Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF) was established in 1968 as a vehicle for promoting scholarly research and dialogue on issues concerned with world language problems and language policy and planning. It works to promote the understanding and implementation of linguistic justice in a multicultural world through three priority areas: Research, Conservation and Education, supported by a system of grants and awards. This blog, ESF Connected, showcases recent activities and achievements within ESF’s priority areas, and the work of ESF and others more generally.
Esperantism in the Iberian Peninsula: Nationalism and Internationalism (1887–1928)
The picture shows Esperantists performing the Catalan dance “La Sardana”. Unique as Esperantism was and still is, it has not failed to interact as a social phenomenon with other significant movements throughout history. Far from being a peculiar event, isolated from other cultural, social, political, religious and economic influences, Esperantism has become intertwined with them through the...
Esperantismo en la Península Ibérica: Nacionalismo e Internacionalismo (1887-1928)
La imagen muestra a los esperantistas interpretando el baile catalán “La Sardana”. Único como fue y sigue siendo el esperantismo, no ha dejado de interactuar como fenómeno social con otros movimientos significativos a lo largo de la historia. Lejos de ser un acontecimiento peculiar, aislado de otras influencias culturales, sociales, políticas, religiosas y económicas, el esperantismo se ha...
Esperantismo en Iberio: naciismo kaj internaciismo (1887–1928)
La bildo montras esperantistojn en la kataluna danco “La Sardana”. Malgraŭ la antaŭa kaj ankoraŭa unikeco de esperantismo, ĝi ne evitis interagi kiel socia fenomeno kun aliaj gravaj movadoj tra la historio. Tre malsame ol ia stranga okazaĵo izolita de aliaj kulturaj, sociaj, politikaj, religiaj kaj ekonomiaj influoj, esperantismo interplektiĝis kun tiuj per la laboroj de siaj anoj, kiuj...
A community rallies around its language
It’s no secret that many Indigenous languages around Turtle Island [= North America] have been threatened by colonialism, and Kanien’kéha – more widely known as the Mohawk language – is no exception. Only a few generations ago, many Kahnawa’kehró:non – the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) people of Kahnawake – spoke Kanien’kéha as a first language. However, now most Kahnawa’kehró:non are fluent only in...
Una comunidad se moviliza en torno a su lengua
No es ningún secreto que muchos idiomas indígenas alrededor de Turtle Island (América del Norte) han sido amenazados por el colonialismo, y Kanien'kéha, más conocido como el idioma Mohawk, no es una excepción. Hace solo unas pocas generaciones, muchos Kahnawa'kehró:non, el pueblo Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) de Kahnawake, hablaban Kanien'kéha como primera lengua. Sin embargo, ahora la mayoría de los...
Komunumo solidariĝas pri sia lingvo
Ne estas sekreto, ke multajn indiĝenajn lingvojn tra Testuda Insulo [= Nord-Ameriko] minacis koloniismo, kaj Kanien’kéha – pli vaste konata kiel la mohoka lingvo – ne prezentas escepton. Antaŭ nur kelkaj generacioj multaj Kahnawa’kehró:non – anoj de la mohoka popolo Kanien’kehá:ka de Kanavakeo [Kahnawake, apud Montrealo en Kanado] – parolis la mohokan denaske. Tamen nun la plej multaj mohokoj...
Sandokan, the Tiger of Mompracem
This article by Alessandra Madella, which originally appeared on the Ĉina Radio Internacia website in January 2022, is republished here with the kind permission of its author. The Chinese year of the tiger gives us a chance to remember the tigerlike character of an adventure hero beloved of Italians and many others around the world, that is to say Sandokan, the handsome long-haired brave...
Sandokan, la Tigro de Mompraĉem
Ĉi tiu artikolo de Alessandra Madella, kiu unue aperis en la retejo de Ĉina Radio Internacia en januaro 2022, reaperas ĉi tie laŭ afabla permeso de la aŭtoro. En la jaro de la tigro laŭ la ĉina kalendaro, ni povas memori aventuran heroon je tigra karaktero tre amatan de italoj kaj multe da aliaj homoj tra la mondo. Temas pri la bela, long-hara, kuraĝa kaj grandanima pirato Sandokan, protagonisto...
Bulletin · Bulteno
Short bilingual announcements of publications and projects
Mallongaj dulingvaj anoncoj pri eldonaĵoj kaj projektoj
Contribute an item · Kontribui eron
The power of language planning · La potenco de lingvoplanado
An article entitled “Before there was Language Policy, there was Language Planning”, posted in September last year, discusses the goals and consequences of language planning. Artikolo sub la titolo “Antaŭ ol ekzistis lingvopolitiko, ekzistis lingvoplanado”, afiŝita en...
Linguistics and fake news · Lingvistiko kaj falsaj novaĵoj?
A team of linguists at the University of Oslo is working with computer scientists and artificial intelligence researchers to see whether there are linguistic differences between real and fake news texts in Norwegian, English and Russian. Their goal is to improve...
“Baby talk” similar across many languages · Albeba parolado similas en multaj lingvoj
A recent study has revealed that baby talk, also known as infant-directed speech, displays similar properties across 36 languages. Caregivers generally talk to very young children in a high-pitched, slow-paced, animated manner. Lastatempa esploro malkovris, ke albeba...
AI raises questions about innate grammar · AI starigas demandojn pri denaska gramatiko
For years, many linguists have believed that learning language is impossible without a built-in grammar template. But new AI models such as GPT-3 prove otherwise, demonstrating that the ability to produce grammatical language can be learned from linguistic experience...
Marjorie Boulton: Unu animo homa
A two-volume collection of the complete poetic works of Marjorie Boulton has been published by Esperanto Association of Britain. Over 1200 pages long, Unu animo homa, a title taken from her poem “Aliĝilo”, contains all of her books of poetry, starting with her debut...
Call for IKU talks in Turin · IKU-prelegoj petataj por Torino
The 108th World Esperanto Congress in Turin will include the 76th session of the International Congress University (IKU). UEA asks that proposals for IKU talks be submitted by 31 January 2023. In connection with the IKU the International Academy of Sciences (AIS) will...
The future of linguistic diversity · La estontecto de lingva diverseco
A study in the magazine Nature finds that contact with other languages is not a driver of language loss, but that formal education and a greater density of roads can be. Studo en la anglalingva revuo Naturo trovas, ke kontakto kun aliaj lingvoj ne kaŭzas lingvoperdon,...
Changing the definition of love · Ŝanĝi la difinon de amo
The definition of the word láska “love” in the Dictionary of the Contemporary Slovak Language no longer mentions opposite sexes, thus reflecting reality. This article talks about why the change took place in the week after a terrorist attack on Bratislava’s Zámocká...
On site and remote, serious and friendly · Surloke kaj distance, serioze kaj amike
Here is a report on the interlinguistics session held this September, partly at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland and partly online. Jen raporto pri la interlingvistika sesio okazinta parte en la Universitato Adam Mickiewicz en Poznano (Pollando) kaj...
Public-Speaking Competition · Oratora Konkurso
As part of Esperanto’s 3rd Virtual Congress there will be a Public-Speaking Competition, open to congress members of up to 35 years of age. Participants will speak in Esperanto for a maximum of ten minutes on one of the following topics: “When an Indigenous language...
3rd Virtual Congress and Retoso · 3-a Virtuala Kongreso kaj Retoso
Suggest items for Esperanto’s 3rd Virtual Congress (VK), to be held from 24 to 27 November 2022 alongside Retoso, the online event of the World Esperanto Youth Organization (TEJO). Proposals for talks, panels, debates, author appearances, artistic and cultural...
Thinking with your hands · Pensado per la manoj
Demonstration of embodied cognition mechanisms in the brain could have implications for artificial intelligence. In a recent study, scientists observed how the brain responds to words representing objects that can be manipulated by hand, when a participant's hands...
AI learns human language patterns · AI lernas homlingvajn strukturojn
On its own, a new machine-learning model can discover linguistic rules that often match up with those created by human experts. Human languages are notoriously complex, and linguists have long thought it would be impossible to teach a machine how to analyze speech...
Watch Your Language · Atentu vian lingvon
A recent article by Steven Mintz, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, examines how language became a key cultural, ideological and political battleground: “Of all the traditional humanities disciplines, only one has consistently grown:...
Shakespeare myths · Ŝekspiraj mitoj
A short online article discusses five myths about Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language. Mallonga anglalingva artikolo diskutas kvin mitojn pri la kontribuoj de Ŝekspiro al tiu lingvo.
Babies and contrastive sounds · Beboj kaj kontrastaj sonoj
A recent study sheds light on how babies learn to distinguish contrastive sounds (big, pig) in their own language while rapidly losing the ability to distinguish the contrastive sounds of other languages. Building on their previous research, the authors suggest that...
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