Richard Bartholdt and A. Christen - Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education
R >>
Richard Bartholdt and A. Christen >> Esperanto: Hearings before the Committee on Education
I am a teacher of languages and have done nothing all my life but study
and impart languages. If I had to teach you gentlemen, say, French
upon the theory that you were going on an important mission this day
12 months, and that it was absolutely necessary that you should speak
French (or any other language that I could impart you) by that time, I
would say it was impossible for a number of busy men to acquire a new
language inside one year; that I could not guarantee useful results,
but that if you would take two months to start with for the learning of
Esperanto, then I might be able to teach you the other language in the
rest of the time, because Esperanto is the best foundation for learning
any language. And, as I say, an English-speaking student, be he young or
old, knowing Esperanto would more easily distinguish the parts of speech
in English and possess a real and valuable "linguistic feeling" (which
he now entirely lacks) because of his Esperanto.
The CHAIRMAN. Is Esperanto made up of the derivatives of the various
languages?
Prof. CHRISTEN. I will explain that, if you like, in a very few words.
Esperanto is the work of a Polish scholar, Dr. Ludovico L. Zamenhof,
who started with an inspired mind. I should say he was a great genius.
He had studied a large number of languages, for, as a boy, nay, as a
child in the cradle, he spoke four languages, because so many different
languages were actually spoken in his home town. Then at school he
learned several more and it is due to this polyglotic experience and the
evils caused daily by Babel in his own circle that as a child, almost,
he conceived the idea of constructing a language that should at once and
for all time put an end to a foolish and intolerable situation. He must
have been inspired in what he did, because he at once hit upon the only
possible solution of the thing, and he hit upon it without knowing that
scores of others, older and more learned, had tried the same thing and
failed. His first stroke of genius was in the composing of his entire
vocabulary by borrowing all his words from well-known sources. With the
true insight of the genius he decided that the words of an artificial
international language must be taken from international sources, and so
he first of all hit upon the good idea to use first of all those words
which are already common to most languages, and there are a great many
more such words than we have dreamed of. He decided that that should be
the starting point of his world tongue, because everybody would know
those words to start with. Take the names of animals and produce that
come from certain parts of the world and carry their names with them,
such as elephant, tiger, lion, camel, and a great many more. Take the
rose: the rose is a rose in every language; so an orange, a lemon, a
nut, and tea, coffee, and tobacco, etc., are the same in most languages.
They may not be spelled the same or pronounced the same, but they are
international, and therefore they are Esperanto. That was the foundation
of the vocabulary in Zamenhof's new language--take words that everybody
would know and use them in Esperanto (6).
Mr. TOWNER. How do you determine those common names?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Well, he formed his vocabulary; he selected these words
because they were international--to the exclusion of anything else.
Mr. TOWNER. Well, that was not definite; it might be enlarged?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Oh, yes.
Mr. TOWNER. What was the vocabulary that he first issued?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Offhand, I think, about 963 words.
Mr. TOWNER. What is the vocabulary now?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Probably about 3,000 words. Now, I have dealt with the
so-called international words; but the bulk of every language consists
of what I would call home words, which every country has for its own;
and the only way to bring equivalents for such words into the language
was to select them from all the principal languages under consideration,
which means, of course, the European languages and to select these words
on the principle of greatest internationality--that is to say, such
verbs as to come, to do, to write, etc., or the nouns, hand, knife,
water, table, etc., or adjectives, like good, bad, healthy, etc. Before
he put these words into his vocabulary, Zamenhof had their equivalents
in all the European languages before him, and then he took from the
whole list the root which was the most prominent, the root that occurred
oftenest, and this became Esperanto, the idea being that the words
selected should be common to at least four or five different languages.
Mr. TOWNER. You do not mean that, do you? You do not mean that the only
words you would put into the Esperanto vocabulary would be those that
might be common to at least four or five of the principal languages?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes; whenever it is possible to find such words, and the
words do not conflict with the general harmony of the language.
Mr. TOWNER. That is what I thought you meant.
Prof. CHRISTEN. The consequence is that a language formed on these lines
must be a Latin or Romance language because Latin gave birth to at least
six languages: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanian, and
English, and besides, Latin and French have influenced and enriched the
literature and languages of every other modern nation. The dictionary
of Latin words contained, for instance, in Russian or German would be
a very large volume indeed. It is a fact that all modern attempts at
making an artificial language, and their name is legion, especially
since the acknowledged success of Esperanto, are based on Latin.
Consequently also, the international language must be largely English,
because mostly those Latin words will be chosen that are common at
least to French and English. I have lectured to hundreds of English
audiences, and I have given them numerous examples of Esperanto words
in my lectures that could be easily understood by everybody. Take the
words "skribi," to write; "lerni," to learn; "mangxi," to eat; "trinki,"
to drink; "tablo," a table; "glaso," a glass; "nazo," the nose, and
"busxo," the mouth; "mano," the hand; take the adjectives, bona, bela,
granda, kapabla, etc. Few, indeed, are the Esperanto words that do not
connect at all with the English; in most cases, in at least 87 cases
out of 100, you will find those words connect with one or many English
words.
Mr. TOWNER. You mean that 87 per cent of the words now in the Esperanto
vocabulary are formative words?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes: they are connected with the English language, and
from each Esperanto word you can form mechanically absolutely every
word that sense and logic can possibly connect with the one and only
meaning of the original Esperanto word. I am accustomed to lecturing
before audiences and making this statement, which I make without fear
of contradiction, that "if all of you were to take up Esperanto now and
carry it on until you were as expert in it as I am, you would not in the
whole of your studies come across more than 60 words, probably not more
than 50 words, which are entirely new to you."
Mr. TOWNER. Of course, a vocabulary of 3,000 words is a very limited
vocabulary; it is a primitive vocabulary?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes?
Mr. TOWNER. How are you going to increase it? For instance, how are you
going to make it a literary language? How are you going to write poems?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Personally I should not want an international language
for poetry, although Esperanto does in fact lend itself excellently
to the purposes of the muses. But to answer your question: First of
all, the Esperanto language does not contain any words at all; I think
there are only 138 full-fledged words, prepositions, adverbs, and
conjunctions, but the rest of the vocabulary is formed of roots only.
Let us take the words "to sew," "to stitch." The root is "kudr." It is
only a root, and that alone stands in the vocabulary. Now, if you want
to make this root into a noun "o" is added to it, "kudro": if you want
to make it an adjective, you add "a" to it, "kudra"; if you want to
make it an adverb you add "e," kudre, which would mean by or through
sewing, "sewingly," if it could be so expressed in English; and if you
want to make it a verb it would be "kudri," because every infinitive
ends in "i." You see, with that root to begin with you can form four
words, and you can express a great deal more in Esperanto than anybody
can possibly imagine; in fact Esperanto is, on account of its perfect
and absolutely complete flexibility, more precise and more comprehensive
than any language under the sun. As I said before, you can form four
words from every root at the start if sense allows it, and sense allows
you a great deal more leeway in Esperanto than anybody can possibly know
about, because in no language are you allowed to proceed by sense. The
English language does not allow it, nor does any other, not oven German
or Greek, but it is allowed in this most logical of all languages,
Esperanto. (7)
Mr. TOWNER. Take the illustration you have just used. We say "The sewing
is beautiful." and "We find her sewing assiduously." Now, we use the
same word, but the formation of the sentence determines whether or not
it is a noun or a verb.
Prof. CHRISTEN. You mean the distinction between the participle and the
noun?
Mr. TOWNER. Yes.
Prof. CHRISTEN. With your permission I will not answer that
particularly, but will deal with the whole subject. I want to say that
from every root you form four words, the four principal parts of speech.
And the first thing to remember is this positive stroke of genius--that
every noun ends with "o," every adjective with "a," every derived adverb
with "e," and every infinitive with "i."
Mr. TOWNER. How would you carry that to proper names?
Prof. CHRISTEN. London would be Londono; Robert is Roberto, but proper
names you are at liberty to do with as you please; give them the
Esperanto ending or leave them in the original form.
Mr. TOWNER. What about Washington?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Washingtono.
Mr. TOWNER. I mean, you would really change it?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes; if you prefer it; that is, if it sounds better.
Mr. TOWNER. In the language?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes.
Mr. TOWNER. For instance, if you were speaking about the city of
Washington, you would not say Washington, but Washingtono?
Prof. CHRISTEN. You will find it frequently printed as Washingtono.
Mr. TOWNER. Why do you do that, because Washingtono is not the name of
the city?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Let me say that you say London in English, but that is
not French.
Mr. TOWNER. But we always spell Paris the French way, although we do not
pronounce it the same way; that is, "Paree."
Prof. CHRISTEN. But London is not London in French; it is "Londres" in
French.
Mr. TOWNER. Do you mean to say that if a letter were addressed to London
from Paris the Frenchman would not pronounce and write it London but
Londres?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes.
Mr. TOWNER. He does not say London?
Prof. CHRISTEN. No, he says Londres. And the same is true with Dover;
Dover is not French; The French would be Douvres. However, I want to say
this, that after the first three or four years after I took up Esperanto
geographical or proper names were left optional and they were not given
any particular spelling in the Esperanto language and are not now. Many
Esperantists now would say Washington and London. But you can make the
change if you want to.
Mr. TOWNER. Internationally, has not that come to be the custom, to
pronounce the geographical names and proper names in the way they are
pronounced in the country in which they originate?
Prof. CHRISTEN. I think so. As I said, there is no arbitrary rule about
personal names or geographical names. Now, let me proceed with this
marvelous scheme and repeat that every part of speech is distinctive
in itself; that is the reason a child, when it follows Esperanto, will
not find English so hard and will understand English better than in any
other way. Such a child will understand English far better than if it
did not understand Esperanto, and that is a statement I often make in my
lectures.
Mr. RIPLEY. We had a man here the other day who has a language which he
claims is an improvement on Esperanto.
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes?
Mr. RIPLEY. He is from Ohio, I believe.
Prof. CHRISTEN. I know. Since Esparanto began to move forward there have
been at least 30 to 40 different schemes elaborated, and that is easily
done. You can do it overnight. But there is no scheme that has ever
touched and no scheme that can ever touch Esperanto, because it has hit
the mark from the first. (8)
Mr. TOWNER. What do you do with adverbs? Do they have a definite form?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Every derived adverb ends in "e."
Mr. TOWNER. So you could not distinguish from the form between a verb
and an adverb, could you?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Perfectly. The adverb ends in "e" and the infinitive
ends in "i."
Mr. RIPLEY. It is your contention that children will do better in
English if they acquire a knowledge of Esperanto?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Undoubtedly; this is a statement I make in my lectures:
If you gentlemen will give me a number of children aged 4 or 5 years
I will give them a quarter of an hour's pleasant explanation about
grammar, that is Esperanto grammar, and they will understand it after a
quarter of an hour's explanation; then I will jumble together a number
of blocks, with various words on these blocks, and I will say to these
children "pick out every noun," and they will be able to do it--that is,
pick the nouns from the adjectives--and so with every part of speech.
The CHAIRMAN. Because they will know to a certainty?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes; every word tells its own tale on account of its
distinctive ending. Now, that is a thing you can not do in English; that
nobody can do in English, because we can not tell the parts of speech
simply by the appearance of the words; we can only know from the context
and that is not always easy!
The CHAIRMAN. How does that apply to other languages?
Prof. CHRISTEN. The same thing applies more or less to all, because they
are all irregular; they were not formed; they have "growd" like Topsy.
Mr. TOWNER. The Latin language is more regular?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Yes: but it does not begin to compare with Esperanto.
Now, we have had these four words, and I want to proceed a little
further, and I will take up something that will help me to answer your
questions. If I had to teach you gentlemen French I would have to make
you commit to memory 2,667 endings and contractions for the verb alone;
it would take you months and months to learn that alone. The same
absurdities and even worse occur in Italian, in Spanish, in German, in
English, and in all so-called natural languages.
Mr. TOWNER. And we never could learn these irregularities and
exceptions.
Prof. CHRISTEN. Well, if you did learn them you would never remember
them at the right time because the whole scheme is so complicated.
This is only one of the many reasons which make us so shy at speaking
foreign languages. Now, the same thing is true of German, and of all
other languages, but it is not true of Esperanto. I will teach you the
whole Esperanto conjugation in five minutes and you will never forget
it, because there is nothing to remember. You already know that a noun
ends in "o" and that the infinitive ends in "i," and so on: there is
absolutely no difficulty whatever. (9) Now, I am sorry I have to speak
so rapidly, because I would like to give you more information.
The CHAIRMAN. We would be glad to have you add to your remarks.
Mr. TOWNER. You can extend your remarks.
Prof. CHRISTEN. Since my time is up and, indeed, far exceeded, I will
be very glad to do so. But before I leave you, let me read one or two
items, which will only take two minutes more. Here is a quotation
from the British Esperantist, of November, 1913, showing the progress
Esperanto is making:
The central Esperanto bureau, of Paris, gives the following
statistics: In 1889, there had been published 29 books in
Esperanto; in 1899, 128; in 1910, 1,554; in 1912 (to August
30), 1,837. Enough already to keep most readers going for
full five years of Sundays, and the output, both of bookshop
and of press, is increasing daily.
Mr. TOWNER. In a general way, what is the character of this literature?
Prof. CHRISTEN. Up to now chiefly textbooks for learning Esperanto,
such as this little book [indicating], which can be purchased for 10
cents. You can learn the whole mechanism of the language from one of
these little books. Then there are a great many other publications,
translations, scientific articles, etc., and we have already several
novels originally written in the new language.
Mrs. CRAFTS. May I say a word right here? I hold in my hand the New
Testament, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society together
with the Scotch Bible Society. It is a translation from Nestle's Greek
Testament, and the Old Testament is now being translated by one of the
most eminent Hebrew scholars in the world.
Prof. CHRISTEN. Here is the next item, which I would like to read to
you:
Evening classes for the study of Esperanto under the auspices of
the L.C.C. (London county council) are being held at the Halstow
Road Nonvocational Institute, Greenwich, S.E., on Thursday,
7.30-9.30 p.m., and at Bloomfield Road Commercial Institute,
Plumstead, S.E., on Fridays, 7.20-10.50 p. m. Instructor Mr.
William H. Dennis, B.D.E.A., 108, Eglinton Road, Plumstead,
S.E., from whom any information may be obtained. These classes
are designed especially to meet the requirements of the serious
student, beginner or advanced. (10)
That is from London. Then I have another quotation which I want to read
from Edinburgh:
The chief constable of Edinburgh has interested himself in Esperanto,
especially in view of the 1915 congress. The chief constable has
ordered a copy of "Esperanto For All," to be sent to the 650 members
of the Edinburgh police force, with a recommendation that the police
learn the language. A class for policemen is being arranged, for
which 14 names have been received.
Esperanto classes for policemen have been conducted for several years
in several towns in Germany, in France, in Spain, etc., and even during
their hours of duty classes are going on in Esperanto so that policemen
may learn Esperanto without the loss of their own personal time. I thank
you, gentlemen, for bearing with me so long.
Mr. BARTHOLDT. I should like to have an opportunity, if possible, at
some future time to have you give us about 10 or 15 minutes to hear Mrs.
Crafts.
The CHAIRMAN. We shall be very glad indeed to give you that time.
(The additional matter submitted by Prof. Christen follows:)
(1) We are apt to lose sight of the fact that the whole world's
business is daily becoming more and more internationalized and that
what in former centuries was done parochially is now more and more
done internationally.
The first public international convention ever held took place
less than 75 years ago; it is a significant fact that this was a
peace convention. To-day there are over 300 societies: Commercial,
scientific, religious, sociological, industrial, sporting, etc.,
organized internationally. During those seventy-odd years over
2,000 international congresses of one kind or another have actually
taken place, and now a days not one year passes without several
scores being added to the total. An incomplete list for 1914 gives
49 such prospective international gatherings and over one score of
exhibitions, fairs, and festivals of an international character.
What lamentable and foolish and provoking situation at such gatherings
is due to the multitude of tongues only those know who have wasted
time and money in attending them. Usually three or more languages are
officially accepted and most of the time is irretrievably lost in
misunderstandings and more or less inadequate translations.
Compare with this the nine yearly international Esperanto congresses
held at Boulogne, Geneva, Cambridge, Dresden, Barcelona, Washington,
Cracow, Antwerp, and Berne, at which from 800 to 1,500 delegates from
20 to 30 different countries spent a week in complete communion through
this wonderful language. Orations, discussions, sermons, concerts,
theatrical performances, and general fellowship among the members being
freely enjoyed by all, and often by individuals who had only had a few
weeks of acquaintance with the language.
An international language of some sort has become an absolute necessity
of our new era of universal solidarity.
A hopeful sign of progress is that many international organizations have
already declared in favor of Esperanto for their future meetings.
(2) The impossibility of ever making any national language international
will at once become clear if we imagine the whole youth of the United
States condemned to become proficient in French or Spanish or German.
Say we take the easiest of them, Spanish: does anyone dream the thing
possible? Only an infinitesimal fraction of our young people could
attain even a smattering, and that at the cost of from two to three
years' study; and even then it is quite unlikely that other nations
would adopt the same language. But if they all did this impossible
thing the Spanish speaking peoples would still have the pull on them
all because they grow up with the language and have not to acquire it
artificially.
What holds good for Spanish holds good for even other so called natural
language, including English, and more with English than any other on
account of its barbarous spelling and pronunciation.
None of these objections, neither structural nor national, apply to
Esperanto, which is entirely neutral and ideally simple.
(3) The U.E.A. (Universala Esperanto Asocio) has its central office
at 10 Rue de la Bourse, Geneva, Switzerland. Yearly dues 50 cents for
private members, $2.50 for business firms. These contributions entitle
the members to use the machinery of the association for the acquisition
of information--free of cost, except postage--on any subject whatever
(except confidential matters), the only condition being that the request
be written in Esperanto. A sufficient amount of Esperanto for this
purpose can be acquired by anyone in a few days, or even in a few
hours. It is not even necessary to have a teacher, the textbooks being
very easy to master. In America, if local booksellers do not yet stock
Esperanto literature, the would-be student may apply to Peter Reilly,
Esperanto bookseller, 133 North Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
A growing number of Esperantists all over the world are using the
services of the U.E.A., not only in correspondence, but actually
traveling through many countries for pleasure or profit by means of
Esperanto alone, and finding everywhere helpful hints and congenial
surroundings in the local Esperanto groups.
In addition to the U.E.A. there is an international Esperanto society
for the propaganda of the language; this has its world center at 51 Rue
de Clichy, Paris, France, and powerful national societies in France (240
branches), in England (118 branches), in Germany (over 250 branches),
etc.
(4) I should, however, add, in justice to the American people,
that wherever Esperanto has been brought to their notice by press
or platform it has been well received. I have myself lectured to
large and sympathetic audiences in Chautauqua, Buffalo, New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington. Public schools, high schools,
and universities have frequently opened their doors to Esperanto, and
in my own case the University of Pennsylvania and the University of
Columbia have shown their open-mindedness to the extent of engaging a
paid lecturer for a prolonged course.
So has the Department of Education of the city of New York.
In the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., a considerable number of
scientists have declared in favor of Esperanto, and are adepts of the
language.
My experience is that in this country the informed public warmly
approves of Esperanto and the ideals it stands for, but expects
the spread of the language to come through the schools. There is
consequently in this country a special inertia in this matter, in spite
of approval; this makes organised propaganda extremely difficult in such
a vast territory.
Accordingly the national organization, the E.A.N.A. (Esperanto
Association of North America), central offices, Newton Center, Mass.,
has so far had but a checkered and precarious existence.
A rival society, the U.S.E.A. (United States Esperanto Association) has
its headquarters at Shaller, Iowa.
(5) If I were asked how Esperanto could best be introduced into the
schools, I should suggest that a limited course of lecture lessons,
say, from 6 to 12, to the teachers would suffice to give them all that
is necessary to enable them to practice the language until complete
proficiency is attained. In many places there is even now a supply of
local Esperantists ready to cooperate with the schools.