I don’t run with a sophisticated crowd of people, for the most part, so when I tell them that I’m studying this language called Esperanto, I’m sort of at a loss to explain the kind or type of language it is. I can’t call it an "invented" language, because all languages are invented. I’ve seen it characterized as a “constructed” language, but other languages contain grammatical constructions, and therefore to some degree must also be “constructed.” Other than saying that, unlike other human languages, before the late nineteenth century it didn’t exist, is there some descriptive term I can apply to Esperanto?

My guess is that, in the same way that Spanish-speaking immigrants don’t all like to be described as “Latino” or “Hispanic,” there is no universal agreement on a simple way to characterize Esperanto.

ricardo1949:I don’t run with a sophisticated crowd of people, for the most part, so when I tell them that I’m studying this language called Esperanto, I’m sort of at a loss to explain the kind or type of language it is. I can’t call it an "invented" language, because all languages are invented. I’ve seen it characterized as a “constructed” language, but other languages contain grammatical constructions, and therefore to some degree must also be “constructed.” Other than saying that, unlike other human languages, before the late nineteenth century it didn’t exist, is there some descriptive term I can apply to Esperanto?

My guess is that, in the same way that Spanish-speaking immigrants don’t all like to be described as “Latino” or “Hispanic,” there is no universal agreement on a simple way to characterize Esperanto.

Mesaĝoj en la angla lingvo devas esti en la angla forumo.
Messages in english must to be in the english forum.
Los mensajes en inglés deben estar en el foro en inglés.

Tamen, oni kutime uzas la vorton “planita”, eĉ se estas aliaj kutimaj lingvoj kiuj pli-malpli ankaŭ estas planitaj.

Ĝis, Novatago.

novatago:...
Mesaĝoj en la angla lingvo devas esti en la angla forumo.
Messages in english must to be in the english forum.
Los mensajes en inglés deben estar en el foro en inglés.
[url=/blogs/novatago]Novatago[/url].

+ (PL) Wiadomości w języku angielskim powinny być na forum angielskim.

Amike, bryku

Ĉu la esprimo artefarita lingvo (angle: an artificial language; ruse: искусственный язык) estus taŭga?

Vidu constructed languages

I would call it an international auxillary language.
It was invented recently to help people who have a native language communicate without having to learn another native language.
This would apply directly to some of the countries in Europe. These smaller countries are right next to each other, and frequently people of one country need to go to the next. Esperanto is an easy language for all these people to learn to easily speak to one another when crossing borders. This is much easier than learning seven different mother languages from seven different countries.

It was invented recently to help people who have a native language communicate without having to learn another native language.

Recently? I hardly think that the late 1800's is recent.

Lastatempe? Eble de la geologia vidpunkto 1887 estas lastatempe, sed en homaj aferoj tute ne.

To my mind "invented", "constructed" and "artifical" are all valid terms to describe Esperanto, despite national languages having some elements of invention, construction and artifice. When you call something a "constructed language" you're alluding to the language's primary attribute, which in Esperanto's case is that is was deliberately constructed for a particular purpose, rather than having come about through mainly natural processes. This doesn't apply to any national language, or at least not any that I'm aware of.

"Artificial" has a slightly perjorative connotation for some people so I tend to avoid that term. "International auxiliary language" I don't really care for as it's a real mouthful and most people don't really know what it is, though I suppose it's the most technically accurate term. "Constructed" is the term I usually use.

[Edit: I just noticed this is the Esperanto forum. Translated below...]

Laŭ mi "inventita", "konstruita" kaj "artefarita" estas ĉiuj validaj terminoj por priskribi Esperanton, malgraŭ tio ke naciaj lingvoj enhavas iom da invento, konstruo kaj artefariteco. Se nomi ion "konstruita lingvo" oni aludas al la precipa eco de la lingvo, kiu, koncerne Esperanton, estas ke oni intence konstruis ĝin por certa celo, kaj ne estiĝis per ĉefe naturaj procezoj. Tio ne aplikiĝas al ajna nacia lingvo kiun mi konas.

"Artefarita" havas iom malestiman subtonon por iuj do mi ĝenerale evitas tiun terminon. "Internacia helplingvo" mi ne multe ŝatas ĉar ĝi estas longa, kaj la plimulto ne vere scias kio ĝi estas, sed mi supozas ke ĝi estas la plej preciza termino. "Konstruita" estas la termino kiun mi plej ofte uzas.