[Ads-l] Antedating of "Esperanto"

Ben Zimmer bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM
Fri Sep 13 14:18:17 UTC 2024


Elsewhere in that same 1888 article: "He is not required to know any other
language than his own, nor are his foreign correspondents required to know
the Esperanto language." Seems like a transitional case, where the name of
the creator is getting applied to the name of the language and can be
interpreted either way.

On Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 2:29 AM mr_peter_morris at outlook.com <
mr_peter_morris at outlook.com> wrote:

> I've searched, and reviewed  references  that pre-date 1891 but they
> mostly  refer to  "Dr Esperanto's International Language"   rather
> than using Esperanto for the name of the  language itself.
>
>
> Actually, here's one from 14th July 1888   that appears to use it as the
> name.
>
> "This is the grammar of Esperanto almost complete and we may proceed to
> translate a sample sentence of Esperanto. "
>
>
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Dominion_Illustrated/8DXM16DjChgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Esperanto&pg=PA30&printsec=frontcover
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From "Martin Purdy" <00000bd8cf391c5b-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> <mailto:00000bd8cf391c5b-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>>
> To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date 13/09/2024 04:51:22
> Subject Re: Antedating of "Esperanto"
>
> I'm surprised the first traced reference is as late as 1891, since the
> first English-language Esperanto textbook was published in 1889 (an earlier
> attempt in 1888 was apparently withdrawn and destroyed, but that's another
> story).
> Martin
>
>
> On Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 12:09:55 PM GMT+12, Shapiro, Fred <
> fred.shapiro at yale.edu<mailto:fred.shapiro at yale.edu>> wrote:
>
> Esperanto (OED 1892)
>
> 1891 Sun (N.Y.) 12 Jan. 9/1 (Newspapers.com)
>
> Associations are being organized all over Germany to hasten the
> introduction of a universal language called Esperanto.
>
>

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