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What would the world be like if everyone knew how to speak Esperanto?

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Ubutumwa 24

ururimi: English

Scratch (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 15:43:25

Imagine a scenario where it occurs. One I've been playing around in my head is that the Chinese decide to start teaching all their schoolchildren how to speak Esperanto. That, along with their increasing economic vitality leads other nearby countries to begin teaching Esperanto, and with the ever increasing amount of international commerce, leads to a world where nearly all children begin to learn Esperanto early on in school.

But I suppose I wonder if Esperanto would then remain just an auxiliary language? Or would there be ever more cases of parents who teach their children Esperanto as their children's first language?

And if that happened, what would happen to all the languages upon the planet now? How well would they survive? Or is it possible they would gradually disappear?

I don't know. I've been trying to imagine this Tute Esperanta Mondo, or I suppose the possible change of a world with a diversity of languages to one where the whole world knows one language. I have no firm conclusions and am simply interested to know if anyone else here has thought about the idea and the possible complications.

1Guy1 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 15:53:34

Scratch: I have no firm conclusions and am simply interested to know if anyone else here has thought about the idea and the possible complications.
I hope that Douglas Adams idea about the result of open communication never comes to pass:

'Meanwhile the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different cultures and races, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation' (From the Hitch-hikers Guide to the galaxy)

pikolas (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 16:04:57

I'm not an authority on this, but I think that parents who teach Esperanto to their kids also make sure that they learn their national language as well, for the daily life.

Scratch (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 16:38:04

pikolas:I'm not an authority on this, but I think that parents who teach Esperanto to their kids also make sure that they learn their national language as well, for the daily life.
I'm sure they do. It wouldn't be very good to have your children unable to understand the language of those around them. But that's why I began imagining a world where if there were a world which adopted Esperanto as an auxiliary language, would Esperanto then inevitably become the dominant language? If everyone around you understands Esperanto, is it necessary to teach your children what might become heritage languages?

Miland (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 16:43:56

Imagine, it could be like an everlasting, world-wide Universala Kongreso with La Espero frequently sung. Like a perpetual holiday in Disney Epcot, except that the music in the background there is different. rido.gif

ceigered (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 17:23:37

Mmm, a lot of green. That'd be cool.

I think Esperanto would start to be "flattened out" by the international community in such a case, and regional dialects would occur but obviously with continued effort by officials, there'd be no cases of the language splintering into unintelligible sublanguages, at least not at a national level (and if one town suddenly starts speaking Otnarepse, they'd still know Esperanto via the national system just as some most regional language speakers use their national language in addition to their own).

Language domination wise, I think Esperanto in a world where EVERYONE speaks it could get messy with minority languages and even some non-minority languages. You can't have a language spoken that extensively with no repercussions on the form of every other language. It'd be an interesting part of language evolution to behold!

qwertz (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 18:34:49

Scratch:
Or would there be ever more cases of parents who teach their children Esperanto as their children's first language?
That could happen. And there are some esperantlingvajn denaskulojn out who already have to suffer of that non-proper language up-bringing. I.e. Rolf Fantom

Scratch:
And if that happened, what would happen to all the languages upon the planet now? How well would they survive? Or is it possible they would gradually disappear?
Some status change at the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger database.

Scratch:
I don't know. I've been trying to imagine this Tute Esperanta Mondo, or I suppose the possible change of a world with a diversity of languages to one where the whole world knows one language. I have no firm conclusions and am simply interested to know if anyone else here has thought about the idea and the possible complications.
The Malouf report(pdf) also questioning that. Conclusion: That will never happen, because language relates to people identity. Would you allow to destroy parts of your identity? I don't. I like my native language German very much.

ceigered:
Mmm, a lot of green. That'd be cool.
Like European burs and Australian caltrop? okulumo.gif

ceigered:
You can't have a language spoken that extensively with no repercussions on the form of every other language. It'd be an interesting part of language evolution to behold!
I full agree.

Maybe that meets the topic, too: Around the World in 25 Books & 10 Languages (found via twitter.com/Junesun )

sudanglo (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 20:54:23

An interesting thought experiment.

You might also consider what would happen if the Chinese adopted a similar position with regard to English.

The various local languages in France (there were many) were substantially weakened by the introduction of French into formal education.

However, in today's world, I think it unlikely that the language of any country with a substantial literature, a TV/film industry and a national radio service, would be seriously undermined.

I think it is a pretty safe bet that any widespread adoption of Esperanto would preserve its position as an auxiliary language.

It would be funny to see English borrow words from Esperanto, but the English have been borrowing words and expressions from other languages for centuries.

"In order to preserve the status quo, I think we should have a little tête-à-tête as soon as possible, if you are not already au fait with the current situation - carpe diem as they say."

jpablo68 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 22:39:02

sudanglo:"In order to preserve the status quo, I think we should have a little tête-à-tête as soon as possible, if you are not already au fait with the current situation - carpe diem as they say."
it would be a mano a mano between Esperanto and English

horsto (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 1 Munyonyo 2011 23:53:22

Scratch: I began imagining a world where if there were a world which adopted Esperanto as an auxiliary language, would Esperanto then inevitably become the dominant language? If everyone around you understands Esperanto, is it necessary to teach your children what might become heritage languages?
The alternative is what we already have today: If everyone around you understands english, is it necessary to teach your children what might become heritage languages?

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