The 16 rules, part 3: the general rules, 9-16

Rules 9-16: the general rules

Rule 9: pronunciation

"Every word is to be read exactly as written, there are no silent letters."

Each of the 28 letters has one sound: ĉiu is CHEE-oo. Where hats cannot be printed, the Fundamento allows an h instead (ch for ĉ). More: pronunciation, typing Esperanto.

Rule 10: stress

"The accent falls on the last syllable but one, (penultimate)."

• amiko - a-MI-ko

The twist is Rule 16: a word that drops its -o keeps its stress, so kor' (from koro) is one stressed syllable. More: poetic Esperanto.

Rule 11: compounds

"Compound words are formed by the simple junction of roots, (the principal word standing last)"

• vaporŝipo - a steamship: vapor + ŝip + -o, the ship last.

More: compounding.

Rule 12: negation

"If there be one negative in a clause, a second is not admissible."

• Neniu venis. - Nobody came. (Not neniu ne venis, which would mean everybody came.)
• Mi neniam vidis lin. - I never saw him.

More: negation.

Rule 13: direction

"In phrases answering the question "where?" (meaning direction), the words take the termination of the objective case"

The rule's own examples are kien vi iras? (where are you going?) and domon for "home".

12

1. 1Li iras hejmen.
2. 2Li estas hejme.

Li iras hejmen: he is going home. Li estas hejme: he is at home. Only the -n differs.

• Mi iras en la domon. - I am going into the house.
• Mi promenas en la domo. - I am walking about in the house.

More: the accusative.

Rule 14: fixed meanings, and je

"Every preposition in the international language has a definite fixed meaning."

Where no preposition is clearly right, the rule says to use je, "which has no definite meaning". It adds: "Instead of je, the objective without a preposition may be used, when no confusion is to be feared."

• ridi je tio - to laugh at it (the Fundamento's example)
• Mi venos lundon. - I will come on Monday (the -n in place of a preposition).

More: tricky prepositions.

Rule 15: international words

"The so-called "foreign" words ... undergo no change in the international language, beyond conforming to its system of orthography."

The rule borrows the root and builds the rest: its example is teatro, theatre, but teatra, theatrical, not a borrowed teatricala. More: false friends, the letter ĥ.

Rule 16: elision

"The a of the article, and final o of substantives, may be sometimes dropped euphoniae gratia"

An apostrophe takes the vowel's place:

• de l' mondo - for de la mondo, of the world (the Fundamento's example)
• kor' - for koro, heart

The rule allows nothing else: not the -o of mondon or mondoj, not an adjective's -a. It lives in poetry and song. More: poetic Esperanto.

Mistakes English speakers make