Chapter 1

MARLBOROUGH'S SELF-TAUGHT SERIES

Esperanto Self-Taught WITH PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION. BY *WILLIAM W. MANN.* (_Member of the British Esperanto Association._)

THIRD EDITION

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

LONDON: E. MARLBOROUGH & CO., LTD., 51 OLD BAILEY, E.C. 4

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

PREFACE.

The object of this volume is two-fold. It supplies very full and comprehensive vocabularies of the words required by the tourist or traveller, visitor or resident abroad, health or pleasure seeker, and professional or business man, together with a large number of conversational sentences of a typical and practical character. The words and phrases are classified according to subject, and the phonetic pronunciation of every word is added in accordance with Marlborough's simple and popular system of phonetics.

With the aid of this book anyone may undertake a trip to a foreign land, even if he know nothing of the language of the country he is going to, and, if he will put himself beforehand in communication with Esperantists in the various places he intends to visit, he will find them ready to help him in many ways, and his stay abroad will thus be made much more entertaining and instructive than if he had spent his time in the conventional manner of the ordinary tourist. A further great advantage of this international language is, that it opens up to the traveller, not merely one particular country, but the whole of Europe.

The book also aims at affording a practical guide to Esperanto for the student, who will find, in the section on Grammar, all that he needs to give him full insight into and grasp of the language, enabling him with very little effort to read, write and speak correctly.

By joining an Esperanto Group the learner may have frequent opportunity of conversational practice, and he will soon find that it is by no means a difficult matter to become as fluent in the auxiliary language as in his mother-tongue.[1]

Esperanto is not merely a language for tourists, but already possesses a rich literature of considerable extent, the beginnings of that "Weltlitteratur" foreseen by Goethe; it has a press of its own representing every country of importance in the world, and is constantly being made use of for professional purposes by doctors, scientists, teachers, lawyers, soldiers, sailors, merchants, etc., in every quarter of the globe. It is undoubtedly destined, ere many years have passed, to become a very important factor in the progress of the world.

WILLIAM W. MANN.

_London, 1908._

_PRINTED AND MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN._

Letchworth: THE GARDEN CITY PRESS LTD.

_Fifth Impression_

CONTENTS.

PAGE Alphabet, with English Phonetic Pronunciation 5

Preliminary Notes.--Accents, Vowels, Diphthongs, etc. 8

Vocabularies.--Pages 9 to 76. Amusement, Recreation and 41 Animals, Vegetables, &c.: Animals, Birds and Fishes 12 Fruit, Trees, Flowers and Vegetables 15 Reptiles and Insects 14 Colours 17 Commercial Terms 56 Correspondence 61 Countries and Nations 40 Cycling 44 Cooking and Table Utensils 29 House and Furniture, The 34 Legal Terms 54 Mankind: Relations 22 Dress and the Toilet 30 Food and Drink 27 Health 26 Human Body, The 23 Physical and Mental Powers, Qualities, etc. 24 Motoring 47 Numbers: Cardinal, Ordinal, Collective and Fractional 62-64 Parts of Speech.--Pages 64 to 76 Adjectives 64 Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Prepositions 72 Verbs 68 Photography 48 Post, Telegraph and Telephone 60 Professions and Trades 52 Recreation and Amusement 41 Religion 50 Telegraph and Telephone (Post, --) 60 Time and Seasons 17 Town, Country, and Agriculture 20 Travelling: By Road and Rail 36 " By Ship 39 Washing List 33 World and its Elements, The 9 Land and Water 10 Minerals and Metals 11

Grammar.--Pages 77 to 88. The Adjective 77 " Adverb 83 " Article 77 " Conjunction 83 " Noun 77 " Preposition 83 " Pronoun 78 " Verb 81

The Formation of Words, etc.--Pages 84 to 88. Prefixes and Suffixes 84-87 Compound Words 87 Correlatives 88

Conversations.--Pages 89 to 126. Amusements 112 Commercial and Trading 125 Correspondence 122 Custom House, At the 98 Cycling 114 Enquiries 93 Expressions, (Useful and Necessary) 89 Expressions of Emotion 93 Health 105 Legal and Judicial 123 Meals 102-105 Breakfast 102 Dinner 103 Tea 104 Money Changing 126 Motoring 115 Photography 117 Post and Telegraph 121 Religion 118 Shopping 108 Dressmaker 110 Laundress 111 Shoemaker 110 Telegraph (Post and) 121 Time of Day, The 118 Times, Seasons, and Weather 119 Town, In 106 Travelling:-- Arrival 99 Bus and Tram 100 Changing Money 126 Hotel and Rooms 100 Public Notices 94 Railway, By 95 Steamer, By 97 Useful and Necessary Expressions 89

Money.--Equivalent Values 127

Weights and Measures; Postage 128

THE ESPERANTO ALPHABET (WITH PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION).

The Esperanto Alphabet has 28 letters--23 consonants, 5 vowels:--

Characters. | Name and English Pronunciation. | Phonetics | | used. | | ------------+---------------------------------------------+----------- A, a | (ah) like _a_ in _father_ or _pa_; as | | _patro_ (pah'troh). In unaccented syllables | | it should not be dwelt upon, and in all | | cases it should be pronounced quite purely, | | without the slight drawling _r_-sound which | | is sometimes added to the corresponding | | vowel in English | ah | | B, b | (bo) as in English | b | | C, c | (tsoh) like _ts_ in _gets_, _hits_, and | | never as in English; as _caro_ (tsah'roh) | ts | | Ĉ, ĉ | (cho) like _ch_ in _church_; as _ĉasi_ | | (chah'see) | ch | | D, d | (do) as in English, but with tip of tongue | | placed on back of teeth instead of on front | | ridge of roof of mouth | d | | E, e | (eh) like _e_ in _bend_ pronounced broadly, | | or _a_ in _hate_ shortly pronounced, but | | quite pure, entirely without the slight | | drawling _ee_-sound often heard after the | | English vowel; as _beno_ (beh'noh) | e, eh | | F, f | (fo) as in English | f | | G, g | (go) like _g_ in _go_, _give_, as _gasto_ | | (gah'stoh), and never like _g_ in _gem_, | | _allege_ | g | | Ĝ, ĝ | (jo) like _g_ in _gem_, _general_, and _j_ | | in _jovial_; as _ĝeni_ (jeh'nee) | j | | H, h | (ho) as in English | h | | Ĥ, ĥ | (ĥo) like _ch_ in Scotch _loch_, _ch_ in | | German _hoch_, _j_ in Spanish _mujer_. This | | guttural sound is practically a very | | strongly aspirated _h_, and may be made by | | trying to pronounce "ho" with the throat | | arranged as for saying _k_:--_ĥoro_ | | (khoro), _ĥino_ (khino) | _kh_ | | I, i | (ee) like _ee_ in _seen_, as _li_ (lee). In | | unaccented syllables, and before two | | consonants together, this _i_ practically | | becomes the _i_ in _it_ or in _wind_; as | | _ferminte_ (fehrr-min'teh) | ee, i | | J, j | (yo) *always* like _y_ in _yet_, as _jes_ | | (yehss), _vojo_ (vo'yo), and never like _j_ | | in _judge_, _joke_ | y | | | It should be remembered that _j_ is _always | | a consonant_, with the sound of the English | | _y_ in _you_. Of course, when _j_ occurs at | | the end of a word or before a consonant, it | | practically unites with the preceding vowel | | to form a diphthong, and loses the full | | consonantal sound which it has before a | | vowel. Thus: | | | | _Aj_ (ahy), like _ah y_ in _ah yes_ (almost | | like _y_ in _my_); as _kaj_ (kah'y), | | _rajdi_ (rah'y-dee), _krajono_ (krah-yo'no) | ahy | | | _Ej_ (ehy), like _ay y_ in _say yes_; as | | _plej_ (pleh'y, *one* syllable) | ehy | | | _Oj_ (oy), like _oh y_ in _oh yes_ (almost | | like _oy_ in _toy_); as _ranoj_ (rah'noy), | | _kojno_ (koy'noh) | oy | | | _Uj_ (ooy), like _oo y_ in _too young_; as | | _tuj_ (too'y, *one* syllable), _prujno_ | | (proo'yno, *two* syllables) | ooy | | Ĵ, ĵ | (zho) like _s_ in _vision_ or _pleasure_, | | or _j_ in French _jeune, j'ai_; as _ĵeti_ | | (zheh'tee) | zh | | K, k | (ko) as in English | k | | L, l | (lo) as in English | l | | M, m | (mo) as in English | m | | N, n | (no) as in English | n | | O, o | (oh) like _o_ in _horse_, not | | diphthongized, but pronounced purely and | | rather shortly, as _bona_ (boh'nah NOT | | bow'nah), quite without the short | | _oo_-sound frequently heard with the | | English vowel in such words as _note_, | | _boat_. Its sound is almost equivalent to | | _aw_ in _caw_, pronounced shortly and with | | the lips placed roundly as if for saying | o, | _oh_; as _estonta_ (ess-tohn'tah) | oh | | P, p | (po) as in English | p | | R, r | (ro) as in English, but sounded _much more | | forcibly_, and always _with a trill_ as in | | singing; as _korpo_ (kohr'po) | r | | S, s | (so) like _s_ in _say_, as _suno_ | | (soo'noh), and *never* as _s_ in _rose_; as | | _pesi_ (peh'see) | s, ss | | Ŝ, ŝ | (sho) like _sh_ in _show_, _she_; as _ŝipo_ | | (shee'poh) | sh | | T, t | (to) as in English, but dentally--with tip | | of tongue placed on back of teeth instead | | of on front ridge of roof of mouth | t | | U, u | (oo) like _oo_ in _boot_, as _nubo_ | | (*noo'*boh); and *never* as _u_ in _mute_ | | or _but_ | oo | | Ŭ, ŭ | (wo) is equivalent to the English _w_, and | | is produced by a _partial bringing | | together_ of the lips. It practically only | | occurs after _a_ or _e_ | w, ŏŏ | | | (1) _Aŭ_. To say _antaŭ_, for instance, say | | "ahn'tah," and finish by bringing the lips | | slightly together to pronounce the _ŭ_ | | (_w_). Similarly for _laŭta_ (lah'w-tah). | | This sound is not exactly the English _ou_ | | in _house_, but is just the _au_ in the | | German _Haus_. The phonetic sign for _aŭ_, | | therefore is | ahw | | | (2) _Eŭ_, as in _Eŭropo_ (ehw-ro'poh), is | | pronounced with a similar closing of the | | lips after the _eh-_sound | ehw | | V, v | (vo) as in English | v | | Z, z | (zo) as in English | z | |

PRELIMINARY NOTES.

In order to make the best progress in acquiring the words and sentences in the following pages, the student is recommended to learn a few at a time by repeating them aloud with the aid of the phonetic pronunciation in the third column.

Although the system of phonetics may seem a little cumbersome, practice will soon enable the student to pronounce the words easily and naturally. The following notes will be useful:--

1. *Accent.*--In Esperanto, *every letter*, whether vowel or consonant, *is sounded*. *The accented syllable of a word is always the last but one.* Thus, _nobla_ (noh'blah), _irado_ (ee-rah'do), _telefono_ (teh-leh-foh'no), _internacia_ (in-tehr-naht-see'ah), _folio_ (fohlee'oh).

It should be borne in mind that _j_ and _ŭ_ *are consonants*, and do not, like the vowels, of themselves constitute a syllable. Thus, _tiu_ (tee'oo, *two* syllables) and _tiuj_ (tee'ooy, also *two* syllables), _rajdi_ (rah'y-dee, *not* rah-ĭ'dee), _antaŭ_ (ahn'tahw, *not* ahn-tah'ŏŏ).

2. *The vowels, _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, should in Esperanto be pronounced quite purely*, and entirely without any drawling after-sound. Many English speakers diphthongize _a_, _i_, _o_, and pronounce _late_ as "l_a-i_t," _pale_ as "p_a-i_l," _paper_ as "p_a-y_-per," _road_ as "row-d," etc. This habit of drawling the vowels, when transferred to Esperanto, thus: _Mi ne povas bone paroli_, mee'y nay'ee poh'ŏŏ-vah(r)ss boh'ŏŏ-nehy pah(r)-roh'ŏŏ-leey, immediately reveals the nationality of the speaker.

There is also an inclination to interpose an _r_-sound between _la_ ("the") and a word beginning with a vowel, thus: _la(r)ebleco_ instead of _la ebleco_, _la(r)internacia lingvo_ instead of _la internacia lingvo_, etc. This should be avoided.

3. *Combinations of Consonants.*--There are a few consonantal combinations which offer a slight difficulty to English beginners, viz., _gv_, _kn_, _kv_, _sc_. The combinations _gv_, _kn_, and _kv_, as in _gvidi_ (gvee'dee), _knabo_ (knah'bo), _kvieto_ (kvee-eh'toh), may be practised by first placing a vowel before the _g_ or _k_, and gradually suppressing it. Thus, first say _la knabo_ (lahk-nah'bo), and gradually drop the "lah," until finally _knabo_ can be said without difficulty.

The combination _sc_, as in _sceno_ (stseh'no), may be learnt thus: Say "last sane" several times, very distinctly pronouncing the _st_ and the _s_, then gradually "'st sane", and finally _sceno_ (stseh'no) without any preceding vowel-sound. When this combination follows a vowel, as in _mi scias_, it should cause no difficulty, for the _s_ is easily pronounced with the first syllable, thus: meess-tsee'ahss.

* * * * *

LETTER FROM DR. ZAMENHOF. (_Founder of Esperanto._)

Varsovio, 14.9.08.

KARAJ SINJOROJ,--Kun plezuro kaj danko mi ricevis vian leteron de 10.9, kaj ankaŭ la presprovaĵon de "Esperanto Self-Taught."

Ĉar Sro Mann estas tre kompetenta kaj sperta esperantisto, tial mi estas tute certa, ke la libro verkita de li estos tre bona kaj tre utila.

Via,

(_Signed_) ZAMENHOF.

[TRANSLATION.]

_Warsaw, 14.9.08._

_Dear Sirs,--I received your letter of Sept. 10, and the proofs of "Esperanto Self-Taught," with pleasure and thanks._

_As Mr. Mann is a very competent and experienced Esperantist, I am quite certain that the book written by him will be very good and very useful._

_Yours_,

(_Signed_) _ZAMENHOF_.

VOCABULARIES.

1. The World & its Elements. (_La Mondo kaj ĝiaj Elementoj._)

(See Notes on the Article)