Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ I have proved that its success in no wise depends upon the interest that society at large may take in it; that it can with justice be called an International Language, even if no one cares to hear it spoken of; that, in fact, it gives to every one who learns it the possibility of being understood by any stranger, of whatever nationality, provided he can read and write. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ If our looks could penetrate into the souls of these lukewarm persons, no doubt we should behold the following: that while on general principles there is no one opposed to the introduction of an International Language, but, on the contrary, would be greatly pleased with it, yet each one wants this great change to be effected without the least inconvenience or sacrifice on his part ”

“ The vast majority of people do not bother about such things, and those who do take any interest do not think it worth their while to learn a language which no one understands except its inventor. “As soon as the whole world, or perhaps some millions of people, take it in hand to learn, why, then, I’ll do the same.” ”

“ This is the reason why we are so often obliged to appropriate, from foreign sources, words and phrases; if we do not, we run the risk of expressing ourselves inexactly, and even of thinking incorrectly; the relative poverty of each and every language must be taken into account, from which are alien missing the richness and volume desired to be employed in one or another manner. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Desiring to write to a Spaniard at Madrid, but not knowing his language, and he being ignorant of yours, you can risk using the International Language, whether it be familiar to him or not, or even if it be totally unheard of; you can do so with the certainty that he cannot possibly fail to comprehend you. The complete dictionary of the words necessary for every-day life, thanks to the method of construction of my language, can be comprised on a small sheet of paper, which can be readily slipped into an ordinary envelope ”

“ It is an evident matter that no one can make himself understood in a foreign language (which he has never studied) even with the help of the very best dictionary; to use a dictionary we must know more or less of the language. ”

“ For this reason, appealing to so limited a class, the language finds no adherents, and dies at the hour of its birth. If; notwithstanding these difficulties, a language, say, for example, like Volapük, has obtained a certain number of adherents, it is only because the notion of a universal language is so attractive and so elevating, that it finds always enthusiasts, who, not considering the probability of success, are willing to sacrifice their time in order to contribute towards the realization of so lofty an ideal. ”

“ Means must be found to overcome the indifference of the bulk of mankind, and to cause the masses to make use of the language offered as a living tongue and not solely to be used with the aid of a dictionary. ”

“ How much time, trouble and money are wasted in the translation of the literary work of a nation, and yet how small a portion of its literature has ever been so reproduced or will be, even more or less unfaithfully. ”

“ What advantage could be derived from such a language would depend upon the number of people conversant with it, and if there were none, its utility would be represented by Zero. For example, if you are in a railway carriage and you want to find out from your neighbor, “How long shall we remain at N?” it seems unnatural to ask him, in order to comprehend you, that he must learn the grammar of your language. ”

“ All these attempts are based upon the pleasure that their appearance is likely to cause to the world and upon the unanimous sanction upon which they unhesitatingly rely; but this unanimous sanction is the most difficult of all things to acquire when we take into consideration the utter indifference of the world at large towards these productions of the pen; attempts that do not carry with them any return of profit, immediate and palpable, and which reckon solely upon one’s good will to waste one's time for the benefit of the public. ”

“ Future ends in ont: far-ont-a, he who shall do.
(b) Passive form.
(10) Present ends in at-a: far-at-a, that which is done.
(11) Past ends in it-a: far-it-a, that which has been done.
(12) Future ends in ot-a: far-ot-a, that which shall be done.
The passive forms of the verb are composed of the verb “to be” (“est”) and the present passive participle, followed by the preposition “de;” thus, li est-as am-at-a de chiu-j, he is loved by all.
7. Adverbs terminate in “e” and are compared with “pli” and “plej,” the same as adjectives. ”

“ But the number of such students must be always limited, for the world, cold and indifferent, will not give up its leisure solely to be understood by a mere handful of people, and this last attempt, like all that have gone before it, is destined to disappear after a time, leaving no fruits behind. ”

“ This I do by means of prefixes and suffixes, by whose aid, at will, infinite new words can be created, thus doing away with the necessity of learning each word by itself. For convenience’ sake I have given these prefixes and suffixes the signification of independent words, and as such have inserted them in my vocabulary.
Example No. 1.–The prefix “mal” signifies the reverse of the word to which it is attached; for example, if we know that “bona” means good, it follows that “malbona” means bad; so one word instead of two will express the two ideas of goodness and badness ”

“ Every preposition has a determinate and fixed signification, but where it is needed in a phrase where a choice is not definitely indicated, the preposition “je,” having no set meaning is to be employed ”

“ When we meet, instead of being able to draw instruction from the mutual interchange and comparison of opinions on political and social questions, matured after a long succession of ancestors in their modern homes, as soon as we open our months the first sound we utter shows that we are strangers, the one to the other. ”

“ Esperanto uses for the letters ch, gh, kh, jh and sh, the letters c, g, h, j, s, in usual type, surmounted by a circumflex accent, which, as no such letters are in a printer’s usual stock, we have replaced as above. ”

“ Kaj Di-o dir-is: est-u lum-o; kaj far-igh-is lum-o. Kaj Di-o vid-is la lum-o-n, ke ghi est-is bon-a, kaj nom-is Di-o la lum-o-n tago, kaj la mal-lum-o-n Li nom-is nokt-o. Kaj est-is vesper-o, kaj est-is maten-o–unu tag-o. Kaj Di-o dir-is: est-u firm-ajh-o inter la akv-o, kaj ghi apart-ig-u akv-o-n deakv-o. Kaj Di-o kre-is la firm-ajh-o-n kaj apart-ig-is la akv-o-n kiu est-as sub la firm-ajh-o de la akv-o kiu est-as super la firm-ajh-o; kaj far-igh-is tiel. Kaj Di-o nomis la firm-ajh-o-n chiel-o. Kaj est-is vesper-o, kaj est-is maten-o–la du-a tag-o. ”

“ Patr-o ni-a, kiu est-as en la chiel-o, sankt-a est-u Vi-a nom-o, ven-u regh-ec-o Vi-a, est-u vol-o Vi-a, kiel en la chiel-o tiel ankaŭ sur la ter-o. Pan-o-n ni-a-n chiu-tag-a-n don-u al nihodiaŭ kaj pardon-u al ni shuld-o-j-n ni-aj-n kiel ni ankaŭ pardon-as al ni-a-j shuld-ant-o-j; ne kon-duk-u ni-n en tent-o-n, sed liber-ig-u ni-n de la mal-ver-a char Vi-a est-as la reg-ad-o, la fort-o kaj la glor-o etern-e. Amen! ”

“ Mi leg-is antaŭ kelk-a-j tag-o-j libr-et-o-n sub la nom-o “Lingv-o inter-naci-a.” La aŭtor-o kred-ig-as, ke per tiu lingv-o oni pov-as est-i kompren-at’a de la tut-a mond-o-se ech la adres-it-o ne sol-e ne sci-as la lingv-o-n, sed ech ankaŭ ne aŭd-is pri ghi; oni dev-as sol-e al-don-i al la leter-o mal-grand-a-n foli-et-o-n nom-at-a-n “vort-ar-o.” ”