Another name for Esperanto: iLanguage
For a long time Esperanto has had the alternative name “International Language”, “IL” for short. Here is another one we could introduce: “iLanguage”, being, of course, a take-off on the “iXxx” branding scheme. We could introduce it with a motto, such as “Esperanto is the iLanguage for me, and you.”
I’m only 3/4 joking in making this proposal. Maybe it actually has some merit!
Googling for “iLanguage” yields lots of hits, but they all seem to be company names. So far as I can tell (from a very limited and casual search), there is no instance of anyone using the term as a synonym for any specific language, so maybe we can, after all, get some mileage out of it for Esperanto.
Perhaps this proposal should be categorized under “How Can We Attract More People to Esperanto?”…:)
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
8.Feb.2011
![[NASK]](http://www.esperanto-usa.org/files/xemblemo.jpg.pagespeed.ic.WMqnJDD4g0.jpg)
Comments
A new analogy for Esperanto?
Would it be possible to mine this topic a bit deeper, to get an analogy involving Esperanto? What I have in mind is the difference between AT&T and Verizon. According to a news article I just read, Verizon has more reliable connection (whereas AT&T is plagued with frequent dropped calls), but AT&T has much faster download speeds. So, I was thinking we could make the comparison/analogy that Esperanto is to English as Verizon is to AT&T. Uh, will this fly? Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
14.Feb.2011
February 14, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
In the Beginning was the Command Line
Neal Stephenson wrote a great rant about computer operating systems about 10 years ago called In the Beginning was the Command Line. It's a bit dated now, but the first section outlines an analogy comparing different operating systems as competing car dealerships. I've always thought the description for Linux could have been about Esperanto:
It's worth going and reading the rest.
February 14, 2011 by limako, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Mi ĉiam diris, ke Esperanto
Mi ĉiam diris, ke Esperanto k. Linukso estas du flankoj de la sama monero. Ili komune kunhavas multajn. Do, mi kredas, ke ĉiuj el linuksa programaro endas havi Esperantan tradukon! Mia "LibreOffice" estas Esperante, ankaŭ la plejmulto de mia labortablo. (Mi uzas ambaŭ Linujson k. Makintoŝon.)
Tamen, mi ne povas trovi Esperantan vi-on. (vi estas Uniksa tekstoredaktilo.)
February 14, 2011 by formiko, 2 years 14 weeks ago
explaining an analogy is like explaining a joke
If you have to explain it for people to understand it, then it probably doesn't work... :)
February 14, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
ni? ilingvo? via? pasporto?
I was so glad to see you post. I've have searched for some time a discussion on this topic.
My latest idea is to "sell" Esperanto as "ni" = neutrala interlingvo.
"Esperanto estas ni!"
My goals were to
1. shorten the name Esperanto for easier typing and to appear larger in advertisements
2. have it be a (core) word of Esperanto, one which would easily fit into slogans
3. The meaning of the word would be one creating a warm feeling of community
4. not a name that is widely used and popularized by another entity, and doesn't mean something negative or demoralizing in a major language.
5. be the initials of one of the synonyms of Esperanto. (ni = neutrala interlingvo)
(ni.net is available . . . . for the right price. I've reserved neutralinterlingvo.com, and several other suffixes are available .net .org etc.)
There would be no denial that "ni" (or whatever name is chosen) is actually just a promotional name for Esperanto, that they are one and the same language.
Even so, the new name could be spun for promotional purposes agreed upon by our international experts, such as "the new, improved Esperanto", now ready for grand opening to the world, invites collaboration for teaching all students of the world, all language teachers, all international organizations and governments, and especially individuals. Now vocabulary technically developed in the widest areas and ready to automatically accept any vocabulary already used internationally, just phoneticized as far as possible. Easy as ever to learn - in a fraction of time of any national language. Ready for all nations of the world to gather at the United Nations to make any final touches needed (as Zamenhof suggested).
If we go with iXxx, I'd suggest iLingvo. ilingvo.com and ilingvo.net are available. "Lingvo" is internationally easily recognized to mean language and is shorter than "Language" and could be used internationally in promotions.
"via" was a thought I had earlier, and I don't remember all the details, but "via" generally means "by means of" in English, or "road" in Italian, "your" in Esperanto. Could stand in Esperanto for "via interlingvo" or "via internacia alilingvo" = dua lingvo (por cxiuj).
"Pasporto" has possibilities as well, like “Bring your pasporto wherever you go!” and we could have a dictionary and lessons and contacts in a passport we could hand out. And we have Pasporta servo, and the video series Pasporto al la tuta mondo.
February 8, 2011 by sbelant, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Internet Esperanto
A friend of mine has always said to me that the internet was the ideal environment for Esperanto, simply because it reaches the entire world. I always tell him that it's not that simple. Some folks just don't want to learn Esperanto.
As far as abbreviated names for Esperanto go, I've seen it called the International Language Esperanto, which if we abbreviate becomes ILE or (in Esperanto: 'tool-like', 'as a tool', etc.)
February 7, 2011 by NJ_Esperantist, 2 years 15 weeks ago
Avoiding the E-word…
I remember that many years ago there were some people, centered around Helmar Frank as I recall, who never said “Esperanto” (so as not to encounter immediate tune-out on the part of their potential listeners), but who always said “International Language”, at least initially, perhaps casually mentioning, much later, that this language is also known as, yes, “Esperanto”! I don’t know if this policy is still followed by anyone.
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
8.Feb.2011
February 7, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 15 weeks ago
Still true
This was still true the last time I went to an AIS meeting. At least, nominally, AIS claims that they're using Esperanto only in place of whatever neutral International Language is ultimately selected. But it always struck me as slightly disingenuous.
At the same time, Esperanto -- the brand -- carries a lot of baggage. And I think a fair number of people are actually reluctant to confess that they speak it.
February 8, 2011 by limako, 2 years 14 weeks ago
You are right-on regarding
You are right-on regarding the baggage. This reminds me of the joke that says, “Ninety nine percent of all lawyers give the rest a bad name.” I can well imagine a pigeon re-wording this as, “Ninety nine percent of all Esperantists give the rest a bad name.” Of course, there is a big difference between these two spheres of activity. Law is a highly-paid profession, whereas the Esperanto movement is done almost completely on a volunteer basis. (Yes, lawyers do some pro bono work, and a few Esperantists hold salaried positions, but these phenomena belong to that celebrated one percent.) So, how can the same joke apply to two things so widely different? The answer is that you can have a “bad name” in two ways: by being contemptible, and by being ridiculous. Those who go for the gold easily find themselves on the slippery slope leading to being regarded with contempt, and those promoting panaceas easily find themselves on the slippery slope of being given the fish-eye by their would-be converts.
As far as confessing that I speak Esperanto, I do not recall that ever coming up in conversation (and I’ve known Esperanto since 1975). Deciding whether to mention it on your resume is quite another matter…:)
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
9.Feb.2011
February 8, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Explaining Esperanto
"And I think a fair number of people are actually reluctant to confess that they speak it."
The hardest thing I find about admitting I speak Esperanto is the difficulty in explaining it in a nutshell to anyone who seriously has no idea what it's about or for.
February 8, 2011 by NJ_Esperantist, 2 years 14 weeks ago
“Only a fool believes that
“Only a fool believes that being truthful is easy.”
This quotation of Willa Cather, perhaps her best-known quotation, is worth bearing in mind, and perhaps even citing, when being asked for a nutshell explanation of anything.
Here’s the link to the Wikipedia article on her:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willa_Cather
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
10.Feb.2011
February 9, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
That quotation
“The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.”
I'm thinking she was talking about difficult emotional truths, not about simple matters of fact, but who knows. This all seems to be over-analyzing and rationalizing in any case - I don't find it at all difficult to truthfully say "I speak Esperanto", and for anyone who thinks others might benefit from learning about Esperanto, I'd suggest being more comfortably open about it. :)
February 9, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Right, who knows what she
Right, who knows what she actually meant, and thanks for straightening out that quote for me. I was just trying to say that it might be impossible to put certain things in a nutshell and have them remain convincing / interesting.
Your point about over-analyzing is well-taken, and we even have the example of our own (i.e., Esperantist) John Wells committing this mistake, splitting hairs (and so, eventually, sides) about the etymology of “nom nom nom” to mean “to eat heartily”. Here’s the link about this storm in a teapot, in which the commentator (in The Economist, no less), finds that Wells is “overthinking things rather dramatically”:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/10/folk_etymology
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
10.Feb.2011
February 9, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
hmm...
That Economist article seems to imply that many languages have such a "nom nom" due to Sesame Street? But I am told Poles said "mniam mniam" long before Sesame Street. :)
February 10, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
"confess" and "admit"
Interesting... "Confess" and "Admit" suggests some sense of guilt or embarrassment... Freudian slip? Internalized Esperantophobia?
February 8, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
You failed to mention the
You failed to mention the most likely explanation, namely, awareness, at least at the intuitive level, of the proverb, “It’s impossible to win an argument against an ignorant man.” I daresay that’s what it’s all about, in a sort of retro-fitted way. Why start a debate you know you’re going to lose, not because you’re wrong, but because it will be like attempting to play chess with a pigeon?
Another proverb / wisecrack that applies to Esperanto in a retro-fitted way is Herblock’s Law: “If it’s good, they’ll stop making it.” Bearing this in mind dispels the mystery why good things (not just Esperanto) take so long to win acceptance. Indeed, Zamenhof begins his celebrated essay “Esenco kaj estonteco…” with exactly this kind of observation.
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
9.Feb.2011
February 8, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
But that presupposes there will be an argument/debate
I guess because of the occasional argument, people become paranoid to mention Esperanto, but in reality, most of the time I don't find it causing arguments!
Rather, people are simply curious and ask questions about Esperanto and are interested about how I use the language in my daily life and on trips and such.
Of course if you start the discussion with an agenda of convincing the person that they should learn Esperanto, and/or an assumption that the other person is as ignorant as a pigeon, then perhaps an argument is more likely. :)
February 8, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
A pigeon, according to my
A pigeon, according to my proposed definition, is characterized not by ignorance, but by guile.
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
10.Feb.2011
February 9, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
ignorant or guileful...
OK, it was confusing due to the immediately previous “It’s impossible to win an argument against an ignorant man.” Either way, if you go into the conversation condescendingly supposing the inquirer is ignorant, or confrontationally as against a guileful chess opponent, it seems more likely to turn into an argument/debate, than if you simply cheerfully answer their questions about what Esperanto's about and what it means to you. :)
February 9, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Perhaps it's reluctance...
It's like having to explain over and over again that you know how to add 2+2. For most other folks, you have to carry around 4 little stones and demonstrate it on the ground.
February 8, 2011 by NJ_Esperantist, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Elevator speech
Here's my little "elevator speech" about Esperanto:
I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has a different speech -- or any suggestions or improvements.
February 8, 2011 by limako, 2 years 14 weeks ago
All of the responses have
All of the responses have been fantastic. My degree is in Linguistics (which means I work in the IT field ;)), and besides the women and language nerds who take Linguistics classes, no American that "I" know gives two hoots about any language but English. My Mexican neighbor even thinks it's odd that an American would want to learn Spanish. (We speak Spanish to each other, so his argument may be moot...)
But when my kids wear Esperanto shirts, and people ask about it, instead of a lengthy diatribe, (because people REALLY don't care), I just tell them it's Esperanto, and if they press even more, I'll say "it's sort of a European creole". That has satisfied everyone I've told, and I've never been probed further, even from our best friends. We have friends all over the world, including Africa and Europe, and they couldn't care less either :)
I should have written this in Esperanto, but my daughter is having a computer issue, kaj mi endas savi la tagon. :) Ĝis!
February 9, 2011 by formiko, 2 years 14 weeks ago
The biggest improvement to
The biggest improvement to your “elevator speech” would be to omit reference to intention, and reference only effects / results. For works of art, intention is irrelevant. (Intention in other spheres of activity is another matter, for example, in a court of law, where it determines level of guilt, and therefore level of punishment.) The fact that intention is irrelevant for a work of art is counter-intuitive, and treating it as relevant is known as the “Intentional Fallacy”. Here’s a link to a discussion of the Intentional Fallacy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_fallacy
Also, I would add “as equals”, or “on equal footing” or some such after “to be able to talk to one another”
Also, the clause “and you can speak to anyone who’s learned it” sounds redundant. I mean, if I learn, say, Russian, then I can – duh – speak to anyone who’s learned it, right? Why are you telling someone a tautology, especially in a situation where time is at a premium (the time it takes an elevator to go between floors)? Even the “and it works” clause is redundant. If it didn’t work, then he didn’t create one, did he?
I would add the proviso “outside of regional meet-ups and international congresses” to the statement that there aren’t a lot of people who speak Esperanto in any one place.
Sooo, putting all this together, I would suggest the following amended “elevator speech”:
Esperanto is an easy-to-learn second language allowing people to talk to one another on equal, and sure, footing. Like other activities such as chess or stamp-collecting, there aren’t many aficionados in any one place, outside of regional meet-ups and international congresses, but there are some almost everywhere. Even some of Santa’s elves speak Esperanto! Anyway, there’s loads of information on Esperanto on the web, in case you’re interested.
(If anyone asks if Santa himself speaks Esperanto, you can reply that, as everyone knows, he says not a word, but goes straight to his work, so this is an open question.)
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
9.Feb.2011
February 8, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Intentions
Actually, I find intentions do matter because I'm framing the question with the statement "There ought to be an easy-to-learn second language" and arguing that one exists now.
February 8, 2011 by limako, 2 years 14 weeks ago
If you’re having to argue
If you’re having to argue that one exists, you’ve already lost the argument in the eyes of T.C. Mits*.
The world is ruled by what happens in the high school classroom (cf: “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”). In particular, if you haven’t so much as heard about Esperanto by the time you graduate from high school, the chance is only miniscule that you will take an interest in it if and when you do eventually hear about it.
*T.C. Mits = The Celebrated Man in the Street
Here’s the link to the Wikipedia article on T.C. Mits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.C._Mits
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
10.Feb.2011
February 9, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
The reply I've gotten, ...
...mostly from folks who only travel with tour groups, is that you can get along fine speaking English, or that Esperanto is like reinventing the wheel, since English is the international language. My problem is likely that I don't travel abroad, so I can't be a true witness to it's effectiveness. I just happen to like it.
(I also spend those golden dollar coins...)
February 8, 2011 by NJ_Esperantist, 2 years 14 weeks ago
direct personal benefits
I find the "but English is already the international language" argument can indeed get tedious and go in circles. So I don't dwell on that. Indeed it's certainly true that for simple tourist purposes, English works - you're more likely to meet a random taxi driver who speaks some English than some Esperanto. And preaching finvenkisme that Esperanto somehow "should" be everyone's second language automatically raises resistance.
Rather, I simply mention the personal benefits and enjoyment I've gained thanks to Esperanto. The goal is not simply international tourism - by that kind of argument, there's no reason to learn ANY language if you are satisfied speaking broken English around the world.
For me the initial pleasure with Esperanto was that it's SO much easier to learn than national languages, and the experience of finally becoming fluent in a second language was worth it alone for me. Being able to fluently think and speak and read in 2 languages is very beneficial in its own right, and for a monolingual person, Esperanto is a much faster way to reach that goal.
Add to that the fact that a large enough number of people speak Esperanto that I have met many people and made many friends from many countries (including my SO whose native language is Polish, not English) in Esperanto, and that the culture, history and literature of Esperanto are fascinating and fun in their own right.
The fact that it would be a good and much fairer international auxiliary language is just frosting on the cake. :)
I.e. if some magic genie made everyone in the world suddenly fluent in English, I wouldn't stop using Esperanto and stop reading Esperanto literature and stop meeting friends at Esperanto events. The language is worthy and enjoyable in its own right. It's not just some alternative to English.
February 8, 2011 by russ, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Yes, right-on. I applaud the
Yes, right-on. I applaud the focus on what you call “direct personal benefits”, which I refer to more abstractly as “unilateral use” (and which we can refer to more informally as “immediate use”). I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that all inventions that succeed do so because of unilateral use available from jump street. This is seen emphatically in the case of munitions of war. The best weapons are those that are secret, that is, that can be used unilaterally.
Documenting existing literature is something that can be done unilaterally in Esperanto. In particular, the ethnic languages themselves ought to be extensively documented in Esperanto. That is, there ought to be extensive Esperanto-language documentation of English, and of French, and of German, and of Russian, and of Chinese, and so on, and so on. Noting, in Esperanto, errors (and tricky turns of phrase) in the works of others is another immediate application of Esperanto.
Regarding unilateral use of Esperanto, one could go on and on, but I’ll stop here for now, as I want to, uh, go on to the scenario you raised of a putative world in which everyone spoke English fluently, because this connects with something I always bring up when I am teaching a pure ESL course (as opposed to an English-based content course, such as mathematics), namely, that even if everyone in the world spoke English, and spoke it fluently, there would still be a need for at least one other language, because every ethnic language is like a blanket with holes in it. Keeping warm is no problem: You simply put on two blankets. They both have holes, but the holes are in different places, so you get a good cover. Traditionally it is French that is used for covering the holes in English. For example, the plural of the word “mister” (as in “Mr. Smith”, not in the sense of the water spraying device used in the produce section of the grocery store) does not exist in English, so we simply use the French word for this: “messieurs”. So, here is another sense of “auxiliary language”, namely, a language that serves the hole-filling function for whatever ethnic language currently enjoys hegemony. Esperanto could serve in this capacity better than any ethnic language and this ties back to the idea of using Esperanto as a meta language for English.
Regards,
Mike Jones
Beijing
9.Feb.2011
February 8, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Responses to Esperanto
Most native-born U.S. residents don't actively or consciously think about language. The fact is, you can live your entire life in the U.S. without having to deal with language issues (well, maybe other than calling tech support for various companies). Those people who do think about language rarely perceive that there's a "problem", hence there's no need to think about any possible "solutions".
Another factor is that very few U.S. English speakers have studied a second language to the level of fluency. Many have perhaps taken high school language courses, or a few semesters of college language, but have no idea what is involved in reaching a functional level of language mastery. If someone doesn't really know how difficult it is to become fluent in Spanish or German or Russian or Language X, they're not going to appreciate the fact that Esperanto is "easier". They're more likely to say "I got a B in my 2 semesters of college Spanish without any trouble." The fact that they can't say "Excuse me, where is the bathroom?" in Spanish isn't likely to seem relevant.
So in my normal daily life I generally don't discuss these issues, even though I'm a language professional (ASL interpreter). If you don't share a common starting point with someone, it's hard to discuss something as abstract as a "neutral common international language", especially if the main concern on people's minds is how much snow we've had and what a lousy job the city is doing plowing the streets . . .
When I do discuss Esperanto with someone, I present it as a personal interest/hobby. It's an interest that leads to contact with people from other cultures/languages, it gives me access to information and literature, and it has yielded really strong and significant friendships. I don't talk about "the world language problem", although I might talk about the difficulties of learning a second language.
LM
February 8, 2011 by Lee Miller, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Snow Plow Problem
If the main concern on someone’s mind is how much snow you’ve had and what a lousy job the city is doing of plowing the streets, you could point out that, thanks to Esperanto, you know of a famous mathematics problem related to that, namely the Snow Plow Problem. The dialog might go something like this:
A. I’m sick and tired of all this snow, and fed up with what a lousy job the city is doing of plowing the streets.
B. I completely agree, but did you know that there is a famous mathematics problem related to snow plowing?
A. No, I didn’t.
B. [Taking this as an invitation to expound upon the problem] It goes like this: “It started snowing, at a constant rate, in the morning, and continued into the afternoon. At noon, a snow plow starts on a certain street, removing snow at a constant rate. During the first hour it travels 6 km, and during the second hour 3 km. When did it begin to snow?”
A. I don’t get it. How am I supposed to tell when it began to snow?
B. The information given is, in fact, sufficient for you to tell. That’s what makes this problem so famous – it’s counter-intuitive. It seems like you need more information, but in fact you don’t. It’s a famous problem in Calculus.
A. Well, if it’s such a famous problem, I should be able to find lots of discussion about it on the web, right?
B. Quite right. Just google for “Snow Plow Problem” and you’ll get lots of hits.
A. So, you took Calculus? Is that how you knew about this problem?
B. Actually, I never got past Algebra, but I saw this problem mentioned on the Esperanto-USA website.
A. So, you all discuss mathematics at the Esperanto-USA website?
B. Not especially. The only rule is that everything posted has to be in or about Esperanto. So, the topics are extremely varied. If you want to ride a hobby horse there, all you have to do is to write about it in Esperanto. One of our members wrote a veiled reference to this problem, in Esperanto, and then later, when no one guessed the allusion, explained the problem in detail.
Jen estas ligo al mia vualita meto de la problemo:
http://www.esperanto-usa.org/en/content/ne-originala-mikrorakonto-pri-fa...
La vualado konsistas el tio, ke mi anstataŭigis la vorton “neĝo” per “ĉielo”.
Afable,
Mike Jones
Beijing
9.Feb.2011
February 9, 2011 by Mike Jones, 2 years 14 weeks ago
Mi ile parolas :)
Mi ile parolas :)
February 7, 2011 by formiko, 2 years 15 weeks ago