ESPERANTO
ETYMOLOGY
A look at the origin of its vocabulary as well as a
new tool I created to more easily access
information about its etymology.
Constructed Language Vocabulary Types
A-Priori Languages- Constructed languages that have features that are not based
on existing natural languages. Examples include:
Solresol by François Sudre (1827)
Láadan by Suzette Haden Elgin (1982)
Quenya and Sindarin by J. R. R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings (published 1954)
Klingon by Marc Okrand for the science-fiction franchise Star Trek (1985)
Naʼvi by Paul Frommer for the movie Avatar (2009)
Dothraki and Valyrian by David Peterson for the television series Game of Thrones (2011)
A Posteriori Languages- Constructed languages that have elements borrowed from
other languages, primarily natural languages. Examples include:
(1879) Volapük
(1887) Esperanto
(1907) Ido
(1922) Interlingue
(1951) Interlingua
(1979) Glosa
Toki Pona by Sonja Lang (2001)
Interslavic (Slavic, 2011)
MAJOR SOURCES FOR ESPERANTO
ETYMOLOGY
A brief look at the documented research done to determine the language origins of
Esperanto vocabulary
Major Etymological works about Esperanto Vocabulary
Etimologia Vortaro de Esperanto by Ebbe Vilborg
• Volumo 1: A-D, 1989. 104p. 24cm.
• Volumo 2: E-J, 1991. 114p. 24cm.
• Volumo 3: K-M, 1993. 128p. 24cm.
• Volumo 4: N-R, 1995. 124p. 24cm.
• Volumo 5: S-Z, 2001. 196p. 24cm.
• Deals with only so-called Base Words in Esperanto-
those that are in the “Fundamento de Esperanto” and 1st -
8th ”Oficialaj Aldonoj” of the “Universala Vortaro”, which is
managed by the Academio de Esperanto.
Major Etymological works about Esperanto Vocabulary
Konciza Etimlogia Vortoraro and Etimologia Vortaro de la
Propraj Nomoj by André Cherpillod
• André Cherpillod is a French Esperantist who specialized
in Etimology, terminology, grammar and Interlinguistics
• Konciza Etimlogia Vortoraro- with any word that has
developed accepted usage within Esperanto, including
“Base Words” and words that have never been formally
recognized by the Academio de Esperanto.
• Etimologia Vortaro de la Propraj Nomoj- focuses on
Proper nouns and words that have their origins in Proper
noun in Esperanto.
• If interested in more information about Esperanto
Etymological works, you can take a look at:
http://www.ipernity.com/blog/bernardo/4626944
OPEN-SOURCE SOURCES FOR
ESPERANTO ETYMOLOGY
A brief look at currently available resources on the Internet based on these previous
sources, which I used
Open Sources I used to create my Website.
1. Andras Rajki compiled a list of words and their various
origins at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20071012022737/http://www.fr
eeweb.hu/etymological/Esperanto.htm
2. Wiktionary has a good open resourced system for providing
good (and bad) contributions about Esperanto word origins:
https://eo.wiktionary.org/wiki
3. I’m not sure who owns this site, but they took Rajki’s words
and added some and made some changes:
http://www.romaniczo.com/esperanto/vortaroj/etimologio.ht
ml
4. A user named Gunther created a gigantic spreadsheet of
words. You can read the Reddit discussion here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Esperanto/comments/aa5dpu/eti
mologia_listo_finota/?rdt=38394&onetap_auto=true
The spreadsheet is linked here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JigHInzyiveX1eKu
MQ_sfQ70IpQLEsS4ByEwtg6JrhY/edit?usp=sharing
Other Sources I plan to use.
1. I’m almost ready to be incorporate “Naŭlingva Etimologia
Leksikono de la Lingvo Esperanto” by Louis Bastien who was
a French Esperantist and Lieutenant in the French Army. The
book has been converted to a spreadsheet along with its
comments (very tedious work). Proofreading is almost done.
2. Probably the most detailed open-source site out there is
http://remush.be/etimo/etimo.html. It is so detailed that I
think it will take a lot of work to put it into a spreadsheet and
then a Database.
3. Both books previously mentioned above, Etimologia Vortaro
de Esperanto, Konciza Etimlogia Vortoraro and Etimologia
Vortaro de la Propraj Nomoj. They do a pose a challenge
with all of their footnotes and additional information. These
last three are truly great works that need to be incorporated
to make my site truly scholarly. The greatest challenge may
be getting permission to use them!
LANGUAGES AND LANGUAGE
FAMILIES
What does the data show in the tool I created.
Common questions about Language Origin
Wikipedia states the following on Esperanto Etymology. How accurate is it?
“Zamenhof took most of his Esperanto root words from languages of the Italic and
Germanic families, principally Italian, French, German, Yiddish, and English. A large
number are what might be called common European international vocabulary, or
generic Romance”
Root words vs Words- kontrol
Languages and Language families- pola, rusa, sveda, angla, germana,
latina, franca
Which words have the most/least source languages?- veteran,
alcohol, abrakadabr, reĝ, fest, bird, tromp
Words from unique languages and language families- Ŝemida,
Koreanika, Austronesia
Any words you are interested in learning about?
(and any other questions…)
