Archive for September, 2009
LOL! Or Equivalent! Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 29, 2009
A few days ago, somebody requested a post on how to use the American-English acronym “LOL.” For those of you who have never encountered it, “LOL” is a common bit of Internet slang that means “laugh out loud” or “laughing out loud.” While I haven’t been able to find a common Esperanto equivalent, I thought…
Esperanto and Cultural Combination Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 26, 2009
Here’s something to think about today. If Esperanto happened to become the world’s second language, as we all hope it someday will, do you think that it would cause a homogenization of cultures? Or perhaps it would consume every culture and unite it under the single banner of Esperanto culture? My neighbor, a student of…
Linguistic Evolution and the End of Esperanto Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 24, 2009
It’s a simple fact that languages, given time, will evolve. If ever you have the chance, take a look at the Oxford English Dictionary, and track the evolution of any random word. Sometimes, the years required for a word to radically alter its meaning are few – take today’s contradictory-seeming definitions of the word “oversight,”…
Instruments in Esperanto Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 22, 2009
One of my neighbors will soon graduate with a degree in Music Education. Per her request, here are some words for expressing your choice of musical instrument in Esperanto! I couldn’t hope to represent an entire orchestra’s worth of instruments, but I figured I would offer you a list of some of the more common…
-Isms Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 22, 2009
Perhaps it’s because I’m a student of philosophy, but I find that I deal with lots of “-isms” on a daily basis. Taoism, capitalism, anarchism…There are a great many schools of thought out there. Much like the English suffix “-ism,” there is an Esperanto infix that means virtually the same thing. Try using “-ism-” when…
Medical Terms and Emergencies Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 18, 2009
A recent blood drive I attended has me in a medical mindset. It occurred to me how infrequently I’ve heard medical terms used in Esperanto, since so much of my Esperanto communication over the years has been through writing! Although (with luck!) you may never find yourself in an emergency situation that requires you to…
Read or Die Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 17, 2009
My next-door neighbor in the dorm is a huge fan of all sorts of anime, a term for a lengthy animated series from Japan. I don’t usually partake, but occasionally I catch a glimpse of what he’s watching. Today I became acquainted with his latest pastime, a series known as Read or Die. Under normal…