk on campus and hear multiple different ethnicity speaking groups talking to one another. It gives you a sense of pride and privacy from where you are from, and it can build relationships with people who are most like you. In terms of the questions you have asked, I really hope that Esperanto does not take over as a major language in the world. It is to simple to just speak one language, and everyone understand. Where will the foreign poetry go? Where will foreign films go? What will happen to that amazing feeling you get when you learn a new language, and thus the ability to speak and be heard by a new race and group of people?
ReplyDeleteEsperanto may be a good idea but I'm really on the fence about it. The different languages around the world really add to each culture and is one of the main reasons they are all so unique. Granted it can be difficult to communicate with the rest of the world but I still think individual languages should be embraced and not thrown away. A nice common language would be nice though. I feel like, at least in the US, students should be required to learn a second language at an early age so to make them more rounded. Lots of countries in Europe require the children to learn multiple languages and I don't think it's really that bad of an idea.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, it describes an idea of simplicity and narrowness. I am a free-thinking type of person, as well as open-minded. I don't think one language would be beneficial to the different types of culture, because if it was incorporated then culture and diversity pretty much wouldn't exist. What would we be able to learn from each other?
ReplyDeleteEven though it might seem like a good idea to have one world wide main language, it would never happen. Esperanto would lead to a lot of changes in culture as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the different languages we have throughout the world are very interesting. Although it would diminish most language barriers I think it would be sad if the world lost a beautiful thing such as diversity in language. I don’t think everyone would agree to learn and use the Esperanto even if the rest of the world was learning it. I know there are many people that are proud of their culture and wouldn’t want to lose their language.
ReplyDeleteI think forming one language would be a very difficult task. There are several different languages, some with significantly different fundumentals. Not only is it almost impossible it is not a good idea. Having one language would take away from cultural diversity.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of having a single language would be weird just because we are use to many different types. Diversity is very important to our world. The one language idea couldn't work because its already so many languages in the world, us humans can't just kill off. Also respecting other cultures is very important.
ReplyDeleteThis article is interesting for may reasons. I believe that attempting to create another language is very difficult. While the intentions were good,wanting to be able to communicate with other people, the execution was essentially impossible. You would have to have all other cultures denounce their languages, which wouldn't happen.
ReplyDelete