Re: Settling an Argument - Assembly *IS* a Language, Right?

Raymond S. Wise wrote:
Preserving the diversity of natural languages is *not* the paramount
idea of Esperanto.

Your own Prague Manifesto says it is. And the Manifesto has been
endorsed by UEA and most national associations, and signed by thousands
of individual Esperantists.

The paramount idea of Esperanto is that *humanity is
one huge family whose members should be able to communicate with each
other on an equal basis.*

That's exactly what Zamenhof and the early Esperantists believed, and
how Esperantists behave in practise. A glance at the history of the
movement will show that the "language diversity" advertising began only
in the late 1960s. And the same core activists who are claiming that
Esperanto protects language diversity are those who are most opposed to
Esperantists exchanging other languages. It's a bait-and-switch.

If Esperantists would simply admit that the "language diversity"
advertising is a fraud, and just start explaining to the public the
original goal, Esperanto everywhere, then I wouldn't be so vocal about
the movement. You all should stop the deception already.

I've believed since reading
Mario Pei's comments on the matter

I can't believe you're citing Mario Pei here in sci.lang.

People who share only the lingua franca as a common language will get
married and use only the lingua franca in the home.

Didn't happen with me and my significant other. When we met, our only
lingua franca was Esperanto. We immediately learned each other's native
languages and abandoned Esperanto. We see no reason to go back to
speaking an artificial language that only puts up a wall between our
respective cultures.

I've discussed such matters with other Esperantists, and I have come to
agree with them that one advantage which Esperanto has over a natural
language such as English used as a lingua franca is the point about
equality.

Two people are rarely equal in speech even if they share the same
language, because there are always subtle differences in register and
rhetoric skill. Preserving an colourful diversity of national languages
which makes life interesting is more important than seeking the
unreachable state of "equality". Sometimes Babel is good.

It is much more likely that a person can gain a
native-speaker fluency in Esperanto compared to a native speaker of the
language than it is for a person learning English as a second language
to gain a native-speaker fluency.

For people speaking European languages, sure.

Esperantists don't "condemn and ostracize people curious about other
fields, botany and mathematics for example."

No, but they do condemn and ostracize people interested in other
languages.

And the main allegiance of Esperantists is not, I contend, with the
language, but instead with the human family.

No, it's to the language. If you really had allegiance to the human
family, you'd be willing to learn the languages that are dear to the
hearts of your foreign friends.

Christopher Culver

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Eventuale vi emus iel reagi...
    ... "Fans of the Esperanto language are in Florence for their 91st World ... Why would artificiality be wrong? ... were told there were literary translations from over 60 languages. ...
    (soc.culture.esperanto)
  • Re: Settling an Argument - Assembly *IS* a Language, Right?
    ... Esperanto convention...be cultural exchange (which ... handy backup language"? ... English as a second language to gain a native-speaker ... mostly cannot achieve native-speaker fluency in Esperanto ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Settling an Argument - Assembly *IS* a Language, Right?
    ... Your own Prague Manifesto says it is. ... Esperanto protects language diversity are those who are most opposed to ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: unnatural languages
    ... Esperanto are not a new phenomenon. ... Esperanto-related creoloid variety) as their native language? ... You are entirely ignorant of Irish sociolinguistics, ... generations of Irish speakers by now. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: unnatural languages
    ... But I suppose the many international Esperanto conventions can be described as something similar -- and why not include the local conventions, there are foreigners all over the place anyway. ... For instance you could hardly shift over to a different language unconsciously; but there's no specific difference between that and maintaining your language under the same name, ... if idiolects of a natlang like English can remain mutually ... Where you'd expect something like that to be described: in dictionaries. ...
    (sci.lang)
Loading