The Esperanto Calendar: Zamenhofa Tago and Other Festivals

The Esperanto year has two dates of its own: 15 December, Zamenhof's birthday, and 26 July, when the first textbook was cleared for sale in 1887. Around them sit the ordinary feasts, whose names you build from parts, and the wishes, which all end in -n.

• Ĝojan feston! - Have a happy festival!

Zamenhofa Tago: 15 December

Zamenhof was born on 15 December 1859, and his birthday is the one date the whole movement keeps, with club meetings, talks and readings. The custom dates from the 1920s; the writers Julio Baghy and Nikolao Nekrasov were among those who proposed it.

• La klubo kunvenas la 15-an de decembro. - The club meets on 15 December.

The -n on the date means on, so no preposition is needed. Time expressions has the rule.

One footnote: the Russian Empire still used the Julian calendar, so the records of his birth read 3 December. The 15th is the Gregorian date.

A book as a present

The day is also called la Tago de la Esperanto-libro, the Day of the Esperanto Book. People exchange presents, preferably books written in Esperanto, and the reason is practical: the date falls ten days before Christmas. It is a custom, not a rule.

123

1. 1mi
2. 2libron
3. 3al vi

Mi donas libron al vi: I give you a book. Mi (I) gives, libron (a book) is the thing given, al vi (to you) receives it.

• Mi donas al vi libron. - I am giving you a book.

Esperanto Day: 26 July, or 2 June

The first textbook, the Unua Libro, passed the Russian censor twice in 1887: once to be printed, once to be distributed.

The UEA keeps 26 July (14 July by the Julian calendar). The Esperanta Civito, a separate Esperanto organisation, keeps 2 June, which it calls the only certain date.

• La libro aperis en julio 1887. - The book came out in July 1887.

The history of Esperanto tells the story of the book, and la kongreso covers the summer congress.

Naming the feasts

Most feast names are compounds. The last root says what the thing is; the first says which one. Take them apart and they read themselves.

• Ni vojaĝos hejmen por Kristnasko. - We will travel home for Christmas.

Capitals

Feast names take a capital, like other names; weekdays do not. Months are the disputed case: the Fundamento writes Januaro, and PMEG recommends the capital, but lower-case januaro is very common, and it is what this site writes.

• Pasko estas en aprilo ĉi-jare. - Easter is in April this year.

PMEG adds that no capitalisation rule in Esperanto is binding: these are conventions. Capital letters has the whole picture.

Festo or ferio?

English holiday covers two Esperanto words. A festo is the celebration; a ferio is a day off work.

The verb and adjective come from the same root:

• Ni festis lian naskiĝtagon. - We celebrated his birthday.
• Ŝi portis festan robon. - She wore a party dress.

Birthdays: naskiĝtago and datreveno

A naskiĝtago is a birthday, the day somebody was born. A datreveno is any anniversary: the date coming round again.

A birthday is one kind of anniversary, but the Reta Vortaro notes that naskiĝtago is the better-understood word for it. To a person, say naskiĝtago.

1234

1. 1knabo
2. 2kuko
3. 3amikino
4. 4donaco

A naskiĝtago: the knabo (boy) has his birthday, the kuko (cake) has five candles, an amikino (friend, a girl) is at the party, and there is a donaco (present).

• Li havas kvin jarojn hodiaŭ. - He is five today.

The wishes, and why they end in -n

Every wish is a sentence with the verb left out, and the full sentence is hardly ever said. PMEG explains it this way: Bonan matenon! is short for Mi deziras al vi bonan matenon!, I wish you a good morning. The wish is the object of deziras, so the adjective and the noun both take -n.

The pattern is open: any adjective and noun, both with -n, make a wish, whether or not anyone has said it before.

• Bonan semajnfinon! - Have a good weekend!
• Agrablajn feriojn! - Have a nice holiday!

Thanks and greetings work the same way with a different verb left out. PMEG gives Dankon! as short for Mi donas al vi dankon!, I give you thanks, and Saluton! as Mi donas al vi saluton!.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Write three wishes of your own, each an adjective and a noun with -n.
2. Put 15 December and 26 July in your calendar.
3. Read la kongreso, the summer event.

See also

• The Esperanto congress - the Universala Kongreso and the community vocabulary.
• The history of Esperanto - the Unua Libro and the dates behind both festivals.
• Capital letters - capitalisation gathered in one place, months included.
• Time expressions - la 15-an de decembro, and the -n of time.
• Compounding - how naskiĝtago and Kristnasko are put together.
• Esperanto and the religions - the faiths whose feasts these are, and the movement's neutrality.
• Letter writing and register - Kara against Estimata, and how to close.