Esperanto – Google’s Latest Language
With the impact of globalisation on language, there has been much talk recently regarding global languages. As the world virtually shrinks, dominant languages are beginning to swamp smaller languages into extinction, and as the numbers multiply it seems that we may be heading towards a world dominated by just a few tongues.
English is often spoken about as ‘the global language’ with its perceived dominance over; business, the internet, and entertainment. In reality, however, it is more likely that we are moving towards a multi-polar dominant linguistic environment, with; English, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic alongside a few others. Local or ‘Tribal’ languages are being forced out as countries continue to urbanise, develop, and grow, and simultaneously communications technologies evolve.
With the role played by translations agencies growing, it is common for large companies to make their websites available in, at least, the most dominant tongues. There is, however, a different type of global tongue, designed for that very purpose, and it too is growing and evolving.
Esperanto
Roots
Esperanto means ‘one who hopes’ and was first conceived in L.L. Zamenhof’s 1887 book ‘UnuaLibro’. Zamenhof created the language as a tool to inspire equality, social balance, and a politically unbiased landscape, in a quest for universal peace and understanding.
Speakers
Today there is much debate over the quantity of Esperanto speaker’s worldwide, with estimates varying from tens of thousands to up to two million. The most realistic and commonly accepted conclusion seems to place the figure somewhere between 60,000 and 300,000, with a thousand native (first language speakers), approximately 10,000 fluent, a figure somewhere in the hundreds of thousands competent, and a large number having studied the language to some degree.
Despite the fact that this is perhaps more than many would have thought, it still falls a long way short of replacing translation agencies in connecting the world through language.
English to Esperanto Translations
| English | Esperanto |
| Hello | Saluton |
| Yes | Jes |
| No | Ne |
| Goodbye | Ĝisrevido |
| How are you? | Kiel vi fartas? |
| I love you | Miamas vin |
| Thank you | Dankon |
Official Acceptance and Recognition
The first Congress of Esperanto was hosted by France in 1905, and since then they have been hosted every year, except during the World Wars. Although no country has adopted Esperanto as an official tongue, in 1954, UNESCO recognised it and later in 1985 recommended it to its member states. The international Academy of Science in San Marino currently users Esperanto as its language of instruction, and just this year, Google made Esperanto its 64th language available on ‘Google Translate’ – a move which may encourage more translation agencies to consider it as an important working language.
Persecution
As a language looking to unite and breach international boundaries, Esperanto has always been treated with suspicion and paranoia by totalitarian forces around the world. Nazi Germany held a particular disquiet towards it, and in Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’, Esperanto was put forward as an example of a language that the Jewish would use to enable global domination. In 1936 the language was banned in Germany, and several Esperantists killed at Jewish concentration camps. The language has also faced similar persecution for periods in Japan, Russia, and Spain.
Future?
Zamenhof’s initial plan was to have Esperanto adopted as a universal second language, to inspire greater global communication and understanding. There are still many Esperantists who maintain this vision although the language has faced criticism, and many have questioned its ability to achieve its objectives.
One of its most famous critics, Noam Chomsky, stated that ‘Esperanto is not a language’, and the Austrian/English author Ludwig Wittgenstein was quoted as saying; “Esperanto. The feeling of disgust we get if we utter an invented word with invented derivative syllables. The word is cold, lacking in associations, and yet it plays at being ‘language’. A system of purely written signs would not disgust us so much.”
So it is difficult to say exactly what kind of future Esperanto has. There is no reliable statistic on the number of speakers, and thus it is difficult too to track growth. With majority languages beginning to dominate globally and translation agencies developing to satisfy growing demands, it is perhaps more likely that a future global language will be the amalgamation of these languages, rather than a man-made auxiliary tongue.