Archive for 'Esperanto Language'
Word of the Day Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 6, 2009
The website Lernu.net is one of the best Internet resources an Esperantist can use. They have all sorts of exercises and learning materials for all different skill levels. My personal favorite tool from the good people at Lernu is their Word of the Day feature. Every day, they put up a new Esperanto word, and…
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…