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Krokodili Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 12, 2009
This month I decided to hunt down some more idiomatic expressions in Esperanto. The best one I could find for this entry (i.e., one that is not an expletive, and thus fit for polite company!) is the verb “krokodili.” Native English speakers might know of the expression “crocodile tears,” which refers to a display of…
Motivating My Cousins Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 10, 2009
Bonan tagon! I apologize for the delay in posting. My week has been rather hectic, to say the least. But, now I should remain on schedule, and with luck I’ll have a couple of new posts within the next two days. Thanks for your patience! I recently talked to my younger cousins about Esperanto. They’re…
A New Read on Linguistic Issues Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 3, 2009
A co-worker recently passed on this link in an email. It’s a review of a fascinating new book about languages, called “Origins of the Specious.” The Darwin pun alone makes me want to read it! While the book, from what I can discern, does not focus on Esperanto, it addresses some of the peculiar idiosyncrasies…
The Less Common Pronoun Posted by Transparent Language on May 30, 2009
You might never encounter the pronoun “ci” in your adventures as an Esperantist, unless you happen to be reading some old-fashioned literature. “Ci” is much like the antequated English word “thou” (which would make “cia” the equivalent of “thine,” and the accusative “cin” something like “thee”). I have no idea how you could work that…
Having trouble with correlatives? Posted by Transparent Language on May 26, 2009
In my opinion, the most difficult part about learning Esperanto is tackling all the correlatives. They are quite logical in their construction (as is all of Esperanto!), and you could easily form them if you had a small, pocket-sized table on you. But, there are still a good number of them, and sometimes they can…
Don’t Fear the Suffix Posted by Transparent Language on May 21, 2009
A pretty useful suffix to remember in Esperanto is “fobio.” On its own, it simply means “phobia.” It’s a little bit different than “timo,” which means “fear” (or “timi,” to fear) in that it denotes a more severe frightened response to a particular thing, and usually connotes irrationality. The difference is somewhat difficult to express…
Aprilaj Dusxoj Alportas… Posted by Transparent Language on May 20, 2009
…Majajn florojn! I haven’t been able to think about anything but flowers today. My neighbors across the street have a beautiful gxardeno that they’ve worked hard to cultivate. The results are wonderful…They have so many different types of flowers, all colorful and healthy. Similar to last week’s entry on insektoj, there are plenty of Esperanto…