Ch 28 · Lesson 18Esperanto · Chapter 28 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
Kraków, 1912: the idea defined, the title refused
The definition everyone quotes, binding on nobody; why Zamenhof asked not to be called ; and the words it is built from: o, privataĵo, alkutimigadi.
The short version
Zamenhof asked not to be called
, .
Why?Hide
At Kraków in 1912 Zamenhof asked Esperantists to stop calling him , master: people who disliked his political and religious views were becoming enemies of Esperanto. Notice the grammar of a request: , takes the -u form, , that you stop.
Kraków, 1912: the idea defined, the title refused
The definition everyone quotes is from Kraków, the eighth congress and the language's twenty-fifth anniversary. The speech opens :
, , , , , : alkutimigadi , o .The internal idea of Esperanto, which carries absolutely no obligation for any individual Esperantist, but which, as you know, fully reigns and must always reign at the Esperanto congresses, is: on a neutral linguistic foundation to remove the walls between the peoples and to accustom people so that each of them sees in his neighbour only a human being and a brother.
is a line from his own poem , first printed in 1890 and sung today as the movement's anthem. The definition's long words are built:
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
alkutimigadi | -- + -- | to keep accustoming |
| -- | a neighbour |
privataĵo | -- | a private matter |
The next sentence fences it off: , , o, everything beyond that internal idea is only a private matter.
Then he gave up the title:
, "", .I ask you to stop, from this moment, seeing a "master" in me, to stop honouring me with that title.
- Zamenhof, Kraków, 1912
His reason: - , , if someone dislikes my person or my political and religious principles, he becomes an enemy of Esperanto. Anyone, he said, could call what he did o Zamenhof, an entirely private idea or folly of Zamenhof's. To the old motto , he added a word: konkordo, concord.
It was not a sudden reversal. Point 4 of the 1905 Declaration had already made all his opinions , binding on nobody.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| | the person takes --; -- is the movement |
o | nenies o | for nobody's, use nenies; o is no property at all |
| | a plural noun needs |
Going further: esperantismo, esperantisto: -ism- and -ist- and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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