1922] on Auxiliary International Languages 539 



an a posteriori synthetic language. But in practice the contrast 

 was enormous. Zamenhof did not transform and distort his inter- 

 national roots like Schleyer. He carried out the choice of international 

 stems on a much broader basis. His grammar was enormously more 

 simple and practical. The inflexional richness of the work of the 

 learned and scholarly Schleyer disappeared, and together with it most 

 of his a priori and arbitrary elements. Zamenhof 's autonomous system 

 of word-derivation by means of affixes of fixed and definite meanings 

 and by means of root-combinations was immensely superior. The 

 arbitrary characteristic endings corresponding to a classification of 

 ideas, a relic in Volapuk of the earlier a priori philosophical systems, 

 disappeared in Zamenhof s language. The idea of using only mono- 

 syllabic roots was given up, and so the international appearance of 

 these could be much better preserved. Here are some examples of 

 Esperanto grammar : — 



Esperanto Substantive. 



Kara Ainiko = Dear Friend. 



Karaj Amikoj = Dear Friends. 



All nouns end in o, all adjectives in a. The plural is formed by the 

 addition of the letter/, and in the plural there is concord between 

 the adjective and noun. Thus there is no grammatical gender. Of 

 the declension of the substantive Zamenhof retained only the accusa- 

 tive, which is indicated by -n. The Esperanto conjugation of the verb 

 is very simple, ingenious and elegant. The verb is invariable in person 

 and number, but the tenses are indicated by inflexions. Thus : — 



Infinitive 



Esperanto Verb. 



Future -os 



Present -as Conditional -us 



Past -is Imperative Subjunctive -u 



Participles as follows : — 



Active Passive 

 Present -anta -ata 



Past -inta -ita 



Future -onta -ota 



In the conjugation both active and passive tenses are expressed by 

 means of one auxiliary, esti = to be. This may be seen from the 

 following excerpt : — 



Esperanto Verb. 

 Ami = to love. 



Me estas amanta = I am loving 



Mi estas amata = I am loved 



Mi estas aminta = I have loved 



Mi estas amonta = I am going to love 



Mi estis aminta = I had loved 



Mi estas amita = I have been loved 



Mi estos aminta = I shall have loved 



Mi estos amata = I shall be loved 



Mi estos amita = I shall have been loved 



