The Esperanto Congress: Universala Kongreso and Its Words
By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026
The community's own words are built from pieces you already know. A o is a congress-goer, is to register, a is a host and a is a fellow Esperantist. Take each apart once and the movement's vocabulary reads itself.
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -- | a congress-goer |
| -- | the venue |
| -- | to register |
| -- + -- | a host |
| -- | a fellow |
| -i | to speak your own language |
Quick check
Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.
Spot the mistake
0/3Tap the word that is wrong.
La Kongreso: every summer since 1905
The first met at Boulogne--Mer in August 1905: around 700 people from about twenty countries, most of whom had learned the language from books and letters. It worked out loud, and the movement has met almost every year since.
1905first Universala Kongreso, Boulogne-sur-Mer
1908the UEA is founded
1996the Prague Manifesto, adopted by UEA's Committee in Prague
2020the Virtuala Kongreso, online
The main gaps fall during the two world wars, and in the pandemic the congress went online. The word family:
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| root | a congress |
| - + -- | a congress-goer |
| - + -- | the venue |
| - + -a | congress (adjective) |
-- is a member of something, as in (a club member) and (a townsperson). -- is the place for something, as in (a school).
.- The congress-goers came from many countries.
The week, in its own words
The programme has its own fixed names:
| Event | Literally | What happens |
|---|---|---|
interkona | getting-to-know evening | the first night's mixer |
inaŭguro | formal opening | delegations, speeches, singing |
| national evening | the host country performs |
libroservo | book service | the congress bookshop |
libroservo.- I bought three books at the book service.
For many people the libroservo is the real draw: the one week a year when a whole language's publishing sits on tables in one room. People arrive with empty suitcases.
aliĝi: how you sign up
Before any of it, you register. The verb is built, not borrowed:
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -- | to register, to join |
| -o | the registration |
| -- | the registration form |
| -- | someone already registered |
takes no object: you join to something, with .
.- I registered for the congress.!- Let's register early!
Registering early pays: the fee, the kotizo, rises as the date approaches. -- and its partner -- have their own page, igi and iĝi.
gastiganto: Pasporta Servo
is a list of Esperanto speakers who will put up a travelling Esperanto speaker for free. The idea dates from 1966, the first printed list (about forty hosts) came out in 1974, and it is now a website run by TEJO, the youth organisation, with hosts in dozens of countries. Hosts set their own house rules, but the one thing they all expect is that you speak the language.
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| root | a guest |
| -i | to be a guest, to stay |
| -- | to host |
| -- | a host |
| -- | a guesthouse |
.- She put me up for three nights.
English needs an unrelated word, host, which also means a crowd and a communion wafer. Esperanto takes guest, adds cause and the one doing it, and names exactly the person hosting.
samideano: what they call each other
Four pieces, every one of them already yours:
| Piece | Job | Meaning here |
|---|---|---|
sam- | root | same |
- | root | idea |
-- | suffix | member |
-o | ending | a noun |
!- Dear fellow Esperantists!
It is the traditional word speakers use for one another, and it still opens letters and speeches. English has nothing that fits: comrade is political, fellow enthusiast is limp. Some younger speakers find it old-fashioned and simply say .
krokodili: the community's joke
Put twenty Esperantists in a room and some will share a national language. The community has a verb for what happens next: , to crocodile, to speak your own language at an Esperanto event.
krokodilu!-t crocodile! (speak Esperanto)
Several stories about where the word came from are told with confidence, and none is settled. The grammar is the point: any root plus -i makes a verb, so the community could coin one the day it needed it.
The Prague Manifesto
Adopted by UEA's Committee during the 1996 congress in Prague, and then offered to each congress member to sign, the Manifesto sets out seven principles the movement claims for itself, among them language rights and linguistic diversity. It is short and public: read it once to understand why people come.
How to go to one
Start small and work up:
- klubo
- renkontiĝo
- Universala Kongreso
- A local club. A
is often half a dozen people in a cafe; as a member you are ao. - A weekend meeting. A
o(from, to meet, plus--) takes beginners happily. - The congress.
early, pay thekotizo, and go.
You need less language than you think: the whole room learned the same regular grammar you did.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| | -n |
. | . | |
o. | o. | -- is the place |
What to do next
- Take apart five words from this page into root and affixes, out loud.
- Find your nearest Esperanto
or online meeting. - Read the Proverbaro, the language's inherited proverbs.
See also
- The affix system - every piece these words are made of.
- igi and iĝi - the
--inand the--in. - Participles - the
--in. - Esperanto hodiaŭ - where the community lives online.
- Slang -
and the rest of the in-jokes.