Ch 29 · Lesson 12Esperanto · Chapter 29 · Lesson 12 · Grammar primer
The Bahá'ís and Lidia Zamenhof
A scripture that calls for a world language and names none, a 1937 letter that says Esperanto has not been chosen, and the author's youngest daughter.
The short version
The Bahá'ís encourage Esperanto but never chose it
Lidia .
Why?Hide
Bahá'í scripture calls for a world language to be chosen or created, and names none. 'Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged Esperanto warmly, but a 1937 letter written for Shoghi Effendi said nothing in scripture makes it the language of the future. Lidia Zamenhof, the author's daughter, became a Bahá'í.
The Bahá'ís: encouraged, not chosen
The scripture calls for a world language and names none. Bahá'u'lláh asks the nations to consult and choose one language from among the existing ones, or create a new one, to be taught in every school. That is a procedure, not a product.
'Abdu'l-Bahá encouraged warmly. In on 12 February 1913 he told the Esperanto society that it has all the potential qualities of becoming the international means of communication.
Then the line was drawn in writing. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi in 1937 says that while 'Abdu'l-Bahá repeatedly encouraged the language, there is "no reference either from Him or from Bahá'u'lláh" that it will necessarily become the international language. Bahá'ís should study it for communicating with each other meanwhile.
- encouraged’Abdu’l-Bahá, 1913
- useful nowthe 1937 letter
- chosennever: the choice is still open
The Bahaa - was approved on 19 March 1973, after nine Bahá'í Esperantists met at the 1972 World Congress in Portland, Oregon.
Lidia Zamenhof
Lidia was the youngest child of L. L. Zamenhof, born in Warsaw in 1904. She became a Bahá'í, worked as an Esperanto teacher and translated Bahá'í books into the language, among them Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude, o.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1937 | goes to the United States to teach |
| 1938 | immigration problems send her back to Poland |
| 1942 | murdered at Treblinka; the exact date is not known |
Lidia .- Lidia translated many books into Esperanto.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| | the object takes -n |
| | plural and object: -jn |
Going further: Oomoto takes up Esperanto, 1923 and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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