The Esperanto Teacher | Page 2

Ludovic Zamenhof, a Polish Jew, was born on December 3rd,
1859, at Bielovstok, in Poland, a town whose inhabitants are of four distinct races, Poles,
Russians, Germans, and Jews, each with their own language and customs, and often at
open enmity with each other. Taught at home that all men are brethren, Zamenhof found
everywhere around him outside the denial of this teaching, and even as a child came to
the conclusion that the races hated, because they could not understand, each other.
Feeling keenly, too, the disabilities under which his people specially laboured, being cut
off by their language from the people among whom they lived, while too proud to learn
the language of their persecutors, he set himself to invent a language which should be
neutral and therefore not require any sacrifice of pride on the part of any race.
Interesting as is the story of Zamenhof's attempts and difficulties, it must suffice here to
say that at the end of 1878 the new language was sufficiently advanced for him to impart
it to schoolfellows like-minded with himself, and on December 17th of that year they
feted its birth, and sang a hymn in the new language, celebrating the reign of unity and
peace which should be brought about by its means, "All mankind must be united in one
family." But the enthusiasm of its first followers died down under the derision they
encountered, and for nine years more Zamenhof worked in secret at his language,
translating, composing, writing original articles, improving, polishing, till in 1887 he
published his first book under the title of "An International Language by Dr. Esperanto."
("Esperanto" means "one who hopes").
That the idea which impelled the young Zamenhof to undertake such a work is still the
mainspring of his devotion to the cause is shown by the following extract from his
opening speech at the second International Esperanto Congress in 1906:--"We are all
conscious that it is not the thought of its practical utility which inspires us to work for
Esperanto, but only the thought of the important and holy idea which underlies an
international language. This idea, you all know, is that of: brotherhood and justice among
all peoples." And, again, in his presidential address at the third Esperanto Congress, held
this year (1907) at Cambridge, he said, "We are constantly repeating that we do not wish
to interfere in the internal life of the nations, but only to build a bridge between the
peoples. The ideal aim of Esperantists, never until now exactly formulated, but always
clearly felt, is: To establish a neutral foundation, on which the various races of mankind
may hold peaceful, brotherly intercourse, without intruding on each other their racial
differences."
Sur neuxtrala lingva fundamento, Komprenante unu la alian, La popoloj faros en
konsento Unu grandan rondon familian.
(On the foundation of a neutral language, Understanding one another, The peoples will
form in agreement One great family circle).

HELEN FRYER.
December, 1907.
THE ALPHABET.
SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.
In Esperanto each letter has only one sound, and each sound is represented in only one
way. The words are pronounced exactly as spelt, every letter being sounded.
Those CONSONANTS which in English have one simple sound only are exactly the
same in Esperanto; they are--b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, v, z (r must be well rolled).
q, w, x, y are not used.
c, g, h, s, which in English represent more than one sound, and j are also used with the
mark ^--
c cx, g gx, h hx, j jx, s sx.
c - (whose two English sounds are represented by k and s) has the sound of TS, as in iTS,
TSar.
cx - like CH, TCH, in CHurCH, maTCH.
g - hard, as in Go, GiG, Gun.
gx - soft, as in Gentle, Gem, or like J in Just, Jew.
h - well breathed, as in Horse, Home, How.
hx - strongly breathed, and in the throat, as in the Scotch word loCH. (Ask any Scotsman
to pronounce it). Hx occurs but seldom. It is the Irish GH in louGH, and the Welsh CH.
j - like Y in Yes, You, or J in halleluJah, fJord.
jx - like S in pleaSure, or the French J, as in deJeuner, Jean d'Arc.
s - like SS in aSS, leSS, never like S in roSe.
sx - like SH in SHe, SHall, SHip, or S in Sugar, Sure.
In newspapers, etc., which have not the proper type, cx, gx, hx, jx, sx are often replaced
by ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, or by c', g', h', j', s', and ux by u.
ux - is also a consonant, and has the sound of W in We, as EUXropo, or U in persUade.