Esperanto: european or asiatic language?

PREFACE

The national and local languages of the world are firmly linked to specific peoples and places. But the International Language Esperanto is identified with no particular nation or geographical area.

Nevertheless, scholars, particularly those who do not speak Esperanto, occasionally express doubts about this principle, which dates from the time of Zamenhof himself, who first created the language, “If Zamenhof really knew only European languages,” they ask, “how could he avoid building European grammatical and semantic principles into his language?” Even if a scientist feels obliged to caution that there are no purely European or purely Asiatic languages, and that semantic relations between words are primarily the result of the way a language is used by speakers and not of a priori definition, this perfectly serious question still merits a considered answer.

If in fact the language created by Zamenhof were shown to be linked exclusively to Europe, its claims to linguistic neutrality would obviously be compromised. One could then truthfully assert that, although it is easier than other languages now used in international relations and therefore deserves serious consideration as an international language, nevertheless it is not a neutral medium of communication among cultures.

But the scientific test of this question lies not in the historical limits of Zamenhof’s knowledge, or in superficial characteristics of the language, but in the actual experiences of learning the language in various parts of the world and in the fundamental structure of Esperanto itself. With respect to the first problem, there exists a general knowledge about the actual learnability of Esperanto, not only in contrast to other languages, but also in comparisons among students from various parts of the world and various language groups. But there are very few truly scientific and objective studies. Such studies are urgently needed.

The second question, as to whether Esperanto is a European language in any but the most superficial ways, is a matter which has long interested scholars, but has only recently received serious attention by people with a thorough knowledge both of Esperanto and of comparative linguistics. The present study, by one of our most distinguished linguists, Claude Piron (who feels at home not only in his native French, but also, for example, in Chinese), is a pioneer work in a field still barely explored. It is not, and is not intended to be, a polished study. It is an informal address presented in Geneva, on May 15, 1976, at a weekend meeting of Esperanto speakers. Fortunately we can include the study in the present series as a first step in the identification of the full internationality of Esperanto. We hope that it may also stimulate other competent researchers to enter this important field.