Abstract
After almost one hundred years of continuous use, Esperanto has achieved the status and character of a fully-fledged language, functioning much as any other language does. Research on Esperanto is hampered because knowledge of the subject is often regarded, ipso facto, as evidence of a lack of objectivity, and also because Esperanto, as largely an L2, is elusive, and its speakers hard to quantify. The problem is compounded by the rapid shift in its community from membership-based organizations to decentralized, informal web-based communication. Also shifting are the community's ideological underpinnings: it began as a response to lack of communication across languages but is now often perceived by its users as an alternative, more equitable means of communication than the increasingly ubiquitous English. Underlying these changes is a flourishing cultural base, including an extensive literature and periodical press. There is a need for more research - linguistic, sociolinguistic, and in the history of ideas. In intellectual history, Esperanto and related ideas have played a larger role than is generally recognized, intersecting with, and influencing, such movements as modernization in Japan, the development of international organizations, socialism in many parts of the world, and, in our own day, machine translation.
Highlights
Perhaps we are today questioning some of those conventional definitions in other ways as well, not least in our relatively new-found interest in the study of language, and language communities, as complex adaptive systems; and the study of Esperanto as a phenomenon rather than as an enthusiasm seems increasingly possible within the realms of general linguistics and sociolinguistics [2,3,4]
A glaring gap in the field is sociolinguistic research: on the linguistic side, we know little about conversational Esperanto or about its change over time; we know little about pragmatics, or about those aspects of usage that are not prescribed by grammars and dictionaries but created on the spot through informal interaction among speakers, including word play
For the student of linguistics or sociology who is willing to learn the language, a more or less open field is available in the Esperanto movement and community
Summary
In an influential essay some years ago, the late Richard Wood described Esperanto as “a voluntary, non-ethnic, non-territorial speech community” [1]. Perhaps we are today questioning some of those conventional definitions in other ways as well, not least in our relatively new-found interest in the study of language, and language communities, as complex adaptive systems; and the study of Esperanto as a phenomenon rather than as an enthusiasm seems increasingly possible within the realms of general linguistics and sociolinguistics [2,3,4]. A study of the grammar of Esperanto does not require lack of commitment to Esperanto; a study of the Esperanto community need not show bias just because the researcher is a member of that community These problems are made doubly difficult by Esperanto’s sheer elusiveness.: it exists, wraithlike, in the interstices of language, with no geographical location, no L1 users to speak of, little continuity from generation to generation, and no ethnic identification; it seldom appears in institutional settings or official pronouncements. The sheer multiplicity of these institutions suggests a self-sufficient language community unlikely to be extinguished over anxiety about Esperanto’s larger purpose in world affairs, and an enduring laboratory for those interested in such topics as language change, communicative competence, and a host of related issues
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
