Esperanto is a language of planned (artificial) origin, which is constantly developing and evolving, just like ethnic languages. The rules of the language and the core of the vocabulary were created by Ludwik Zamenhof, a physician from Warsaw, and published in Warsaw in 1887, first in Russian, and then in the same year also in Polish, French and German under the name of the International Language.
The language later came to be called Esperanto, after the pseudonym of its creator Doktoro Esperanto (Doctor of Hope).
Quite quickly, the new language found people willing to learn and began to spread throughout Europe. Translations of literature from various languages into Esperanto, Esperanto literature, dictionaries and textbooks were produced.
Typologically, Esperanto could be classified as an Indo-European language in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, alphabet, spelling and grammatical rules, and is therefore also culturally Europocentric.
Considering and classifying people who are somehow connected with Esperanto and its users requires the introduction of several distinctions, i.a, according to the criteria of the degree of mastery of the language, the intensity of use and contacts, and the motives for involvement.
For the purposes of this article, I introduce the following terms and their definitions.
Terms concerning the criterion of the degree of mastery (aquisition) of the language
Esperantophone, an Esperanto speaker – a person who is able to use Esperanto quite fluently, e.g. at B1+/B2 level (this is generally the minimum level expected of secondary school graduates in Europe concerning the first foreign language).
From this definition, follows i.a. that a learner who has not yet mastered the language to this degree is not an Esperantophone.
This group includes people who have spoken Esperanto since childhood, often as their first language, or bilingual/multilingual children, colloquially referred to in Esperanto as denaska esperantisto (Esperantist from birth). He is a native speaker of Esperanto.
Compulsory learner of Esperanto – a person who learns Esperanto by compulsion before reaching the level of Esperantophone. E.g. by choosing Esperanto as a second foreign language at school/university or by taking part in a language experiment with learning Esperanto. It is a relatively small group.
Voluntary learner of Esperanto – a person who learns Esperanto out of curiosity, without obligation, before reaching the level of Esperantophone. For example, by attending full time or remote courses, or as a self-taught student. This is the largest group of people who come into contact with Esperanto.
Significantly, the proportion of people learning Esperanto obligatorily and voluntarily is completely opposite to that of learning ethnic language as a foreign language.
Concerning social, cultural and psychological criteria
Esperanto circles – is a term used to refer to people who are in any way connected with Esperanto or pro-Esperanto activities. These people may be socially connected to each other in a loose or temporarily more permanent way, or they may not have any contact with each other at all. It is a concept with the widest range of people.
The Esperanto community – is a category of a social group whose essence is the existence of a social bond that unites them and gives them a sense of common belonging. In this case, it is a group of people who are connected with Esperanto and therefore practice social contacts in Esperanto or joint pro-Esperanto activities (these people are not necessarily Esperantophones).
The Esperanto movement – is a category of social movement, i.e. social activities that do not fit into the existing institutional framework aimed at bringing about some kind of change in society. In this case, the aim is at least to disseminate Esperanto in non-Esperanto (external) circles. Esperanto movements have been and are diverse depending on their political and social beliefs (e.g. declaratively apolitical, workers’ movements, Catholic movements, others religious or quasi-religious, Marxist, ideologically neutral).
Over the years, the Esperanto movement has created an Esperanto community that exists objectively in itself, regardless of whether the movement has achieved its original goals to any extent or not. The Esperanto community is, in a sociological sense, the carrier and therefore the spore of the Esperanto language and culture.
Esperantist
The concept of Esperantist needs to be clarified because of the different meanings and connotations ascribed to it, both within and outside the Esperanto community.
Within Esperanto circles and the Esperanto community, there are, among others, the following conceptual nuances to be distinguished:
Esperantist in the broad sense – is generally a person who is in any way connected with Esperanto. In this view, neither the level of language proficiency, nor the degree of involvement or social bond, nor the motivations of the person are important.
Esperantist in the narrow sense – is a person who is actively involved in a given period of life (even episodically) in improving or consolidating the knowledge of the language and/or promoting the language of Esperanto through participation in the life of Esperanto communities. In this view, the level of knowledge of the language (i.e. the fact of being an Esperantophone or not) is not important.
A true Esperantist (esp. vera esperantisto – term internally used in the Esperanto community) – isa person who shares the current dominant goals of the Esperanto movement and the related beliefs about the importance of Esperanto for humanity, and is committed to promoting them. It should be an Esperantophone.
It is worth noting here that according to the rules of Esperanto word formation, the word Esperantist itself should mean a person professionally engaged in Esperanto (analogously: anglisto – English teacher, frizisto – hairdresser) or a follower of a certain ideology (e.g. marksisto – Marxist, socjalisto – socialist ). However, this concept did not acquire such a meaning. Esperantano (a follower of Esperanto) would be more appropriate, for example, but it did not catch on in the use.
In the world outside Esperanto circles and communities, connotations related to the perception of the activity of Esperanto circles play a significant role. They are often burdened with a pejorative charge. From this perspective, it makes more sense to use the plural:
Esperantists by linguistic criterion – Esperanto speakers. Perception similar in meaning to the above-mentioned Esperantophones. The connotation is neutral or positive (interesting).
Esperantists according to the criterion of commitment – people who are active in promoting Esperanto. The perception is similar in meaning to the above-mentioned Esperantists in the narrow sense. The connotation is generally neutral, but sometimes pejorative.
Esperantists according to the quasi-ideological criterion – people who actively work for the top-down introduction of Esperanto for ideological reasons, often acting in a proselytizing and imposing way. The perception is somewhat similar in meaning to the true Esperantists mentioned above. The connotation in the outside world is decidedly pejorative, repulsive.
Since the very attitude towards Esperanto in non-Esperanto circles is a derivative of the way in which Esperantists are perceived as bearers of it, in the case of a quasi-ideological perception of these environments, the pejorative attitude towards them is also transferred to Esperanto as a language itself. This is particularly evident in academic circles, which have a negative attitude towards this category of Esperantists, who are considered to be freaks, people detached from reality, fanatical. In order to prevent such a perception, it is symptomatic that, for example, the word “Esperanto” is not used to describe a language, but instead “Internacia Lingvo” (an international language – as originally by Zamenhof, its creator), abbreviated ILo (Esperanto for “tool”) by scientists from AIS (International Academy of Sciences) who use Esperanto in articles, theses, conferences, etc.
Characteristics of the Esperanto community in terms of attitudes and motivations
The attitudes and motivations of the individuals, groups, and institutions that make up the global Esperanto community are diverse. Due to the dominant attitudes and motivations in this area, the following main trends can be distinguished (based on professed paradigms, not necessarily conscious):
Imposers (esp. desupristoj) – is a trend that believes in the unique role of Esperanto in cross-ethnic communication and therefore strives for the top-down introduction of Esperanto by international institutions/authorities (e.g. UNESCO, UN, Parliament of the European Union) or national institutions (governments, ministries, national parliaments) as the primary foreign language for global communication. Desuprism has been the dominant paradigm for decades, especially among Esperanto activists. Initial slogans that have lasted since the dawn of Esperanto were, for example, the slogans fina venko (final victory), dua lingvo por ĉiuj (a second language for everyone), or the need to oppose the English language (English as the enemy of Esperanto) aimed at the top-down introduction of Esperanto as the first foreign language for everyone. The conglomerate of such beliefs is referred to as the so-called pre-goals (primaries) of the Esperanto movement.
At present, the importance of pre-goals and desuprism in Esperanto circles is decreasing. This is undoubtedly due to the lack of success in these treatments. A gradual, narrowing evolution of the goals set by desupprism and its proponents is observed. At the end of the 20th century, the lack of success of this approach led the imposers, for example, first to promote theses about linguistic imperialism (i.e. the imposition of English, French or Russian by the superpowers), and then the concept of thrilingualism, i.e. the knowledge of everyone’s mother tongue, Esperanto, which is introduced from above and compulsorily, and English or another foreign language depending on the region. In favour of this type of solutions, apart from the fact that Esperanto is a language easier to learn than ethnic languages (which is undeniable), there is a belief called interna ideo (internal idea) in Esperanto circles. This is a rather vague concept – it is supposed to mean that the introduction of the universality of Esperanto will automatically imply the alleviation of conflicts between nations. As can be seen – for the sake of comparison – the prevalence of Latin in the upper classes in medieval Europe did not bring peace between nations, even though Latin, like Esperanto now, was not the language of everyday life in any country at that time, and therefore neutral in this sense.
Tool-users (esp. rimedanoj) – is a trend that assumes that Esperanto can be a good, though not the only tool, to achieve the goals of a given group that requires knowledge of a foreign language. Tool-users are not interested in the slogan fina venko or the slogans of a second or third language for everyone. The essence of this approach is that there are people in different countries who know Esperanto, and therefore: 1) you can reach them in that language with your message, or 2) by learning Esperanto by an individual adds valuable values to such a person.
Activities based on the first of the above-mentioned assumptions may be political propaganda activities financed or co-financed by state institutions, e.g.: Esperanto magazines full of more or less subtle propaganda with ideological overtones, such as the periodicals of Esperanto unions/associations in the former socialist countries, (especially der Esperantist in the former GDR, El Popola Ĉinio in China, the PACO magazine published in several socialist countries), the Esperanto radio station of the Polish Radio, pamphlets and propaganda books.
A completely different tool-type approach are activities based on the second of the above-mentioned assumptions. They are devoid of elements of indoctrination and the use of Esperanto as a means of communication for other purposes. They are focused on bringing the offered values to their recipients, they are devoid of ideological threads, both political and imposing (desupristic), e.g. enabling contacts and trips abroad for students and young people (among others in Poland by PSEK – National Committee of Student Scientific Circles, in Germany by GEJ – Germana Esperanto Junularo), development of university science clubs (e.g. in Poland and Hungary), interlinguistic and/or Esperanto studies at universities (e.g. Budapest, Poznań), organizing holiday camps with learning Esperanto, International Academy of Sciences with its the university based in San Marino. Another theme is the Esperanto courses at the universities of the 3rd age or for young people with disabilities aimed at the development of neuronal cells in the brain.
A good example of this trend is learning Esperanto as a second foreign language in order to pass an exam in it or to write a thesis in case it is necessary to carry out this task in 2 foreign languages, e.g. quite common in secondary education in Hungary in the 70-80s of the last century. Learners chose Esperanto taught at school because it was relatively quick and easier to reach a good level of competence.
Raumists (esp. raŭmanoj) – is an identity trend based on the existence of global and local Esperanto communities as they have emerged over many decades on the basis of the Esperanto language and the values they bring to their members here and now.
The name comes from the city of Rauma in Finland, where in 1980, during the congress of TEJO (World Organization of Esperanto Youth), a manifesto was formulated, which rejects the topicality and meaningfulness of the above-mentioned pre-goals, and instead bases the identity of the members of the Esperanto community on what it actually is, i.e. understood as a kind of voluntarily chosen linguistic minority with its own values relevant and valuable to them. From the sociological point of view, it is a secondary affiliation, since each of its participants is immersed first of all in his primary community, in which he leads his daily life (education, earning a living, etc.).
The raumic trend is intertwined with the second type of the above-mentioned tool-users trend. It is now becoming predominantly practiced and accepted in Esperanto circles, although not necessarily consciously recognized.
Loners (esp. izoluloj) – esperantophones, who know Esperanto quite well, but who are not associated with Esperanto communities at all or very occasionally. Among them there are also people who are creative in Esperanto, scientists, readers of the Esperanto press who are not currently interested in participating more actively in the life of Esperanto communities. Nevertheless, this collectivity can be attributed to the above-defined broadly understood Esperanto circles.
As you can see, there are Esperantophones who do not qualify as Esperantists (in the narrow sence): they do not act, they do not actively participate in the life of Esperanto communities, their contact with the language may be sporadic. On the other hand, there are people who, despite their commitment, have not learned the language enough to be able to use it at the level of Esperantophone.
The number of Esperantophones and Esperantists in the world or in individual countries is difficult to estimate. There are no reliable statistics in this regard. This is understandable, e.g. many Esperantophones are not registered anywhere, they have no need for it, and besides, they may be completely inactive in Esperanto communities (i.e. despite even an episodic appearance in the past, they are invisible in the period under consideration).
The usefulness of learning Esperanto
Advantages and development usefulness
According to scientific research in the field of neurocognitive science, learning a new foreign language has a positive effect on the development of the network of neurons in the brain, much more than improving an already learned foreign language. This is important in the development of children and adolescents and in inhibiting the processes of neuronal cell degeneration in elderly people of retirement age. Learning Esperanto is particularly beneficial in these processes, because the language is devoid of grammatical exceptions, has simple inflection, flexible sentence structure, and allows the speaker to creatively create ad hoc words that will be understandable to the speaker, even though he or she has not heard them before. These features accelerate and diversify the processes of brain development by eliminating the student’s concentration on unproductive exceptions and all kinds of educational complexities of ethnic languages. All that ballast falls away.
In this context, it is worth noting two proven directions of application of Esperanto in the teaching of children and adolescents.
One of them is the propaedeutic value of learning Esperanto as a vestibule for learning other foreign languages. Experience shows that children’s school-based learning of Esperanto as their first foreign language (i.e. 1-2 lessons per week for 1-2 years) has significant accelerating effects after the transition to learning an Indo-European foreign language.
The second is the acceleration value of learning Esperanto, i.e. accelerating and strengthening the effects of teaching another (compulsory) foreign language in parallel with Esperanto. Learning Esperanto is considered a so-called multilingual accelerator. In both of these cases, we are dealing with an increase in the linguistic awareness of the learner, and in an implicit way, i.e. without requiring learning the grammatical rules of a given language. A student’s deepened language awareness also has a positive effect on mastering the language of school (usually the mother tongue).
Another advantage in both cases is satisfaction with the student’s own progress and building confidence in their own language abilities. Significantly, this is particularly evident in students with lower or reduced intellectual potential.
Communicative values and usefulness
What all the attitudes of Esperanto circles have in common is the conviction that Esperanto, as a communicative language that is able to communicate and much easier to learn in relation to other Indo-European languages, is a kind of facilitator in supra-ethnic contacts, and that its social usefulness depends directly on the possibility of reaching other people who can use it in this type of contacts.
One of the characteristics of Esperanto communities is the extinction of the significance of ethnicity regarding the origin of the interlocutors as a conflict-generating factor. In these environments, differences in the ethnicity of the interlocutors are not a factor that discriminates or gives them a privileged position (such as, for example, being English in English-speaking contacts with other Europeans), and this diversity is even affirmed. This can be described as the ethnic indifferenticity (neutrality) of Esperanto circles. In contrast, Esperanto itself is not ethnically neutral, as it is deeply embedded in the languages and cultures of the major European language families (Romance, Germanic and Slavic). These two distinctions should not be confused.
It is also worth distinguishing between the social and individual usefulness of mastering a foreign language. The former may be measured by the mass of opportunities for contacts in a given foreign language at the supra-ethnic level, while the latter by the possibility of selecting interlocutors for one’s own individual needs. Foreign languages taught on a mass basis have a relatively high social communicative utility after their good mastery, languages that are learned rarely have a low social utility measured in this way, but they can have a high individual utility (in real terms, often higher than those taught on a mass basis), depending on the network of easily accessible deeper individual contacts: in the case of Esperanto, ethnically unlimited, and in the case of ethnic languages, limited only to the linguistic and cultural ethnicity of the interlocutor (e.g. knowledge of Hungarian for a Pole and vice versa does not go beyond these two ethnics).
Some other advantages of learning and assimilating Esperanto
In addition to the above-mentioned users, Esperanto users point to other advantages of learning it. For exemple, the cognitive pleasure of “browsing” Esperanto as a language or the social advantages of being in Esperanto environments: multilateral international contacts and friendships, passions, hobbies, leisure activities, professional development, facilities in visiting other countries with the help of locals who know Esperanto. There is also a fairly large number of multilingual couples who interact with each other and possibly with their children in Esperanto on a daily basis.
Esperanto culture
Esperanto communities have existed for more than 130 years. Like any permanently functioning community with a multi-generational history, it has developed its own specific culture. It is both a high culture based on language and a culture of everyday life.
Within high culture there are many spheres, e.g. originally Esperanto prose, poetry and songs, theatres and stage groups, radio broadcasts, films, publishing houses, the press. A good example of this is Literatura Foiro, a high-quality literary journal that has been published for more than 50 years.
As far as the culture of everyday life is concerned, it manifests itself primarily during Esperanto events such as congresses, festivals, seminars, educational stays, holidays. It includes the way of relating to others, Esperanto mythology, songs sung, identity symbolism (flag, anthem), etc.