Fundamento de Esperanto

12. S’il y a dans la phrase un autre mot de sens négatif, l’adverbe ne se supprime. Ex.: mi neniam vid′is ― je n’ai jamais vu.

13. Si le mot marque le lieu où l’on va, il prend la terminaison de l’accusatif. Ex.: kie vi est′as? ― où êtes-vous? kie′n vi ir′as? ― où allez-vous? mi ir′as Pariz′o′n ― je vais à Paris.

14. Chaque préposition possède, en Esperanto, un sens immuable et bien déterminé, qui en fixe l’emploi. Cependant, si le choix de celle-ci plutôt que de celle-là ne s’impose pas clairement à l’esprit, on fait usage de la préposition je qui n’a pas de signification propre. Ex.: ĝoj′i je tio ― s’en réjouir, rid′i je tio ― en rire, enu′o je la patr′uj′o ― regret de la patrie. La clarté de la langue n’en souffre aucunement, car, dans toutes, on emploie, en pareil cas, une préposition quelconque, pourvu qu’elle soit sanctionnée par l’usage. L’Esperanto adopte pour cet office la seule préposition je. A sa place on peut cependant employer aussi l’accusatif sans préposition, quand aucune amphibologie n’est à craindre.

15. Les mots "étrangers" c.-à-d. ceux que la plupart des langues ont empruntés à la même source, ne changent pas en Esperanto. Ils prennent seulement l’orthographe et les terminaisons grammaticales de la langue. Mais quand, dans une catégorie, plusieurs mots différents dérivent de la même racine, il vaut mieux n’employer que le mot fondamental, sans altération, et former les autres d’après les règles de la langue internationale. Ex.: tragédie ― tragedi′o, tragique ― tragedi′a.

16. Les terminaisons des substantifs et de l’article peuvent se supprimer et se remplacer par une apostrophe. Ex.: Ŝiller’ (Schiller) au lieu de Ŝiller′o; de l’ mond′o au lieu de de la mond′o.

Grammar

A) The Alphabet

Aa, a as in “last”

Bb, b as in “be”

Cc, ts as in “wits”

Ĉĉ, ch as in “church”

Dd, d as in “do”

Ee, a as in “make”[1]

Ff, f as in “fly”

Gg, g as in “gun”

Ĝĝ, j as in “join”

Hh, h as in “half”

Ĥĥ, strongly aspirated h, “ch” in “loch” (scotch)

Ii, i as in “marine”

Jj, y as in “yoke”

Ĵĵ, z as in “azure”

Kk, k as in “key”

Ll, l as in “line”

Mm, m as in “make”

Nn, n as in “now”

Oo, o as in “not”

Pp, p as in “pair”

Rr, r as in “rare”

Ss, s as in “see”

Ŝŝ, sh as in “show”

Tt, t as in “tea”

Uu, u as in “bull”

Ŭŭ, u as in “mount” (used in diphtongs)

Vv, v as in “very”

Zz, z as in “zeal”

Remark. ― If it be found impraticable to print works with the diacritical signs (^, ˘), the letter h may be substituted for the sign (^), and the sign (˘), may be altogether omitted.

B) Parts of Speech

1. There is no indefinite, and only one definite, article, la, for all genders, numbers, and cases.

2. Substantives are formed by adding o to the root. For the plural, the letter j must be added to the singular. There are two cases: the nominative and the objective (accusative). The root with the added o is the nominative, the objective adds an n after the o. Other cases are formed by prepositions; thus, the possessive (genitive) by de, “of”; the dative by al, “to”, the instrumental (ablative) by kun, “with”, or other preposition as the sense demands. E.g. root patr, “father”; la patr′o, “the father”; la patr′o′n, “the father” (objective), de la patr′o, “of the father”; al la patr′o, “to the father”; kun la patr′o, “with the father”; la patr′o′j, “the fathers”; la patr′o′j′n, “the fathers” (obj.), por la patr′o′j, “for the fathers”.

3. Adjectives are formed by adding a to the root. The numbers and cases are the same as in substantives. The comparative degree is formed by prefixing pli (more); the superlative by plej (most). The word “than” is rendered by ol, e.g. pli blanka ol neĝo, “whiter than snow”.

4. The cardinal numerals do not change their forms for the different cases. They are: unu (1), du (2), tri (3), kvar (4), kvin (5), ses (6), sep (7), ok (8), naŭ (9), dek (10), cent (100), mil (1000). The tens and hundreds are formed by simple junction of the numerals, e.g. 583[2] = kvin′cent tri′dek tri. Ordinals are formed by adding the adjectival a to the cardinals, e.g. unu′a, “first”; du′a, “second”, etc. Multiplicatives (as “threefold”, “fourfold”, etc.) add obl, e.g. tri′obl′a, “threefold”. Fractionals add on, as du′on′o, “a half”; kvar′on′o, “a quarter”. Collective numerals add op, as kvar′op′e, “four together”. Distributive prefix po, e.g., po kvin, “five apiece”. Adverbials take e, e.g., unu′e, “firstly”, etc.

5. The personal pronouns are: mi, “I”; vi, “thou”, “you”; li, “he”; ŝi, “she”; ĝi, “it”; si, “self”; ni, “we”; ili, “they”; oni, “one”, “people”, (French “on”). Possessive pronouns are formed by suffixing to the required personal, the adjectival termination. The declension of the pronouns is identical with that of substantives. E.g. mi, “I”; mi′n, “me” (obj.); mi′a, “my”, “mine”.

6. The verb does not change its form for numbers or persons, e.g. mi far′as, “I do”; la patr′o far′as, “the father does”; ili far′as, “they do”.

[1]

Jam en la zamenhofa epoko la prononco [mεk] estis arkaika. Pli taŭga moderna rekomendo estus «Ee, e as in “get”». — S.P.

[2]

Legu: «533». — S.P.