Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof

“ I simplified the grammar to the utmost, and while, on the one hand, I carried out my object in the spirit of the existing modern languages, in order to make the study as free from difficulties as possible, on the other hand I did not deprive it of clearness, exactness, and flexibility. My whole grammar can be learned perfectly in one hour. The immense alleviation given to the study of a language, by such a grammar, must be self-evident to everyone. ”

“ I need scarcely point out that a lexicon of a modern language is usually a tome of a certain bulk, and the search for any number of words one by one is in itself a most laborious undertaking, not to speak of the different significations attaching to the same word amongst which there is but a bare possibility of the student selecting the right one. The international vocabulary, owing to the highly synthetic structure of the language is a mere leaflet, which one might carry in one’s note-book, or the waistcoat-pocket. ”

“ For even should the language never come into general use, it gives to every one who has learned it, the possibility of being understood by foreigners, if only they be able to read and write. But my tongue has yet another object; not content with internationality, it aims at universality, and aspires to being spoken by the majority of educated people. To count on the aid of the public in a scheme of this nature would indeed be to build on a tottering—nay, rather, an imaginary— foundation. ”

“ Some forms which had appeared to possess a wealth of advantage proved in practice to be nothing but useless ballast, and on this account I discarded several unnecessary suffixes.
In 1878 it seemed to me that it was sufficient if my language possessed a grammar and a dictionary; its heaviness and want of grace I attributed only to the fact that I did not know the language sufficiently well; but practice ever more and more convinced me that a language requires in addition an indescribable something, a uniting element, giving to it life and a defined and unmistakable spirit. ”

“ I now confide to the kindly disposed public this labor that has cost me so much thought, time and trouble, in the hope that every one to whom the welfare of humanity is dear, will afford to my project every possible assistance. Each one can tell, according to his surroundings, in what way he can be useful; I only must insist on the utmost utility of a full vote being obtained. Let every one do what he can, and before long we shall have arrived at the idea so long the vision of the learned–a language common to the whole human race. ”

“ It is no easy task to invent an international language, but it is a still less easy one to persuade the public to make use of it. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that every possible effort be made for its furtherance. When the form of the language has been decided, and the language itself has come into general use, a special academy can introduce, — gradually and imperceptibly, — all necessary changes, even should the result be a total alteration of the form of the language. ”

“ And so a scheme, which had it but been able to number some thousands of adepts before its appearance in public, would have been enthusiastically hailed, came into the world an utter fiasco. If the “Volapük”, one of the latest attempts at a universal tongue, has indeed its adepts, it owes its popularity solely to the idea of its being a “universal language”, and that idea has in itself something so attractive and sublime, that true enthusiasts, leaders in every new discovery, are ready to devote their time, in the hope that they may, perchance, win the cause. ”

“ This fortuitous circumstance determined the direction of my future ambitions, for the inhabitants of Bielstock are of four different nationalities--Russians, Poles, Germans, and Jews--each of which speaks a separate language, and is on bad terms with the others. There, more than anywhere else, an impressionable nature feels the heavy misfortune of diversity of tongues. One is convinced at every step that the diversity of language is the only, or at least the chief, cause which separates the human family and divides it into inimical sections. ”

“ But, if there were in existence an International Language, all translations could be made into it, and even works written therein, which would possess, ipso facto, an international character. The impassable wall that separates literatures and peoples would at once crumble into the dust, and all that was written by another nation would be as acceptable as if in our own mother tongue; reading would prove common to all, and with it would advance education, ideals, convictions, tendencies–the whole world would be as one family. ”

“ Nothing actually prevents people from inducing their friends and acquaintances to sign a promise in any cause, yet how few, as a fact, ever do sign anything, be the object ever so important and advantageous to mankind. More especially, when, as in the present instance, the act of signing, while contributing to the realisation of a sublime ideal, at the same time requires no moral nor material sacrifice, can one see no very clear grounds for a refusal.
Doubtless, no one has anything to say, in general, against the introduction of an international language ”

“ To find some means of overcoming the natural indifference of mankind, and disposing them, in the quickest manner possible, and en masse, to learn and use the proposed language as a living one, and not only in last extremities, and with the key at hand.
Amongst the numberless projects submitted at various times to the public, often under the high-sounding but unaccountable name of “universal languages”, no has solved at once more than one of the above-mentioned problems, and even that but partially. ”

“ I knew that everyone would say 'Your language will be of no use to me until the world at large accepts it, so I shall make no use of it until everyone else does.' But since the world at large is composed only of its units, my neutral language could have no future until it was of use to each separate unit independently of whether the world at large accepted it or not. ”

“ I will only direct the attention of all friends of the international languge, to that most important object, towards which all eyes must be turned, the success of the voting. Let each do what he can, and in a short time we shall have, that which men have been dreaming of so long—“A Universal Tongue”. ”

“ By the help of these rules, and others, which will be found in the grammar, the language is rendered so exceedingly simple that the whole labour in learning consists in committing to memory some 900 words—which number includes all the grammatical inflexions, prefixes, etc. With the assistance of the rules given in the grammar, any one of ordinary intellectual capacity, may form for himself all the words, expressions, and idioms in ordinary use. Even these 900 words, as will be shown directly, are so chosen that the learning them offers no difficulty to a well-educated person. ”

“ Indeed, under the circumstances, to refuse would not be simply a mere negligence–it would be to commit a real sin against humanity itself, and an intentional hindrance to the development of this lofty ideal. But I hope that, for the honor of mankind, very few people can be found, who, for petty and insufficient reasons, would block the road to an invention so pregnant with fateful results to the entire globe.
If objections exist to the mould in which I have cast the International Language, I trust that I shall be fully apprised of them ”

“ Since the explanation of the whole grammatical structure of the language is comprised in a few lines,—as a glance at the grammar will show,—the finding of the required terminations occupies no longer time than the turning up a word in the dictionary.
I would now direct the attention of my readers to another matter, at first sight a trifling one, but, in truth, of immense importance. Everyone knows the impossibility of communicating intelligibly with a foreigner, by the aid of even the best of dictionaries, if one have no previous acquaintance with the language. ”

“ In the International Language you can be understood by every one you meet, not only if it be unfamiliar to him, but even if he had never previously heard of its existence. A book written in it can be read by any one without the least preliminary preparation, and without even having read any preface to explain how the vocabulary is to be used; indeed, any person of ordinary education, can read the language at first sight, without even needing a dictionary. ”

“ How much time, labour, and money are wasted in translating the literary productions of one nation into the language of another, and yet, if we rely on translations alone, we can become acquainted with but a tithe of foreign literature. ”

“ For my own part, I am naturally wishful that the whole of mankind should take up my language, but I had rather be prepared for the worst, than form too sanguine anticipations. I suppose therefore, that, just at first, very few will consider my language worth the learning, so far as practical usefulness is concerned, and for abstract principles no one will loose even a single hour. ”

“ This mere act of signing demands no effort, calls for no sacrifice, and binds to nothing in case the undertaking should fail; nothing, except to learn the language when ten millions of others have learnt it. This is very clearly no sacrifice, but only a very simple action, accelerating the fulfillment of the idea every signature gained is a step towards the realization of one of the highest dreams of humanity, without the slightest discomfort on the part of those who make the promise. ”

“ I suppose that at first but very few persons will find so marked an advantage from the acquisition of this language that they will be willing to waste over it even one hour of their time; that the great bulk of my readers will give little or no attention to my work, and not readily make up their minds to enter upon its study; some may think it will not pay them for their trouble, others may fear to be considered as “visionaries”–a reproach that, in our days, most people look on as being a disgrace, and of which, more than anything else, they stand in dread. ”

“ Obliged to economize our leisure in order to pursue perforce the study of several languages, we are not in position to dedicate a sufficient amount of it to any one tongue, so that while on the one side it is rare to know perfectly even one’s native language, so, on the other, no speech can he brought to perfection as it should be. ”

“ Even if one could conceive of a grammar of the utmost simplicity, with an unchangeable signification for each and every word, yet it would certainly be the case that for the person to whom you speak or write, to comprehend your meaning, by the aid of a dictionary, he must have a preliminary knowledge of the grammar of the language and be sufficiently versed in its mode of conveying thought, to be able to distinguish the root words from those altered by grammatical forms. ”

“ Any person who has had the fortune to reside in a town in which he meets citizens of nations often hostile to each other, can easily understand and appreciate the enormous service that could be rendered by an International Language, one that, without entering at all into the inner life of these peoples, could, at least, be made serviceable for usual every-day affairs, in a land inhabited by diverse nationalities, where the official language differs from that of the race over which it bears sway. ”

“ To find a desired word we must know its root, yet in speech and writing almost every word is subject to a grammatical change, after which it has undergone so much variation from its original form that it recalls little or nothing of its pristine condition; often to roots are joined prefixes and suffixes, changing their appearance and signification, so that without a previous knowledge of the language none of those words as they stand can be found in the dictionary, and if found, will either an to give an exact rendering of the phrase, or else an erroneous one. ”

“ I have no intention of analyzing all the attempts hitherto made towards the creation of an Universal Language, but shall content myself with calling the reader’s attention to the fact that all these authors have striven to create a system of signs wherewith briefly to communicate thought in case of necessity, or have limited themselves to a natural simplification of grammar, or to exchanging words that now exist in living languages by others made up for the occasion, or taken by chance. ”

“ For many years have I pondered over the question of an International Language, but not believing myself to he more capable nor more energetic than my predecesors, whose works had borne no results, for a long time I contented myself with making the matter a subject for my constant reflections. ”

“ I say this because I know that the tendency of mankind is to undervalue things that seem simple and easy, and to set store on those whose acquirement has been to them difficult and laborious. Such persons, on seeing so small a work, of such extreme simplicity, on so great a subject, easily comprehended by the whole world, may be inclined to pass it over with contempt or indifference ”