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Esperanto the 25th language of the European Union

by pace, July 4, 2016

Messages: 25

Language: English

pace (User's profile) July 4, 2016, 6:29:03 PM

Alkanadi (User's profile) July 4, 2016, 6:42:31 PM

I signed it. Since you are asking "why not":

Pros: Esperanto would become so famous overnight and probably end up being the Lingua Franca after about 20 years.

Cons: Esperanto doesn't have a scalable framework at the moment. The experienced speakers will be overwhelmed. The blind will lead the blind, which will cause incorrect usages to develop.

Zerr (User's profile) July 8, 2016, 11:14:58 PM

Alkanadi:Cons: Esperanto doesn't have a scalable framework at the moment. The experienced speakers will be overwhelmed. The blind will lead the blind, which will cause incorrect usages to develop.
Alternatively, it could lead to making the language easier to pronounce: the hx is somewhat difficult for English speakers to pronounce, and that evolved out of Esperanto. The newer speakers may cause improvement in such a fashion.

Vestitor (User's profile) July 8, 2016, 11:27:20 PM

Is the ĥ sound difficult for English speakers? I don't think it is. If a person can clear his throat, he make that sound. I don't think altering things for the convenience of English speakers should be called 'improvement'.

CapyTondro (User's profile) July 9, 2016, 1:15:00 AM

Alkanadi:
Pros: Esperanto would become so famous overnight and probably end up being the Lingua Franca after about 20 years.
What makes you think that it will gain popularity so fast? I'm just curious how adding it will make it grow so fast that it'll become a lingua franca by 2036.

Vestitor (User's profile) July 9, 2016, 1:38:27 AM

Blimey, 2036. I'll probably be too senile to even remember how to speak Esperanto by then.

Breto (User's profile) July 9, 2016, 5:59:40 AM

As a native English speaker, I have no idea why any English speaker would have trouble with ĥ. It may not be a native English sound, but it's hardly so far afield that we can't handle it. In some positions (the end of a syllable, for example), it might even be an easier sound than h.

I've never understood the apparent movement to oust ĥ from Esperanto.

Altebrilas (User's profile) July 9, 2016, 9:35:35 AM

The two rarest phonemes of eo are ĥ and ĵ.

ĥ already has alternatives approved by tha academy: ekoo, koruso, kemio, ktp.

In the same way, the opposition ĵ/ĝ appears only in aĵo/aĝo. With an alternative of aĝo (oldo?), one of the two phonemes becomes useless.

Alkanadi (User's profile) July 11, 2016, 6:41:59 AM

Zerr:Alternatively, it could lead to making the language easier to pronounce: the hx is somewhat difficult for English speakers to pronounce, and that evolved out of Esperanto. The newer speakers may cause improvement in such a fashion.
This is exactly what will happen, as a mentioned in a previous post. A large influx of beginners will corrupt the language.

Alkanadi (User's profile) July 11, 2016, 6:46:29 AM

CapyTondro:
Alkanadi:
Pros: Esperanto would become so famous overnight and probably end up being the Lingua Franca after about 20 years.
What makes you think that it will gain popularity so fast? I'm just curious how adding it will make it grow so fast that it'll become a lingua franca by 2036.
If it is an official language, then the EU has to support it financially. They will need translators and interpreters. This will grew the Esperanto economy. Just like how people in China are learning Esperanto for financial gain.

In addition, people in Europe will be inclined to learn Esperanto.

Finally, the world is moving very fast now that we have almost eliminated the information gate keepers.

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