Editing Esperanto (section)

{{Short description|International auxiliary language}}
{{About|the language}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Esperanto
| altname          = {{lang|eo|Lingvo Internacia}}<ref name="Dua Libro">{{cite book |last1=Zamenhof |first1=Lazaro Ludoviko |title=Dua Libro de l' Lingvo Internacia |date=1888 |publisher=Project Gutenberg |edition=2006 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20006/20006-h/20006-h.htm |access-date=15 March 2022 |language=eo |chapter=Aldono al la Dua Libro de l' Lingvo Internacia |quote=Rakontinte mallonge la tutan konstruon de l' "Lingvo internacia" kaj ĝian gramatikon,[...]}}</ref>
| nativename       = {{lang|eo|Esperanto}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vortaro.net/#Esperanto_kdu | title=Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto 2020 }}</ref>
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|eo|espeˈranto||Eo-Esperanto.ogg}}
| states           = 120 countries;<ref name="uea">[http://uea.org/info/en/kio_estas_uea What is UEA?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626010020/http://uea.org/info/en/kio_estas_uea |date=June 26, 2015 }}, Universal Esperanto Association, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.</ref> nowhere an official language
| speakers         = [[Native Esperanto speakers|Native]]: {{circa|1,000}}
| date             = 2022
| ref              = <ref name=e25/>
| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2]]: estimated 30,000 to 2 million
* Sidney Culbert: Around 2 million
* Amri Wandel: Above 2 million
* Svend Vendelbo: 30,000–180,000<ref name="svend">63,000 &minus;50%/+200%: {{cite web|url=http://www.liberafolio.org/2017/02/13/nova-takso-60-000-parolas-esperanton/|title=Nova takso: 60.000 parolas Esperanton|trans-title=New estimate: 60,000 speak Esperanto|publisher=Libera Folio|language=eo|date=February 13, 2017|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213143515/http://www.liberafolio.org/2017/02/13/nova-takso-60-000-parolas-esperanton/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wandel |first1=Amri |title=HOW MANY PEOPLE SPEAK ESPERANTO? OR: ESPERANTO ON THE WEB |journal=Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems |date=2014 |quote=A simple calculation accompanied by reasonable refinements leads to a number of approximately two million Esperanto users within the internet community alone, probably significantly more worldwide}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Constructed language
| fam1             = [[Constructed language]]
| fam2             = [[International auxiliary language]]
| fam3             = [[A posteriori language]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Esperanto]]
| creator          = [[L. L. Zamenhof]]
| created          = 1887
| setting          = International: most parts of the world
| posteriori       = Primarily [[Romance languages|Romance]] and [[Germanic languages]], with some influence of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[Esperanto alphabet]])<br />[[Esperanto Braille]]
| agency           = [[Akademio de Esperanto]]
| iso1             = eo
| iso2             = epo
| iso3             = epo
| linglist         = epo
| lingua           = 51-AAB-da
| image            = Flag of Esperanto.svg{{!}}border
| imagescale       = 0.7
| imagecaption     = [[Esperanto flag]]
| sign             = [[Esperanto manual alphabet|Signuno]]
| glotto           = espe1235
| glottorefname    = Esperanto
| map              = Relative number of Esperanto association members by country (2020).svg
| mapcaption       = [[Esperantujo]]: Number of individual [[Universal Esperanto Association|UEA]] members per million population in 2020. {{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
{{legend|#aaaaaa|none}}
{{legend|#d7f4d7|< 0.5}}
{{legend|#afe9af|0.5}}
{{legend|#87de87|1}}
{{Col-2}}
{{legend|#37c837|2&ndash;3}}
{{legend|#2ca02c|4&ndash;5}}
{{legend|#217821|6&ndash;9}}
{{legend|#0b280b|10+}}
{{Col-end}}
| notice           = IPA
| mapscale         = 1
}}
{{Esperanto sidebar}}

'''Esperanto''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɛ|s|p|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|n|t|oʊ|}}, {{IPAc-en|-|||||||æ|n|t|oʊ|}})<ref>{{Citation|last=Jones|first=Daniel|title=English Pronouncing Dictionary|year=2003|editor=Peter Roach|orig-year=1917|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=3-12-539683-2|author-link=Daniel Jones (phonetician)|editor2=James Hartmann|editor3=Jane Setter}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Wells|first=John C.|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|year=2008|edition=3rd|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> is the world's most widely spoken [[Constructed language|constructed]] [[international auxiliary language]]. Created by [[L. L. Zamenhof]] in 1887 to be 'the International Language' ({{Lang|eo|la Lingvo Internacia}}), it is intended to be a universal [[second language]] for international communication. He described the language in ''[[Dr. Esperanto's International Language]]'' ({{Lang|eo|Unua Libro}}), which he published under the pseudonym {{Lang|eo|[[Doctor (title)|Doktoro]] Esperanto}}. Early adopters of the language liked the name {{Lang|eo|Esperanto}} and soon used it to describe his language. The word translates into English as 'one who hopes'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Doktoro Esperanto, Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof |url=https://global.britannica.com/biography/L-L-Zamenhof |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529085951/https://global.britannica.com/biography/L-L-Zamenhof |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |access-date=December 3, 2016 |website=Global Britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc}}</ref>

Within the range of constructed languages, Esperanto occupies a middle ground between "naturalistic" (imitating existing natural languages) and ''[[Constructed language#A priori and a posteriori languages|a&nbsp;priori]]'' (where features are not based on existing languages). Esperanto's [[vocabulary]], [[syntax]] and [[semantics]] derive predominantly from languages of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European group]]. A substantial majority of its vocabulary (approximately 80%) derives from [[Romance languages]], but it also contains elements derived from [[Germanic languages|Germanic]], [[Greek languages|Greek]], and [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] languages.<ref name="Koutny 2015 p. 106">{{Cite journal |last=Puškar |first=Krunoslav |date=2015 |editor-last=Koutny |editor-first=Ilona |title=Common criticism of Esperanto: facts and fallacies |url=http://jki.amu.edu.pl/files/JKI%20-%20tom%2010%20-%202015.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Język. Komunikacja. Iinformacja |language=en |location=Poznań |issue=10 |pages=106 |isbn=978-83-63664-96-1 |issn=1896-9585 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418104515/http://jki.amu.edu.pl/files/JKI%20-%20tom%2010%20-%202015.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-18}}</ref> One of the language's most notable features is its [[Agglutination|extensive system of derivation]], where prefixes and suffixes may be freely combined with roots to generate words, making it possible to communicate effectively with a smaller set of words.

Esperanto is the most successful constructed international auxiliary language, and the only such language with a sizeable population of [[First language|native speakers]] ({{lang|eo|[[denaskuloj]]}}), of which there are an estimated 2,000.<ref name=e25/> Usage estimates are difficult, but two estimates put the number of people who know how to speak Esperanto at around 100,000.<ref name="svend" /> Concentration of speakers is highest in Europe, East Asia, and South America. Although no country has adopted Esperanto officially, {{lang|eo|[[Esperantujo]]}} ('Esperanto land') is used as a name for the collection of places where it is spoken. The language has also gained a noticeable presence on the Internet.  It is becoming increasingly accessible on platforms such as [[Esperanto Wikipedia|Wikipedia]], [[Amikumu]], [[Google Translate]] and [[Duolingo]].<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Dean |first=Sam |date=May 29, 2015|title=How an artificial language from 1887 is finding new life online |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/29/8672371/learn-esperanto-language-duolingo-app-origin-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226021356/https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/29/8672371/learn-esperanto-language-duolingo-app-origin-history |archive-date=December 26, 2017 |access-date=June 26, 2021 |website=The Verge}}</ref> Esperanto speakers are often called Esperantists ({{Lang|eo|Esperantistoj}}). A number of reforms, known as [[Esperantido]]s, have been proposed over the years.