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No understando publicity lingo
“Of course Nerdic is not a language – just the result of a highly successful publicity stunt,” writes Bill Chapman, commenting on our report into a highly successful publicity stunt by that company we can’t remember the name of who wasted our precious time by pretending that “Nerdic” was Europe’s fastest-growing language.
“If you’re looking for a real new language, take a look at Esperanto,” he says.
So we did, and we agree: it’s much more interesting than geek jargon.
Did you know that George Soros is one of only 1,000 native speakers in the world? That “computer” translates as “komputilo” and malmangi means to vomit, or literally to “un-eat”? Or that if you visit the Staki public house, you will find that your glass is duon-plena?
Of course you didn’t. We welcome any speakers of interesting-yet-pointless languages to suggest useful words for our readers. Or, of course, to correct our grammar.
May 6, 2008 in backbytes | Permalink
Comments
Without being sycophantic, may I agree that that those who have no knowledge of Esperanto claim that it is not a living language.
Indeed ignorance, not prejudice, is holding Esperanto back
The growth of the lanuguage is seen on http://www.Esperanto.net
Posted by: Brian Barker | 7 May 2008 21:46:16
malmanĝi (or malmanghi if you can't type ĝ) is one of the joking words one can easily build in Esperanto. Guess what "vomi" could mean. (this is the usual term).
If you don't like wordplay, keep away from Esperanto.
A few thousands of such words exists.
Teaser: what could "maltrinki" mean?
(trinki = drink; drinki mean drink without thirst).
Posted by: Remush | 7 May 2008 21:31:12
It's surprising how well Esperanto works online for connecting people from different linguistic communities. Just today, in fact, a group called E@I released a film that they collaborated on using nothing but the 'net and Esperanto.
It's worth mentioning that the team members are spread across the globe from Brazil to Slovakia, and they use Esperanto exclusively to coordinate their work. You can get a preview at:
http://esperantoestas.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Hoss | 7 May 2008 19:18:44
I'm using Esperanto on day-to-day basis to chat with my Catalan, Polish, Scottish, etc. friends all around the world. Many of them have only a few words of English but very fluent in Esperanto.
If you already know English you'll find it very entertaining and easy to learn language.
See for yourself. Quick multimedia course http://www.cursodeesperanto.com.br/
Ĝis (gizz means bye)
Ruslanko
Posted by: Ruslanko | 7 May 2008 12:12:32
The words you gave as examples are correct (with a small spelling error), although you won't find anyone using "malmanĝi" in any serious way. The more common word is "vomi", which is easily recognizable.
Although that particular example is a bit silly, it brings up a point about why Esperanto is easy to learn, to use, and to retain. The rule for creating compound words in Esperanto is simply that if the compound makes sense, it is a valid word. As a result, it is common for Esperantists to make up words as they are speaking. It is common enough that their listeners often don't think about the fact that they've just heard a new word. As a result, the experience of searching your memory for the right word, as you would in another language, takes a different form. You build it from pieces you already have, and it is correct.
Posted by: Dejlo | 6 May 2008 22:04:45
In fact, malmanĝi is not really the word for vomit. It's sort of a slang formation. The real word is vomi, not that it matters all that much.
Posted by: Bill White | 6 May 2008 19:28:11
I think you'll find that Esperanto is FAR from pointless.
Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono
Posted by: Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono | 6 May 2008 16:37:24
