This book addresses a fascinating topic – a constructed language that has turned from a project into a fully-fledged language used by some of its speakers on a daily basis. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book provides rare and profound insights into the use of Esperanto in a large number of communicative areas. It studies the speakers’ use of code-switching, phraseology and metaphors, techniques they employ to enhance understanding, such as metacommunication and repair strategies, as well as their predilection for humour. The study also contributes to a comparison between the communication in Esperanto and in the language that is now predominantly used as a lingua franca – English – and allows conclusions to be drawn on the question of what a lingua franca is all about.
Author(s): Sabine Fiedler; Cyril Robert Brosch
Publisher: John Benjamins
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 429
Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community
Editorial page
Title page
Copyright page
Table of contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of abbreviations
1. Speakers’ mother tongues (see ISO 639–3)
2. Other abbreviations
Key to transcription symbols
A note to the reader
Part I. Introduction
Chapter 1. What is Esperanto?
Chapter 2. What is a lingua franca?
Chapter 3. Previous interlinguistic research
Chapter 4. The aim of this book
Chapter 5. Methods and data
Chapter 6. On the structure of this book
Part II. Esperanto – an overview
Chapter 7. Planned languages and interlinguistics
Chapter 8. The history and ideological background of the Esperanto movement
Chapter 9. Main current domains
Chapter 10. Esperanto as a family language and the phenomenon of Esperanto “native speakers”
Chapter 11. Esperanto as a linguistic system
Phonology and alphabet
Lexicon
Morphology
Word formation
Syntax
Textual examples
Part III. Excursus: The use of Esperanto outside the speech community
Chapter 12. Introduction: Esperanto as a metaphor
Chapter 13. The use of Esperanto for artistic purposes
Chapter 14. The use of the glottonym Esperanto
Chapter 15. The use of Esperanto words in branding
a. “Esperanto is an international (universal) and neutral language; the use of Esperanto words is to express the idea that everybody should be addressed and feel involved”
b. “Esperanto as a language aims at equality and understanding between peoples. An Esperanto word is chosen to show commitment to and support for these ideas”
c. “Esperanto words are chosen as names because they sound nice”
d. “The meaning of Esperanto words is recognisable”
e. “Words are not yet trademarked”
Chapter 16. Some concluding remarks on Esperanto outside its speech community
Part IV. The main characteristics of Esperanto communication
Chapter 17. Introduction: Communication in Esperanto
Chapter 18. Metacommunication
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Metacommunicative utterances and their functions
18.2.1 Text organisation
A. Introducing communicative actions
B. Structuring communicative events
C. Referring to visual elements and to following or preceding passages
D. Labelling illocutions
E. Managing time and situation
F. Managing linguistic form
18.2.2 Audience orientation
G. Managing channel
H. Checking understanding
I. Highlighting the relevance of information
J. Evaluating others’ talk
K. Anticipating criticism
18.3 Properties of metacommunicative utterances
18.3.1 Position within the text
18.3.2 Personal pronouns
18.3.3 Metacommunicative utterances that have become set expressions
18.3.4 Variation in the use of metacommunication
18.4 Some concluding remarks on metacommunication in Esperanto
Chapter 19. Working towards mutual understanding: Repairs
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Types and structure of repairs
19.3 Repairs in Esperanto talk
19.3.1 Self-initiated self-repairs
Repetitions
Reformulations
Synonyms and paraphrases
Offering variants
19.3.2 Other-initiated self-repairs
19.3.3 Self-initiated other-repairs
19.3.4 Other-initiated other-repairs
19.4 Some concluding remarks on repairs in Esperanto
Chapter 20. Humour
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Humour theories
20.3 The linguistic resources of Esperanto for creating humour
20.3.1 Language-based humour
20.3.2 Main types of language play in Esperanto
A. Creating pseudo-homonymy
B. Playing with abbreviations
C. Toying with proper names
D. Phraseology – a treasure trove of verbal humour
20.4 Humour as a discursive strategy
20.4.1 Functions of humour in Esperanto interactions
20.4.2 Humorous devices in conversation
A. Teasing
B. Allusions
C. Heckling
20.4.3 Failed humour
20.5 Some concluding remarks on humour in Esperanto
Chapter 21. Phraseological units and metaphors
21.1 Introduction
21.2 Definition
A. The polylexemic character of phraseological units
B. The semantic and syntactic stability of phraseological units
C. Lexicalisation
D. Idiomaticity
E. Connotations
21.3 Classifications
21.4 The use of phraseological units
21.4.1 PUs as text constituents
21.4.2 PUs as text-structuring elements
21.4.3 Modifications
21.5 Analysis of the Esperanto phraseology in the dataset
21.6 Historical phraseology: A pilot study
21.7 Metaphors and similes
21.8 Some concluding remarks on phraseology and metaphors in Esperanto
Chapter 22. Code-switching in Esperanto communication
22.1 Introduction
22.2 “Ne krokodilu” – language loyalty as a main characteristic of the Esperanto speech community
22.3 Types, functions and extent of code-switching
22.3.1 Code-switching and setting
22.3.2 Functions of code-switching in Esperanto
A. Expressing politeness
B. Word search
C. Enhancing precision
D. Language play
22.3.3 The extent of code-switching in Esperanto
22.4 Some concluding remarks on code-switching in Esperanto
Chapter 23. Written vs oral Esperanto
23.1 Introduction
23.2 Written vs spoken communication
23.3 Spoken and written Esperanto
23.4 Esperanto in computer-mediated communication
23.5 Some concluding remarks on Esperanto in writing and speech
Chapter 24. Attitudes to accents
24.1 Introduction
24.2 Accents in ethnic languages
24.3 Previous research on accents in Esperanto
24.4 The role of accents in Esperanto communication
24.5 Some concluding remarks on accents in Esperanto
Chapter 25. Esperanto and language change
25.1 Introduction
25.2 Factors influencing language change in Esperanto
25.3 Zamenhof’s ideas on language change
25.4 The role of speakers in language change
25.5 Examples of language change in Esperanto
25.5.1 Phonological changes
25.5.2 Orthographic changes
25.5.3 Lexical changes
25.5.4 Semantic changes
25.5.5 Morphological change
25.5.6 Grammatical change
25.6 Some concluding remarks on language change in Esperanto
Chapter 26. Esperanto as a corporate language: A case study of an educational NGO
26.1 Introduction
26.2 Participants and methods
26.3 Communication in an NGO in Esperanto
26.4 Some concluding remarks on Esperanto as a corporate language
Acknowledgements
Part V. Conclusion
Chapter 27. The main characteristics of Esperanto communication
Chapter 28. The speakers of Esperanto and their culture
Chapter 29. Language “ownership”
Chapter 30. Final remarks
Bibliography
Appendix 1. Recordings and other sources
Appendix 2. The sixteen rules of the Fundamental Grammar of Esperanto
GRAMMAR
A. THE ALPHABET
B. PARTS OF SPEECH
C. GENERAL RULES
Index
